the pAved earth

I have had an interesting confrontation with my wife concerning music. She thinks that I am a know it all...I know that I am. Anyways, it all came up because I was listening to They Might Be Giants' Apollo 18, a great album. She told me to turn it off because "All of TMBG's stuff sounds the same and their style is boring." She actually had the audacity to say that bands such as the Cure, Morrissey, and other musical giants don't change their style, and that all their songs sound the same as well. I then proceeded to insult the bands that she likes just to get her upset. I decided that since she actually enjoys listening to Janice Kapp Perry and Michael McLean (contemporary Christian singer/songwriters) as well as music that could drive you to drink excessively, that she was not an expert on the subject. So we decided to agree to disagree, because obviously I wasn't going to get any lovin' if I argued any more...but this leads into my point.

What has come of this world? I turn on MTV, VH1 or most radio stations only to be inundated with songs by artists who, up to about three years ago never would have made it in this business. One look at TRL and you see the problems of American society. We have bands like the Backstreet boys who should be taken into the alley and shot. N'Sync sure isn't. Brittany Spears, is a porn star waiting to happen and Christina Aguilera...anyone seen "Behind the Music"? Before music had boundaries...I didn't enter your territory...you didn't get shot. Now we have to deal with people crossing over, having pop and rock hits that don't have a shred of rock them. What's up with Country singers like Faith Hill and Shania Twain being played on rock stations, just because they are beautiful women? Mariah Carey copycats are turning up all over the airwaves...be it R&B, pop, rock, and even some "pseudo" alternative stations! I'd sure like to hit YOU one more time! Everyone says that rock has died and that pop is becoming the music of the future. I'll tell you why rock is dying...because the recording industry is trying to find popular trends and make millions of dollars. There is nothing musically fulfilling listening to Kid Rock scream, Sisqo talk about a thong stuck up someone's buttocks, or Eminem asking what his name is. I'll tell you what your name is...it smells like poo and rhymes with pit. Sounds like your music as well. Do people find this stuff enjoyable in the least? How can we allow these trends to continue? This is how all the great civilizations of the past fell.

Today, while walking to work, I heard someone playing an electric guitar. Kids strive to study and learn the classics on guitar and bass, to play songs by Led Zeppelin, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, and others. With one look at the local music scene of any city, you will find the heart of rock, the live blood of music. Yet you will not find this reflected on the radio stations of today. You will only find the music the industry wants you to hear. As TMBG put it, "Hey Mr. DJ, I thought we had a deal. I scratch your back and you scratch my record. Yeah, I thought you said we had a deal."

We are losing the musical battle and we are losing because no one cares about how good the music is...just how much money it makes. We are losing the radio wars because the industry pays stations to play the music the industry wants people to hear. I hope that all record executives and DJs who have added to this trend burn in the deepest pits of Hell while having to listen to some of the hit makers of today like Matchbox 20 and Smash Mouth, bellow out there repetitive and thoughtless crap.