Carmine
Old Man with a Hat
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.
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...
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.
(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.
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!
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?
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...
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.
(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.
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!
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?
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