James Pearl Thinks Blogging is Dead
- Thread starter Norm
- Start date
I think we all believe our music was more "pertinent" that the later generations but this is one of those things that I actually think is true. To me it's like video games, or technology in general. I think there is something to be said about the transformative years versus the established years. Think of video games. I was born into a world where video games literally did not exist. Then it grew from nothing to Pong, which I actually had. I later grew up into the Atari/Intellivision generation when something like Pitfall was just mind-numbingly awesome. Eventually the C64 came around, and then the systems like Nintendo entered the picture and before long there was PC gaming as it is today. All of this was a formative process for the industry itself. And I think it is fair to say that this progression from Pong to Pitfall to Today is something that is more memorable in terms of the transformative culture of the time than video games are today.
To be sure, the actual video games being made today are amazing. They are beyond amazing and they churn them out at an astounding rate compared to when we were kids. But video games today are like TV was when I was a kid. I mean, we grew up with HBO being available, while our parents grew up with a box with 3 black & white channels and the transformation was amazing. To us, cable television is a right, where our parents had to grow up with antennas on top of their TVs. Actually, my very early TV days had an antenna on the roof that we could rotate with a box in the house. I did not get cable until July 13, 1985. Can anyone take a guess as to why I remember the day I got cable TV? Don't Google it, it's too obvious if you do.
My point about the TV is this. When I was a kid we really had 1 of those TVs with 2 knobs, the lower one would bring you from 14 to 58 or whatever, and you would spin it around do fast it sounded like a buzzsaw churning through wood. And we had an antenna that you had to rotate and you would spend forever trying to pick up WPIX and watch the people call into the station to play that game where they would yell "PIX!" to try and win the game. Then you would hope that you might catch the Yankees game in what can only be called less-than-low-definition. Or maybe catch Hogan's Heroes on channel 29 out of Philly.
These are formative memories of the TV. These are things kids today will never have. It is not better nor is it worse. It is just, as they say, different. One of our 11 year olds proclaimed the other day, "I don't know how to change the channel." At age 11, I probably had a chart of the relative humidity combined with the time of day to tell you which of the FIVE channels we could possibly watch that day. This, to me, forms the fabric of your age, your memories.
I think that in 1993 you could have turned on the radio and heard Linger on the radio. Today I do not really think that's the case. I think radio has gotten to be a formula that spits out sounds that attract the most ears. DJs are being replaced by national play lists. And no matter what station you put on, you can bet dollars to doughnuts that Adele will be on within the hour. That's not to detract from her, as she has a great voice. But my point is that music has gone through its transformation to the point it is today.
Now, I am not going to say that there isn't good music being made today because I think there is, and plenty of it. I think you need to go look for it, which is something you didn't necessarily need to do in 1993 or 1984. For that matter, the music that was ubiquitous of the time 15 years before that was even less formulaic & mass produced. I think in 1969 it was even more culturally relevant than it was in 1984, and so on. I think we have moved from a music-push to a music-pull society, where services like Spotify and Pandora have changed the way we even consume music. Instead of it being given to you, you need to look for it.
I don't know if I believe all of that completely. One of my favorite bands of all-time, Jane's Addiction, was a band you had to look for. Save for a flash-in-the-pan run at the end with Been Caught Stealing on MTV, Jane's played to an audience of people who looked for the music. And at that time, I was looking. Similarly, bands like Primus & Fishbone were more or less bands you needed to look for. At the same time, all 3 of those bands did have a mainstream presence at one time or another. So maybe that makes my point more salient. You would never hear any of those bands today on the radio.
This was enjoyable to write as it makes me remember that fabric of childhood in some respect. Just like the Cranberries make me think of things that were going on in my life at that point. I don't disagree that music stays with us, I just wonder if the music is going to stay around. I admit that I enjoy Sam Smith's Too Good at Goodbyes. It's a catchy song that's easy to listen to. But is this song going to be around 20 years from now, or even 2? Is anything that we hear on the radio these days going to be around in 20 years for that matter? I am not sure that's the case and maybe that's where I am really going. That the music will still define the period for you. But so much of the music that is listened right now is transient, and I think will disappear in a few years from now.
