It's all about the music
January 19, 2002 ~ 12:37 p.m.
This past Friday's edition of The London Metro provided the following great letter:
�Disc-usted by pop papIt�s about time people stopped being so gullible about so-called pop stars. Victoria Beckham, Atomic Kitten, A1 and most acts on Top Of the Pops * can�t actually sing, write or play music. The only reason this junk is bought is because parents buy it for their children. Anyone with a real understanding of musical ability can see these performers and their record companies are playing us for fools.�
I can�t help but agree totally and completely with this sentiment. Every time I turn around, some band with no real musical ability is on the radio with yet another four-minute piece of pablum puke. It�s time these kids got introduced to the working world and the session musicians who back them up form a real band. I�ll admit, every now and then, these bands come out with good songs�I liked the debut single by a British boy band called Blue, not even realizing that Blue was actually was a teeny pop group. The single made them sound like a true R&B band. But, true to their boy band nature, every single Blue has released since has well and truly sucked.
I have never automatically hated anything connected with the word pop. During the �80s, almost everything on the Top 40 was pop, and a lot of it was good. I love �80s music�and not just because I remember when those songs were fresh and in the charts. (Boy, am I showing my age or what?) The artists cared how the music was presented. These days, pop music is nothing more than a synthesizer and young kids with annoying, high-pitched voices. What happened to pop music? It has been taken over by boy and girl bands. In the �80s, pop bands were at least adults.
Yes, there were bands like New Edition and New Kids on the Block, and in the �70s, there were the Osmond Brothers and the Jackson Five, etc. But they didn�t completely take over the charts the way today�s never-ending lineup of teeny-bopper bands do.
Anyway, I used to list a few bands in my profile, but I recently realized that I wasn�t happy with it because it was so incomplete. Even if I had twenty spaces in which to list my favorite music, it would still be lacking. So here, in full, is all my favorite music, which as you will see, encompasses many genres:
Hard rock : Led Zeppelin, Linkin Park, Sum 41, Green Day, The Ramones, Stiff Little Fingers, Third Eye Blind, Smash Mouth, The Charlatans (UK), No Doubt, Garbage
Classic rock : Creedence Clearwater Revival, Chicago, Blood, Sweat & Tears, The Band, America, Grand Funk Railroad, Supertramp, The Guess Who, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Billy Joel, Steely Dan, The Alan Parsons Project, Pink Floyd, The Cars, The Police, The Who, The Kinks, The Beatles, The Animals, The Psychedelic Furs
Pop, R&B, or drum �n�bass (club) : Everything But the Girl, The Style Council, Matchbox 20, Radiohead, The Cardigans, Shaggy, Madonna, Prince, Billy Ocean
Jazz : Dave Brubeck, Shirley Horn, John Coltrane, Joshua Redman, Joe Sample, Miles Davis
Classical : George Frederick Handel, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Dmitri Shostachovich, Fran�ois Couperin
I will probably remember more favorite music much later. I just know there�s some stuff I�ve forgotten. But the point is, analyze this list well�you will discover there�s not one boy or girl band on it. And that�s for good reason. If it doesn�t make me tap my feet or move me, I don�t listen to it. Today�s pop music is devoid of emotion and empty of musical ability. You can blame the record companies for this, but they couldn�t release it if it didn�t sell. That�s the sad thing.
I blame the public for this plague upon our Top Forty�and our ears.
* Top Of the Pops is a British record chart TV program.
� M.E.M.
|
[Sign My Guestbook]
[View My Guestbook]
|
Copyright � 2001-2007 by M.E. Manning. All material is written by me, unless explicitly stated otherwise by use of footnotes or bylines. Do not copy or redistribute without my permission.
AMERICA FOR TRUE AMERICANS!