Today's Music: Superficiality Over Substance - March 13, 2007
Dylan sang "The times they are a-changin'" and, boy, was he right! Popular music continues to change as the years go by. I have trouble saying music is "evolving" because of the implied meaning of "improving through evolution." Today's music is far from improving on what has come before, in my opinion. More on this later.
I just bought a DVD of great interest to me: "To Tulsa and Back- On Tour with J.J.Cale." I have admired John Cale's music since I was a 21 year old clerk in an Orlando record store back in the early '70's. I've only managed to see him play one time, and through no fault of his own, it was a most dissapointing night. My wife, son and I traveled from Virginia to Charlotte, NC, to see him after over 30 years of loving his music, buying his albums, playing some of his songs in various band incarnations, and "spreading the gospel" on the quality of his music to anybody who would listen. It was a medium-sized venue (the Vistalite- sp?) with a bar and a $15 per person cover charge. I thought seeing Cale in such an intimate room would be a blessing compared to seeing him in concert in a large venue. Boy, was I mistaken! The main problem was the youngish (21-30 year old) crowd that populated the place. Sure, there were quite a few 40 to 50ish folks there, but the boisterous youngsters far outnumbered us "oldtimers." And were they loud! Most had never heard of J.J. Cale, but were there to party. We could barely hear the music. Management started the show with a warning that Cale didn't play loudly (he's a believer in nuance or finessee in his guitar work, not volume,) and that they needed to "keep it down" so others could hear! Did they listen to that request? Hell no! We watched in total amazement as the management repeated this request three more times throughout Cale's show. We ended up hearing about one-fourth of his music. The crowd would loudly talk and yell throughout most every song. They obviously wern't there to hear Cale's music.When we got home I shot off an angry email to the venue's management about the situation. Never got a response.
Here's my point: It seems "today's youth"- at least the majority- is far more interested in the superficial over substance in their music and in their reaction to it. The above described patrons were far more into drinking and partying than listening to a recognized song-meister and guitar player. For those who don't know, John Cale wrote "After Midnight" and "Cocaine"- a decidedly antidrug song, and his popularity took off when Eric Clapton covered them in his albums. Cale also penned "They Call Me the Breeze," covered by Lynyrd Skynyrd, and favorites like "Magnolia," "Lies," and "Momma Don't (Allow No Guitar Playin' in Here,") covered by hundreds of bands for over 40 years! John Cale is now 65 years old and still touring. He does it for the love of music. He doesn't need to tour. He is the ONLY musician I've heard of who turned-down his record company's request to get out and promote his hit songs, a decision that cost him millions of dollars. He is a man of moral decisions. His answer to his record company's request: "If my songs are already a hit, why promote them?"
I used to DJ dances and wedding receptions, back in the '80's and '90's, a moonlighting English teacher making a few extra bucks. It was dismaying to watch the music gradually change from "hair bands" like Night Ranger, with their high-energy ballads, to rap music, with it's droning, boring beat and offensive lyrics. I challenged all my students to bring me a rap album that did not have offensive language. The challenge went unanswered for four or five years when one day a very motivated, bright, Black male student, (and the son of a police officer) brought me a CD. I took it home, put on the headphones to better hear the lyrics, and sat on the porch to listen. It was a Christian rap album! No bad lyrics there, I had to admit the next day to the class. The student who loaned me the CD asked if I would buy that kind of music. I had to tell the truth: No, rap music simply lacked any melody- the rise and fall of notes that gives music variety and interest. I wouldn't buy it. But I thanked him for proving me wrong- that rap albums existed that didn't contain vulgar language. Unfortunately, most rap music is vulgar, offensive to women- constantly referring to them as "bitches"- offensive to all Black males- calling even themselves "niggas"- offensive to police- offensive to anything positive in life, constantly promoting "bling"-the things money and drug selling bring- over more positive values, and constantly promoting violence as the first and only choice to settling differences between people. My students today (Black and White) tell me they never look a stranger in the eye while on the street. Why? Because to do so is now interpreted by our youth as a challenge!! A challenge to be settled with violence- fists, knives, or guns, with guns predominating! This is a major change in American culture that did not exist before rap and hip-hop music took over the airways, advertising, recording and video industries. Coincidence? No. Rap music promoted the "gangsta" image to the point of it being desirable, first among Black youth; then, because of its popularity, that image has trickled down to White youth. Read that last sentence again. I've got to say here that not all students are emulating their "gangsta" rap heros. I've taught lots of really fine Black and White students, but I feel sorry for the many Black women, mothers of those students who struggle daily to keep that permeating "gansta" image from enveloping their children's whole lives. Bill Cosby's campaign to slow or stop this from happening is not enough. Few survive the enormous peer pressure to conform. It is a well known fact that 50% of all Black males are locked up, incarcerated, at any given time. Those men have bought-into the gangsta image. College educated Black women have a very difficult time finding a marriage partner, Newsweek reports. Duhh! Many more great Black men must step forward and speak out against this self-defeating music and the negative shadow it casts over the Black race or it will continue to spiral out of control.
