>I have grown over my many years to have some sort of terribly
>uncontrollable allergic reaction to "radio sounds" played with cliché
>melodies. [...] Is there a SynthEtic cure for my ailment out there?
>
>Ed Edwards
>Not really, no, unless you stop listening to the radio. That's
>what I did, and now I find I'm hopelessly out of touch with the
>music the kids are listening to. This doesn't bother me much,
>usually.
I've come to the conclusion that radio stations barely
play music at all. I've set my radio to play to wake me up,
because the combination of incredibly IRRITATING bad
"music" and the sometimes not as irritating advertising is a
guarantee of having me get out of bed in the morning to TURN
IT OFF!! Nothing is worth having to listen to that ------- fill in the
blank for yourself... I can sleep through just about any alarm
clock that has been made, but I can't sleep through that stuff.
So, my radio is good for ONE thing.
I'm so completely offended with what they choose to
broadcast on most local stations that I cannot for the life of me
figure out how they can make money doing this. So, hey, I'm
even more out of touch than you are I guess... But, if being in
touch means I have to, "get," what passes for music in the
current commercial world - I'd rather not be in touch. I fear for
the future of music... Thank God for the internet! Marketing is
killing music and putting many truly skilled artists on the
welfare rolls because they are too talented (don't want any
intricate, subtle music - too complicated for the masses), or
they don't look like Victoria's Secret models or their male
equivalents. It should be a punishable offense.
Real artists are being prevented from making music
we will never hear because of this carefully produced garbage.
They won't write it because they are too busy waiting tables or
stocking the shelves at WalMart. They won't have time to hone
their skills and become as good as they could be. We are all
missing out because of this. There is brilliant music that we
will never hear because the MBA marketing gurus only want to
sell what the lowest common denominator wants to buy, and
your selection has to be really small so people can remember
which ones to buy in bulk. Recycle the same songs all day
long all week long and for months on end with hardly any new
stuff - too hard to get used to NEW songs...
I heard a brilliant demo song a guy had on the E-mu
website a few years ago. I wrote the guy to find out where I
could get his CD. The guy said they had cut a whole album
and more, but couldn't get anybody to sign them. The guy's
music was amazing. He didn't want to waste his time selling a
handful of CD's on the internet, so he gave it up. He said he
had to eat, you know. That's a serious tragedy. It happens
every day.
I don't know what we can do about it, but the
consequences of this mess are far reaching. If a modern
Beethoven comes on the music scene today, he (or she)
probably won't be able to get signed either unless he
prostitutes his artistic soul. Imagine what Beethoven could
have done with the gear we have now. I have no idea what it
would sound like, but it would probably be so amazing we'd be
totally stunned.
Anyway, I've probably rambled far too much on this
subject... But, hey I totally can relate to what you had to say... It
amazes me that artists like Bjork and Happy Rhodes have
gotten in the door at all... But, you don't hear them on the radio
these days either... Most of you probably never heard of Happy
Rhodes... A well hidden jewel in the music world. Who knows
how many other musical prodigies have been turned away.
We will never know, but it is a serious crime and a major,
major waste.
Flibfree
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