I never got my Times delivered today. I am baffled at how our society comes to a complete halt when we get 1 inch of snow. Somehow we have turned as winter-adverse as Georgia at this point.
To be sure, the actual video games being made today are amazing. They are beyond amazing and they churn them out at an astounding rate compared to when we were kids. But video games today are like TV was when I was a kid. I mean, we grew up with HBO being available, while our parents grew up with a box with 3 black & white channels and the transformation was amazing. To us, cable television is a right, where our parents had to grow up with antennas on top of their TVs. Actually, my very early TV days had an antenna on the roof that we could rotate with a box in the house. I did not get cable until July 13, 1985. Can anyone take a guess as to why I remember the day I got cable TV? Don't Google it, it's too obvious if you do.
My point about the TV is this. When I was a kid we really had 1 of those TVs with 2 knobs, the lower one would bring you from 14 to 58 or whatever, and you would spin it around do fast it sounded like a buzzsaw churning through wood. And we had an antenna that you had to rotate and you would spend forever trying to pick up WPIX and watch the people call into the station to play that game where they would yell "PIX!" to try and win the game. Then you would hope that you might catch the Yankees game in what can only be called less-than-low-definition. Or maybe catch Hogan's Heroes on channel 29 out of Philly.
These are formative memories of the TV. These are things kids today will never have. It is not better nor is it worse. It is just, as they say, different. One of our 11 year olds proclaimed the other day, "I don't know how to change the channel." At age 11, I probably had a chart of the relative humidity combined with the time of day to tell you which of the FIVE channels we could possibly watch that day. This, to me, forms the fabric of your age, your memories.
I think that in 1993 you could have turned on the radio and heard Linger on the radio. Today I do not really think that's the case. I think radio has gotten to be a formula that spits out sounds that attract the most ears. DJs are being replaced by national play lists. And no matter what station you put on, you can bet dollars to doughnuts that Adele will be on within the hour. That's not to detract from her, as she has a great voice. But my point is that music has gone through its transformation to the point it is today.
Now, I am not going to say that there isn't good music being made today because I think there is, and plenty of it. I think you need to go look for it, which is something you didn't necessarily need to do in 1993 or 1984. For that matter, the music that was ubiquitous of the time 15 years before that was even less formulaic & mass produced. I think in 1969 it was even more culturally relevant than it was in 1984, and so on. I think we have moved from a music-push to a music-pull society, where services like Spotify and Pandora have changed the way we even consume music. Instead of it being given to you, you need to look for it.
I don't know if I believe all of that completely. One of my favorite bands of all-time, Jane's Addiction, was a band you had to look for. Save for a flash-in-the-pan run at the end with Been Caught Stealing on MTV, Jane's played to an audience of people who looked for the music. And at that time, I was looking. Similarly, bands like Primus & Fishbone were more or less bands you needed to look for. At the same time, all 3 of those bands did have a mainstream presence at one time or another. So maybe that makes my point more salient. You would never hear any of those bands today on the radio.
This was enjoyable to write as it makes me remember that fabric of childhood in some respect. Just like the Cranberries make me think of things that were going on in my life at that point. I don't disagree that music stays with us, I just wonder if the music is going to stay around. I admit that I enjoy Sam Smith's Too Good at Goodbyes. It's a catchy song that's easy to listen to. But is this song going to be around 20 years from now, or even 2? Is anything that we hear on the radio these days going to be around in 20 years for that matter? I am not sure that's the case and maybe that's where I am really going. That the music will still define the period for you. But so much of the music that is listened right now is transient, and I think will disappear in a few years from now.
I never got my Times delivered today. I am baffled at how our society comes to a complete halt when we get 1 inch of snow. Somehow we have turned as winter-adverse as Georgia at this point.
Gillian’s Island.
4 person pong from sears is sitting in my basement - along with atari.
there is a zx81 sitting down there too... amazing how good one could get at these games.
not only memorizing patterns, but reacting...
good post.
--
i guessed reagan was shot, but missed by 5 years.
there is a zx81 sitting down there too... amazing how good one could get at these games.
not only memorizing patterns, but reacting...
good post.
