Opus 80|A Musical Opus from the 1980s

Or perhaps, I should say the lack of fashion.  Ha!  I am of the age, where musicians that at one time seemed ultra cool, look incredibly dorky twenty years later.  Or at least, my kids would have be believe so.  MTV seemed like a good idea at the time, but now it just means those musicians and all that spandex are now preserved for all posterity.  And for my kids instant disapproval at the fact that I actually listened to these guys.  Big hair and spandex were a kind of cool combination at one time.  I think?  Now a days, your more likely to see Hedley wearing a Bentley timepiece copy then getting my kids to watch some of my favorite old rock videos.

I guess, it is really a generational thing.  I know, that when I was rocking out to Van Halen, Rush, and Triumph, there was a certain amount of disdain for the generation of hit makers that came before them from my generation.  Now most of those stars made so much money, they didn’t need to wear fake chronographs, not that I would have noticed much anyway.  I was really more into the music, then what my favorite musican was wearing.  I suppose that’s why I liked Phil Collins a lot more than Duran Duran.  I know it sounds a little pretentious, but who cares what a musician wears, or who they sleep with, so long as their music is great.

Although I suppose I shouldn’t get myself all to high and mighty.  As looks did matter somewhat to me.  The look of the album covers anyway.  I would be found guilty of buying more than one record album, because the artwork looked pretty amazing.  Sometimes, even without hearing a single song.  But hey, I also bought my first sailboat without ever having sailed before, so I suppose there was some precedence there.  Anyway, it’s not like I was the first to buy carbon copies when they came onto the market.

I still believe, that it’s the music that should come first and foremost.  Even though I loved MTV from the first day it hit the air, it wasn’t really about what the artists were wearing, as much as it was about visualizing the music that I loved so much.  The little movies accompanying the song were pretty cool.  Don’t even get me going on the whole Micheal Jackson thriller video.  That’s an entire post (or blog) in and of itself.

I know, I know, I’m starting to sound like my parents when it comes to complaining about the state of modern music these days.  I mean, doesn’t every generation throw a hero up the pop charts, as my friend Paul Simon used to say?  But then again, doesn’t every generation have a bunch of parents ready to douse the current set of music artists, and burn them in effigy?  OK, that may be a little harsh, but there is a certain set of justice to it.  Lady Gaga, is one that at first I would have put into this category.  She seemed to care about nothing but here persona in the media, the internet, and television.   But, then I actually started liking some of her music and changed my mind.  Funny how that works.  All it needs is a good song hook in the chorus, and all of a sudden my viewpoint changes.  I guess the music from our formative years will always seem better, because of how we associate with some very defining moments in our growth.  Although, one good thing about getting older, is how I have a whole history of great songs to listen to, plus an occasional new one that sparks my interest.

Music is an amazing thing; it has the power to change your mood (either for better or worse), and a good quality set of speakers can make a really welcomed enhancement to your home. A top quality set of speakers is no longer just for the the audiophiles out there; good speakers can be a great addition to a room even if you know little about them, and sometimes there’s nothing better than a set of good wall speakers.

Over the last few years, sound systems have advanced a lot technologically, from the features they have to their ability to faithfully replicate the recorded audio they play back. However, you may own the best sound system and amplifier on the market, but if you have a poor set of speakers, the audio quality will also be poor. You need to choose carefully when buying speakers, which means carefully comparing the features of the different sets of speakers.

Music from the eighties had a unique sound, that seems to be missing from so much of the music today. I know I sound like an old codger when I start writing stuff like that, but I do believe it’s true. At least the artists of the seventies and eighties seem to be trying to come up with a unique sound for their bands to distinguish them from the rest of the crowd. Where as today, the number of artists trying to do that seem far and few in between.

That’s not to say that there aren’t any, it just seems like so many all sound the same. All the hip hop dance floor stuff seems to be the music of choice by so many people today. When I think back to the eighties, I think about the unique sounds of bands like Journey (Steve Perrys voice), Abba, the Eagles, the Beach Boys (maybe a little pre-1980),Led Zeppelin, The Who and Queen. There are of course dozens of others. But the point is, has anyone in the current age of musicians really grabbed the torch and broken free from the mold.

Not too many I suspect, but maybe I’m being just a little too harsh on the current generation of musicians. I know there were plenty of derivative bands from the eighties, and plenty of one hit wonders, that were never able to make a go of it in the business either commercially or artistically. Which actually brings about another point I have to wonder about.

Music distribution has certainly changed this days for artists, with the world of the internet leveling the field somewhat. Really, if your band is good, then you should be able to get plenty of recognition by distributing your music online, and making use of musician friendly websites like MySpace to build up a group of followers. Decades ago, in the pre internet age, it was very risky for a band to try and be different. Cutting a record was expensive, as was the marketing and promotion that went along with it.

With the internet providing such a low cost entry barrier, and digital technology allowing just about anyone with a microphone to create a CD, you’d think there would be far more diversity in the music business today. Or perhaps, maybe there is. Maybe I’m just stuck in the eighties haven’t given the artists of today a chance. If you’ve found some great artists via the internet, I’d love to hear about it. Just leave some comments below, with links to your favorite current bands.