Each generation defines its musical taste by its teen years to mid-20s. For the broad majority in that demographic, anything that follows is inferior, and anything preceding is stodgy old-fart music. The exception is musicians themselves and audience members willing to expand their horizons. Those are the kind of people who love the best music of all genres (whether rock, pop, blues, jazz, classical, folk or country) and all eras (what they grew up on, what preceded and what followed).
I consider myself fortunate to have come of age in the 60s when a glorious burst of creativity and talent redefined contemporary music. As I kid in the 50s I listened to lots of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Roy Orbison, Patsy Cline on the radio, a mixture of rock and country and show tunes popularized in movies.
Then the 60s blew in, with the British Invasion (Beatles, Stones, Who, Kinks, Herman's Hermits), Motown (Supremes, Four Tops, Temptations, Jackson 5, Gladys Knight), Soul (Aretha Franklin), Blues (BB King), and West Coast Surf (Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, etc). All genres mixed together in a playlist that was fresh and revolving daily and weekly, and still included lots of Elvis, Johnny, Ray, Roy and Patsy, along with other Show Biz greats like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bobby Darrin.
By the mid-to-late 60s we discovered psychedelic music .... Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Cream, Grateful Dead.
I used to drift off to sleep at night with my radio turned low beside my bed, discovering new music because of signal bounce, picking up stations you couldn't hear during daytime. WABC New York, with "Cousin Brucie", WCFL Chicago, featuring the Chicken Man soap opera. And what a huge deal it was – an audience victory despite corporate-risk – when CHUM-FM switched from strictly classical format to album rock. About that time along came metal. Can still remember waking up in the middle of the night first time I heard Deep Purple's track April, a fusion of classical and metal, for godsake.
I still consider that decade one of the most creative periods in musical history. In that sense I am defined by my coming-of-age generation. But I am also defined by my willingness to embrace the best in any genre or era. In my early 20s I started to explore jazz, acquiring a taste not only for hip contemporary players like Miles Davis or Dizzy Gillespie, but veterans like Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Django Reinhardt, Stephan Grappelli and more.
I understand why a generation older than me had problems with the music I was growing up on. They came of age with Broadway and Hollywood showtunes ... and there's no denying the genius of Cole Porter or George Gershwin, for example.
Similarly I understand why many people in my generation despair of the music that followed. However, I consider myself fortunate to hang with artists and musicians, many of them in their 20s, so my taste is continually evolving.
Gotta agree with you tboy, any pop star that can hold their own with Tony Bennett gets my respect.
As for the Stones, they're a live band. Never bought any of their albums in my teens. Didn't need to. Everybody else had a copy. And they were everywhere on the radio. Just another rock band to me. Then I caught them live as a genuine "grown-up" .... Steel Wheels at Exhibition Stadium about 20 years ago. I was blown away that night and I remain a fan today. Masters of live performance. Still playing live shows 50 years later.
I am a dedicated fan of live performance.
Although I love catching the occasional stadium show, I get a bigger kick out of a wide variety of "local" talent, and have found memories of discovering emerging musicians. Blue Rodeo playing on the campus green, Moxy Fruvous or Shuffle Demons busking on the streets ... and just a couple years ago, Justin Bieber playing on the sidewalk outside Stratford's Avon Theatre.
I'm a fan of that host of musicians whose names will ring no bells here, because they exist under the radar, playing local clubs, pubs, concert halls, living rooms.
I am blessed to have had so many of them enrich my life.
All of them need audience to survive.
Turn off your radio or your iPod, my friends. Kill the TV, put the computer to sleep, get off the couch and go support local musicians ... support them with your ears, with your applause, and with a few bucks in their pockets.
Your life will be better for it.