--
i guessed reagan was shot, but missed by 5 years.
jackx
Well-Known Member
Good content. I am just slightly older than you, and I remember watching tv on a 12 or 13" black and white tv set that sometimes the picture would "flip" and we had to get up and adjust the knob to stop the picture flipping (the horizontal hold fail and the picture would flip,). The TV also had UHF channel 68 I think. We had a 4-5 foot antennae in the attic, but nothing movable. A neighbor had cable TV with a sports channel and some crazy box with 2-13 and then another knob with letters such as A-J. I don't think I understood what cable meant at the time. I didn't have cable tv until I returned home from college in early 90's.
Kids today cannot fathom how people survived in the Amish-like dark ages without cell phones/Facetime, texting, selfies, etc. I wonder what they think having to go buy or get delivered to home a heavy newspaper instead of getting news in digital format. Some kids are probably baffled why you would miss a day of reading the paper if it's not delivered, when you can read it online. They would probably think a text-based computer game such as Zork would be dumb.
I didn't think too hard about why you might have gotten cable on that date, but I quickly guessed incorrectly that it was when MTV was launching.
I remember watching WPIX 11 and when contestants called into the station and would yell "PIX! PIX! PIX!!" to try and win the game. The game was something like Missile Command or lightning bolts raining down on buildings and you had to shoot the them before they hit the buildings.
I don't listed to top 40 music if I am controlling the station selection, so I probably am not exposed to the same music you are with the kids.
You have a decent chance of hearing Jane's Addiction if you put on 105.5 FM WDHA (out of Cedar Knolls). Below is a recent list of songs played on WDHA, and they played Jane's Addiction and Cranberries within a few hours of each other.
Kids today cannot fathom how people survived in the Amish-like dark ages without cell phones/Facetime, texting, selfies, etc. I wonder what they think having to go buy or get delivered to home a heavy newspaper instead of getting news in digital format. Some kids are probably baffled why you would miss a day of reading the paper if it's not delivered, when you can read it online. They would probably think a text-based computer game such as Zork would be dumb.
I didn't think too hard about why you might have gotten cable on that date, but I quickly guessed incorrectly that it was when MTV was launching.
I remember watching WPIX 11 and when contestants called into the station and would yell "PIX! PIX! PIX!!" to try and win the game. The game was something like Missile Command or lightning bolts raining down on buildings and you had to shoot the them before they hit the buildings.
I don't listed to top 40 music if I am controlling the station selection, so I probably am not exposed to the same music you are with the kids.
You have a decent chance of hearing Jane's Addiction if you put on 105.5 FM WDHA (out of Cedar Knolls). Below is a recent list of songs played on WDHA, and they played Jane's Addiction and Cranberries within a few hours of each other.
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I will say that I did have to google that, and of course I know the event...But the fact that this event was the thing that brought cable to your home I found surprising. I think we got cable in 1981...but probably because my Dad wanted to watch Blazing Saddles unedited. That's another thing...Imagine watching a movie today where they didnt just bleep expletives....They dubbed them over with complete nonsense...Like I remember I once saw Die Hard 2 on TV and mother fucker was actually replace with Mr. Falcon lol. But mostly, they would just cut giant chunks of the movie out completely. Like Police Academy...The entire podium scene...He just walks up...then boom...fast forward to the end of that scene. Omg was it horrendous.
Its funny going from listen to my Dad "where the hell is the goddam TV guide? To the TV guide channel...to the channel having the schedule being integrated into it...to now where I have no cable and can watch anything I want anytime I want.....But usually fall asleep
Its funny going from listen to my Dad "where the hell is the goddam TV guide? To the TV guide channel...to the channel having the schedule being integrated into it...to now where I have no cable and can watch anything I want anytime I want.....But usually fall asleep
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Juggernaut
Master of the Metaphor
I guessed wrong 
. I thought it might have been the vehicle who’s initial contribution was..
It was not. The actual event on that date really wasn’t all that interesting to me having been underwhelmed by its predecessor.
In terms of the summer of 69 event... my parents waking up to squatters on the property (in upstate NY) has long been part of family lore.
To me, music delivers what we need at the time.... and let’s not forget, even during “the socially conscious” era pop STILL dominated the airways.
. I thought it might have been the vehicle who’s initial contribution was..It was not. The actual event on that date really wasn’t all that interesting to me having been underwhelmed by its predecessor.
