Was the 70's the best?

treeve

Major Contributor
Of course not, but the numbers of 'hits' register whether or not they listen fully or turn away, thereby negating any count of any supreme significance.
 

Halfhidden

Untouchable
Administrator
So what proportion of the 1 billion are you suggesting just listens to a little bit then navigates away?
 

treeve

Major Contributor
Many of the comments are using a language that on PPz would be obliterated, occasionally good responses, but in comparison (full analysis is beyond my 'pain threshold'), it has to be fairly high. Many of the hits are for reasons of looks, I have no doubt, and the growing celebrity culture. Another problem is peer pressure (nothing new about that) but it underlines that figures quoted mean little, what counts is actual sales of recordings, and that has fractured in modern society, all the time there are commercial and advertising pressures ... As Red Bridge sing .. Nothing is real ... by which they are referring to the observed society and its attendant bureaucracy and industry.
 

Halfhidden

Untouchable
Administrator
what counts is actual sales of recordings, and that has fractured in modern society
But the music industry is on its knees because it wasn't prepared for the internet. People don't buy songs any longer like they use to... most steal them through download sites. Therefore sales is not the best way to measure an artists success any longer. Sites like Facebook bridge that gap and gives back some sort of measurement.
Being a DJ I know that when records were brought not all of them were for the purpose of enjoyment.
I would buy the top 20 every week without fail... there was no guarantee that any of those records would be played... But like tens of thousands of DJ's. night clubs, bars and holidays outlets we added to the sales of artists in the charts just as You Tube has done with their partial viewing figures (if that's how You Tube count their views).
 

treeve

Major Contributor
Pecisely what is meant by 'fractured'. Borrowing records is nothing new, or even 'taping it off' or recording from the radio; the key thing then was not to be tight and save money, it was to be able to listen to it over and over, and then decide whether or not to buy the record, or even the album. An aspect of such outlets as You Tube is the video content and by that I mean the visual overlay on the music; time was that music stood on its feet; The Buggles hit it on the nail with 'Video killed the radio star' in 1980 I think. I like to sit down and listen to the music, the video tends to introduce many other layers of experience outside of the music itself, although there are some incredible visuals tha actually make a perfect combination. Many of modern videos rely on Jungian imagery and some aspects of human behavioural models, which seriously overload the music to the point that 'great video lousy song' would be appropriate. Again I doubt the numbers of hits as being purely as far as music is concerned. En Vogue for example produced some fine music and fine stage performances, where clearly they were 'underdressed' but they did not use their bodily attributes in a Babylonian manner, unlike many of today's performers which relies heavily on the shock principle and 'in yer face'. Great dance routine, great stage effect, great lighting ... but it cannot be seen on the CD version, without the props, it often fails.
 
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46traveller

Member
Talking Heads Anybody??

Listened to them loads, had all their "Tapes" wore them out playing them. Have just purchased the "Stop Making Sense" dvd from Ebay, and once again across the time space continuum I realised just how much I miss the energy produced by musicians actually enjoying the night.
Quite impressed with Alabama 3, their early recordings are lyrically relevent to a lot of situations faced today, so worth a listen in my book.
As for the latest offerings from all and sundry in charts or on you tube, I've got to admit that I find myself getting lost in the ether, struggling to find a comparison for artists or bands that actually give me personally a moment of hair raising, smile producing pleasure. So many offerings, anyone that say's "The majority are great" obviously hasn't watched the amount I have, in my search for a new sound that I will remember for more than a month.
Yes I'm stuck in my ways, as I think most people are with regards music, it is a very personal subject, and one that has been argued over since we first learnt to talk with drums. The arguement will never die, nor should it be allowed to, after all if we all liked the music our children liked, and forgot where the roots lye, and the artists who paved the way, wouldn't that be sad??
 
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