Breaking Out

Cliff Huxtable: Oh,oh-oh! You see, the kids these days, they listen to the rap music, which gives them the brain damage. With the hippin' and the hoppin' and the bippin' and the boppin', they don't know what the jazz is all about. Y'see, jazz is like Jello pudding... no, that's not it. Jazz is like Kodak film... no, that's not right neither. I've got it, jazz is like the new Coke - it'll be around forever.

--The Simpsons, "'Round Springfield" (4/30/95)

-------------------------------------------------------------

A few days ago, I read a review in Newsweek of a book called How the Beatles Destroyed Rock & Roll (picture pretty obviously nicked from Amazon). The conceit behind the book is that most musical history books have a very narrow viewpoint and tend to view musical trends in a vacuum, rather than conceding that artists take what came before and imitate, or build on it. Elvis Presley, for example (the review points out), sang syrupy ballads before he set foot in Sun Studios and became The King. Likewise other artists noted that they were fans of, or were influenced by, musicians whose style was rather different from their own. 

It wasn't as though, say, jazz ended and bop started; or R&B suddenly stopped and made way for the British Invasion. One was a logical extension of the other. This got me thinking about people who will complain that modern music is just so much crap. 

Look, Sturgeon's Law holds true in that 90% of everything is crap. (And, in the case of Baltimore Diary, perhaps 95%. We strive to exceed around here.) The 60s had crappy music but it also had some of the greatest music we've ever heard, or ever will hear. But you know what? The same thing could be said of the 70s, the 80s, the 90s and even today. Examples? Sure:

The Decade	The Good	The Bad
1960s	The Beatles The Doors The Rolling Stones The Beach Boys	Bobby Goldsboro The Osmonds The New Vaudeville Band Frank & Nancy Sinatra Duet
1970s	Led Zeppelin Queen Elton John The Eagles	Morris Albert Captain & Tennille Tony Orlando & Dawn Leo Sayer And let's not even go down the Disco road, OK?
1980s	Duran Duran Pat Benatar U2 Talking Heads	New Kids On the Block Starship (despite my fondness for Jefferson Airplane) Lionel Richie Will to Power
1990s	Liz Phair Nirvana Smashing Pumpkins Mazzy Star	Billy Ray Cyrus Hanson Michael Bolton Celine Dion

Now, obviously this is a subjective list; you can agree or disagree at will. I don't really care one way or the other. But my point is that each decade takes something from its predecessor: The Beatles took from Chuck Berry, Led Zeppelin from the blues, Duran Duran from The Beatles, Liz Phair from the Rolling Stones, and Linda Ronstadt took from everyone. (Honest to god, does she have any singles that weren't covers?)

Nowadays we have Radiohead, the White Stripes, Lucinda Williams and Green Day among others; all of which are building on what went before. (Green Day was especially egregious about their theft early on, but they've come a long way.) It just seems to be too blanket a statement to say "there's no good music anymore." Today's music--today's GOOD music--owes a debt to yesterday, and when we can see the influence of the past, then we're making a connection to our own roots. 

Otherwise, we're just a step away from telling those damn kids to get off our lawns. 

Comments

[sailorgrl21]

Amen Brother! And what about those folks who are locked in the '80's & '90's who never expand beyond the time they were in high school? Those folk drive me insane! There are such amazing new groups out there. My list: Spoon, The Killers, Brazilian Girls, Gogol Bordello, just to name a VERY few.....and yes, they do build on the past which is what makes them interesting. (I would add The Who in the 60's & 70's, but I'm just partial. Keith Moon--no better drummer)

[Carla Silva]

Ah yes, my best/worst list is different than yours but I agree that music in every style will continue to evolve and good music will continue to be made. However, being a child of the 60s I know we like to deny it but we are becoming our parents. We do find it harder and harder to embrace youthful things and we love to embrace the nostalgic. Who knew our parents were human and we are too?

[Dale Bartholomew]

Don't hate on Linda Ronstadt - Supremely talented and she knew HOW TO PICK good songs, and not write mediocre.

If you paid attention to her catalog, than just making off putting and femalish catty statements you'd appreciate that Ronstadt was influenced, she didn't TAKE.

The Beatles took from Chuck Berry. Chuck Berry took from Nat King Cole. So who was really the original there.

The irony of your Ronstadt statement, The Beatles destroyed American Standards - because they marketed to young teens and out the window went the LPs sung by Ella, Sinatra, Peggy Lee, King Cole and Nelson Riddle, etc. Discontinued in the 1960's but heard on Musac in elevators, until IRONICALLY, GUESS WHAT? LINDA RONSTADT RESURECTED STANDARDS IN 1983 with her What's New albums with Nelson Riddle. So you know, I'm grateful for every INTERPRETATION Ronstadt did, she didn't cover, she exposed.

[yellojkt]

There has always been good music and crappy music. This song was a big hit about the same time as the Beatles.

What I do have to agree with is that the Beatles changed the paradigm of rock music. An act was expected to write its own material. This expectation is what made Bob Dylan a huge star instead of a Tim Pan Alley artist.

The artist as singer of material written by others is still alive in country and r&b.