The MTV generation (sorry, long)

[Doug Pearson]

On Thu, 13 Mar 2003 18:29:27 +0100, Henderson Keith
<keith.henderson at PSI.CH> wrote:
>
>CM queries...
>
>> The question is: why do people like music? I've been a music fanatic
>> since 8th grade, getting into bands like Queen, Duran Duran,
>
>NB: Any similarities between Duran Duran and "music" being entirely
>coincidental.  :)  Although I must have to admit that I've considered
>recently the possibility that indeed the Bee Gees (following the
>reminder presented by the recent death of one of them) and not Duran
>Duran was the worst band in history.  :)  (Not counting Country and
>Rap "music."  And 'serious' techno either.)

What's with all the hataz here?!? :^)  I'm *proud* of the fact that my
current band covers the Hawklords AND Johnny Cash!  And a previous band
that covered "Psi Power" also had Merle Haggard and Loretta Lynn songs in
our repertoire.  Judging country music based on the likes of Kenny Rogers
and Garth Brooks would be like judging rock music based on Air Supply and
Bon Jovi.  (And ST37 have that great "Sunburst Yodel #9" country-space
tune!)

>But ok, I consider the entire early 80s to be one gigantic unmitigated
>disaster...

Hard to disagree with that.  Even in the underground, it was pretty grim.
Punk rock, once an inclusive and diverse genre, had devolved into a rote
form of macho jock-infested hardcore.  Once-interesting bands (from Cabaret
Voltaire to Devo) became bland synthpop purveyors (the first two Thompson
Twins albums are actually pretty experimental, and were produced by Mike
Howlett of Gong).  Some of the best bands the US had to offer (the
Chesterfield Kings and Plasticland, to name two) were deeply emmeshed in
slavish imitations of the past, with as much attention paid to fashion as
the music.  Helios Creed split from Chrome and Damon Edge got boring.

I hardly listened to any new music (except by old-fart bands - either
classic rock like the Beatles, Who, Kinks, Doors etc. or mainstream prog
like Yes, "old" Genesis & Tull) in the early 80's, with the notable
exception being the Ramones, who an older friend in another town had turned
me onto around the time of the 'Rock & Roll High School' movie (the same
guy would later tell me that the Velvet Underground and Hawkwind were two
bands I had to check out), but I couldn't admit to liking them in my
horrible suburban town, for fear of ridicule.  Getting the hell out of
there to college changed things for the (much, much) better.  Not only did
I hear Hawkwind on the school radio station within a month, but I *finally*
got the exposure to lesser-known bands (both past and contemporary) that
I'd been yearning for.  Stuff like Fairport Convention, Stooges/MC5,
Spirit, Gong, Alex Chilton/Big Star, the Pink Fairies, Love, Amon Duül II,
Soft Machine, Syd Barrett, etc. as well as then-current bands like the
Replacements, Sonic Youth, Cramps, Swans, Camper Van Beethoven, Dinosaur
(pre-"junior"), Robyn Hitchcock/Soft Boys, Aussie stuff like the Lime
Spiders (and, going back, Radio Birdman!), New Zealanders like the Chills &
the Verlaines, etc.  At the same time, I also lost interest in the prog
rock that I'd liked so much in high school ('cause none of them could kick
out the jams like Hawkwind!).  By then, I was seeing small bands in clubs
as much as possible ...

>> The whole "grunge" revolution affected me as well as my friends,
>> everybody owning a copy of Nirvana's "Nevermind" album at some stage,
>> a big hit to say the least, with everyone being into Husker Du or
>> The Pixies picking up on Nirvana and such.
>
>Yeah, me, too, 'cause it seemed that *finally* something with some
>courage was showing up to shake up the whole global scene that had gone
>so horribly jaded.  So I remember purchasing "Nevermind" when I only
>had heard about it from a friend (they hadn't made it onto radio yet,
>as least in Cleveland), and thinking that it was OK but there were
>similar bands with more interesting music and the same level of energy.

By the time grunge "hit", I was already pretty deeply into the underground,
so I already knew the bands and it was great to see the good ones get some
recognition (but also a drag to see bandwagon-jumping-poseurs like Alice In
Chains and Pearl Jam getting too much of the sales and attention).  The
only time I saw Nirvana was in a pretty small club, long
before 'Nevermind'; of the Seattle bands, I greatly preferred Mudhoney
(still at it, god bless 'em!  They may be a lot smaller than they were
during the height of grunge, but they're still bigger now than most of the
hair metal bands that were selling out arenas in the 80's.).

>As I look back now, though, I don't think much of it has 'aged' well
>already.  I'm not even sure that I can really think of Janes' "Nothing
>Shocking" (which I thought was outstanding at the time) as a worthy
>piece of plastic.  I find myself actually preferring the pseudo-psychedelic
>experiment on 'Side Two' of "Ritual" (that then I thought was not working
>for them).  What the hell's Perry doing these days anyway?  Waiting for
>the inevitable Jane's reunion?  Or has he already died from heroin
>overdose?

Aren't they reuniting for a Lollapalooza tour this summer?  I was never
that into JA; saw 'em opening for Iggy Pop right before 'Nothings Shocking'
came out and it was like, "ok, so this guy fronting these Led Zep wannabes
is obviously proud of the fact he went to art school".

>> I have to say as an MTV Generation spokesperson that music is alive
>> and well still in the 21st century! The question remains: why do
>> people like me and others like myself go to such lengths to see a band
>> live or find just the right album or live recording? Are we as crazy
>> as we were in our younger years about music? The answer would be YES.

It certainly is for me, I was pogo-ing like a maniac last night!
Completely unavoidable with a band that rocks like these guys:
http://www.theepoxies.com/
... a "neo new wave" act who play new wave music unlike that of the early
80s - this stuff actually ROCKS.  (Last night's show was the kickoff of
their march/april US tour, so check 'em out when they hit your town!)

Hmmm ... I'd type some more, but I need to get to rehearsal, and while
listening to music is better than talking about it, playing it is the best!

    -Doug (who has no idea WHY he likes music so much)
     jasret at mindspring.com