What Happened to Interest in Music?

[Robert Marcus]

Greetings to all who might stumble onto this post. First, love the emoticons on this site. But seriously, I grew up getting public school music education and later some college training in big band jazz which I never finished to go on the road with some rowdy guys who did 4 LP's, two for Columbia and the other two I don't recall. These guys were street musicians and played real honest to God energetic roots rock and roll but the members, just guys who grew up hoarding mountains of 45 rpm records that educated the street savvy guitar player into the realms of Sun Ra and Kenny Burrell. Funky doesn't even remotely cover these guys. They were brilliantly intelligent and had that special ability to create on a very earthy but intellectual level.

What the big box retailers did IMHO was strip out the intelligence of music to build and perpetuate the amateur market pumping out brand name pieces of junk as instruments, forcing brand name manufacturers into the Walmart business model. But this was a long decline starting in earnest before my time. My folks thought Elvis was a joke. What he was was all about marketing of a new trend. Same thing with the Beatles. Same thing long before that with all the jazz artists and Blues before that. In other words, what "contemporary music" is all about. Music, the academics, the freedoms and barriers has not changed. What changed is the shake in the hip. Mozart, Beethoven had it. Eddie Cochran had it. I don't have to write a list because I make the assumption those who frequent this site know this. However, I think if there's any bad guy in my scenario it is the globalists, American Empire when Richard Nixon opened up his ass cheeks to the businessmen who wanted to exploit China to the max. They pulled the air out of the American worker and products and served it up on silver platters to Communist China's sickening government. At that moment they were no longer communist but big business. Businesses were structured around what kind of utter <censored word> could be built in China -- damn the forests, environment, the workers themselves.

All of this PR'ed then as it all is now by a very complicit corporate media, completely bought and paid for by severely mentally ill power hungry child sex addicts. The art of music at consumption level is mostly vacuous garbage. People are encouraged to do things against their best interest. If it's on TV or your smart phone, then, by God, it must be the absolute truth.

I present a broad sweep of the travesty that has become American art and music. It's all pretty much underground but music has little if any support. It's more about computerized fashion plates, now with gigantic asses with bra straps hanging off the shoulder -- the third world look as high fashion -- pimped to humans as things one must have. This is Edward Bernays on steroids the media onslaught against the minds and souls of people.

The urgency of music, the importance at mostly the local level of any town or city, is decimated. The record companies did it as small labels that recorded and distributed local talent got bought up. In its stead are national acts who depend on everything but the actual music. The music itself on too many levels doesn't shake, rattle nor roll. Nor must it. I maintain something was lost in that translation because I've experienced it as a bass guitarist in front of any audience. Play the current top 40, the top "country" autotuned stuff (they all are, every single one) and the audience turns away and watches the giant TV's. Play something with feeling, play it well like music is supposed to be played, and one can get the audience into one's trip. I mean, lay into some opening riff by the Stones and just play that for 50 measures and such a thing in all its glorious guts gets infectious. But the musicianship to do that seems to have utterly died. It has in the Tampa area to the greatest degree. I've experienced just one jam session at a place called the Green Iguana where the cats shook that thing right on down, down to the ground. That's where the real people want to be, want to play but it is confined to just this one dinky place one night a week and even that's subject to change at any moment. The money's gone out of music at the local levels. And musicianship suffered and still does.

That's all, folks. My G&L JB is a funk machine. Just gotta find a place in America to let it all hang out like I know it and while I still can at 66 years of age.

[Elwood]

Really good food for thought, thanks Robert.
Long live the Funk!

[john o]

it ain't what it used to be, for sure.
but there's still some great stuff out there from passionate players who must do what they do.
snarky puppy, dopapod, turkuaz, umphreys mcgee and many more.
derek trucks/susan tedeschi, selwyn birchwood, ana popovic, etc
these guys and gals are layin' down some serious great stuff in the prime of their youth and they keep us coming back for more.
granted, the industry has evolved, not necessarily for the better and the rules have changed.
no choice but to go with it and adapt.

[DogsPart2]

Excellent post. Glad to hear from someone else who gives a <censored word> as well.

[rauchman]

Great post. Was very fortunate to have a jazz class in high school and doubly fortunate to have a great teacher (I'm sure you're jamming in the heavens there Emile DeCosmo). Greatest musical creative eye opening moment. The entire jazz class did not learn whatever piece it was we were supposed to learn. The teacher, Mr. D, through the sheet music in the air and said we're going to do something different. He started with the piano player. He said to the piano player, play a melody and don't change it. He then moved to the trumpeter and requested he play a melody that was different than what the piano player was playing. I think there was between 15 and 20 students in the class. Mr. D., had each one of us playing something that the other 14-19 students weren't playing and it sounded......AMAZING!!! I'm far from a great guitarist/musician, but I've always loved to write songs. That moment was a great lesson in creativity.

In my neck of the woods (northeast NJ) there used to be so many places to perform original music. I'm thankful that I lived my 20's in the late 80's and 90's. Was never in a cover band but lived to perform original songs that I wrote. The only bands that really get to perform in my area are cover bands. While it can be fun and entertaining to watch, I've never had a desire to play someone else's songs as the only thing to play. I'm pushing 50 and still would love to get out and play my material. Wouldn't even know where to go these days to see an original act.

[Buellboy24]

I lay a lot of the blame for the decline (or dumbing down) of music in the USA at the feet of Clear Channel/IHeartMusic. Clear Channel owns over 1200 radio stations in the US. Gone are the local voices that used to promote the local music scenes. Thousands of voices have been replaced by a few Howard Stern clones. The execs at Clear Channel have decided America will listen to Hip Hop, Pop-Country and maybe some Djent or conservative talk. It is a sad state of affairs...

Fortunately, the small market I currently live in (Mobile, AL) has a local hold-out radio station that plays blues-based rock (new! and old). If your travels take you through Mobile check-out 92.1 FM (WZEW). It is a refreshing change from the mass-market slop the Clear Channel stations dish out.