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.

dmbaer

Yep, they just don't write like they used to, do they?  Today it's:
 
Who run the world? Girls (girls)
Who run the world? Girls (girls)
 
But in my youth we had real poetry!:
 
I met him on a Monday and my heart stood still
Da do ron-ron-ron, da do ron-ron
Somebody told me that his name was Bill
Da do ron-ron-ron, da do ron-ron

Seriously though, from my perspective things have improved a lot (although it might have a lot to do with living in the San Francisco Bay Area).  In the sixties and seventies in the Midwest, if you went into a supermarket, you'd be forced to listen to gag-inducing arrangements by the ever-present 1001 Strings.  If you got Montovani, you'd consider yourself lucky.
 
Now when I visit a Safeway in the suburbs, I hear songs by Neil Young, and believe it or not, even by Pink Floyd.  Except of course during the month of December.  I try to stay out of all retail establishments as much as possible during the weeks before Christmas.  Every time I get frustrated about my job, I just think of those poor sods who have to listen to that crap eight or more hours a day.

Actually one of the things that really impressed me when I first moved to America was that I would occasionally walk into a store or supermarket and hear a Steely Dan song playing. Not Reelin' In The Years or Do It Again or something obvious like that, but something like Peg or Green Earrings. There are some excellent classic rock stations here. I'd never hear music of that caliber in a store in Britain. Granted, the next song would invariably be Hotel California, but it was cool shopping to good music even if briefly. 

Modern Poop Music.

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!

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. 

I don't know.
 
Remember that show that use to start out by saying..
for the next hour we're in control....then the TV would
mess up..?  ....well they weren't and I know it for a fact.
 

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

dmbaer
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

I won't even mas*BEEP!*te any more 'cause I can't remember where I've been...

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.

New York, London, Paris, Munich
Everybody talk about pop musik
Talk about, pop musik
Talk about, pop musik
Pop pop pop musik