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(Credits: Far Out \/ NASA \/ Uwe Conrad)<\/p>\n
Sun 28 December 2025 18:30, UK <\/p>\n
Rock<\/a> music had a pretty linear pattern in the 1960s and \u201870s. First, it was developing, then it started evolving.\u00a0<\/p>\n Back in the \u201860s, loads of bands started breaking the mould and carving out names for themselves. You had The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones \u2013 all sounding sharp and looking the part \u2013 helping to turn rock into the biggest genre going. But what really mattered after that wasn\u2019t keeping it exactly as it was, it was letting it evolve.<\/p>\n There was a real musical appetite in the air at the beginning of the \u201870s. The Beatles had split up<\/a>, and in their wake, they had left a trail of albums which proved a band didn\u2019t need to follow a set formula. Equally, you had bands such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath steadily making a name for themselves, proving that rock music didn\u2019t need to fit inside one category. Instead, it could embrace various styles, sounds, and cultures in order to warp into something totally unique.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think what they showed to all their peer group as musicians was that there was, first of all, a very powerful and dramatic way to perform simple, direct rock music and also to introduce elements of more eclectic music,\u201d said Anderson when discussing the impact of a band like Led Zeppelin. \u201cBecause Zeppelin, near the beginning, there were a lot of elements of folk music, and Asian music, and African music<\/a> that crept into their stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n Then you had the \u201880s, where the route that rock music took became a little bit stranger. Bands had pushed the boat out, multiple genres had been successfully established, and the sound had no doubt become the biggest in the world. As such, a lot of the most popular rock was less experimental and groundbreaking, and more just a watered-down and pop-infused version of what had come before.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sounds a bit brutal, but it\u2019s not far off the mark. By the time the decade was winding down, loads of rock bands were digging into the past, chasing the magic of the \u201860s and \u201870s. And to be fair, the early \u201880s weren\u2019t exactly brimming with groundbreaking rock \u2013 a lot of it came off a bit bland. Still not convinced? Just check which classic rock track spent the most time at number one in 1981.<\/p>\n So, what song was number one for the longest in 1981?\u00a0<\/p>\n It was the rock pop heavy ballad that is \u2018Jessie\u2019s Girl\u2019 by Rick Springfield. <\/p>\n