SteveStrummerUK
 
 there doesn't seem to be the variety that there used to be. When the BBC broadcasts old editions of Top Of The Pops from the 70's and 80's, you're likely to see 8 or 9 different groups/solo artists performing (or more accurately 'miming') maybe 6 or 7 different genres of music.
 
 
 

This is my main gripe with it all - hard to tell them apart most of the time. TV is just as guilty - see "reality" TV - a misnomer if ever there was such a thing. If one show has some degree of success, everything "new" that comes out afterwards is just a minor variant of the same thing.

Modern Poop Music.

Moshkiae
Hi,
 
Are you suggesting that James Dean, or Elvis were not shallow, or just media creations?
 
Oh well ... they were!
 
And we still believe in some idiotic idea of this and that ... or that music then or now was better ... it was the same!
 
The only thing that has changed is that the skirts are shorter, and the pants are tighter and the tv set does not shy away from the crotch!

Teenybopper sensations or not, the melodies, arrangements and performances were just so much better! And I say that as someone for whom Elvis was way before my time. 

Apropos to this discussion is this video of Frank Zappa explaining his thoughts on the cause of the demise of "pop" music:
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZazEM8cgt0

KenB123
...
On the other hand, something like Micheal Jackson's "Beat It" was able to cross all the boundaries and appeal to a super-wide sector of audience. So it can be done.
...

There is one stat that says more for Michael, than anything ... EVER ... and it is not mentioned and it should!
 
Here's some truth for you ... from my days ... when you went to a concert in those days, let's say Stevie Wonder, it was about 80% to 90% black. When you went to see Earth Wind and Fire, it was 95% Black. When we went to see Michael ... it was 50/50% ... and you can not put a value on that kind of integration given the history of black music and black film in America ... see the book "From Sambo to Superspade" for more, and then check out the parallel in music. The film studio almost killed the black music, but it survived and came back stronger than ever in the late 60's ... and when it came alive ... it blew open the doors with Michael.
 
To this day, this is something that even his family does not understand or see, and gets missed out on.
 
And no one, has done that since, either!
 
At that point, I am not sure I would call it "pop music", most of which is mindless and meaningless, but a valuable medium for many musicians.

timidi
You know you're getting old when they replace Sinatra with Manilow....

Dem's fightin' words, dag nabbit!  

 
Homer: 'Yvan Eht Nioj' ...  You gotta love that crazy chorus.
 
Lisa: What does it mean?
 
Homer: It doesn't mean anything... It's like "Rama lama ding dong" or "Give peace a chance."
 
 

Shoobie doobie do wop

UbiquitousBubba
It's a good thing we figured out the fact that we don't need music education!  Clearly, raising our children in complete and total artistic ignorance has had no impact whatsoever on our culture.  Spending those dollars on lowering our math and reading standards was a wise investment.
 
Did someone say something about keeping the populace fat, happy and stupid?  I'm too busy admiring the sound my belly makes against my desk to understand anything.

Dude ... it's what top ten is there for!
 
You feed the behemoth! And tell you that they are good and the best, so you don't bother looking or checking anything else out.
 
You know what? This was just like the old days when mom and dad, had already made up their minds as to who you should marry and see! That should tell you about the socialist mentality in top ten!
 
Didn't work for me! Haha!

I used to find myself feeling like lyrics suck comparatively until I fou d myself having to explain again and again some of the dunbass lyrics to many of the songs that were popular when I was my son's age. Sharke, comparing a bubblegum tune to a classic is somewhat unfair. If you compare girls girls girls to equivelent type songs of a different era and I doubt the difference is so night and day. If we took the same artist Beyonce and took a song like Halo ( not brilliant by any means but better lyrically than the former sample) , and compared it to My dingaling you get adifferent perspective.