`````I had to laugh when I read an article in The Daily News in which a top music executive/producer was quoted. He was complaining about the music of today sexualizing the young. He compared it to the more innocent l980's.
`````It was the comments, and there's a lot of them, that I found amusing. Basically, the downfall of Western Civilization as we know it falls at the feet of Lady Gaga and her ilk. Well, at whatever footwear she might be wearing that day, given her fondness for seven inch platforms.
`````I had mentioned to my friend once that I'd love to write a book and call it "Bad History---the Faulty Recall of the Recent Past." There's this horrid tendency to look back with fondness and rose coloured glasses on what really took place. Everything takes on a glossy veneer and people forget the bad stuff. I'll actually save this for a future blog. Right now, I just want to talk about music.
`````I think they happen to be mixing up the visual images of videos with music. Frankly, I didn't even think MTV played them anymore, given all the reality television on there. There's also a sexualized component to any concert clothing, but that's always gone on. But here's my issue; the impressionable preteens shouldn't be there in the first place. Most concert venues are for adults. I know that there are groups specifically targeted for that age group, such as the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lavato, etc. and they are age appropriate. Besides, who merely drops off a pre-adolescent at a concert anyways? Shouldn't they go with adult supervision? I mean, these are the very same people who won't let their kids go outside to play for fear of attack. As for the television and the media, it's everywhere. Our society is obsessed with the surface and the mundane. It's proven that people now have shorter attention spans, so there's a perceived need to keep changing the stimuli. Parents control the television.
`````In the l980's, Tipper Gore began the push to label music. At the time, Madonna was perceived as the harbinger of doom and the one leading girls into white slavery. When the musical tastes shiifted to hip-hop, there was talk about the bad language. Don't tell me how safe the l980's were, as people were complaining then. Frankie Goes to Hollywood actually had their song "Relax" and the video that went with it, pulled, once somebody sat down and figured out the lyrics.
`````In the l970's, the Glam Rock bands such as The New York Dolls and David Bowie were on the hitlist for their sexuality. I won't even get into all of the punk bands. The Sex Pistols created a firestorm on the Queen's Jubilee with their song.
`````How about the l960's. I guess people forget, because the oldies stations seem to stick to the soft formatting of songs by groups such as The Archies. But there was a lot of rage at the time and music reflected that. There's a great scene in Oliver Stone's film, The Doors, about the Ed Sullivan show. That sort of censorship took place. Bands weren't suppossed to say things like "higher". Then, along came Mick Jagger and his tight jeans. The public was aghast.
`````Before that, Elvis Presley was perceived as the anti-Christ himself in the l950's. His hip swaying was sinful and would lead to lustful thoughts and deeds.
`````I love all sorts of music, and have some blues collections from way back. Let me tell you, there were some sharp double entendres in there. Swing Music was banned in Nazi Germany because of its reputation.
`````I guess I was hoping that the people Douglas Coupland stamped with the moniker Generation X would be a little more hip and wouldn't fall into the trap. I might not particularily like the music that's out there, as I find it unoriginal and homoginized, but these arguements have all been stated before. The real problem, as I see it, are parents unable to say "no"...who cave to the kid who wants to wear imappropriate attire at a young age.
No comments:
Post a Comment