# Real music died in the 1970s **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [June 13, 2021, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-music-died-in-the-1970s/944199 "2021-06-13T23:41:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-music-died-in-the-1970s/944199/182 "2021-06-18T01:26:47Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > I think kids today are far more likely to appreciate “old” music than my generation was. Music is so much cheaper and easier to access now. When I was a kid I could only afford to belong to one musical tribe. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-music-died-in-the-1970s/944199/183 "2021-06-18T01:36:14Z")
My mother’s uncle didn’t like Frank Sinatra because he thought he was too modern. He told me this around 1980. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-music-died-in-the-1970s/944199/184 "2021-06-18T01:47:53Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I credit video games for this. And for Gen Zers, _Glee_. > [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I think we can agree that Sinatra’s music is generally considered to be “Your grandparent’s music” by most people under about 40. My niece is Gen Z and she loves her Sinatra but that probably doesn’t disprove your “most”. There’s more than you think I’ll bet. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-music-died-in-the-1970s/944199/185 "2021-06-18T02:13:49Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I thought about myself, at age 15, in 1980, and if, at that time, I’d been into music that was 35+ years old, I would have been listening to Benny Goodman or Les Paul or something. I am two years younger than you and I love both of them. Especially Les Paul. And there’s the rub I think. Watch Les Paul play. His skill with the guitar is manifest and better than most anyone playing these days. He was a virtuoso. How many virtuoso guitar players are there today that are a mainstream success? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/NkGf1GHAxhE/hqdefault.jpg "HOW HIGH THE MOON LES PAUL MARY FORD 1951") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkGf1GHAxhE&t=41) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/7iGXP_UBog4/hqdefault.jpg "Les Paul & Mary Ford Show: World Is Waiting For The Sunrise") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iGXP_UBog4&t=64) ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-music-died-in-the-1970s/944199/186 "2021-06-18T02:19:22Z")
I’ll add another. A surprisingly good guitar player was Glen Campbell. Supposedly Eddie Van Halen wanted to take some lessons from Campbell. We simply see nothing like this kind of skill these days in popular music. I have NO doubt there are people out there who are stunningly good musicians but that is no longer what makes you popular. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ETkzK9pXMio/maxresdefault.jpg "Glen Campbell - Gentle on My Mind (terrific guitar break)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETkzK9pXMio) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-music-died-in-the-1970s/944199/187 "2021-06-18T04:52:31Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > We simply see nothing like this kind of skill these days in popular music. I have NO doubt there are people out there who are stunningly good musicians but that is no longer what makes you popular. I don’t understand this. There are many excellent guitarists, and musicians on other instruments, in popular music today. I mean, John Mayer’s pretty damn famous. The guitar is not a long lost skill. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-music-died-in-the-1970s/944199/188 "2021-06-18T04:58:04Z")
Actually, I kinda did like Kriss Kross back in the early 1990s (rip Chris Kelly), but I was referring to Christopher Cross, the Texan soft rock, pop singer between 1979 and 1983. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-music-died-in-the-1970s/944199/189 "2021-06-18T04:59:25Z")
Great. Name some successful (read: well known names) modern musicians (say last 20 years) who are known for being a virtuoso of guitar or piano or drums or whatever. Someone who, you think, people 20 years from now will be citing as a profound influence on themselves and music overall. You can probably name some but I bet you could name loads more from the mid-70s - mid-90s. Again, to be sure, there are great musicians around today. But popular music has become more like fast food. Tasty but not actually very good. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-music-died-in-the-1970s/944199/190 "2021-06-18T05:00:20Z")
Glenn Campbell is a badass, as is Neil Young, and Willie Nelson (and the late Waylon Jennings) ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-music-died-in-the-1970s/944199/191 "2021-06-18T05:03:51Z")
LOL! I dig it. No shit, when I was around 18, me and some of my buds did actually show up at a bar with our pants on backwards - and yes, we looked like stupid fuckers. But…in our minds, we were cool (I guess). ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-music-died-in-the-1970s/944199/192 "2021-06-18T05:05:05Z")
Listening to some Earth, Wind, and Fire right now. Why can’t they make music like this now?! ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-music-died-in-the-1970s/944199/193 "2021-06-18T05:13:09Z")
