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"And
the blind shall lead the sighted, as we lose the candle glow. Words from one of the 70's most prolific yet underrated and under appreciated bands, Triumph. Why did I choose these words to start this article? Simply because they seem to predict a future where music is nothing more than a flash in the pan light show, and sadly enough it has come true.
Last week I was sitting down listening to some music while reading a comic book (yes two of my favorite adolescent pastimes that now help to keep my adult life grounded and sane) and my 8-year-old daughter asked, "Who is that you're listening to daddy?" I put down my X-Men and told her that I was listening to Emerson, Lake & Palmer. The CD happened to be "Brain Salad Surgery"). She said "They're really good, can we go see them?" Those five little words hit me like a ton of bricks. Can we go see them? I sat for a couple of seconds trying to word it right, and to explain to her that we couldn't go and see them live because they were no longer playing together. She looked at me with a sad face and said okay and simply went about her merry way. No muss no fuss, just okay and she was gone. I sat there thinking how sad it was, and how her life would be minus seeing what I saw as a child, a teen, and an adult. My children have grown up in a very musical household (pretty hard not to when their father has been a DJ for 28 years) and have always enjoyed the full spectrum of music. Whether it be rock, pop, country, hip hop, metal, blues, jazz, or even zydeco, they have listened to it. I have always tried to be open-minded and allow them the musical freedom to find their niche and listen to what they enjoy. I asked only that they follow the criteria that I employ when defining "good music". The artist must be a relevant part of the music/song; he/she must have written part of it, played an instrument on part of it or had something to do with it other than just singing the words; the music must be understandable, we have to know what is being said…even if it is just a party anthem like Quiet Riot's "Cum On Feel The Noize" or Nirvana's angst ridden "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (which barely qualifies as understandable); and the music itself…the sound…the beat…the melody must move you in some way, not just be notes in the background coming from a radio or stereo; and lastly the song should have some meaning…at least to the person listening. For the most part, they have followed those simple rules and sampled a few hundred CDs of my massive music collection. My oldest has been to over 15 concerts, starting way back when he was 2 1/2 years old at Royal Albert Hall in London to see God (A.K.A. Eric Clapton). He has played beach ball catch with Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes while sitting on my shoulders at a concert in Milwaukee. And he was seen dancing with a very hot 20 something lady at a ZZ Top concert shortly after his 5th birthday. He attended his first concert of my lifelong idols, Rush, at age five and in the 13th row, as did his now 10 year old and 8 year old sisters. His little brother (who just turned 6) will have to wait to see them as they have not toured recently.
But even with all these memories I felt a profound sense of loss. They have but a few more years to see the foundations of our musical heritage. In several more years the people who built the world of music that they live in will be gone. The Rolling Stones are in their 60's (Keith looks more like 600), we've lost Keith and John from the Who, and let's face it even Clapton and Page won't go on forever. The icons of my generation and the generation before are growing old and gray, and are seen in their natural habitat (the concert venue) less and less, like many endangered species. Thankfully, my children have seen some of them (Clapton, McCartney, Springsteen, Petty, Rush, and even Ringo and his All Stars) but they have missed so many that they can only connect with via their legacy of music. People like John Lennon, Harry Chapin, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and The Lizard King are nothing more to them than old pictures and songs on the CDs their parents listen to. Bands like Yes, ELP, Wishbone Ash and King Crimson aren't even known by most people under thirty. And with the exception of the few 80's hits that Yes spawned, I doubt 99% of the people born after 1976 could even name one song from either Wishbone Ash or King Crimson. So I ask….as a father….as a DJ…as a music lover. Where is the future for them? More importantly, who is the future of music for them? Who will be their generation's Clapton? What band, like our U2, will be the voice they follow? Who will write a rock opera? What songwriter will help power the next revolution? Will there be anything worth passing on to their children? Why does it seem like the music…the real music…the music that transcends time, space, people and memories is slowly circling the drain?
I look at music over the last 20 odd years (since I exited high school in 1984) and I see few artists who were born of that era that have survived, evolved, and grown. Bands that shot to the heavens on rockets powered only by the thrust of their songs (mostly one and two shot wonders), have since come crashing back to earth like Space Lab. Monsters of musical and lyrical prowess have become "oldies" and "retro". Bands like REM, who had more great work out before they became popular, than they ever came close to after radio and MTV catapulted them to superstardom. Even people who smashed records and sold millions and millions of albums have simply disappeared. Prince, who's Purple Rain was as musically diverse and influential to the 80's generation as the Who's "Tommy" was to ours, has changed names and styles more than a drag queen at a Liza Minelli tribute and has seemingly fallen of the map. Madonna, who's fashion statements far outreached her vocal talents, and who's sexual antics were the equivalent of a female Motley Crue all rolled into one woman, has toddled off to be a mother and a children's book writer. Even Michael Jackson, the reigning owner of the "No. 1 record sold" title, has done nothing to add to his legacy. With the notable exception of U2, and the Dave Matthews Band, is there anyone out there with a shelf life of more than 5 years? Bands that came and went and showed us a glimpse of hope for the future of music have been vaporized, obliterated by drugs, artistic constraints, band friction or the almighty dollar. It is a tragedy that when my children have children, and are sitting back one day reading a comic book, they will have only the foundations from my generation and the ones before me to talk to their children of. In this musical void of iPods, podcasts, oversampling and remixing, we are lost. A world where it is easier and more fulfilling to a wannabe artist to sample a song that was someone else's blood, sweat and tears than it is for them to find the music within themselves. Soon, everything that came before them seems destined to be chopped up, broken down, sampled, resampled and resampled again until "Stairway To Heaven" can no longer be distinguished from "You Light Up My Life". There seems to be so little hope that originality, exploration and innovation in music will bring us a future generation that can build upon the foundation laid by the greats. I end this little wistful distraction with another quote that I fear will be heard far to often in the next 20 years…"A long long time ago, and I can still remember how that music used to play." |
