[Dixielandjazz] EVERYBODY seems to have missed it!

[BillSargentDrums at aol.com]

All Y'all missed it. I put this up on the board and said it what I've been  
saying for years . . . and everybody jumped on the price of CDs . . . making or 
 selling.
 
Y'all missed the totally obvious. Since the '80's, I've been telling  people, 
of all ages and walks, that music and talent had gone down the  proverbial 
dumper. That anybody could name their favorite song from any decade  up to that 
point in time, irrespective of musical genre or age group, but NOBODY  could 
name their favorite song from the '80s, or the '90s, or in this current  decade 
. . . because nothing was good enough to stick or standout.
 
And I've been preaching about stars no longer being talented . . . AND THE  
FACT THAT THIS HAS NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the mantra that "every  
generation goes through this".
 
This has nothing to do with the usual, every generation's "kids rebelling  
against the parents" deal. But it has EVERYTHING to do with the fact that the  
corporations, the media and Hollywood are so incredibly screwed up . . . in 
just  about every way possible, from the way they THINK society thinks . . . or 
the  way they THINK society should be, or what kind of social change they can 
effect,  or just the basic "assembly line" production of producing new "stars". 
And that  goes for ALL of "American entertainment".
 
It started with computers and rhythm machines & keyboards . . .  followed 
closely by the mechanical feel of Disco music . . .  expanded by  computerized 
production in recording "studios" and Pro-Tools that make  untalented people 
seem perfect, with "perfect drummers" and perfect string  sections, etc. etc.
 
Then they were stupid enough to record a few people who spoke (because they  
could sing a note in tune, even if the tune was Mary Had A Little Lamb) 
rhythmic  lines on top of droning pedal tones and looped drum machine rhythms . . . 
and  they sold thus as a new kind of music, and marketed these people as 
"talented  stars".
 
Now even these people are beginning to take a back seat to even less  
talented people (because even an audience with a pea brain gets so bored with  them 
that when a rap or rock show actually happens, nobody can stomach any one  act 
for more that a very brief period, so they have to fill the evening with 10  
bands) . . . yes, they are now taking a back seat to those talented new "stars" 
 who push all the buttons to make it happen, yes, I am speaking of no other  
than those they bill as "LIVE DJs" . . . appearing from some other exotic city 
 in some other part of the country . . . and many times, they have to hire 10 
of  these to appear in any one night to keep they "numb of brain" 
entertained, or in  a "trance".
 
The people who were genuine stars, people who were able to sustain a career  
over decades, because, not only were they talented, but they were marketed FOR 
 THEIR ACTUAL TALENT, and could actually perform a song without some 
pre-recorded  studio tracks in front of an audience . . . AND could actually, 
single-handedly,  keep an audience entertained ALL BY THEMSELVES, for an evening of  
entertainment.
 
These were people who didn't need to work on a single album for a year, two  
or three years, but were capable of recording a new album every single month!  
AND do it without, multi-tracking, or fixing with Pro-Tools.
 
So why aren't there more, and some might say, any, talented people today?  
WHY should there be and more importantly, HOW could there be? Look at what  
Hollywood has put before them as examples of how to make it.
 
Why learn to play an instrument when any computer wiz kid can get the job  
done? Why learn to actually use your voice and sing, when nobody who makes money 
 does? Why bother with the personalities and rehearsals and costs of a band, 
when  Karaoke is where it's at? After all, almost everybody sings or speaks  
rhythmically with tracks on TV.
 
Who's fault is it? It's source is in Hollywood. It all starts on the  screen. 
MTV is nothing but a commercial from start to finish. TV & movies  are just 
as completely out of touch. It is closely followed by the audio media .  . . 
record companies, who are arm & arm, and in many cases the same people  who are 
in Hollywood.
 
All this is closely followed by the parents and grandparents . . . #1 for  
allowing this crap into their homes and kid's lives to begin with (and don't  
give me this crap about not being able to control what kids view or listen to,  
because that is nothing but a cop-out and nonsense spoken by lazy, 
pas-the-buck  people) . . . AND . . . #2 FOR NOT TAKING THEM TO AND EXPOSING THEM TO THE 
GOOD  STUFF!
 
You look at every single audience at these jazz fests, and you'll see  
nothing but a bunch of selfish, lazy blue-hairs. These are people who KNOW that  
America's musical culture is turning to crap . . . and who are CHOOSING to do  
nothing about it or use the lazy, cop-out lines: "What can I do? I can't do  
anything about it." . . . . or "I can't get my grand-kids to come . . . they  
don't like this kind of stuff" . . . or "They're too busy".
 
BULL . . . BULL . . . just plain Horsepuckey! One of the big problems at  the 
source of all this is parents and grandparents trying to be friends instead  
of taking the responsibility of being parents. It's the tail wagging the dog  
crap. My kids go where I tell them they are going to go. They listen to what I 
 tell them they are going to listen to. They watch what I decide they can or  
cannot watch. If I lay down the law that a musical education has a priority 
in  the house, then it does. If I say that music has a priority over sports, 
soccer  or basketball, then it does. If I say we are going to hear the Count 
Basie band  tonight, then we do. They can do what they want with their life when 
they leave  the house at 18 years old, but until then, it is my, and OUR, 
responsibility to  get off our lazy butts, and not be afraid of what they'll think 
of us.
 
Why would this be any different than their education in elementary, middle  
or high school or college? In those places, for the most part, they MUST take  
the classes that are required of them . . . them must read the required books. 
 Why would music be any different in a person's education, ESPECIALLY given 
the  volumes of scientific studies that show improved intelligence, academic 
and  social levels through musical education.
 
You can't expect America to like, or demand, or consume, what it does not  
know exists. You can't expect to raise up great talent, what kids have no true  
picture or definition of what talent is.
 
And finally, all you old farts out there, and I know I am talking to 99% of  
this list, quit being so damned selfish and thinking only of yourselves the 
next  time you go to a jazz fest or concert for a nice time with your spouse and 
 friends. Be willing to go through the effort and inconvenience of taking 
your  grandkids with you . . . and if you don't have any, then find some . . . 
find  some young people to mentor . . . find some little skull of mush that you 
might  actually be able to convince to come along with you . . . even if you 
have to  lie about all the hot chicks or guy's they'll meet.
 
Now, to step down off my soap box and direct you to the pertinent  paragraphs 
from the original article I posted that everyone seems to have  overlooked:
 
 
"Less  talented people are able to get a song out there and make a  quick 
million and  you never hear from them again," said Kate Simkins,  30, of Cape 
Cod,  
Mass.  
 
Many  fans also say they just don't like what they're hearing. It may  not be 
 
surprising to hear older fans say music just isn't what it used  to be when 
they  were growing up. But the poll also found that 49  percent of music fans 
ages  18-to-34 - the target audience for the  music business - say music is 
getting  worse.  

"Even   if our parents didn't like how loud rock 'n' roll was, or that it was 
  
revolutionary, at least they could listen to some of it," said  Christina  
Tjoelker, 49, from Snohomish, Wash.  "It wasn't gross.  It wasn't disgusting. 
It 
wasn't about beating up women or  shooting the  police." 
 
 
Bill
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