Hahahaha. Some people, especially the very young, just can't admmit to being wrong.
I consider myself fortunate in that I listened to a lot of my parents' music from a very early age, and then when I came of age in the 1980s I was more into classic rock and old soul music than what was current at the time. This meant I missed out on a lot of '80s music, but that's okay when I got older I went back and discovered some of what I was missing. The point is that I grew up used to listening to older music. So I never had that "I don't like the old sh*t" mentality. In fact if I dig through my music collection I have stuff that's even older--Count Basie, Duke Ellington, the Andrews Sisters, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, etc. To me music is all part of a continuum.
Also, anything that's current tends to follow Sturgeons's Law: 95% of everything is crap, which includes 95% of what's popular right now. That 95% will mostly be forgotten in 10 years. But then the remaining stuff will be the stuff that people remember and still love.
And then by 2016 or so we'll hear some kids saying there was no good music in the early 2000s, and others saying, "they made such better music back in 2006, what happened?" It always runs that way. Two sides of the same coin. You just watch. ;-)
Gotta keep in mind Bernstein's Corollary: 5% is too important to ignore. Leonard Bernstein was talking about popular music, and the fact that he was specifically referring to "Society's Child" doesn't make it less true.
Had Minnie stuck around she'd be an oldie now. She's the reason I now kick myself for not going to the student concerts at my alma mater, Hyde Park High School, back in the '60s.
She had an amazing range. Better than Mariah's, actually. She could not only get up that high but could sing in that register and enunciate clearly in it for sustained periods and not just an occasional jump up there for the "big note." Her range was 5 and a half octaves and she could sing in all of it. She also had a facility for imitating musical instruments with her voice.
Quite a talent. She was more than a one-hit wonder, but breast cancer got her when she was only 31.
Does that mean I'm a full-fledge intellectual now, jaymaster? Time for the unkempt beard, dingy brown/black suits, and rambling Professor Cornell West-isms. HAAHAA! Now that I re-read what I just wrote, I have to agree with you. I would pat myself on the back but I'm eating some loaded pizza now.
And my idea of a loaded with everything pizza is double cheese, all meat (minus anchovies and chicken), double onion, and double green pepper. LOVELY!
I had faith in your choice of pizza, and you didn’t let me down! Extra cheese is a special touch….
You really are a full fledged intellectual, by my definition, at least. You are actually talking about stuff like this, while probably 95% of the other folks aren’t.
But you can skip the dingy suit. That's for the movies.
Whoa, what's with importance of these racial classifications? If it makes your cousin feel any better Mariah is one quarter black. I mention this because I thought she was white till I heard some person say and to paraphrase "Only a black person can sing like that".
Brian: my young cousin belongs to the "you don't look black so you aren't black" crowd. I really tune out when she gets like that but she's a 3.5GPA student and doesn't get into trouble so I deal with her.
Actually, one of the greatest R&B/soul singers is a white female by the name of Teena Marie. That woman is tied with Chaka Khan as far as amazing voices go. I think my young cousin would probably explode seeing Teena Marie sing.
Race and music... Such a topic. Sounding white, sounding black. It just tires me out at times but the subject is still a topic. I'm just a good music lover. And I thank my parents for being so musically diverse in their tastes. My father played in a black rock named in the 1970s before ABC and MCA records forced them to go R&B and pop. His background got me listening to Steppenwolf, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Allman Brothers, Average White Band, etc.
Ripperton had a magnificent voice, but I found her popular stuff irksome, as it seemed rather saccharine for me. At least Carey added a (thin) edge once in a while.
Not much, maybe, but... But then, that's a personal preference.
If you want to bring up five-octave singers, what about Annie Haslam of Renaissance? Her work in the album Songs of Sheherezade should guarantee her a place in 20th-century music history.
Interesting coincidence: Haslam, Ripperton, and Carey have one other trait in common: they're all drop-dead gorgeous. :)
Tyrone: I went the other direction. Started out with Airplane, Doors, CSNY, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Yes. Then I started listening to "oldies" and discovered folks like Sam & Dave and The Wicked Pickett, not to mention greats such as the Temptations.
