There's something I have to tell you: You got old.

The BBQ Pit
#1

I keep seeing threads around about modern music. And I hear people in their late twenties/early thirties like my sister talking about it. And it’s music today is crap, rap’s not real music, when I was a kid we had real rock and roll, and so on.

You are now officially all old. Oh, I knew you thought it’d never happen. Your parents, of course, they were old. That’s the only reason why they didn’t like your music. And when it happened to your parents? Well, obviously your grandparents just weren’t ready to adjust to Elvis and Buddy Holly, and so their condemnation of all new music was based on age.

But me? you say. Not me. I’m not old. Old is defined by me. So if I don’t like this music, it’s because it has no value whatsoever, not because I’m old… right?

Wrong. Everybody gets old. And the first thing it takes is your ability to enjoy new forms of music. I’ll admit nine-tenths of what you hear on the radio is crap. I’m only 18 but I listen to Oldies music because the crap has been filtered out. But you know what? It was there. I recently discovered a webradio station that is apparently dedicated to the suckiest music of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. “He Hit Me and It Felt Like A Kiss,” anyone?

And anyone trying to claim that the 80s didn’t have a generous portion of suck can take it up with my friend Mr. Duran, and my OTHER friend Mr. Duran.

There’s nothing wrong with it, exactly. Natural phenomenon. Just, when you ask me why I listen to that “rap crap”, don’t be surprised if I just smile sadly and change the subject.

It’s not a matter of clock time. Some people last a long time. Others do real quickly. But it does happen. And if you’re young and reading this… it’ll happen to you to.

–John
[sub]But not me, right? Never me.[/sub]:wink:

#2

Rap is not music. I think it says so in the Koran somewhere.

#3

Well, you’re right. Getting older, one of the first things to go is appreciation for current music. Not a big loss IMO, but then again, I’m old.

However, thankfully, before that goes you lose is the opinion that you are the smartest person on earth and everyone around you is just stupid. What a relief. That one finally starts to disappear around the mid-twenties.

#4

I used to be with it, but then they changed what “it” was. Now, what I’m with isn’t it, and what’s “it” seems weird and scary to me.

It’ll happen to yooooooouuuuuuu…

#5

I’ve always been old, then. When I was 12, I was old.

I’ve never cared much for popular music, of any kind. If it didn’t play on the Classical station, I didn’t (voluntarily) listen to it. I was told by my peers that it was because I couldn’t “handle” modern types of music. No, I just didn’t see the need to waste my time. I could be just as opinionated and arrogant as the next kid.

My parents were hardcore Classical fans. My sisters and I are too. I got a lot of grief for this from kids my age. I wasn’t “giving popular music a chance”. No, I don’t care. I was exposed to enough of the crap from my friends, and I didn’t like it. Besides, they never gave my music a chance, at ALL. They acted horrified, as if I had suggested Chinese Water Torture. So, who really is the one that “can’t handle” it?

Now that I am “old”, I don’t listen to much popular music (but I do occasionally find something that I like). I have been forever out of the “popular” loop, and that’s the way I like it. My musical tastes do not reflect my age. They never did (apparently).

#6

I’ve always been old, then. When I was 12, I was old.

I’ve never cared much for popular music, of any kind. If it didn’t play on the Classical station, I didn’t (voluntarily) listen to it. I was told by my peers that it was because I couldn’t “handle” modern types of music. No, I just didn’t see the need to waste my time. I could be just as opinionated and arrogant as the next kid.

My parents were hardcore Classical fans. My sisters and I are too. I got a lot of grief for this from kids my age. I wasn’t “giving popular music a chance”. No, I don’t care. I was exposed to enough of the crap from my friends, and I didn’t like it. Besides, they never gave my music a chance, at ALL. They acted horrified, as if I had suggested Chinese Water Torture. So, who really is the one that “can’t handle” it?

Now that I am “old”, I don’t listen to much popular music (but I do occasionally find something that I like). I have been forever out of the “popular” loop, and that’s the way I like it. My musical tastes do not reflect my age. They never did (apparently).

#7

Nah. Go have a look at John Peel. A DJ for nigh on 40 years, he pushes acts that most 18 year olds would find a tad adventurous. He’s also one of the few DJ’s to actively promote new bands.

#8

Duran Duran was a good band you fucking halfwit.

#9

Gah. Simulpost. The boards were cranky.

#10

Now that I’m old, does that mean that the music that sucked when I was young will stop sucking?

There’ve always been shit bands on the radio, which is why I turned it off permanently when I was 19.

I think some people whine about modern music being lame because they stopped trying to find good music. If you want good stuff, you gotta kick over some stones.

I’m very happy to have found lots of good NEW music. The fact that they’re not multi-platinum…feh!

#11

But I only think that 8/10 of what you hear on the radio is crap. Does this mean that at age 35 I am younger than you?

