Popular Music , Dumbing Down Our Kids?

[Chickerdoodle13]

I have to agree with most of what Rosalind said...as always!

I actually look for bands that write their own music. I am amazed by The Goo Goo Dolls for this simple reason. They write their own songs and they are excellent musicians.

I was actually a little let down when I found out that George Strait does not write most of his music. I don't even know if he writes any of it. I love george strait, but I would love him more if he wrote his own songs.

I used to hate rap, but when I entered college I met new people with new tastes and I've come to appreciate some rap and pop. I'm usually a rock/trance/country person myself. There certainly ARE some good rappers out there. One that comes to mind right away is Will Smith. I honestly think he is very talented! A lot of times I don't listen to music for the lyrics...I listen for the sounds. If I want a good song with base when I'm driving in the summer, I'll turn on some rap with good base. What they are saying in the song doesn't always matter. However, I do have to agree that there is a lot of terrible music out there. That song soldier boy annoys the crud out of me. The black eyed peas new song is also very strange.

But I do have to agree that years ago many musicians who are more than famous today were considered crud. Heck, even pinball was considered an evil game that "dumbed down the children". I frickin' love pinball!

 

[Rosalind]

Quote:
Capital has nothing to do with it: Think of all the high school kids in the world who take after-school music lessons. Think of all the kids who go to "magnet schools" for performing arts, including music. Think of all the schools that provide reduced-cost or free music lessons to students who show an interest. Think of all the college students, many on scholarship money, who are attending Berklee or Juilliard right now. That's an awful lot of really talented, well-educated musicians who know how to perform and write music fabulously well, including contemporary music of all genres. And a great many of them will end up as studio musicians, teaching some dude with hair extensions Every-Good-Boy-Does-Fine. It seems grossly unfair to me that they should get paid a pittance while the likes of the Backstreet Boys gets millions for no better reason than the Backstreet Boys' manager found a slick contract lawyer.

You do not need a massive amount of money to learn from good musicians--the going rate in Boston is about $25-30/class for lessons that are pretty OK, more like $70/class if you want to go to the very elite schools. Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I paid $15/lesson to learn fingerpicking and chord structure from a reasonably respected classical guitar teacher, which I paid for by waitressing. I really strongly very much emphatically encourage anyone with the slightest interest in music to learn to play a musical instrument, ANY musical instrument. It provides an amazing insight into the differences between good vs. bad music, and a deep appreciation for the skills of musicians, especially in genres you may not like very much. I know lots of people think some genres as a whole are terrible, but if you think it's so easy to do, then I'd suggest you do it and become a millionaire with hordes of adoring fans.

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
Sad but true!

My wife and I are still stuck in 50's and early 60's for "popular" music, and when I stop and think of some of those dumb lyrics that I still like and the beat that went with them that I used to listen to with my ear stuck to the radio when I was in high school... sighhhhhhhh!

 

[FrizzleFreak]

gosh darn it, now you've got that stuck in my head! doo wa diddy diddy doo diddy doo.........
Re...pressed people....nudge nudge wink wink say no more, say no more.
Attempting
Poetry

 

[jubylives]

Ok but GnR wrote the majority of their songs and composed and recorded and performed them themselves. They have a few songs that they remade but who doesn't anymore. The same goes for Poison although they actually started out as the band Paris in the early 80s. So again clumping those bands with the other performers you mentioned isn't quite fair but I do agree with what you have said just not the bands you used in your statement.

jeremy

 

[preppy*hippie*chick]

I graduated in 1994 & was in high school when rap and even hip hop started to turn really nasty. The "artist" who comes to my mind is LL Cool J. He did some really raunchy stuff. Fortunately for me, my life completely revolved around horses so I wasn't too interested in pop culture. Also, my dad liked alternative music as soon as it started coming out so I gravitated towards classic rock, oldies and some country. I really think that growing up on a farm and reading constantly made me a better, more interesting and more articulate person. At a time when a lot of the other kids in my college prep classes were taking their ACT test over and over again to attempt a score of 17 (minimum requirement for most colleges), I took it once and got a 27 with a perfect 32 on the vocabulary section.

I have a 10 year old daughter who goes to the same school I went to. One thing I notice is the way the school really shoves reading down their throats. No matter how much they read, it's never enough. They read AR books and then self test on a computer, which sounds great. However, it's structured in such a way that they're never quite caught up on their reading. As a result, reading is a real chore to so many kids. Taylor (DD) is finally enjoying reading some books but she never has time to do it unless she's on a break from school.

We share a lot of music. She has everything from the Beatles, Stones, ELO & Pearl Jam to Hannah Montana & Taylor Swift. Often when she goes to spend a night with a friend the parents will tell her they love her music selection and ask how I get her to like that stuff. I can't believe how many kids have the uncensored versions of explicit songs. MTV makes it seem as though life would be ideally lived in a permanent state of debauchery - eternal spring break. No thanks!!!

 

[preppy*hippie*chick]

Quote:
Sad but true!

My wife and I are still stuck in 50's and early 60's for "popular" music, and when I stop and think of some of those dumb lyrics that I still like and the beat that went with them that I used to listen to with my ear stuck to the radio when I was in high school... sighhhhhhhh!

I'm 32 and I still like an awful lot of that stuff, but central Ohio no longer has an oldies station. I think that's kind of sad. We have some stations that play classic rock, but they're calling Aerosmith (who I love) classic rock, which seems off to me.

 

[jubylives]

preppy*hippie*chick :

Quote:
Sad but true!

My wife and I are still stuck in 50's and early 60's for "popular" music, and when I stop and think of some of those dumb lyrics that I still like and the beat that went with them that I used to listen to with my ear stuck to the radio when I was in high school... sighhhhhhhh!

I'm 32 and I still like an awful lot of that stuff, but central Ohio no longer has an oldies station. I think that's kind of sad. We have some stations that play classic rock, but they're calling Aerosmith (who I love) classic rock, which seems off to me.​

Sad but True is a Metallica song.

I digress, I love the oldies station they have here. Aerosmith started in 1970. So they would fall under classic rock. The weird thing is that I heard Bob Segar on the oldies station. Now that is weird.

jeremy

 

[Ec_Prokta]

Quote:
What passes as literature is doing the same thing. When did mediocrity become mainstream?

Don't get me started...

 

[jubylives]

Oh I forgot I do like Rodney Carrington. He's country right?

jeremy