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Just a bit of a rant on people, age/generations and music listening.
Having recently joined the 1/2 century club of life and living I have found in recent years notably as peers in and around my age say oh age 40 to maybe 60 and in my case some notable local radio types, talk show hosts etc. but also just in my general circle demographic a silly attitude on their 'new' music listening ideals.
These folks now having reached age 40-50-60 or such in some silly attempt to keep or regain their youth can tend to shite on the music they may have grown up to listening say mostly from the late 1960's, through the 1970's-80's, til the early 1990's. It's as if they have to proove they are still young and hip by listening to more current top 40 shite and yakking about these current female music bimbos and male hispters of IMO current mainstream music, much of it trash as if these now 40-50-60 somethings GET IT! ARE HIP TO THE CURRENT TOP 40/BUBBLE GUM/ BAD GIRL/BAD BOY (yeah none of these boyz are bad but are mostly posers compared to the real bad boys of ROCK n ROLL in our days from the late 1960's to 70's and 80's).
It's really quite pathetic to hear my peer group including those about 10 years below and 10 year above me (again many radio/t.v. dudes and dudettes) bash and shite on the music of their youth in trying to appear hip with the under 30 group and much of the mainstream shite performers of current mainstream music culture. These peers ARE NOT AND DO NOT SOUND HIP OR WITH IT! They come of as desperate in trying to stay age 20-25-30. :-( it's really quite sad.
Nobody enjoys growing old so to speak, we all tend to want to hold on to our youth. But in life the only alternative to growing old is to stop and to end up pushing up daisies. I'd rather gracefully grow old thank you.
I listen to some younger say under age 40 to that of age 30 type artists and bands too and they are not MAINSTREAM TOP 40 PABLUM/SHITE! But are more still rockers and rollers who have talent to make enjoyable music but still have some values to not fall prey to corrupted mainstream music shite. BUT! I do not crap on the music I grew up with and became a fan of stereo hi-fi and its hobby listening to. I listen to popular artists and bands that would be near one generation before me, say late 50's and early to mid 60's. I enjoy artists and bands of the late 70's and into the 80's as I came of age to them and their music and music culture. They have me TRIP BACK IN TIME AND FEEL GOOD ABOUT MANY GOOD TIMES AS A TEENAGER AND YOUNG ADULT! Why would I want to crap on this music and artists/bands? In fact I just finished spinning an LP of Loverboy's first album, my memories were flooding back and it all felt good.
So I say get on with life, we all live and many may be fortunate to grow old. By all means expand one's music listening ideals if one likes. I can spin on one day or hour Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen or Rush, another day or hour Evanescence, Norah Jones, Cold Play or some Collective Soul. The next hour or day it could be some Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra, maybe a bit of Neil Diamond. I will at some time get into a classical music fix with some Gershwin, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky. Then it's another day or hour of Diana Krall and maybe Sarah McLaughlin. My next day or hour could be Heart, Journey, Toto, Sheena Easton, Duran Duran and Supertramp. None of this stuff will I crap on notably the stuff I grew up with.
Life is too short trying to act and live younger than you are. I'm not some washed out older dude. I am generally fit and healthy in mind and spirit with a proverbial bucket of life experiences good, indifferent and bad, daily problems/issues like all of us have and many thoughts on life. But I ain't no 20 something listening to One Direction, Katie Perry or Beyoncee and the likes. Of course if any of you like their stuff THAT IS GREAT! But if you are say twice their age and to try to fit in the hip scene you then crap on the great music, artists and bands that you grew up with I say GET A LIFE! We should all hope to be able to live to grow old and to keep our memories of days passed by to which music of our come of age era is a part of such.
Many of us will not get the opportunity to grow old, I lost my older brother when he was only 29. He never got the chance to grow old. I'm not gonna shite on my culture and life of my youth be it the music, movies and t.v. of the come of age times just to try to look hip and be 'like I'm a hey, like ya know, like wow man, like I am so into Beyoncee, Katie Perry and celebs like them'
Follow Ups:
I think it's worth seeming a bit foolish to stretch your musical tastes a bit. Better than the folks whose taste never moved beyond what was current when they were in high school.
And I know I'm a small minority. Most of my friends consider the music of their teenage years to be the absolute peak of all music.
Well when I was a small kid I remember listening to a British Invasion show on my am station to hear the latest brand new stuff by people like Freddy and the dreamers and the Dave Clark five.