As far as what is “music” - I think it’s all music, regardless of wether I like it or not.

And why should I care if it’s new or popular or whatever? I really don’t care about being “hip”. Can’t I just enjoy what I enjoy from the 80’s 90’s and today ( :wink: ) without wondering if I’m old or not?

I dunno Yue Han. I expect you’ll be getting a strongly worded letter from the AARP soon.

#12

Oh, I dunno…I don’t think my appreciation for music was real until I was “old”. I used to only listen to pop, top 40 stuff and in fact, for a momentously nerdy period of time I listened to ‘easy listening’ because it helped me sleep.

Then, when I was 24, I got a job at a Modern Rock radio station and…well…my life was changed. So if I’m getting old, I’d better cram all of this music enjoyment into this last year of my twenties.

although I suspect six months from now I’ll still like Rammstein. We can never be sure.
J

#13

I have a theory as to why a lot of people tend to get stuck listening to whatever was popular when they were in their teens or twenties. I think radio simply fails to mature with them.

Remember being twelve or so, when all music, no matter how dumb, was amazing? I could listen to anything then, no matter how crap it was. I didn’t know any better. In teenage years, people go through a learning process where they’re exploring their tastes, finding out what suits them, and mostly their input, at least historically, is from what’s being played on the radio. So, they find whatever is on the radio that suits their maturing tastes.

And mostly, they stay there. Radio is designed, not to challenge, but to sell, and sell predictably. When people no longer find themselves challenged to go on to the next level of listening maturity, they simply give up.

Fortunately, now there is the net, and with internet radio stations multiplying like mad, and music sharing getting some amazing bands unprecedented exposure, we might see a whole new pattern in music listening develop. What happens when all the music out there, not just what fits on the radio, gets exposure? I think you’ll be seeing a whole new type of listener develop.

I’m an ancient fogey myself. Just turned a ripe old 37. And my most recent order from Amazon consisted of The Clientele, Vermont, Rilo Kiley, and For Stars. There’s amazing, incredible music being made out there today, and now, for the first time, people have a chance to be exposed to all of it.

#14

When I was your age we didn’t have music. We had to bang on pots and pans and… wait, we didn’t even have pots and pans to bang on!

Kids these days. Whippersnapper! And while you’re at it you’d better slow down in that jalopy of yours. This is a neighborhood, you know!

Eh, what was the question?

::nods off::

#15

Part of the aging process is learning not to give two stinky poos what anybody else thinks of what you do. My musical tastes are much more diverse now than they were when I was 18; I listen to what appeals to me, and that is all that matters. Of course, I might have the wrong attitude for an old person, cause I like a lot of current music, if it’s got a good beat and I can sing along with it.

#16

“And anyone trying to claim that the 80s didn’t have a generous portion of suck can take it up with my friend Mr. Duran, and my OTHER friend Mr. Duran.”

ROFLMAO!!!

#17

MrVisible & jarbaby & Gary Kumquat: Like I said, it’s not necessarily clock-time. It’s just sort of a general ossification of the ability to appreciate new stuff. Maybe “old” isn’t the best term but it’s what sprung to mind.

Trion:

Quite possibly. I don’t really listen to much modern music, so I’m probably not the best apologist. I just get tired of “There has been no good music since the Doors (or whoever)!!” There’s good and bad and if you aren’t willing to search for the good anymore, that’s fine, but please don’t act like some golden age of music is ending.

And as for Duran Duran… well, there’s room for all kinds of opinions on the SDMB I suppose.

–John

#18

Newsflash: The prepondernace of pop music has always sucked! That’s right, most pop music is disposable product made by mediocre musicians to earn record companies big bucks by pandering to the lowest common donominator. I think that as you grow older, you gain sophistication and taste, so that the modern crap sounds trite and jejeune, while you forget that the pop of your youth was just as gawdawful.

In my callow teens, for example, Kiss was huge. Yet, I don’t think that anyone can make a rational case that Kiss made good music, and the same goes for Styx, Journey, Boston, Kansas, and the Bee Gees. For every Britney or N’Sync, I’ll show you a Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods or Paper Lace.

#19

Newsflash: The prepondernace of pop music has always sucked! That’s right, most pop music is disposable product made by mediocre musicians to earn record companies big bucks by pandering to the lowest common donominator. I think that as you grow older, you gain sophistication and taste, so that the modern crap sounds trite and jejeune, while you forget that the pop of your youth was just as gawdawful.

In my callow teens, for example, Kiss was huge. Yet, I don’t think that anyone can make a rational case that Kiss made good music, and the same goes for Styx, Journey, Boston, Kansas, and the Bee Gees. For every Britney or N’Sync, I’ll show you a Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods or Paper Lace.

#20

Fair enough. I’m equally tired of teenagers telling me that there was no good music until Nirvana came along.