Easy Listening, deep thoughts..

[detmatt]

Anybody paying attention to Jackson Browne these days? If not you should, his Solo Acoustic Vol 1 & 2 are fantastic.

 

[polara71]

I dis liked him then

 

[rapidtrans]

I can appriciate any music “live”. The closer to the orchestra pit the better. I like to feel the music. Bose is the next best thing.

 

[detmatt]

I became musically aware in February 1964 at the age of five when the Beatles arrived in the US. I spent the better part of the next 30 years with an AM pop station usually on somewhere. I grew up with a love of British Invasion, Motown, 70s singer/songwriter, pop, 70s soul/R&B, Classic Rock, 80s pop, heavy and hair metal. (Disco still sucks). I gave up when early 90s grunge hit the air waves.

My life has has an amazing soundtrack.

As a musician, when I go back and listen with a new ear to arrangements, compositions and production, I continue to be amazed at what was done at that time based on available technology. Songs from the 80s still get people on the dance floor.

I'm astounded at the number of teens and 20 year olds that prefer to listen to the same music I listened when I was their age and the amount of 60-80s songs used in commercials, at sporting events and in modern culture.

There was something very organic and lasting about the music of that era that still touches people.

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Love me some grunge! It was my favorite when it was current and I’ve not tired of it.

 

[polara71]

I can appriciate any music “live”. The closer to the orchestra pit the better. I like to feel the music. Bose is the next best thing.

Agreed, in person, live is the best way to appreciate its true feeling and sound .

 

[67-Fury]

My biggest problem with modern music is it lacks Real instrumentation and Real artistry. I love a tight Rhythm section and Loud Guitars. I like music where you can hear the History in it.

 

[detmatt]

I dis liked him then

Listen to this and tell me you dislike it.

 

[Mopars & Missiles]

I became musically aware in February 1964 at the age of five when the Beatles arrived in the US.
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Wow, I remember that day almost like it was yesterday. February 9th, 1964 on the "Ed Sullivan Show".

And I'm NOT a big Beatles fan either, but they sure made an impression on a nine year old.

 

[65sporty]

I have noticed the older I get the greater my appreciation for many kinds of music has grown, but it has gotten softer though. Some kinds of music is just too hard now, go figure

 

[65 500]

This morning, which is basically right now as I type, I slept a little later than planned. I awoke and pressed the "on" button of the fist-sized Space Commander remote beside my bed. Within a few second, an infomercial for "Time Life Easy Listening Classics" appeared on the 19" CRT.
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Normally that would bring a press of the "channel up" button, but for whatever reason, today it didn't and I just watched. The songs rolled by and I started thinking. Let me give you a few just to set the mood...
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When these songs were new, I was far too young to really know who the artists were, or to go out and buy the songs. In fact, the only way I was hearing them was via the factory speakers in one of these cars.
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(identical to ones owned in my family)

That means they were getting radio play, basically just a part of pop-culture at the time. They were very much a part of the sounds of the time. Played on the car radios of my friends parents, the background music at Sears, waiting rooms at the doctors office, etc.
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I realize it's basically a type of music that has absolutely disappeared. Yes, it now exists in an instant to be shared in a post with who knows how many people from Michigan, Florida, Canada, Australia and parts in between, but it's no longer simply "around" unless you seek it out. Sort of like how the roads used to filled with our cars, but now it's a rarity, or something you need to make an effort to see.

The music has a calming effect. Sometimes even introspective. Even as a little kid, I especially liked the ones that‎ told some kind of story. In my head, I'd picture this guy climbing telephone poles all by himself in the middle of nowhere.



And (excuse my bluntness) when I think of what a steaming-sh#t-sandwich popular culture has become, I can't help but think how it affects society. I mean really, this music has been absent for a solid 20+ years. What has taken its place is not only vulgar in lyric, but never slows down in terms of beats-per-minute. It is to musical art and "consumption" what a modern direct-injection is compared to a carburetor... Precise, high-pressure, pounding, efficient, digital, mechanical. There is no passage with a soaring violin, just the BAAMM of an electric synthesizer.

Understand, I'm not just a gentle old fart who hates loud music. In fact, I even like the dreaded RAP music... but generally only up to the early 90s. Public Enemy is a favorite and I would say ‎"Rebel Without a Pause" is NOT an easy listening song. More like something to use during a heavy workout! But for Cris' sake, all things in moderation!
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‎And that's my point. Moderation is gone. The ubiquitous soundtrack of life (brought to you almost constantly by radio/TV/internet/iPod/cellphone) is now crass, vulgar, cynical, assulating and binary. 1s and 0s. There is nothing introspective, analog, ‎hopeful, upbeat, thoughful, or smooth.

Is it a reflection of the shooting-of-the‎-week society, or a cause? Is someone sitting in a glass skyscraper pushing this crap; knowing the effect full well... or is this just the natural de-evolution of society? For me, that's the only question for debate, because I'm fairly sold on the cause/effect.

I know there are a bunch of older farts on here who will likely agree with me, and "thanks". But I also wonder if the folks here, younger than my 45 years, even have a concept of the time/mood/society I'm talking about?

I'll agree with all of that, except for the contradiction in terms that "rap music" is. I'd say that it is total ****, but it's not even that good. I'd rather listen to static.

 

[1970cat]

my kids listen to modern music and it amazes me how many new songs use bits and pieces of older songs, or are outright remakes of them.
my theory is that culture is pretty well tapped out on new ideas.
music is going "retro"
tv is different versions of the same story.
i watch a lot of movies and can tell the outcome of many within the first few minutes. i saw the same story in a movie 10-20 or more years ago and can quite often recite the name of the first movie.
the only new cars that average people get excited about are the retro ones.
maybe i wasn't crazy to keep my 8 track collection