For me it's never stopped. Now I read mojo magazine. It is aimed at baby boomers for sure with covers often of Beatles, Pink Floyd, or some other boomer icon. But with dozens of reviews of new releases, there is plenty to pursue if one cares. That's dozens of new releases per month just in one magazine and while some are vintage artists like willie Nelson or ray Davies, the majority are younger. Jane weaver has a new release and I'm a big fan. The national has a new single and album to come. And every month I hear of some musician, new to me, that I end up liking. Sorry if that offends you.
Being 60 most people of a similar age rant about how there has been nothing worth listening to since the 70's. The ones that do listen to contemporary music have no interest in top 40, which for the most part has always been bad.
If I did know anyone that liked current top 40, I don't think I'd assume it's because they are pretending to be hip.
I work in a popular music academy with students from 16 through their 20s. This includes a lot of singers and songwriters. I have to understand contemporary pop or I'm dead meat.
I listen to a wide range of contemporary artists. Of course some are a lot more interesting than others. I really connect with artists like e.g. Sarsa Bareilles, St Vincent, Imogen Heap and like and admire bands like Sigur Ros and Odd Beholder.
I have memories of the past like everyone does, but I don't live in it and I don't want to live in it. I want to live today.
I'd like to hear some new (contemporary) music on a regular basis, but I don't really want to spend a lot of time hunting for it. Be a learning experience. I'm not a fan of Hip-Hop.
Thanks,
Matthew/older guy
Just be thankful we have this hobby, like you imply; and I am like you with eclectic tastes.
I might listen to Fleetwood Mac, Heart, Phil Ramone artists on CBS, go back to the Seekers, Simon & Garfunkel, Joan Baez, etc. Then to Duke Ellington, Dave Brubeck and Preservation Hall Jazz. Then switch to Vivaldi selections on Arkiv, Beethoven Overtures by Karajan BPO, Mahler 1 LSO with Horenstein, and finish with LangLang or YuJa Wang. Variety of different genres and sources.
Why not?
I am using my long lasting hobby now every quarter at church. I make playlists for our 50 + events, and I play them during breakfast and lunch. I mix late 50's up to 80's oldies with church hymns, often in instrumental or newer arrangements. I find that many of my friends become vocalists :), with good memory of many lyrics. I tailor the songs, which sets them up to receive the teaching during the events.
.
"Life without music is a mistake" (Nietzsche)
If it's music I dislike and someone else is listening to it, that's a good thing in my view.
Saves me the discomfort of listening to it myself.
Like when people start ranting on about the wonderfulness of Prissypants (Oops! - I mean Angela Hewitt!) or Daniel Barenboim. ;-)
BTW - No, I STILL haven't heard any of her Ravel solo piano album. My loss, I know! ;-)
My distaste in newer music has more to do with questionable technology and declining artistry than with culture.... If I like something, I don't really care if the music came out yesterday or 200 years ago. Same goes for music I don't like.
I think when people become biased to music of the their generation or their culture, they've been overcome by peer pressure. (And tend to feel rejected personally over others rejecting music of their generation or culture.) But worst of all, they've sold themselves short in regard to the sheer enjoyment of music. They've let peer pressure close to door to music that they could have really enjoyed if their culture simply allowed them do so.
I could never relate to "being hip"..... I think the worst trait for anyone is compromise their tastes in the name of being accepted or popular. Or trying to appear younger than they really are.
A wise statement, which reaches far beyond music listening habits.
Happy listening,
Jim
"The passage of my life is measured out in shirts."
- Brian Eno
Puer aeternus.
For example.
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination" -Michael McClure
. . . (and I'm sure this is true of a lot of other men), I simply did not have the means to get a "mid-life crisis car" until I was in mid-life! Believe me, I would have gotten one of those cars much earlier if I could have. It IS funny though that most times I see those types of cars these days, they're being driven by old geezers! (OTOH, I can tell you from experience that these cars ARE chick magnets - LOL!) I gave mine up earlier this year because so many things were going wrong with it that it had just become a black sinkhole of money - I still love the physical design!
My mid-life crisis car (2005 SLK 350) - now jettisoned!
My current car - 2016 Acura TLX - the rest of the family likes this one a lot better, but, after driving that Mercedes for years, I feel that this Acura is just too big! And of course it's not nearly as responsive as the (manual transmission) Mercedes was.
Edits: 05/21/17
Yuja isn't even trying...
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