Oddly enough, Soul and R&B led me to country, not the other way 'round. Go figure.
I consider myself fortunate in that I listened to a lot of my parents' music from a very early age, and then when I came of age in the 1980s I was more into classic rock and old soul music than what was current at the time. This meant I missed out on a lot of '80s music, but that's okay when I got older I went back and discovered some of what I was missing. The point is that I grew up used to listening to older music. So I never had that "I don't like the old sh*t" mentality. In fact if I dig through my music collection I have stuff that's even older--Count Basie, Duke Ellington, the Andrews Sisters, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, etc. To me music is all part of a continuum.
Also, anything that's current tends to follow Sturgeons's Law: 95% of everything is crap, which includes 95% of what's popular right now. That 95% will mostly be forgotten in 10 years. But then the remaining stuff will be the stuff that people remember and still love.
And then by 2016 or so we'll hear some kids saying there was no good music in the early 2000s, and others saying, "they made such better music back in 2006, what happened?" It always runs that way. Two sides of the same coin. You just watch. ;-)
Had Minnie stuck around she'd be an oldie now. She's the reason I now kick myself for not going to the student concerts at my alma mater, Hyde Park High School, back in the '60s.
Quite a talent. She was more than a one-hit wonder, but breast cancer got her when she was only 31.
The subjective definition and continuing evolution of good music.
The subjective definition and continuing evolution of accepted language.
The subjective definition and continuing evolution of race.
And the subjective definition and continuing evolution of good pizza.
And you illustrated it all with the most modern and popular (hip, cool, happenin, whack) phenomanon on the web today: YouTube.
Great work!
I assumed that his definition of “everything” didn’t include pineapple or barbecued chicken.
It has to be real jalepenos though, not those light green banana peppers.
And my idea of a loaded with everything pizza is double cheese, all meat (minus anchovies and chicken), double onion, and double green pepper. LOVELY!
I love the "hip, cool, happenin, whack" line. :)
I had faith in your choice of pizza, and you didn’t let me down! Extra cheese is a special touch….
You really are a full fledged intellectual, by my definition, at least. You are actually talking about stuff like this, while probably 95% of the other folks aren’t.
But you can skip the dingy suit. That's for the movies.
The weird beard is OK, though. I’ve got one.....
Regardless of who sings it, lord, I hate that song.
Actually, one of the greatest R&B/soul singers is a white female by the name of Teena Marie. That woman is tied with Chaka Khan as far as amazing voices go. I think my young cousin would probably explode seeing Teena Marie sing.
Race and music... Such a topic. Sounding white, sounding black. It just tires me out at times but the subject is still a topic. I'm just a good music lover. And I thank my parents for being so musically diverse in their tastes. My father played in a black rock named in the 1970s before ABC and MCA records forced them to go R&B and pop. His background got me listening to Steppenwolf, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Allman Brothers, Average White Band, etc.
You can never have too much loaded pizza, or too much good music ;-)
Wow, Minnie can sing quite beautifully. That was a cute conversation Tyronne. Made me laugh.
Minnie certainly sang it better than John Stamos's brother Richard Stamos.
And Wikipedia says "Lovin' You" was for her daughter. How neat.
Down to the Bone has to be one of the best.
Not much, maybe, but... But then, that's a personal preference.
If you want to bring up five-octave singers, what about Annie Haslam of Renaissance? Her work in the album Songs of Sheherezade should guarantee her a place in 20th-century music history.
Interesting coincidence: Haslam, Ripperton, and Carey have one other trait in common: they're all drop-dead gorgeous. :)
Tyrone: I went the other direction. Started out with Airplane, Doors, CSNY, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Yes. Then I started listening to "oldies" and discovered folks like Sam & Dave and The Wicked Pickett, not to mention greats such as the Temptations.
Oddly enough, Soul and R&B led me to country, not the other way 'round. Go figure.