Just excising some drift from the Prog Rock item... #18 of 25: by Ken Josenhans (krj) on Fri, Nov 7, 1997 (19:30): I have a theory which holds that everyone ends up hating the music they listened to when they were sixteen years old. When I was sixteen, I listened to Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, ELP, and Yes. So I'll just sort of sit this one out... :) #19 of 25: by Jon the Arborean (lumen) on Fri, Nov 7, 1997 (19:53): I ain't everyone :P #20 of 25: by Gratuitous Saxon Violins (orinoco) on Fri, Nov 7, 1997 (22:51): Hmm...well, I must say, Ken, you did have good taste as a 16-year-old. <wonders what went wrong :) > #21 of 25: by Mike McNally (mcnally) on Fri, Nov 7, 1997 (23:15): re #19: give it time.. I certainly can't serve as a counter-example to Ken's postulate and believe that it makes a certain amount of sense.. #22 of 25: by Cricket (teflon) on Fri, Nov 7, 1997 (23:46): As a sixteen year old, I dare say that I like the stuff well enough now. I certainly hope that doesn't change, 'though I dare say it might if I go and over-play the stuff. The main problem with that theory is this: I like almost every kind of music, which means, according to your postulate, that I will become an exclusively Rap/R&B fan when I'm older. Now, it is concievable that I might grow to like them, but dislike the other stuff? Not likely. Go forth and discuss...35 responses total.
Hey Ken, we listened to some of the same music when we were 16. I still enjoy the groups you mentioned, but unfortunately, at 16 I was also listening to crap (IMHO) like Boston, AC/DC, Kansas, Van Halen, Blue Oyster Cult, Lynard Skynard, Molly Hatchet, and the Eagles <Dave braces himself for the critical onslaught regarding his opinion of the Eagles>.
No, I'm in full agreement with you on that one. (Does that mean I'll be liking them in 20 years? Eek!) Of course, I'm still not _technically_ 16 yet - 7 more hours to go - so I've still got time to find some crap to listen to so I can hate it later.
Erm geeze. I still love Blue Oyster Cult! And I don't think of them as crap at all. Though, of course, I was introduced to them as an adult, in the early eighties, and so I guess they're not a sixteen-year-old thang for me. I was sixteen in the early seventies, and hated disco then, hate it now. I don't think I listened to much music then besides some sappy Paul Anka, Elvis, and -- oh *blush* -- Leonard Nimoy. Still like Elvis, though.
Whew. I was afraid I was the only BOC fan around, and I would have to defend them single handedly against an onslaught of folks who think it's "crap". (Watch what you insult Grr. Grr.) I dunno. This is probably the wrong item for me to be in, and I should come back to it in about 5 years.
No, no, stay! Any BOC fan is cool by me! Funnily enoguh, last night what should paly on Dr. Demento but "The Hobbit" as inimitably sung by Leonard Nimoy? Grin. Rhiannon has stolen my _Workshop of the Telescopes_ double BOC disk and won't give it back, too! (Of course, she IS sixteen, so I guess that doesn't count.)
You mean "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins"? Good song :)
Okay, let me rephrase what I said. I recently (in the past year) listened to a Blue Oyster Cult album. It was one of the worst things I've ever heard. That said, I've heard *very* little Blue Oyster Cult, ever. Way back when I first heard them (beginning of the 80's), I only had one or two of their albums. So my BOC exposure is extremely limited. I think _Don't Fear The Reaper_ and _Godzilla_ were the only two tunes that got played regularly on the radio. What is your favorite BOC album? Which albums would you recommend?
Well, I don't have a whole lot of their stuff, but 'Secret Treaties' is really cool. Let me ask you, was the album you listened to a live recording?
No, it was the one that had a kind of dinasaur on the cover. I want to say the title is _Tyrannosaurus Rex_, but I know that's not right. It sounded like a studio album to me. Ok, I'll check out _Secret Treaties_.
right. Now that we've got that settled, does anyone have anything to say on topic? I know that when I was a pre-teen, I was a fan of a lot of the junk that was being played on the radio... Most of it strikes me as junk now, but there are some things I still like. Of course, I still enjoy listening to the radio now... They always play the same stuff over and over, it's like having a tape player.
I evolved my initial theory, that most people come to hate the music they liked when they were 16, after discovering that a friend who adored Jefferson Airplane when she was 16 (and they were a current band) could no longer stand to listen to them. Most of y'all aren't old enough to test my hypothesis yet. It's been interesting watching further "age drift" in myself. Becoming an opera fan at the age of 30 was certainly an unexpected turn; of course, dating a singer can make an opera enthusiast out of anyone. I also had a shtick I was doing for a while, about how I was giving up on rock music for my 40th birthday. While there was some exxageration in my display, there was also a core of truth to it. The last time I found a new rock band who I loved was in 1990; since then I've wasted piles of money and time chasing in hopes of finding another one, and I think it is just time to give up. I'm somewhat sad about this, but I'm also a realist. It's been observed that the age of the audience for the alt.country stuff is weighted quite a bit older than the rock audience. Some people argue that country, in both the mainstream and alt. varieties, is more likely to appeal to listeners who have been kicked around a bit by life and love.
