why can't music be as much fun as it used to be?

[johnny k]

If you like country music, scott h biram, mojo nixon, sarah shook, hank 3, .357 string band, .br 549, maybe some angry johnny and the killbillies or those poor b**tards if you are feeling low...

 

[O- Fender]

Sturgeon's Law -- "ninety percent of everything is crap" -- is a law for a reason. But looking back at the past, we only focus on the 10 percent that was great.

I find people tend to filter out the stuff we don't like. When people talk about 70s music, they mention Stairway To Heaven, Bohemian Rhapsody and Hotel California. They prefer to forget it's also the 70s was also Convoy, Run Joey Run and Disco Duck.

Tell me someone who has written and sang a real song this century? All the kids go o bars with sh....y thumping noise and speaking, not singing. Oh. Adele has written and sang some great songs. She's old school, like me.

It depends on what you like. The Sheepdogs, Metric and Panic At The Disco have some great songs. It also depends on if you will actually give the songs a listen with an open mind or if you are more interested in trying to be right.

 

[Dik Ellis]

Hey gang, it's always been like this. Yeah, you gotta do some digging to find the gold and diamonds, but the reward makes it all worthwhile. That is what made me start writing my own songs. When the vein runs dry, you still have your own cache.

 

[sloppychops]

OMG, another "why don't they make 'em like they used to" thread.

There is SO much good and fun music out there now. You just have to look a little.

But, in all honesty, I can't think of anything new that's quite as fun as The Young Fresh Fellows were.

 

[2HBStrat]

OMG, another "why don't they make 'em like they used to" thread.

There is SO much good and fun music out there now. You just have to look a little.......

For one thing when this "music isn't as good as it used to be" perennial thread appears I want to say "what music are you referring to?" Give me an example. Also, most of the music that many of us old guys revere was never top 40 material. It was on FM back when FM wasn't the top 40 and FM played whole albums. That doesn't exist now which means that, if you're looking for good music that ISN'T Top 40 you will have to look longer and deeper. Or complain to your radio programmers. Or listen to college radio stations.

 

[Happy Enchilada]

I'm working on fitting the lyrics of "Muskrat Love" into "Mannish Boy." Works great with "Beverly Hillbillies" theme, and it's a real crowd pleaser - especially in the third set when everybody's drunk.

Here's a couple t-shirts the OP and most of us would enjoy, including TDPRI John:

 

[trev333]

Fun is still to be had on the fringes, like it always has been...not on the safe path down the middle of the road with the pack....

 

[teletimetx]

If you’re not having fun in this world, that’s on you, particularly if you are an actual clown.

Excellent fun music happens in almost every part of the planet, every day.

Seems to be something that humans find a way to make happen. If you are a musician, you can hear the happy happy joy joy in all kinds of sounds.

 

[JL_LI]

I’m having fun with music. I play what I like. I’m always finding something that if it’s not new, is new to me. The problem isn’t music. It’s attitude. Is the glass half empty or half full? It doesn’t matter. Just fill it up with what you like to drink and kwitcherbichen.

 

[2HBStrat]

Mr. @rodeoclown, if it's fun(k) music you want, check out The Fearless Flyers.

 

[Mr. St. Paul]

Yeah, because when I think of "fun" music, it's Hank Junior singing yet another song about Guess Who Senior.

Many good examples have already been mentioned. I'll add Lake Street Dive, Nathaniel Radcliff, Leon Bridges....there's plenty of good, fun music out there.

And you don't even have to look that hard for it.

 

[bobio]

Might peave quite a few off, but here I go anyway.

We are in the 21st century where anyone with a cellphone can shoot and post a music video. Are they all good, of course not.
I for one think it is a great thing that music careers are being launched by viral videos on Youtube and other social media platforms!
I would venture a guess that maybe those that are saying there is no good music today either don't know how or just don't want to be bothered to look for it.
It is everywhere, sure you might have to spend more time looking than in the stone ages, c’est la vie.

The only constant in the universe is "change"

I am fortunate in that I have two college age kids that are constantly introducing me to new music.
I am also fortunate in that they are also both very much into the music I listened to as a child of the '80s.

 

[trev333]

soon as I hear that boring 1-5 1-5 1-5 bassline in country music and the nursery rhyme style lyric delivery......

all the fun goes out of it for me.....

 

[Tonetele]

actually give the songs a listen with an open mind or if you are more interested in trying to be right.

@D-FenderWhat's right and what's wrong is subjective in art forms like music.

 

[Nightclub Dwight]

We are in a golden age for music. I love some of the classics, but there has never been this much diversity in music. It might not be presented on the regular radio stations, but it is definitely out there waiting for you to discover it.

Think about what rock and roll was in the 50s. We all have a picture in our minds. Then think how the 60s blew that wide open. Then think how the 70s blew that wide open. Yeah, yeah, I know, disco sucks. Emotional Rescue? I'll take it. Then, Video Killed the Radio Star. One can't deny some great music happened in the 80s. The 90s, I went acoustic because I was a little pissed off how alternative went mainstream after all those years that I'd get beat up for my punk rock roots in the 80s. The 00s, I finally came around to appreciate some of the more urban music that I was too cool to listen to earlier in my life. The 0teens, back to some bar band rock and roll for me. And now the 020s I'm listening to way more than I ever did in all of my life because access is so cheap and easy that I can take a chance on virtually anything that crosses my path and piques my interest.

Kids these days don't realize how hard it was to seek out cool stuff in the good old days if it wasn't being played on the radio. These days I don't even listen to the radio. There is just so much stuff at our fingertips.

Saying that there isn't any good music being made today is like saying there aren't any million dollar Les Pauls being made today. We are in a golden age for guitar manufacturing as well. I love the choices we have today and would hate to go back to the old days.

 

[trev333]

I think the OP was hinting at fun in the lyrics.. making the songs funny... not playing/listening to music..

like FZ used to.... play your music, but lighten up on the lyrics, everything you create doesn't have to be serious poetry.

Fun is more to do with the people you hang out with, the journey there and back and the vibe of the venue you go to partake in music... sometimes the band themselves are entertaining and join in the fun everyone is having..

though, it's not always the band that starts the fun..... they often come on in the middle of the fun you are already having....

 

[O- Fender]

@D-FenderWhat's right and what's wrong is subjective in art forms like music.

As if. Admit it; from an objective point of view, your opinion is wrong.

 

[radiocaster]

Telecaster + fun

 

[Tonetele]

As if. Admit it; from an objective point of view, your opinion is wrong.

You said it. It's my opinion. Not right, not wrong, but I'm entitled to an opinion.

 

[O- Fender]

You said it. It's my opinion. Not right, not wrong, but I'm entitled to an opinion.

No, you're entitled to your opinion as long as it's right.