> Yes this may be true. But wouldn't you say the state of rock and roll is
>
> particularly horrible at the moment? I know I'm pointing out the obvious
>
> observation. I was originally trying to make the correllation between
> this current state of rock and roll and how that relates to the ecomonic
>
> boom of the late 90's. And trying to speculate that the recession that
> Bush will be ushering in will hopefully spawn something more inspiring.
> I was hoping to discuss the future of rock and roll. I suppose I wasn't
> clear enough. I'll admit I'm not the greatest communicator via email...
>
The rock charts have sucked for a long time. Period. This ain't
something new.
They suck now with Korn, etc....they sucked during grunge.....they
sucked during
the hair metal bands...SO WHAT? Ignore them if it gets you so uptight.
Neither Bush nor Gore nor Nader have ANY effect on the charts.
>
> >
> > > Though I've gotta say that from a purely musical perspective
> > > and my own personal opinion, most obscure music is obscure for good
> > > reason. A lot of it is utter rubbish. Most of them couldn't write a
> > > decent song to save their lives.
> >
> >
> > OK, you just gave yourself away there.... dig a little deeper rather
> > than hide
> > behind the tried-and-true "it didn't chart for a reason" excuse.
> >
> How did I give myself away? I didn't actually say that only stuff that
> charted was any good. In fact, The Who rarely charted, Creation never
> charted, and some of the Kinks' best work and Ray Davies' most inspired
> songs never charted. I meant that a lot of the obscure stuff I've been
> exposed to had no song quality whatsoever. But I'll take your advice to
> dig a bit deeper and see where that leads me. Suggestions?
> > >
Actually ALL of those groups charted (in one country or another) And to
say that
Ray Davies' song catalog hasn't been given a fair shake (or the Who...)
is laughable.
What you said was...."Though I've gotta say that from a purely musical
perspective
and my own personal opinion, most obscure music is obscure for good
reason. A lot of it is utter rubbish. Most of them couldn't write a
decent song to save their lives."
And THAT my friend is a load of malarkey. There are any number of
reasons why a song could
be obscure (ie...not charted or played on oldies stations). This is not
to say that "obscurity = good".
But with the HUGE, HUGE amount of records released in the 60s....how
many can really
expect to make airplay? If you work "in the industry" then you must
know the millions of
demo tapes floating around, right? I would take ANY half-ass Northern
Soul throwaway,
third-rate, Motown rip-off over an overblown Creed song ANYDAY.
I could give you suggestions, but I'm not feeling particularly generous
at the moment.
The original question from Mr. Wallace was "is anybody listening to
anything NEW"
by that he meant current I suppose. I gave a couple of names
there...and I could probably
think up a few more....but I don't LIKE most current music. I find the
production
PAINFUL to listen to. I don't close my ears if I hear something I like,
but I don't
go searching anymore either. There is just too much good stuff from the
past that
surprises me and gets me going.
> Actually it was a serious question that had a cheeky lede. The actual
> question was not meant to be cheeky or my fallback defensive. If I was
> that obvious and that boring, why did you take the time to meticulously
> rip into every point of my post?
Because I find it fun to pop balloons. Why did you?
Do you need to assert your utmost
> authority at every turn and go for the jugular at the slightest hint of
> someone's lesser thought out points? Not everyone has had your twenty or
>
> so years of exposure to music and involvement in the mod scene. Why not
> turn people on more to the things you're listening to and have
> experienced? There must be more that you're listening to than just the
> two groups you mentioned before.
There is plenty more that I listen to. But I don't feel like sharing
with someone
so confident that ignorance is bliss. Maybe a month ago, I mentioned
the first
Os Mutantes Lp on the Omplatten label. It's just called "Os Mutantes"
and it's from
Brazil, '68. It's not "mod" per se, but it is 60s....it is
obscure....it never charted
anywhere in North America....it has some great and innovative stuff
(some of
which could be played alongside some of your indie faves) and I
guarantee you've
never heard anything like it before. Now go find your own treasures.
It might take more effort than turning on the radio.
Dan
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