When I listen to a c. 1967 pop song like "Baby Love", it sounds dated/somewhat old to me (I think songs like that are more a natural evolution of 50s/early 60s doo wop), but "Let it Be" or "Birthday" don't, at least not nearly as much. The Beatles of course were influential on stuff that came after it, but what I'm saying is, yeah, they sound '60s, but they also seem to fit in with later stuff more than some of their contemporaries do, if that makes sense.

When I listen to a c. 1967 pop song like "Baby Love", it sounds dated/somewhat old to me (I think songs like that are more a natural evolution of 50s/early 60s doo wop), but "Let it Be" or "Birthday" don't, at least not nearly as much. The Beatles of course were influential on stuff that came after it, but what I'm saying is, yeah, they sound '60s, but they also seem to fit in with later stuff more than some of their contemporaries do, if that makes sense.


I think the same thing applies to Madonna, and all other "timeless artists." Like while Madonna sounds '80s, she doesn't sound anywhere near as dated as Paula Abdul, Jody Watley, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, and even Janet Jackson. 

If you ask me, I'd say there was a tangible progressiveness about the music scene in the late 60s...you really have to listen to alot of 60s music to appreciate just how jarringly rapid this change was. From Merseybeat and soulful ballads in 1963, to Acid rock, the seeds of prog-rock, synth music.etc in 67. Personally, there are many bands which sounded far ahead of their time around the period 1967. While songs like 'I'm A Believer' by the Monkees, or 'I Know A Place' by Petula Clark still sounded like classic 60s pop (as well as the Motown which you mentioned, which remained similar because it wasn't driven by the creative songwriting process that bands who wrote their own music had). You could say the same about the Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Velvet Underground...and of course the Beach Boys, at the forefront of this movement. They experimented with totally new song structures, studio effects, instruments like synthesizers (The early Moog), different genres (incorporating world music).etc

I THINK THEY MOLDED OUR FUTURE FROM 64 TO HOW WE ARE TODAY.