I'd just like to preface this thread with (1) An apology if this is all no-brainer, obvious stuff and (2) a note that this is not a "modern music sucks" rant; I listen to and like new stuff as well as old (although I'm more selective nowadays). Anyway, here goes...
A couple of months ago I was thinking how weird it was that I could instantly recall, tell you the name of, recite the lyrics of, and sing snippets of just about every popular song from my youth, and yet I struggle to recognise songs and artists these days after hearing just a bar or two.
I know that the music of one's halcyon days has a longer-lasting effect because it is the soundtrack to some of the most enjoyable times of your life, but even so, I thought this situation went beyond that: I mean, I can remember the lyrics and melodies of even the stuff I didn't like in my youth, but have to fish out the liner notes every time I listen to something these days--even stuff I like.
Anyway, when I thought about the major differences in the music environment, it struck me that I listened to a lot of radio when I was young, but hardly ever do so nowadays. The radio was always on at home in the morning and afternoon up until dinner time (unless someone turned it off to play a record or cassette), as well as in the car. So I conducted a little experiment: I downloaded some various-artist compilations and listened to them regularly as one might hear top-40 stuff on the radio.
I'm aware that top-40 radio stations play their heavy-rotation songs several times a day, but when you factor in times spent listening to other forms of music, or time when the radio wasn't on, I guessed you'd hear the same songs around once (twice at most) a day. So I endeavoured to listen to my playlist once a day for a month.
In the end, I didn't manage to maintain the once-a-day routine; each song was played 20 times over a month and a bit--approximately once every two days on average.
How did it turn out? Well, I can now sing along with pretty much all the songs. A number of them have become favourites, and I've bought the artists'/bands' albums; even the one's I didn't care for so much have stuck in my mind, and I can croon along with a chorus or two without having to look up the words--just like when I used to listen to the radio regularly.
So, I have to conclude that the fact I listened regularly to the radio, which played a limited batch of songs repeatedly, and the fact that I don't listen to radio so much are the reasons that I have instant recall of the music of yesteryear but struggle to recognise music from 2008.
It was all about the radio.
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That's fair. I suppose we've
That's fair. I suppose we've got so much choice now (including massive amounts of CD's / MP3s) that we don't get the same sort of repetitive exposure.
I think i mostly listen to new albums about 5 or 6 times over the space of a month or so, then they go into my backlog... But yea, if there's somehting i really like then i'll always endeavour to learn the lyrics (trying not to overkill the song in the process (like i had 'killing in the name' ruined when i was in high school by people playing it eveyday on loop every morning tea and lunch time .. grumble ... but it's still a good song ... or 'smells like teen spirit' for that matter too)
Yeah Man, You're right it is
Yeah Man,
You're right it is about radio but also about the simple fact that albums like Axis: Bold As Love, Aladdin Sane, An Evening With Wild Man Fischer, Welcome To My Nightmare, Electric Warrior, We're Only In It For Money, Sgt Pepper, Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy, Crime Of The Century, Dark Side Of Moon, Little Deuce Coupe, so totally fucked it up for us and ruin music for rest of us cause thanks to the concept album bands became more focus on their fucking albums than they did on the music ! That's what wrongs with us musicians is we get so caught up with album and crap we forget it's about music, that what we should focus on first not the album but yeah we don't !!! I don't know about how this shit is with you guys, I know way too guys who go to me saying " Yeah we're in studio, trying to work on album ... " . I'm sorry, miss that, it sounded like you were saying you're in studio trying to work on album ?!? Man shouldn't you already done that, shouldn't you have already, at home, work on songs to have album worth of stuff to fucking take into studio record ? I really don't get that dude still that's what I'm getting at is to have the sort songs that we had when we were kids, the sort songs that everybody knows, that won't leave the radio alone, we need to focus, fucking get back to what it's about, our music, not our albums !!! It's only way people are going buy them in the end, is if our fucking songs are good, guys not album. But nobody does because eveybody is brought into the album concept that people have been picking up on since the start of the seventies, that they forget in seventies, it wasn't the album, it was music that matter. Most of huge bands back in the days Aerosmith, Grand Funk Railroad, TRex, Third World War, Slade, Sweet, Wombles, Faces, Elton John, David Bowie, Kiss, it was all about music to such extent that they on there singles, they actually threw out some there best songs on there B-Sides ( Like Aerosmith Lord Of Thighs, Slade's Cover of Hi Ho Silver Linning, David Bowie's Velvet Goldmine Etc ) because to them it was all if what we're throwing out is that good, bitch, you think about how great our album got be ! That's fucking shit that made them famous and that's crap we need to pull on radio !!! Like John Lennon made out to Jann Werner in his 1970 Rolling Stone Interview " A Single Is Advertisement, Music Me And Paul Put Out Every Three Months, It Wasn't All Fucking Fluff, We Agonized Over Our Three Minute Songs Not Because We Wanted Write Ourselves A Car, Mansion, Shit But Because We Remember Listening To The Radio Growing Up Liking Song And Then Realising Jingle For Jurgens Burgens Fucking Turdgens Meat Hutt Luxembourg That Came On Next Was Better Song !!! That Is What We Didn't Want Happening To Us, Coca Cola Was The Beatles Real Competition In 60's, Not Rolling Stones !!! " Yeah and hate to say it to you he's right ! The best kiwi song growing up in Eighties wasn't Sailing Away, Slice Of Heaven, Four Seasons In One Day, French Letter, Fraction Too Much Friction, Persuassion, it was " We're Harvey's !!! We're Harvey's !!! We're Auckland Favourite Fabric Store !!! " And it's the same now with kiwi music on the radio !!!!! Crap yeah that shit needs to change ...
I agree with the "focus on
I agree with the "focus on the songs" thing. Too many albums have what seem to be nothing more than fillers - the "hmm we seem to need another 4 minute song" type songs.
Then there are those other albums where the single is about the only good thing going for them ... disappointing
It's a cool way to live
It's a cool way to live harshbloke, test it. very inspiring.
Interestingly, Shihad were
Interestingly, Shihad were talking about this type of thing on their Nightline interview last night...