Have you seen the "modern" way of dancing- done at high school dances and proms, and most dance floors in the nation since the 1990's? Most teens and twenty-somethings do "freaking"- they stand rubbing against each other, simulating the sex act. Prom chaperones across the nation have quite a time trying to stop this kind of dancing. (There's a reason why those kids want very low lighting at dances!) Now, these kids didn't invent sexuality in dancing, they just took it to the absolute limit. The only thing left is to remove the clothes! And what kind of music do they "freak" to? Rap and Hip Hop, with its repetitive, strong, primal beat, mostly done with a drum machine. Again, the beat of the music wins over the message of the song. The listeners are there to "groove and grind"- just like at the aforementioned John Cale show, not to listen to carefully crafted lyrics and melody, not to learn from the song. The music is superficial, lacking melody, lacking meaning. And they love it! Other music is out there, but Rap and Hip Hop dominates. That's basically why I gave up DJ jobs. I couldn't stand the music anymore. I had outgrown it. My dad hated my Rock and Roll, and I had learned to hate "the music" of a younger generation. I was a liberal and educated musician! This wasn't supposed to happen! But my dad hated "my" music because it was so different from his Frank Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey. I feel a little more justified in that I have particular differences in my distaste for today's popular Rap and Hip Hop music.
So, in watching my J.J.Cale DVD, I listened as Cale said that people buy the music they grew up with, the music of their youth, their good times. He counted himself fortunate because some of his songs have "crossed over" to younger bands who cover his material. There are some serious musicians playing contempory music. John Mayer, Nora Jones, and The String Cheese Incident come to mind. There are lots more. But Rap and Hip Hop predominate the contemporary media. Today's youth, according to Cale, will continue to buy-into Rap's messages of violence well into their fourties and fifties! Ever wonder why the murder rate is 10% higher than just 10 years ago in our nation? It's now expected - almost accepted- that an arguement will end in gunfire- even on the highways between strangers!
Popular music has changed. Has it evolved? Dancing has changed. Has it evolved? Our whole culture has changed. Has it evolved? I don't think so. We've regressed. And to think this whole blog was supposed to be about music. Music and culture- you can't really seperate the two.
Dylan sang "The times they are a-changin'" and, boy, was he right! Popular music continues to change as the years go by. I have trouble saying music is "evolving" because of the implied meaning of "improving through evolution." Today's music is far from improving on what has come before, in my opinion. More on this later.
I just bought a DVD of great interest to me: "To Tulsa and Back- On Tour with J.J.Cale." I have admired John Cale's music since I was a 21 year old clerk in an Orlando record store back in the early '70's. I've only managed to see him play one time, and through no fault of his own, it was a most dissapointing night. My wife, son and I traveled from Virginia to Charlotte, NC, to see him after over 30 years of loving his music, buying his albums, playing some of his songs in various band incarnations, and "spreading the gospel" on the quality of his music to anybody who would listen. It was a medium-sized venue (the Vistalite- sp?) with a bar and a $15 per person cover charge. I thought seeing Cale in such an intimate room would be a blessing compared to seeing him in concert in a large venue. Boy, was I mistaken! The main problem was the youngish (21-30 year old) crowd that populated the place. Sure, there were quite a few 40 to 50ish folks there, but the boisterous youngsters far outnumbered us "oldtimers." And were they loud! Most had never heard of J.J. Cale, but were there to party. We could barely hear the music. Management started the show with a warning that Cale didn't play loudly (he's a believer in nuance or finessee in his guitar work, not volume,) and that they needed to "keep it down" so others could hear! Did they listen to that request? Hell no! We watched in total amazement as the management repeated this request three more times throughout Cale's show. We ended up hearing about one-fourth of his music. The crowd would loudly talk and yell throughout most every song. They obviously wern't there to hear Cale's music.When we got home I shot off an angry email to the venue's management about the situation. Never got a response.
Here's my point: It seems "today's youth"- at least the majority- is far more interested in the superficial over substance in their music and in their reaction to it. The above described patrons were far more into drinking and partying than listening to a recognized song-meister and guitar player. For those who don't know, John Cale wrote "After Midnight" and "Cocaine"- a decidedly antidrug song, and his popularity took off when Eric Clapton covered them in his albums. Cale also penned "They Call Me the Breeze," covered by Lynyrd Skynyrd, and favorites like "Magnolia," "Lies," and "Momma Don't (Allow No Guitar Playin' in Here,") covered by hundreds of bands for over 40 years! John Cale is now 65 years old and still touring. He does it for the love of music. He doesn't need to tour. He is the ONLY musician I've heard of who turned-down his record company's request to get out and promote his hit songs, a decision that cost him millions of dollars. He is a man of moral decisions. His answer to his record company's request: "If my songs are already a hit, why promote them?"
