I was just sitting in my office cooking up a SEO report for some clients when Justin Bieber came blasting out of the radio from an office opposite to mine. I quickly shut the door and pondered has the craft of song writing been moved to history.
Think about it in any decade from years gone by. In the 50's you had Elvis, Chum Holly, Johnny Money, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Billie Vacation, Jody Reynolds, Bill Haley and His Comets, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, and Tom Jones, not forgetting Sinatra and all the swing Jazz and blues legends (Ray Charles, Shirley Bassey, Dean Martin, BB King...), infrequently all releasing records at the same time.
In the 60's you had most of these artist's again - longevity wasn't a difficulty as is now - plus The Stones, The Beatles, Pink Floyd and getting away from the UK rock and roll bands, The Doors, Bob Dylan, Janice Joplin, The Beach Boys. The seventies saw The Bee Gee's, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, James Brown, Joni Mitchell, David Bowie, Aretha Franklin, Ac/Dc, Kool & The Gang.
The 80's saw the definition of legends from Duran Duran, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Madonna, Gary Numan, Michael Jackson, Guns N ' Roses, Kiss, Def Leppard, Eurythmics. Then with the 90's we had Nirvana, Radiohead, U2, Prince, The Wonder kid, Bon Jovi, Primal Scream, Tu Pac, Soundgarden Pearl Jam.
With the noughties we got Eminem, Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chiil Peppers, 50 Cent, Snow Patrol, Chemical Brothers, Jay Z, Gorrillaz, Queens Of The Stone Age. But unhappily the modern pop lore at the end of the 2000's has favored dump rubbish pop. I am not talking about bubblegum pop like the Beach Boys, as their songs have beaten the test of time.
But rubbish vocodered beating pop songs all about being in "the club" getting it on with somebody you have just met. "What's my name" a chanting. Who cares. Good music should talk for itself and not brand the singers name. Positively abominable. Today's music is about fame for fame's sake and nothing else. It's a corporate commodity.
Think about it in any decade from years gone by. In the 50's you had Elvis, Chum Holly, Johnny Money, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Billie Vacation, Jody Reynolds, Bill Haley and His Comets, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, and Tom Jones, not forgetting Sinatra and all the swing Jazz and blues legends (Ray Charles, Shirley Bassey, Dean Martin, BB King...), infrequently all releasing records at the same time.
In the 60's you had most of these artist's again - longevity wasn't a difficulty as is now - plus The Stones, The Beatles, Pink Floyd and getting away from the UK rock and roll bands, The Doors, Bob Dylan, Janice Joplin, The Beach Boys. The seventies saw The Bee Gee's, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, James Brown, Joni Mitchell, David Bowie, Aretha Franklin, Ac/Dc, Kool & The Gang.
The 80's saw the definition of legends from Duran Duran, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Madonna, Gary Numan, Michael Jackson, Guns N ' Roses, Kiss, Def Leppard, Eurythmics. Then with the 90's we had Nirvana, Radiohead, U2, Prince, The Wonder kid, Bon Jovi, Primal Scream, Tu Pac, Soundgarden Pearl Jam.
With the noughties we got Eminem, Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chiil Peppers, 50 Cent, Snow Patrol, Chemical Brothers, Jay Z, Gorrillaz, Queens Of The Stone Age. But unhappily the modern pop lore at the end of the 2000's has favored dump rubbish pop. I am not talking about bubblegum pop like the Beach Boys, as their songs have beaten the test of time.
But rubbish vocodered beating pop songs all about being in "the club" getting it on with somebody you have just met. "What's my name" a chanting. Who cares. Good music should talk for itself and not brand the singers name. Positively abominable. Today's music is about fame for fame's sake and nothing else. It's a corporate commodity.