In terms of the summer of 69 event... my parents waking up to squatters on the property (in upstate NY) has long been part of family lore.
To me, music delivers what we need at the time.... and let’s not forget, even during “the socially conscious” era pop STILL dominated the airways.
Can't say I liked Jane's Addiction however some of their songs were better than other crap that was out there. It stuck out to me that you mentioned you had to look for Jane's Addiction, Primus and Fishbone, Of those 3, in the later's 80's (middle school for me) I would have considered Jane's Addiction mainstream and could easily be found at The Wall or whatever the cassette store was before that. Probably would rank Primus secondary to that and then Fishbone. Of those three I did like Fishbone for a time. This was around the same time I was being sucked into the punk/hardcore scene by way of the Heavy Metal stuff and outside of Fishbone, Primus and Jane's Addiction just seemed like corporate label bands. That being said, Youth of Today, Sick of it All and some of the bigger punk/hardcore bands could be had at The Wall, also.
I am not saying any of this matters but interesting to see different perspectives.
I am not saying any of this matters but interesting to see different perspectives.
Listen to public radio and support it. Fight the fight.
http://www.xpn.org
http://www.wfuv.org
http://www.wbjb.org
http://www.xpn.org
http://www.wfuv.org
http://www.wbjb.org
gtluke
The Moped
there's just way more to do now, so the groups of people doing things are way smaller. when you look back at the 60's all you see is cars and music. but what else did people do? drive their cars to the sock hop and eat ice cream. now there are movies, tv, netflix, podcasts, THE INTERNET...
and it's largely played out. the formula of a guitar, bass, drums, and singer has been done now for like 60 years. I think they wrote almost all the songs possible. eventually you just run out of chords.
music is also an outlet fueled by teenage angst and general discontent. It's hard to feel that today, because every day things get exponentially awesomer. Compared to back then, there is no fear of war, or actual war. I can't imagine a non incarcerated person being bored. So many things to do, why learn to play drums?
Teens will always find something to be angry about, but songs about how Trump says mean things on Twitter just won't be national hits. Our world is pretty awesome, and our arts suffers because of it.
and it's largely played out. the formula of a guitar, bass, drums, and singer has been done now for like 60 years. I think they wrote almost all the songs possible. eventually you just run out of chords.
music is also an outlet fueled by teenage angst and general discontent. It's hard to feel that today, because every day things get exponentially awesomer. Compared to back then, there is no fear of war, or actual war. I can't imagine a non incarcerated person being bored. So many things to do, why learn to play drums?
Teens will always find something to be angry about, but songs about how Trump says mean things on Twitter just won't be national hits. Our world is pretty awesome, and our arts suffers because of it.
case in point:
Springsteen: Born to Run 1975
Springsteen: Tunnel of Love 1987 about $250,000,000 later.
Juggernaut
Master of the Metaphor
Sorry, to me.....everything after The River is like when Van Halen turned into Van Hagar...... or “New Coke”.
the jump from born/USA('84) to tunnel was huge('87) - nebraska('82) seemed to be an experiment in sombre social responsibility (??) or at least he didn't have to worry about the next meal - so he could do what he wanted. Certainly the youthful storytelling died with river('80) - but he didn't seem angry there like Born to Run....ie greetings('73)/Growing up. which predates our rebellious years by just a few - probably finding it when looking around after Darkness('78) dropped.
(BTW: it was 1980 when the push for It's a death trap, a suicide rap, we gotta get out while were young.., almost became the state song - with almost being they gave it lip service to engage the younger crowd)
- i had to google the years, although the order, and remember them arriving either via columbia house, or the record shop is still very clear. Someone gave me Ghost of Tom Joad, but i haven't purchased anything since Tunnel - damn Julianna ruined everything
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You've had some good content lately. The cold agrees with you. Maybe it shrunk your synapses a bit.
When my parents moved into the Bridgewater house in 1981, there was a moving antenna on the roof and a gravel driveway. We got cable immediately, partially because we were on the south side of the Watchung range and didn't really get any NY stations by antenna. My father was as OCD about his cars as I am, so putting off paving the driveway until 1982 was a huge decision for him. I guess he hated watching the Eagles more than having a dusty car.
Below was our setup. I remember trying to get Skin-a-Max late at night and catch a boob between the wavy lines.
