I Weep for the Future of Music.
- The Solo Beatles – A Four-Part Series
- I Weep for the Future of Music.
In an attempt to be open-minded, young and hip, I decided to tune in to the American Music Awards last night. Three hours later, pale, shaking and somewhat grayer, I turned off the TV convinced that popular music has gone to hell in a handbasket.
What do you say to a music industry in which a dead guy wins four awards for releasing no music this year, in which J Lo gets yet another chance at a comeback (and falls on her ass), in which the final act is an American Idol runner-up?
What struck me was not the poor quality of their music (and there was plenty), but the emphasis of style over substance. Time after time it happened:
- The only thing worse than J-Lo and her bizarre boxing-themed musical number was her lip-synching (and the fall).
- Lady Gaga wore a nude bodysuit, a light-up vest and phallic headdress, set her piano on fire, and shattered glass liquor bottles all over the place. Okay…
- The Black Eyed Peas did a medley of “songs,” one of which featured the lyrics “All those things we used ta used ta used ta used ta do” and “What’s up, what’s up, what’s up, what’s up.” Brilliant. I will now deny that I ever liked one of their songs.
- Alicia Keys and Jay-Z’s “duet” was the best example of how useless hip-hop is: Keys’ somewhat melodic chorus on the piano, sandwiched between Jay-Z’s tuneless, mindless “rhyming” (At one point he rhymed “marley” with “Marley” – They’re different – one has a capital letter!). I found myself waiting for the endless verses to find their way to the chorus.
- Then there was Adam Lambert. Dear God. We all thought he could sing, but his performance was atrocious, with him consistently being half a tone flat. So he tried to boost his performance by simulating fellatio, putting a guy on a leash and kissing the keyboard player. It was a desperate move, crafted to generate the biggest controversy – and just in time for the release of his debut album!
Are you noticing a pattern here? These people aren’t singers, they’re entertainers, just like a clown or a mime (and just as scary). Their music is boring and unimaginative on a CD, aside from the lewd lyrics; somehow they need to shock us with something outrageous, controversial, or downright weird. It’s typical overcompensation: Pay no attention to the fact that this song sucks; look, something shiny!
Rock musicians have always tried to shock the general public, from Elvis the Pelvis and the Beatles’ haircuts to Boy George’s gender-bending and Prince’s “Darling Nikki”. It generates buzz. It sells records (or MP3s nowadays). But God, what happened to just making good music? At least “Karma Chameleon” had a charming chorus. At one point last night, my wife turned to me after Taylor Swift’s umpteenth award and said, “So is country music the only normal type of music now?”
November 24th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
There’s no need to be open-minded to this sort of music, since this, of course, is ‘no-minded’ music… just commerce. As in ‘commercial’. It’s a 4-minute, all-out, Madison Avenue-style assault on tween-age girls’ senses. The product is meaningless; buy ‘THE PACKAGE’!
Agassi was right; ‘Image is (unfortunately) everything’.
November 24th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
Yes, it was acknowledged long ago that country music is the new normal, Top40 style of music that many of us grew up with.
I’m 100% with you that the current pre-recorded performances should be laughed off the stage. The fact that the performer needs to dance is no excuse. We hired you to sing and you hired the dancers to put on a show behind you. Of course, portions of the show have been pre-recorded since the early ’70s. The Who, Led Zeppelin & Pink Floyd (among many) couldn’t replicate their music without backing tracks. The difference is that it didn’t involve primary vocals and wasn’t a well-known practice. And we did boot Milli Vanilli for shady practices.
Forget the Lady Gaga thing and all of the other “entertainment” trappings. That’s been going on since Alice Cooper at least, and burning/smashing guitars is in the same ballpark. Blame Kiss for turning it into the ridiculous.
re: Black Eyed Peas. Reference Paul McCartney’s My Love. Whoa whoa whoa whoa. Also any number of scat singers. Not every song can be a gem, but parts of some of them being good is acceptable.
I can’t comment on Jay-Z because I don’t like modern Hip-Hop. Rap was good in the ’80s, but I haven’t liked it since it turned towards the West Coast gangster/bling model. either. To their credit, it’s not a regurgitation of music that was popular 40 years ago. Damn few hippies were turned on by music from the Twenties, and modern musicians lack the creativity to create a new art form. I recommend that we replace of the alt-rockers heroin with LSD.
As for the more mainstream Alicia Keys, I don’t hear anything unique or exciting there. She’s popular because she fills a niche.
I thought Adam Lambert was over the top, and that’s a good thing. He’s one of the few that’s pushing the envelope and creating the controversy that rock is supposed to generate. He’s the new Elvis. No I don’t think he’s especially talented, but I’ll give him a chance to work things out. Most rock stars build their act and their image with several years of playing in bars. Adam doesn’t have that long slog behind him, and he has a multitude of svengalis trying to craft an image that may be contrary to what he may have naturally chosen.
You forgot to mention the use of Auto-Tune.
I am happiest when I am weeping for the future of music. It’s supposed to be in constant flux and nobody over the age of 30 is supposed to like it. Sixty year old men in spandex pants shouldn’t be selling out arenas.