Prepared to go where my heart belongs - back to past again"
Gamma Ray-"Back To the Past"
The last two days, while very positive, have also been dreary and cloudy and murky.
That also means that it has made me a little blue and a little wistful.
By "a little blue", I don't mean down about my situation or anything important. I mean that I miss the way things used to be, when everything used to be simpler and better. People who reminisce about the past these days are usually maligned by people who say "You just want to go back to a time where segregation was legal and blablablablabla". Shut up. Now. That's not me by a longshot. I was born in '76 and I watched so much news as a child and did so much reading I was socially aware before being a socially aware kid was cool. So, just stop. We're not talking about social issues or norms.
I'm talking about music.
What happened to all the legends? What happened to all of those who paved the way for the young hopefuls of today?
Most of them have either retired, passed on, or if they are a legendary band, are touring with no original members left.
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| I want this album. Don't laugh. Many happy memories I associate with this album. |
Us fans who enjoy older forms of rock and pop music are staring to become less and less as well. I love to listen to songs from the late 1970s and early to mid 1980s, even if I don't particularly "like" the song or the artist. Why? Because they bring back happy memories. They remind me of evenings riding with my mother in the car and listening to the radio. (If anyone knows where I can find a copy of the K-Tel compilation Night Flight, please tell me. My mom and I used to listen to that tape all the time.) The music coming out of the speakers of our Chrysler Newport, Chevy Luv, or Pontiac Trans Am was like gold to me. It made me wish and dream about one day making it big. For someone who didn't have many friends either, it was also a means of escape.
The radio shows, the music videos...I loved them all.
At the risk of making people laugh and completely embarrassing myself...shit, I'm 41 years old, happily married, and have a family. I don't give a fuck whether you laugh or not. Anyway, when I was a kid, I would spend many Saturday nights in front of a big mirror in my bedroom, dressing up and pretending to be a pop star, and I would dance and lip-sync along with all of the songs I would hear. Once again, music was a means of escape.
I wonder if kids still do that, and if they even have artists that are worthy of emulating anymore?
Let's be honest with ourselves. Will Katy Perry be legendary in 25 years time? Will The Jonas Brothers be legendary? I think we can honestly say no. In 15 years, their music will be consigned to the discount rack of history along with other novelty acts of the past like the DiFranco family and the Osmond brothers. I can't see any artist today being one day mentioned in the same breath as the Beatles or Elvis.
Confession time: I am a fan of the Bee Gees.
That's right. I am a fan of the trio that became the faces of the disco era. Nowadays, people would probably consider the Bee Gees a manufactured phenomenon like the latest boy group or teen idol, and if you look back at the years 1978 and 1979, at first glance you would be right. Their music was everywhere and their faces were all over the place. You could not escape their reach, almost like Miley Cyrus in her Hanna Montana days. However, that was the only similarity. While most pop artists today are told what to play by their producers, the Bee Gees wrote and produced their own albums and actually played instruments. They also sang without the help of an auto tune machine. The Brothers Gibb became a phenomenon not because of marketing or hype, but because they actually penned and performed great songs with infectious melodies, grooves, harmonies, and hooks. Their success was totally on merit. In 25 years, "Stayin' Alive" will still be an iconic song but "Dark Horse" by Katy Perry with it's dental drill beginning and annoying vocals will be chucked into the dustbin of the past. Yes, Barry Gibb's falsetto is an acquired taste, but how many of us can actually do that? That takes talent.
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| Yep. I am a Bee Gees fan. This is a great album. |
Yet, at the same time, I do not like to see older bands touring long after they have jettisoned most of their original members. Now, if you still have one of the central lead vocalists or musicians (like Jeff Lynne with Electric Light Orchestra or Philip Bailey with Earth Wind and Fire), then it is still credible. Yet, in the case of the Little River Band, none of the original members or members from their heyday are with them anymore. To me, that is false advertising. So, if you go to an LRB concert with a copy of their smash hit album Dyamanthia Cocktail in hand, chances are if you get to meet the band, no one will sign it due to none of the current members being on the album. You are essentially seeing a cover band in that case.
So, buyer beware if you buy a ticket to a favorite band from the past, because you might not be getting the same band you grew up enjoying.
Now, I do enjoy a lot of newer bands and artists from the heavy metal and progressive rock genres. Yet, they are not known by anyone outside of the community. Ask a regular man about town who Haken is, I'll be you dollars to donuts they won't know who they are. So, I do not close my mind to newer music. However, when it comes to pop music, and I do enjoy lots of pop music from my younger years, I cannot be bothered to listen to new pop music. A few catch my ear, but I care not to hear the current airwaves. Nothing on the air inspires me like in my school days. It's all novelty tunes written for the lowest common denominator. Yes, the 70's had "Disco Duck" by DJ Rick Dees, and the 80's had a few novelty songs, but nowadays they are almost omnipresent. Who writes pop songs with a message anymore? It's all canned garbage.
So, if I want some classic hooks, I'll reach for a pop song I grew up with. When I hear those songs, I will start to wish I was back in those times once again, but at the age I am now and with my wife and daughter. The 1970s and the 1980s were an embarrassment of musical riches. I want to experience those times.
Now, excuse me while I go back to listening to an episode of Casey Kasem's American Top 40 from 1982.
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