The Sad State of Music and American Idol
Mar 2, 2010 by Aaron
My first fear about writing this article is that I will come off as “too” old school…not current…stale. That my age has caught up with me and I have become my dad. We all remember as youths our parents talking about how great Elvis and Johnny Cash were and the crap I was listening to was just noise, but looking back, they might have been right. But I don’t think that is me. I like Kings of Leon, James Blunt, The Killers, My Chemical Romance, Angels and Airwaves, and many more current acts. But the overall state of music, as a whole, is about as bad as I have seen since 1986 or 1998 (the other years that started off terrible music trends).
There seems to be an ebb and flow to the music industry. I get that. People get tired of the same thing and start to look for something different. But what I don’t get is how some periods of music are artist driven and others are industry driven. By the way, we are currently in the latter.
In the 60’s there was an organic musical movement that came from the new generation. They were making music for themselves. The hippie movement was purely organic and rose from a distrust of the old J. Edgar Hoover style control of the government, a war that was waging on their behalf without their consent, and fantastical drug usage. The mix of a politically charged atmosphere and LSD, led to some great music along with a progressively divisive culture. Despite the good and bad of the late 1960’s, it was natural and expressive. The voices of that generation sung to us about those things that mattered to them. It wasn’t driven by the industry hawks, but moreover by the youth, for the youth…and it was a great period for music.
In the 70’s there was a great mixture of new music, some of it springing up naturally, some forced. I think the punk movement and southern rock were great organic movements but the “You light up my life” soft rock movement was totally forced. The 80’s on the other hand was a time where the music was over-produced, controlled, and manufactured by the big music companies.
The 1980’s produced sound that was fake, imposed, and outright forced. It started with music producers trying to make bands look and sound alike, and ended with the producers taking so much control we got Milli Vanilli. It was a time where music was a formula and making music was a process. Look at the Glam-Hair Metal movement of the time. Each album had the exact same formula and every band had the same look and sound. The formula was, each album had 12 songs with a two ballads, one ballad around track 4 and the other around track 11 or 12. The first single and video release would be a hard rock anthem and the second would be a balled. Would you like just a few examples? Skid Row, 1st release Youth Gone Wild, 2nd I Remember you…Or how about Winger, She’s Only 17 followed by Heading for a Heartbreak. I could go on and on and on, but I will spare the 3 people who actually read this article. It was sickening.
Then we had a backlash from the lips of high school kids running like the Snake River, flowing out of Seattle. Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Sound Garden, and the like; crushed the music industry’s formulaic ways to make the greatest musical movement since the 60’s. Unfittingly the Industry wouldn’t keep still, and by the end of the 90’s the old men were back in business. Producing sounds like the Backstreet Boys and O’ town. Like dirty cigarette companies marketing to children, they made a move to destroy good taste among our youth.
Here we are again. And this time from an unlikely source. From a guy named Simon Cowell? I must admit, as a guilty pleasure, I like and watch American Idol. But I do not like what it is doing to the face of music. Just watch the show and you’ll see what I am talking about. This show will take a talented young person and transform them into something completely non-organic to themselves; and their music. You can totally see it. First their hair styles change. Then their clothes change. Their teeth get whiter, their music softens, and I begin to vomit. This show is taking great young talent and producing them into a money-market right before our eyes, and we can’t get enough of it. Why don’t they just start making fucking musical robots at this point? Seriously!
If I can say anything to the young talent in this county it would be, “Don’t Sell Out!” Stay true to your style, your love, your art, and yourself. Make music for yourself and for the love of music. Don’t try to play something you think the masses will love, play what you love yourself, and if you do, we will fall in love with it, and you. Do not let the money grubbing under belly of the music industry get your soul, you may never get it back.
Posted in Aaron's Musings from the Outhouse