Now in preparation of the upcoming holiday season in which I spend a considerable amount of time listening to Lite FM and being nostalgic, I've been playing the station like crazy and purchasing new tracks from iTunes that I've heard throughout the day..... by "new" I mean, something that's about 20 years old but is just making it from my childhood memory, to my scratch pad of songs, to my ipod. One of these songs being "Living On A Prayer". I've been loving it lately, and I was all of four when it was number one.
One of the things about the call that made me chuckle and made me think was when the station asked him (Bon Jovi) just how hard it is to sell cds nowadays..and his reply was "oh, impossible". But the conversation takes an upturn when they go on to discuss their twelve and thirteen year old kids who are blasting this song like it was a new Miley Cyrus track with Diddy on the hook!!! (my words not theirs). It made me laugh because I'm one of those people...though I haven't been 12 for 14 years, I know the feeling of hunting through the history of music and discovering such hidden treasures as these. When I do it, it's something like this....
The song plays, I listen and almost skip it, hesitate, then realize, I know half of it....I see the old Pan AM terminal from the back seat of an old school mustang and a foggy window and the song is playing on the radio and my father is in the front seat and my mom hops in the passenger's side. I've always known the song...it's part of my generation. It's no wonder I don't want to let go of these sounds, they are littered in the background of the modern music that's played on the stations that people would expect someone my age to listen to, and it's all too obvious why I tire of these stations so quickly.
I've also been pondering my non-existent music career, and my desire to be an actress, singer, writer, or entertainer of some type in some capacity whether it be an famous recording artist or a local hero who does it for fun...and I've been so fearful lately of the crumbling music industry that I have been hearing about and reading about for the last ten or so years. CD's can't move, they closed Tower Records....again, the Virgin Megastore....to someone like me these are catastrophic events on the scale of an earthquake or Tsunami....and the fact that the beautiful Virgin at Times Square is now a (gasp) Forever 21 of all things....is lots of salt on the open wound!
Then, as my mind is going back to these devastating thoughts....they say it on Lite FM.....these kids know these songs from ROCK BAND, GUITAR HERO.....I love it! It just reiterates my internal philosophy...music is eternal. It never dies, it will find its way back to you over and over...they try to kill it with piracy and overzealous critics and crap artists but the music still comes out. It pops up in commercials, toys that make noise, ring tones, movie soundtracks....one of my favorite sources...and video games!!! I love it....its great...something to keep living for, striving for, and dreaming for....just find your path dreamers....there's enough out there for all of us. You may not find yourself where you thought you always wanted to be, but you will find yourself where you were always supposed to be.
Sweet dreams
Freelancer.
5 comments:
My dear sister, it's a wonder to me and also a problem for me, that you've yet to reach your height in the arts. As a so called manager, I failed to get you to the people who could inspire you more than I could. Maybe I should have introduced you to Starbucks years ago. However, sometimes I do believe we are where we are supposed to be. I find myself loving the writing you now display and the music you tend to drift to, old and new. Funny how it's more old! Is it age, or is music just not cutting it, that's keeping the sales down? I know technology plays a part, I can't remember the last cd I bought. I do, however, remember buying a certain cd for the third time that was produced the year I graduated. Life huh. Keep up the good work sis.
Thanks so much, and as far as those introductions are concerned...it's never too late, nowadays. The music....it's alot of things playing a part. But for me, it's partially the quality and also the fact that things, mediawise are so instantaneous nowadays, that there's no appreciation. No time to anticipate a new record from most artists. No tours, no sold out arenas, granted most artists can't develop the fan base to sell out anything...but still. I think the days of last decade were valuable in that, you had to go to a store to get what you wanted and Spend some time, explore it, get to know it...you had physical liner notes to read....I read them, they tell you alot about an artist and what goes into a song. Now you get a digital booklet....that takes 10 minutes to open if you don't know what you're doing. Its nice and all...you know I love my technology, but now we get all this instant gratification ...at what expense???
I couldn't have said it better myself. I even find myself listening to music that I remember growing up as a kid, and I wind up missing a lot of the things that I took for granted, because we all like to think that they will always be there. For example, I have been listening to WQCD (Smooth Jazz CD101.9) since its beginning, through all of its different formats, up until the end, when WRXP (blech) took over. I grew up with Basia, Sade, Incognito, Steeley Dan, and the likes, without the realization that in this day and age, all good things must come to an end. I was influenced early on in life by this music and, fortunately, carry that with me to this day. Same goes for hip-hop, which I've grown up with since the days of RUN DMC, KRS-ONE, Big Daddy Kane, Gang Starr, even up to Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, Biggie, Nas, Tupac, Canibus, and the likes. That is not to say I cannot enjoy house music or neo-soul or R&B (though primarily due to the absense of CD101.9), or even relative newcomers like Alicia Keys, Jill Scott, or even Jazmine Sullivan, because at least their music seems to resonate with old school souls and things the way they used to be done.
Music in the age of electronics (don't get me wrong, I'm like you, I love my electronics too) isn't what it used to be, music was about getting a message out there with raw talent in aspiration for more and better, and not about making beef or projecting sexuality to sell a product; not about what's hot now but won't be so hot later to eventually be replaced by another one-hit or even two-hit wonder; not about identifying an artist based on how many albums they produced or making sure they get a paycheck to fit their constantly morphing lifestyle; not about using computers to enhance what wasn't there to begin with in order to transcend a message that someone in a suit and tie wants to pay someone to deliver and make money for them. Not to mention the Internet opening a whole new world of music to the average listener who previously never had much exposure other than going to said Virgin or HMV or Tower Records and sampling whatever was on the racks, but at the same time bombarding us with digital information and additional features that require 17 different formats to open if you are lucky and then making it available via paid sites like Amazon and iTunes or shared/free sites like BeeMP3 or Filestube for the whole world to freeload. All for the cost of a big name Internet service to bring it to us on computers made by multinational corporations which can't even meet the demand let alone the quality, etc. etc. etc. My computer is tired, and so am I, so I will end with this: Things aren't the same anymore, and we say this because we reflect on childhood experiences or times in our life when things were enjoyable and resonate with us. Keep these posts coming.
P.S., I'd start a blog, but I've never been the journal-writing type, I write Journals, then I forget or stop altogether.
I like you. You come across very powerfully on your website. Good looking, excellent content and amazing pictures – definitely a wonderful blog. I found your writing style highly captivating. Where can I read more of your blogs? Trust me…I have never read something like this before. It is informative and uplifting at the same time. Check out some cool blogs at Freelance Work From Home, Sell Online themes websites.
Post a Comment