I've met a lot of people who are *still* stuck on the music they listened to in high school. Relevant Quote from a bar musician: "People know what they like, and they like what they know".
re 11. I'll be 38 in a few days. I still have the records (i.e vinyl) that I had when I was 16. Can't really say I hate them, but I don't play them because I lack a viable platform (OK, I do have a record player. Just cant stand all them scratches and pops. CD's ruined me!) I do like the music. I have Cat Stevens, Chicago, Chuck Mangione, Doc Severenson, Journey, Fleetwood Mac, Heart, Queen (no comments) and a few other forgettable acts. Still play them once in a while. I would rather listen to Bob Dylan. I should have listened to him when I was 16, but didn't and now, I have a lot of discovery to do.
Why no comments on Queen? Forgettable acts? A few that you mentioned are very noteworthy-- I would have to say Queen was *very* influential, and Fleetwood Mac did make an impressive appearance recently. Cat Stevens-- he doesn't call himself that anymore-- is still a noted figure in folk rock/folk pop-- I've been learning the guitar, and a few of his songs are in my instruction book as examples (and the author is British).
You're right. Queen was very influential, and they did have a hell of an act, which is why I bought 2 of thier albums. Nothing wrong with Fleetwood Mac, either. Like I said, these records problems are not age, It's mainly sound. If I had them all on CD, I'd be a very happy camper.
Oh-- gotcha. The NIN vinyl item had a discussion on LPs in general. I was suspecting it was the sound quality, but it didn't seem entirely clear.
Jim -- how do you see Queen as "influential?"
Well, I'd hazard that any band that becomes famous is also influential to some extent regardless. I don't really know enough about Queen to comment...
re #17: Yeah, I was kinda wondering that myself but decided to let it pass because while it's entirely possible they had a huge influence on many groups the types of groups they'd've influenced are not ones I'd be likely to be listening to.. Still, I'd be interested in hearing the names of a few acts just to see if I recognize any of them..
I'd say they brought the synthesyser into wide use, and of course they proved that a long song (B. Rhapsody) could be as popluar as a short one. Also according to PopUpVideo, they brought the art of the video into the mainstream. So on those counts, Queen was successfully influential.
I had thought of Bohemian Rhapsody as more of a novelty song than anything else.
Long songs are generally called "shit songs" because it allows the DJ to go to the can while it's playing. Pardoni mi Italiano.
<g> Never heard that one before.
I have a few friends who used to be DJ's.
I have been a DJ, and I never called them 'shit songs'. Maybe
bathroom break' songs. Then again with planning a 3 and a half minute
song would do. Cue up the next quickly and up and go. If I didn't
make it back in time (rarely didn't) someone could quickly start the
next tune. Usually the five minute network newscast was long enough.
On the changes in taste relating to age. I consider it more
a matter of time. I have been in my third discovery of folk music
for about the ten-twelve years now. But I still listen to Classic
Rock, Oldies, The River, other alternative rock, but tend to avoid
new metal/industrial rock.
I recently heard the new BB King/Tracy Chapman duet. Man, It blew me away. but the song that followed made me want to change the station. :( I may have to score that CD before too long.
They did a whole CD together? Whoa...
According to my sister, BB did a whole bunch of duets with people. I don't know all the details, but that one track rocked. (The Thrill is Gone...) If that one track is represenitive, it's gonna be a monster.
btw, 'shit' is not Italian-- it's German, coming from the word 'sheist' (or however it would be spelled)
(What would the equivalent be in Italian, I wonder...)
I meant that in the spirit of "Pardon my French" but I don't do French. I do Italian and Spanish. Shit in spanish is mierda, so I would assume that it would either be the same in Italian, or something close to it.
Nowadays, with the technology of CD's and such, a DJ could plug several songs into a computer and not have to worry about whether it would be long enough to take care of his/her obligations to the pot.
"bohemian rhapsody," when it came out, spent some ungodly long time at the top of the charts in britain...close to five or six months, if i remember correctly. i was living in england at the time, so i have no idea if the song did as well in the states. queen was also one of the first bands to include elaborate sets and pyrotechnics in their live performances, which undoubtedly influenced many of the glitzy bands of the later seventies and early eighties, none of whom pulled it off nearly as well as queen did, imho. and then there was brian may's guitar playing and freddy mercury's singing, which speak for themselves. (and, btw, _a night at the opera_, the album which has "bohemian rhapsody" on it, was produced without synthesizers.)
That was what was cool about Freddie. He was talented *and* popular. Synth is good if you keep it tight and can do incredible things with it, but it doesn't make up for a lack of musicianship. I don't remember the source-- it was some sort of TV documentary-- quoted someone in the band, I think, as saying Mercury was always bubbling over with ideas.
I don't hate the music I listened to when I was 16, but I don't listen to it much. I was mainly into punk like the Dead Kennedies, Circle Jerks, etc, and classic rock like Jefferson Airplane, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Emerson Lake & Palmer (yikes), Bob Dylan, Velvet Underground (OK I still listen to them a fair amount). I also listened to some jazz fusion around age 16-17 like Weather Report, that I would still listen to now. I would say I listen to a broader range of music now & music from my high school days may strike me as a bit flat, but I don't actively despise that music. The only things I can think of from that time that I listened to that I can't deal with now would be Rush, Iron Butterfly, ELP, and probably some really bad 2 chord punk 45s and to a lesser extent Crosby, Stills & Nash.
You have several choices: