Talkin' 'bout my g-g-g-g-generation!

In every generation, parents insist that the music their children are listen to is total crap… and that only the music of their (the parent's) generation is worth listening to.  Yet as each successive generation of kids grows up and brings kids of their own into the world, they are equally critical of the music to which their own kids are listening.

To my way of thinking, there are only two possibilities:

1. The parental ear is not able to appreciate the music of their children's generation because of subjective criteria that the parents are using to form their opinion.

2. The above may be true subjectively for each generation, BUT, there is also an objective criteria for appreciating / judging music… and in the case of today's popular music, most of it is actually, indeed, total crap.

I've always felt that #2 was the more correct answer.

Just look at which music has had the most 'staying power' (meaning it is still played widely around the world on mainstream radio stations, used for movie soundtracks, and continues to do a brisk business in retail outlets and music download websites.  Yes, that's right; the 'classic rock' from the mid 60s, 70s and early 80s (i.e. talkin' 'bout my g-g-g-g-generation!).

Before anyone starts throwing examples of hits from the late 80s, early 90s and up to the present, at me, let me ask you the following question:  Are the songs you are about to mention really, truly, representative of contemporary musical trends, or are they so derivative of the previous generation's music that the songs could easily have been hits 'back in the day'?  In short, are the examples you want to use for today's music really what today's music is all about?

I played a gig Saturday night at a posh hotel in Caesarea with a friend's band, and during the long ride home in the wee hours of the morning, while my iPod cranked out a constant stream of 'my' music, I kept trying to figure out the right answer to the conundrum I've stated above.  Does today's music really just suck… or am I just deaf to its charms?

As I rode alone through the dark Israeli landscape, a memorable tune from the 70s began playing, and I was instantly transported back to exactly where I'd been when I first heard it… and strangely, could actually picture exactly what I was wearing at the time. 

So that sent me wandering down an interesting thought-path…

If you think about the various eras, one period of the 20th century is considered the absolute low point of fashion:  The 70s. 

If you were alive at the time - or have photographs of relatives that were - you know what I'm talking about.  That was a bad, bad time for fashion; Qiana shirts, polyester bell-bottom pants, leisure suits (worn with the open shirt collar OVER the suit collar and lots of chains showing on the fluffy chest hair), platform shoes… and don't get me started on hair styles, facial hair or hideous cars! 

Even our homes got caught up in the badness of it all.  Think back and be honest with yourselves.  Didn't you have avocado colored appliances in the kitchen, while the dominant colors elsewhere in the room (and around the house) were brown, mustard yellow and burnt orange?  Nothing further your honor.

Yes, we thought we looked great back then.  But unlike previous (and subsequent) periods which have donated accessories, articles of clothing and entire 'looks' to denizens of later decades… nobody is mining the 70's for their new look.  That was, by objective standards, just a huge fashion 'faux pas'.  No matter how much time passes, those yearbook pictures and old fashion ads are NEVER going to look hip or cool.  

So if an era in fashion can be said to have been, objectively, total crap… why not a musical era?

I posit that just as the 70s and early 80s were the nadir for fashion… the 90s through the present is the low point of popular music (with sadly, no end in sight). 

Our children will look back in 30 or 40 years at what passes for music these days and will feel the exact same self-loathing and embarrassment that I do when I look at pictures of myself in that powder blue tux I wore to one of my high school formals (with the ruffle front shirt w/ matching blue edging).  In other words, it is NEVER going to be anything but cringe-worthy!

Whew… I feel so much better having finally worked that out.