Ach, depends where you look.  Most popular music stunk from any era, but we remember the best.  For every Maybellene, there were at least a dozen itsy-bitsy teenie-weenie yellow polka-dot bikinis.

My daughter is 13 and we share a lot of the same taste in older music.  The new stuff she listens to you won't hear on the radio, and a lot of it is really good. We've been to quite a few festivals and shows together, and I still see honest bands with good lyrics -- but you have to look for them, same as when I was young.   I stopped listening to top 40 when I was about 15, since I couldn't stand the overproduced cr@p that was being played, and dove deep into punk, experimental, classic country (Cash, Williams), oldies, and some jazz.