My mom loves the oldies station on the radio. She is all about LOVE 105 when we're driving in the car, and ever since she discovered "Saturday Night at the Seventies" on 102.9 LITE FM, we've had to endure her groovy dance moves all night long. As a result, I've grown up with a great appreciation for '60s and '70s music, from Carole King to the Osmonds, from John Denver to Earth, Wind and Fire.
There's something about the music of that era that makes it timeless. Sure, Michael Jackson grew up to be the "King of Pop," but his start as the adorable frontman for the Jackson Five is what rocketed him to fame later in life. The Bee Gees' hit "Stayin' Alive" was named #3 of the Top Ten Singles of 1978, and it has managed to stay alive since the day it hit the airwaves over 30 years ago.
When my parents refuse to switch the dial to KDWB, and my brother and I absolutely can't take any more Christian talk radio, a station like KOOL 108 is the happy medium for all of us. What is it about this music that makes it so multi-generational? I think it has a lot to do with its simplicity.
While quite a few '70s musicians may have been experimenting with drugs, drug references almost never made it into their lyrics. What a far cry from today, when it is commonplace for rappers to write lyrics about "lightin' up a blunt" (ahem, Lil Wayne). And even thought Elton John's sexuality was a much-discussed topic in the late '70s and early '80s, never did the details end up in a pointless pop anthem (thanks, Katy Perry, for that useless info on your personal experimentation). No, the lyrics of the '70s were much more (dare I say it) wholesome. Simple, classic topics were put to simple, classic music- without the help of auto-tune (sorry T-Payne).
When I listen to my parents' music 30 years after it first debuted, it makes me wonder- will my kids ever listen to what I grew up hearing on the radio? Will boxed sets from my growing-up decade ever be sold on T.V. telethons? My suspicion is, no.
Why is America obsessed with music in an era where it only stays popular for a short amount of time? Today, when a "great" song comes out, I like it for roughly a month. I hear it on every radio station, I make it my ringtone on my cell phone, it gets used in a commercial, and then I see its popularity on iTunes start to slip. After a while, it completely fades away. A year later, it might come up on shuffle on my iPod, and I think to myself, "Oh, I used to love this song!" But if it hadn't accidentally been stumbled upon, I would have been perfectly fine going another year without hearing it. Perhaps today's artists need to stop trying so hard to reinvent the wheel, and take a page out of the sheet music of musicians who have stood the test of time.
Today's music doesn't have the staying power of the hits of the 1970s. I will admit, there are some songs I never care to hear again (think "Muskrat Love" or "Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown"), but by and large the music of the '70s is the definition of classic.
Someday, it will be fun to reminisce with my friends about the days when we argued endlessly over the Backstreet Boys vs. N*Sync. We will randomly hear a Shania Twain song and think to ourselves, "Man, I used to play that over and over!" But then, after laughing over thirty seconds of "That Don't Impress Me Much," I know I will reach out and switch the dial back to the oldies station, and transform into a "daaaancing quueeeen..."
I don't know if I've told you this before, but your pink background on pink text is very difficult to read...
ReplyDeleteI did, however, LOVE your word choice throughout. I really thought you hit the nail on the head when you exclaimed that "Perhaps today's artists need to stop trying so hard to reinvent the wheel, and take a page out of the sheet music of musicians who have stood the test of time."
My grandparents had their 50th class reunion this summer and the whole preceding week they played their old tapes in the stereo. My grandma would dance to the music, my grandpa would hum. I didn't recognize most of if, but I came to love it! The music was simple, the lyrics were clean and the voices were natural. It made me wish I could go back in time to a sock hop. I don't think the love people have for "oldies" music will ever fade; I wish I could say the same for the music of our generation.
ReplyDeleteKaylin, thank you for fixing the text! so much better :) momma loves you baby.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I think as we look back on it, the lyrics from the 70s were more wholesome, but they sure didn't think that in the 70s.
My parents were discouraged from listening to a lot of the music back then, or heaven forbid even dancing to it. It's not so much that today's rap is getting worse, the society as a whole is.
I think that one reason these songs have stood the test of time is because they share a part of our country's history. Songs from the 60s and 70s were very politically charged, and they show where we were as a country during that time. But I also think that they are just nicer to listen to. I'd prefer an acoustic guitar over electronic processing any day. These were artists, not someone who payed of the recording studio, and that is someting that is often lost in the music industry today.
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