When my parents moved into the Bridgewater house in 1981, there was a moving antenna on the roof and a gravel driveway. We got cable immediately, partially because we were on the south side of the Watchung range and didn't really get any NY stations by antenna. My father was as OCD about his cars as I am, so putting off paving the driveway until 1982 was a huge decision for him. I guess he hated watching the Eagles more than having a dusty car.
Below was our setup. I remember trying to get Skin-a-Max late at night and catch a boob between the wavy lines.
The Kalmyk
Well-Known Member
This has been an enjoyable stroll down memory lane. And I really do enjoy the perspectives. At the end of it all, there really is a lot to do with exactly that: your perspective. At one time Metallica was an underground band. Now they almost define mainstream. I guess perspective plus timeframe make up so much of how you experience something. You can apply this same perspective plus timeframe equation to the Sex Pistols, or Nine Inch Nails, when they were some unknown Industrial band in 1988.
So the answer was Live Aid. That was the day we got cable. I guess it was not apparent by my post but we did not get cable because of Live Aid. Our entire town did not have cable before then. We were just coming into the "modern age" when cable was installed in the town that month. We just happened to get it on the day Live Aid was happening. I also remember we got HBO at the time and Johnny Dangerously was being broadcast. This was in the days when a movie would be played every 4-6 hours on HBO when it was newly released. I can say that this introduced the concept of binge-watching TV for me. For better or worse, it was binging on a SINGLE movie, over and over and over. But man it was an awesome movie.
Unfortunately for us, we were close to PA and we were given the Philly stations as our primary. We were Yankees and Rangers and Jets (not me) fans in the house. So this was a major blow to our sports fandom at the time. In the end, we just watched whatever was on, so it wasn't a big deal. Plus, it gave us teams to root against, since both my step-father and I hated all-everything based out of Philly. It is an entirely unfounded dislike I bear to this day towards the entire city.
In the end it really didn't matter that we didn't have NY sports to watch, as my step-father and I would literally watch anything together. He was (and still is) a NASCAR fan so we would watch that. And golf, which I detest. And, believe it or not, bowling. We literally watched everything together as long as you could call it a sport, by any definition of the word at all. If there had been darts on TV, I am sure we would have watched it.
I used to absolutely LOVE the TV Guide. And I never much liked Bruce Springsteen at any point.
Thanks to everyone who shared some bit of their memories here. This is good stuff.
We went to basketball tonight. Here is Zac making a free throw. That scoreboard shows you all you need to know about this one. We're the Tigers, FYI.
So the answer was Live Aid. That was the day we got cable. I guess it was not apparent by my post but we did not get cable because of Live Aid. Our entire town did not have cable before then. We were just coming into the "modern age" when cable was installed in the town that month. We just happened to get it on the day Live Aid was happening. I also remember we got HBO at the time and Johnny Dangerously was being broadcast. This was in the days when a movie would be played every 4-6 hours on HBO when it was newly released. I can say that this introduced the concept of binge-watching TV for me. For better or worse, it was binging on a SINGLE movie, over and over and over. But man it was an awesome movie.
Unfortunately for us, we were close to PA and we were given the Philly stations as our primary. We were Yankees and Rangers and Jets (not me) fans in the house. So this was a major blow to our sports fandom at the time. In the end, we just watched whatever was on, so it wasn't a big deal. Plus, it gave us teams to root against, since both my step-father and I hated all-everything based out of Philly. It is an entirely unfounded dislike I bear to this day towards the entire city.
In the end it really didn't matter that we didn't have NY sports to watch, as my step-father and I would literally watch anything together. He was (and still is) a NASCAR fan so we would watch that. And golf, which I detest. And, believe it or not, bowling. We literally watched everything together as long as you could call it a sport, by any definition of the word at all. If there had been darts on TV, I am sure we would have watched it.
I used to absolutely LOVE the TV Guide. And I never much liked Bruce Springsteen at any point.
Thanks to everyone who shared some bit of their memories here. This is good stuff.
We went to basketball tonight. Here is Zac making a free throw. That scoreboard shows you all you need to know about this one. We're the Tigers, FYI.
Kaleidopete
Well-Known Member
Old Chinese Curse, "May You Be Born In Interesting Times"