Few bands evoke the 70s for me more than Earth, Wind & Fire. Such great stuff. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-music-died-in-the-1970s/944199/194 "2021-06-18T06:45:12Z")
I have a split opinion on E,W&F - when White is the lead, I love them. How can you _not_ dance to _September_ or _Boogie Wonderland_? When Bailey is the lead, they make my ears bleed and set the dog to howling. “Reasons” being a prime example. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-music-died-in-the-1970s/944199/195 "2021-06-18T06:54:55Z")
Aah, [rockism](https://web.archive.org/web/20151105070445/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/31/arts/music/the-rap-against-rockism.html), my old nemesis - I did not miss you. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-music-died-in-the-1970s/944199/196 "2021-06-18T11:45:12Z")
This actually does speak to how music has changed. Today, you don’t really need to be a mechanical virtuoso on an instrument to be a musician. You can program a synth to do things you physically cannot. Heck, you can program one to do things a virtuoso cannot. I don’t know if Dan Deacon qualifies as “well known”, but then again I think popularity is probably the stupidest metric to judge music or a musician by. Either way, I believe a virtuoso (or even several at the same time) simply could not play this piece. They built a player piano controlled by MIDI, and composed the piece on it. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/e4rmNfBYR_o/maxresdefault.jpg "Build Voice") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4rmNfBYR_o) As a musician who still spends a lot of time working on his skills using several different instruments, I’m fine with it. To fight it is to go the same way as John Henry. Being really good at an instrument was just a means to making music anyway. If someone can make really good music while skipping that tedious step, more power to them. Oh, and he can play live with with it, provided he’s got the crew to move the piano. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/heFRwLfjVXI/maxresdefault.jpg "Dan Deacon: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heFRwLfjVXI) ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-music-died-in-the-1970s/944199/197 "2021-06-18T13:04:00Z")
As I mentioned before, I used to listen to a lot of classic rock with Clapton and Hendrix . I used to listen to a LOT of Pink Floyd and David Gilmour’s guitar. The first time I listened to a guitar in a song and thought “Shit, [lemme back that up](https://youtu.be/tOmKGjy-Ct0?t=219) and listen to that part again” was Marissa Paternoster from Screaming Females. I have no idea if she’s a “virtuoso” or people will be talking about her in 2055. I don’t know enough about guitar to make any qualified statements about her playing. I do know that she affected me more than Clapton’s playing ever did. So I guess I don’t give a shit where she lands on some Rolling Stone list of bestest guitarguys ever. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-music-died-in-the-1970s/944199/198 "2021-06-18T14:41:24Z")
Yes, there are, and you are simply wrong. I take it you have never read the comments on Youtube under “classic rock” or “classic pop” songs with 200 000 000 views. With a casual look, you’d find masses of people who say things like: "I’m 16, and I just love this [insert 20 - 40 yo recording] over anything else ", or “I’m only 20, but I think the 80’s music is way better than today’s music”. Yes, the majority of people most like the music that was current when they were teenagers. I know plenty such people. But to say that there aren’t easily millions and millions of people who do not fit the mould is just not true. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-music-died-in-the-1970s/944199/199 "2021-06-18T14:53:45Z")
Show me a couple of guitarists this good these days: https://www.youtube.com/embed/v_kbgjsuCec?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=RDv_kbgjsuCec ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-music-died-in-the-1970s/944199/200 "2021-06-18T15:35:34Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Today, you don’t really need to be a mechanical virtuoso on an instrument to be a musician. Did you ever? The Beatles (just as an example) weren’t instrumental virtuosos, unless you’re using the word “virtuoso” very loosely. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-music-died-in-the-1970s/944199/201 "2021-06-18T15:37:22Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > This actually does speak to how music has changed. Today, you don’t really need to be a mechanical virtuoso on an instrument to be a musician > **[The Clash](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clash)** > > The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the post-punk and new wave movements that emerged in the wake of punk and employed elements of a variety of genres including reggae, dub, funk, ska, and rockabilly. For most of their recording career, the Clash consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Joe Strummer, lead guitarist and vocalist Mick J... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-music-died-in-the-1970s/944199.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-music-died-in-the-1970s/944199.md?page=11)