Being an 80's kid and a lover of metal music -along with just about every other genre of music- I listened to what's been derisively called hair, sleaze or pop metal. You know the stuff, Poison, Ratt, Mötley Crüe and the like. I didn't just listen to it, I loved it. Perhaps it was the excesses of the 80's the music represented, the excesses of sex, drugs and everything else rock-n-roll, that appealed to me. I think a lot of it had to do with it's blues foundation as well as the classic metal influences that drew my attention. Whatever the reason, I loved me some hair metal! The more hair the better. I sometimes miss the attitude and swagger. I miss the party.
Now, I also love my dad, I love his music. He introduced me to Muddy Waters and The Beatles. We used to play vinyls of Elvis and Bobby Blue Bland...on the same night. My dad is the only person I know to have had the complete recordings of Jonathan Edwards. His music tastes were diverse and eclectic, that's why I was surprised to hear him say to me one night, "Why do you like that Ratt Poison? It's terrible!" I was traumatized! I tried to sell him on hair metal with Whitesnake, a band heavily influenced by the blues, but he would have none of it. To him, hair metal was the end of music as an art form.
Now, pop music has gone through many changes and hybrids since the 80's hair metal scene, and I've paid attention to some and not to others. Still, I've kept myself fairly abreast of pop music's fluctuations and have considered myself tolerant, until lately. I've noticed a change. The question is, is it a change in me or in pop music? I gotta know.
Having a thirteen year old daughter has exposed me to today's top 40 radio; and I have to admit, I listen begrudgingly. There's a hodge-podge of rappers, many times featuring some other artist, several teenage heart throbs, and that because of the provocative videos they produce, a spattering of country musicians and maybe a few adult contemporary artists thrown in that makes up the top 40 and I can't seem to find anything on there I can appreciate. Lil' Wayne, seriously? I keep hearing that Justin Bieber has great hair, but great music? No way. Taylor Swift and Katy Perry are cute, but is that enough to lionize them in the top 40's current Pantheon? Uh, no. And can someone tell Lady Gaga Madonna already did that?
Here's the thing, I find the music industry patronizes us, the music consumer, with some of the most banal and uninteresting music ever produced. It's as if all you need to sell a single is sex appeal, either in the lyrics or packaged in a music video. I have been told I should try Katy Perry, that she's not typical pop. So I listened to Teenage Dream. I wish I had that three and a half minutes back. I've been known to watch American Idol on occasion and every time a rap artist graces the stage I start to contemplate never watching the show again; not because I think rap is horrible, but that the rapper's performances are horrible. I always wonder why anyone would pay to see that live. Has the music industry run out of good music to market to us? I wonder.
Now, I know everyone has their own tastes in music and I respect that, but I'm trying to understand the direction pop music is going in. I hear the music industry is suffering from slumping sales and from what I hear on the radio I think I know why. Still, I have my Led Zeppelin and U2 albums I can listen to, so all's good. I can throw in the ol' ear buds and get lost in what I consider symphonic bliss, despite the drivel oozing from top 40 stations. I have some hair metal albums I throw into the rotation as well. Oh yeah! Still, I can't help but wonder if it's more me than the music. I really could be turning into my dad. Well, as long as the tunes are tasty...
And if I have to hear that song, Hey Soul Sister, one more time I'm putting a fork in my ear!