I used to DJ dances and wedding receptions, back in the '80's and '90's, a moonlighting English teacher making a few extra bucks. It was dismaying to watch the music gradually change from "hair bands" like Night Ranger, with their high-energy ballads, to rap music, with it's droning, boring beat and offensive lyrics. I challenged all my students to bring me a rap album that did not have offensive language. The challenge went unanswered for four or five years when one day a very motivated, bright, Black male student, (and the son of a police officer) brought me a CD. I took it home, put on the headphones to better hear the lyrics, and sat on the porch to listen. It was a Christian rap album! No bad lyrics there, I had to admit the next day to the class. The student who loaned me the CD asked if I would buy that kind of music. I had to tell the truth: No, rap music simply lacked any melody- the rise and fall of notes that gives music variety and interest. I wouldn't buy it. But I thanked him for proving me wrong- that rap albums existed that didn't contain vulgar language. Unfortunately, most rap music is vulgar, offensive to women- constantly referring to them as "bitches"- offensive to all Black males- calling even themselves "niggas"- offensive to police- offensive to anything positive in life, constantly promoting "bling"-the things money and drug selling bring- over more positive values, and constantly promoting violence as the first and only choice to settling differences between people. My students today (Black and White) tell me they never look a stranger in the eye while on the street. Why? Because to do so is now interpreted by our youth as a challenge!! A challenge to be settled with violence- fists, knives, or guns, with guns predominating! This is a major change in American culture that did not exist before rap and hip-hop music took over the airways, advertising, recording and video industries. Coincidence? No. Rap music promoted the "gangsta" image to the point of it being desirable, first among Black youth; then, because of its popularity, that image has trickled down to White youth. Read that last sentence again. I've got to say here that not all students are emulating their "gangsta" rap heros. I've taught lots of really fine Black and White students, but I feel sorry for the many Black women, mothers of those students who struggle daily to keep that permeating "gansta" image from enveloping their children's whole lives. Bill Cosby's campaign to slow or stop this from happening is not enough. Few survive the enormous peer pressure to conform. It is a well known fact that 50% of all Black males are locked up, incarcerated, at any given time. Those men have bought-into the gangsta image. College educated Black women have a very difficult time finding a marriage partner, Newsweek reports. Duhh! Many more great Black men must step forward and speak out against this self-defeating music and the negative shadow it casts over the Black race or it will continue to spiral out of control.
Have you seen the "modern" way of dancing- done at high school dances and proms, and most dance floors in the nation since the 1990's? Most teens and twenty-somethings do "freaking"- they stand rubbing against each other, simulating the sex act. Prom chaperones across the nation have quite a time trying to stop this kind of dancing. (There's a reason why those kids want very low lighting at dances!) Now, these kids didn't invent sexuality in dancing, they just took it to the absolute limit. The only thing left is to remove the clothes! And what kind of music do they "freak" to? Rap and Hip Hop, with its repetitive, strong, primal beat, mostly done with a drum machine. Again, the beat of the music wins over the message of the song. The listeners are there to "groove and grind"- just like at the aforementioned John Cale show, not to listen to carefully crafted lyrics and melody, not to learn from the song. The music is superficial, lacking melody, lacking meaning. And they love it! Other music is out there, but Rap and Hip Hop dominates. That's basically why I gave up DJ jobs. I couldn't stand the music anymore. I had outgrown it. My dad hated my Rock and Roll, and I had learned to hate "the music" of a younger generation. I was a liberal and educated musician! This wasn't supposed to happen! But my dad hated "my" music because it was so different from his Frank Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey. I feel a little more justified in that I have particular differences in my distaste for today's popular Rap and Hip Hop music.
So, in watching my J.J.Cale DVD, I listened as Cale said that people buy the music they grew up with, the music of their youth, their good times. He counted himself fortunate because some of his songs have "crossed over" to younger bands who cover his material. There are some serious musicians playing contempory music. John Mayer, Nora Jones, and The String Cheese Incident come to mind. There are lots more. But Rap and Hip Hop predominate the contemporary media. Today's youth, according to Cale, will continue to buy-into Rap's messages of violence well into their fourties and fifties! Ever wonder why the murder rate is 10% higher than just 10 years ago in our nation? It's now expected - almost accepted- that an arguement will end in gunfire- even on the highways between strangers!
Popular music has changed. Has it evolved? Dancing has changed. Has it evolved? Our whole culture has changed. Has it evolved? I don't think so. We've regressed. And to think this whole blog was supposed to be about music. Music and culture- you can't really seperate the two.
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