In my defence: it’s 1:40am and I’m leathered (i.e., drunk).
For the prosecution: the older I get, the more my music tastes are aging. Now, I’m happy to admit that I think that music from the early 1990s is a lot better than most music around now (my own tastes extend mainly to the early, better, Britpop and Madchester bands). Fair enough, everyone has their own tastes.
Tonight, I found myself humming along to a re-release of an Elton John song. Dear lord. “Are you ready for love?”, as it happens, currently playing in every Sky (the UK arm of that nice Mr Murdoch’s business) TV channel.
Can I redeem myself? Should I resign myself to an unashamed appreciation of my guilty pleasures (Abba, etc), or can I regain lost youth in a Maddona-esque attempt to look younger than I am?
Last night, I learned that the bumper music on VH1 was not an old Michael Jackson song, but in fact a rather new song by some group called Junior Senior.
I’ve no defense except for a liking of solid drum grooves and catchy melodies.
Ah, Junior Senior. Camp Dutch dance music at its best (worst?). I bought their first single, and was tempted by the second until I realised the Disney Channel were using it for adverts.
Crusoe, based on your post I got it into my head to “find” some old music I used to listen to. After three playings of Bengali in Platforms, I realised we’re surrounded by dreck. Fuck 'em, find what you like and play it. David Gray, Steely Dan, the Delgados and Zero 7 are methadone to me.
Same thing in the US, just worse. At least you’ve probably got people around you who think the shit is what it is…
Do what I do—never get caught up worrying about that kind of stuff in the first place.
My musical tastes are mostly Classical, Classical, film music (which sounds a lot like Classical) and a variety of other eclectic stuff thrown in. (But no Neil Diamond. I have a limit.)
I never worry about my musical tastes not “measuring up” to whatever age group I’m currently in. Because they’ll never measure up. I’ve never had “normal” musical tastes, and I never will.
Don’t care, don’t care—oh my goodness, it’s so nice not to care.
I think as you get older you get more open-minded to different forms of music. At least that’s the case with me. There used to be all kinds of genres of music that I simply wouldn’t listen to because it wasn’t ‘my kind of music’. Now I just look for quality wherever I can find it.
In my CD changer right now:
Warren Zevon - The Wind
Radiohead - Ok Computer
The Dixie Chicks - Home
The White Stripes - Elephant
Beck - Odelay
Fountains of Wayne - Welcome Interstate Managers
I really don’t think it matters what you listen to. Listen to what you like whether its old or new. That’s what I do.
I seem to have picked up my musical taste from my Dad who listens to a lot of different stuff (only I listen to some stuff he doesn’t like of course )
My friends often wonder about me because of my music tastes… right now I have going a lot of older songs… some stuff from around the time Smoky and the Bandit came out (You know… truck driving tunes… Phantom 309, Teddy Bear, Deisel on my Tail) some martimes music (John McDermott and a couple of Rankin’s tunes thrown in)… and a bunch of other stuff like Boney M, Mellencamp, Billy Joel, Bryan Adams, Bruce Springsteen, Meatloaf, Seal, Trooper… all on one playlist! I think the newest thing on my list right now is either Human League, Wilson Pickett or Live… I’m not that old either and I like all sorts of stuff!
I think that as you get older, one of two things happen:
You are exposed to more kinds of music, and you like the experience. Your musical horizons are enhanced. You also worry less about what your “peers” think, and just listen to what you enjoy.
You become more rigid and closed-minded, convinced that nothing good has been written or performed since 1962. Change scares you. Stubborn ignorance is comforting.
Fortunately, I think we have more of the first types here. But I’ve met some of the latter category. Scary.
As for me—well, I do become more eclectic as the years pass (and being able to peruse Apple’s iTunes store and cherry pick only the pieces of music that I want is very nice).
I think that may be the case. Thing is, I’ve nothing against Elton John, I just never liked much he did, and I’ll never forgive him for that bloody re-release of “Candle In The Wind”. Still, maybe I am just getting more open-minded. Can’t be a bad thing.
Good Lord, I sure don’t have that limit. I loooove his music. “Forever In Blue Jeans”, and “Red, Red Wine”? Pure hilarity.
Now, if we’re talking about a limit being reached, we’re going to have to discuss all of those '90s grunge bands (“Look, Ma! I sound the same as the metal bands, except I shower less and–not knowing how it’s even possible–play even less chords!”)
Ah the irony. Almost three decades, used to be almost the exact opposite for me. Pot influenced my music tastes.
As for the rest of your post, I’ve found that to be pretty standard going with the aging process. Including the fact that music was obviously much better in the 70’s. Whether that’s because of A-the pot itself, B-bothered to actually listen, C-it really was or D-a combination of all three, I can’t say.
But there’s no doubt that, for me, music really meant something in the heyday of Elton John, Cat Stevens, Al Stewart, Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Boz Scaggs, Ian Andersen, The Who, ELO, Doobie Brothers, Led Zeppelin, Allman Brothers, The Police and a long list of etc., that it has never meant since.
Now a days, I hardly know the names of the singers – more like background noise, sometimes pleasant sometimes not.
Old times, never better. Of course, it only seems that way.
I’ve got to say that this song is absolutely execrable and you are completely right to feel embarassed about humming along to it.
‘Are you ready for love’ runs out of ideas before it is a quarter way through, it has very little verse and a lot of chorus, which are repeated ad nauseum throughout.
The final piece that condemns this song is the key change where the lines
Are you ready
Are you ready for love
Yes I am
(key change step one)
Yes I am
(key change step two)
Yes I am
(key change step 3)
Yes I am
(it would have been more interesting too see just how many more key steps up could have been inserted before the whole thing fell apart)
Song then continues its predictable long long lead out until finish when it seems everyone must have died of ennui.
The key change is often used to try inject new life into a song partway through when it should have been laid decently to rest, except that the songwriter doesn’t have the imagination to actually come up with a creative ending.
As a result I have submitted this drek to this website (link below) that has a collection of other dreary key change numbers that try exactly the same trick, and it hardly ever, make that never, works well.
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