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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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In Reply to: The coolness of stereos from 1956 to 1986 was a one-shot deal. posted by John Marks on October 9, 2014 at 15:38:08:
"The coolness of stereos from 1956 to 1986 was a one-shot deal--a 'perfect storm' of developments in societal structures, social mores, cultural developments, and advances in material culture and technology."
Interesting you chose "1986".... Of course it was around the time digitized audio became the mainstream medium of choice.....
I think from the music angle, enough great acts from the 1960s have faded away..... And the pop culture has seeded the notion in our youth that classical music and old-school jazz were "uncool"...... (I fought this personally in school. Fellow kids in my classes thought it was "strange" that I was interested in Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff. And in retrospect, I've been troubled over what may have motivated young people to think this way. And I'm certain it's worse now than when I was in grade school.)
"Here's the recipe that cannot and will not be repeated:
"Start with a World War that followed a Depression."
I don't think that would be requisite for the enjoyment of music and audio......
"Get to the point where there is a huge population of young men who are not only ready to settle down, they have had technical training and in some way usually some exposure to cultures other than their home town or farm, who qualify for free education under the GI Bill, and who in many cases yearn to be 'Blue-Collar Intellectuals.'"
I'm not such an individual..... About three-fourths of my audiophile friends over the years weren't such individuals......
"The development of the Long-Playing phonograph record coincided with the high point of the popularity of symphony music and with the revolution in small-combo jazz that had been fueled by the stupid wartime 'Cabaret Tax,' that priced big bands out of business. Toscanini and Charlie Parker could both be cool at the same time."
But people like the music because it was music.... The tastes in music at the time was eclectic..... The media reflected those tastes.... Where today, the media shapes those tastes.... (By first giving people a false impression of popularity, then the masses going for the music because it's perceived as "popular".) The eclectic interests in music died because the mainstream media only fed its audience what the media execs wanted them to hear.
"The advent of stereo coincided with the rediscover of Blues and the Folk Revival, followed by the Singer-Songwriter revolution in pop music, wherein artists like Joni Mitchell could actually lay claim to some sort of mainstream career. Ambitious artists made the 'concept [LP] album' an art form."
Just a few parts.... The variety of music choices in the mainstream at the time was endless...........
"MOST OF ALL: The only music-media competition for most of that time consisted of radio, where someone else picked the music, and TV, where music was featured only a few hours a week.
"So, seeing as NONE of the factors that made stereo cool 1956-1986 exist today, why are you unbearably surprised and uncomprehending that between Twittering and Facebooking and texting and sexting and porning and selfieing, young people today do indeed regard LPs as our younger selves would have regarded illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages?"
I'm not surprised, but my contention is that the prefabricated music that dominates the modern mainstream is not exactly material that makes people strive for high-fidelity sound reproduction.... Not to mention the audiophile community viewing such music with disdain, it lacks the artistic depth that makes those people want to enjoy it on a good audio system.
"It's really really simple. Things change. Nothing lasts forever. You can't un-ring a bell."
I think if that were true, there wouldn't have been a vinyl revival.... There are young people out there going for music beyond the mainstream, and some of those people have the same passion for quality sound reproduction that we had.
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Follow Ups
- Don't Agree......... - Todd Krieger 18:17:38 10/09/14 (1)
- Well I think ... - Bromo33333 18:47:39 10/09/14 (0)
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