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by Charity Crawford
By the time I was born in 1979, Journey had released 5 albums, two of which were with Steve Perry, and one of which was to become my favorite Journey album (Infinity). There probably aren't a lot of people my age who can say that their favorite album of all time was released before they were born. As it turns out, most of the music I like was released either before I was born or before I entered kindergarten. Of course, I was too young then to really appreciate the music, but once I discovered it, I kept wishing that I had been born at least a decade sooner.
I am not bragging when I say that I'm in the minority when it comes to my music tastes. In fact, I wish it were to the contrary. I have a deep respect for people my age and younger who appreciate (in my opinion, of course) good music. I mostly have my parents to thank for that. They played stuff like Boston, CCR, Three Dog Night, REO Speedwagon, and the like when I was younger. Of course, back then, it wasn't cool to like my parents' music, but later in life I listened to it more and it was because of my parents' copy of Journey's Greatest Hits that I became the die-hard Journey freak that I am today.
So here I am, 21 years later, wondering what the heck went wrong. Having a roommate who loves MTV (or Empty-V, as it's often called) exposes me to a lot of what's out there now that I normally wouldn't listen to. From the Backstreet Boys to Britney Spears, music today has turned into commercial bubble-gum teenage ecstasy, and I hate it. I realize that there have always been the teen idol-types, but doesn't it seem like we're being bombarded with them now? Honestly, I wouldn't be able to tell you the difference between Britney, Christina, Mandy Moore, and the other clones out there. Maybe I could point out the differences between sizes of their female appendages, but that's about it. And don't even ask me to distinguish between the boy bands. All I know is that one of them likes Journey, and that makes me cringe. How could someone with such great musical background go astray?
Even the bands I *do* like from today seem rather wimpified and commercialized compared to the bands of yesteryear. Although I do like Godsmack a lot, I would more than likely pop in a Metallica CD before I'd listen to them.
So how is it that we can go from great bands of the 60s, 70s, and 80s to the garbage we have today? Two words: good looks. Let's face it, Robert Plant may have been seen as a sex symbol back in his day, but he (to me, at least) was never all that good-looking. Bands like Aerosmith, Zeppelin, Rush, and even Metallica did not achieve their fame through looking good. They played their own instruments, wrote their own music, and even produced their own records, none of which seems to be the case for many of today's artists. I feel MTV has a lot to do with this. I feel they helped to shift the focus from the music to the appearance.
I now realize that this article really doesn't have much of a point, other than to serve as an outlet for me to whine and moan about the state of popular music today. So here's my Tony Robbins message for today: Don't be ashamed to not like the music that everybody else likes. Put down that Backstreet Boys CD for a minute and listen to a Boston or Journey CD. Might as well see where the (shudder) influence came from, right? Britney Spears may be "hot", but she can't hold a candle anywhere near Ann Wilson. So to all you music fans out there my age and younger, I challenge you to pop in Journey's Evolution CD, kick back and relax, and discover what REAL music is all about.
Enough of the rant. Next episode: country music does AC/DC--why this should be a federal offense.
Copyright © 1994-2006 Dan Stacy, Journey Digest, JourneyDigest.com
No portion of this article may be reprinted without express written permission from the author and JourneyDigest.com