Remember how OUR parents said EXACTLY the same thing about the music we listened to as kids (and we now venerate as being SO much better than OUR kids' - or grandkids' music!)?

Yep... we got old...!

TBH, the very PURPOSE of kid's music is to pi$$ off their parents. If it didn't, the kids wouldn't like it! Imagine liking something those old fogies liked? Horror!

The truth is, the 'old days', when music was SO much better is an illusion. We have 40 years of filters to sieve it through. For every classic tune and band we remember, there were probably forty BAD tunes and bands we have long forgotten. For every 'Stairway to Heaven', there was a 'Yummy, yummy, yummy, I've got love in my tummy'!

And Mark... don't knock the old guys. You'll be one soon enough, and some kid will probably think YOU a dinosaur who should have the decency to go lie down in a tar pit and be petrified! But you'll still WANT to play, and enjoy playing even if your skills have lessened with age.

Today's music is pretty much the same as it has always been. A mixture of the sublime and the excremental. It's up to YOU to sort it out.

I agree with Diki. There's a lot of current music I like and a lot I don't Same as it ways when I was a teen or in my 20's. The one difference, as someone who appreciates a good recording, many today are over produced and compressed in some cases to compensate for poor singing. But there are still some great young singers as well as good recordings. As I mentioned before I think the predominate use of headphones and MP3 have lowered the overall quality of recording. MP3s do not do justice to pianos and strings. I just finished a book on current recording, balancing and mixing techniques and the amount of plug-ins, compressors, etc that are commonly used is fascinating. Other than Classical recording and some unplugged recordings natural acoustic space has disappeared from recordings. Of course multi-track recording has been around for a long time but today a recording is really created in the cyber-world.

I agree with Tony. Seems today that the person with the best repertoire will be received the best, no matter how bad the music. I used to bang my head against the wall when I witnessed that.

Diki
The point of this tread was about the current crop of little talent Kareoke acts but let me vent along with Mark. The watering down of what passes for live musical entertainment.

In the Big Band era you had to play an instrument pretty well, READ MUSIC--ooh my !!!, and be able to integrate with a group. Possibly be able to improvise and solo too.

Rock came along and it became all about the visual as well as the sound. Three chords and some slick moves AKA Elvis.

About 87 Dj's hit. No musical talent required at all.
Then some DJ's started to sing WOW people were amazed !!

Now, sing well enough to get into a volunteer community chorus, hit play on your Ipod and your in.

the quality of todays music is still there in some forms, I think most notably current Country but as you said, for every good tune theres a 1000 forgettables.
Gingham Style anyone ???

Just saw some great "Old Guys" The Rascals BDWY show, "Once Upon A Dream" They played live and kicked a** for two hours and the youngest is 68. If anyone gets a chance , go see it. You'll love it, especially the opening which I won't give away.

There is another slant to all of this. If you are playing NH type gigs some of the AD's prefer acts which do not require much to get setup. It seems to be a lot of trouble for some of them to provide a suitable place to setup a keyboard, speakers, stands etc.. In my area the problem now is many clubs and restaurants no longer are using live entertainment and those players have jumped on the NH gigs and have nearly destroyed the market because they play for nearly nothing. It is very clear though that "quality" means nothing to the ADs in my area - the price is all that counts. Choice of music is also an issue with some of the ADs because they are mostly very young and have little to no knowledge about the music the residents heard when they were young.

Mark, how I deal with it is to be very selective about where I work and when I work. I tell the AD up front my concept is that I am there for the benefit of the residents and no one else. If they have a problem with that I move on.

Deane

My parents loved the music I played and danced to as a teenager. And, we had gatherings at our home where my folks and the parents of other neighborhood kids got together and danced the night away to whatever was popular at the time. Maybe my mom and dad were the exception to the rule, but there were a lot of other parents in our neighborhood that felt the same way. Our music didn't piss them off, it inspired them to begin dancing again. Guess I lived in a different era than some of you, and I'm grateful for that.

Back to the big band era - I can't think of a single song back then from a major band or orchestra that was a flop - not one. But, then again, my mind is shot to Hell, so what do I know!

Cheers,

Gary

Hi Deane......I hear you on that. This is what started my downhill slide....the nursing home acts that show up with new equipment, laptops, and NO talent....and....work for a tuna fish salad sandwich and their 15 minutes of fame! Unfortunately....it's like a plague....it's spreading everywhere!

Mark

Thanks, Bill...for catching the real meaning of my post and getting this thread back in line. Now that I think of it, you’d relate the most to what I‘m experiencing...I keep forgetting we live in the DNJ/Uncle Dave zone (which is similar to working at the General Motors proving grounds!).

When they say in the song New York, NY....”if you can make it here, you’ll make it anywhere”....they knew what they were talking about.

Mark

Thanks to you guys for a good response, and I’d like to see more, ‘cause it's "decision time" here at the old corral. Been seriously thinking about this for the last few days....giving it all up.

But, let me explain about the “old guys” first. What P*$&*@ me off the most was it was obvious they were following the trend. They figured out they could get rid of their drummer and instrumentalists and go it almost “alone” and, yes, probably get by on their past reputation. That’s not a nice thing to do to your audience, especially if they’ve been life-long fans. It really is like watching Muhammad Ali or Mike Tyson in the last days of their fighting careers.

Now, I’ll tell you where I’m coming from so you’ll better understand why I’m feeling this way. I very rarely tell this to anyone, because....a) nobody cares, and b) nobody even understands what I'm saying! But....here goes anyway...

I’ve been playing since I was 12 years old, professionally from 18, full-time from early twenties. I never, ever thought about anything but making good music to please the one who gave me the music talent (my Creator) and His people (my audience). I always felt it was my responsibility and obligation to give back to a system that was good to me. With that understanding, I applied myself totally to being the best I could be for my audience, and not for me. I spent hours and hours and hours of study, and not just music study. It was learning songs, researching songs, building up musical knowledge of peripheral topics, studying audiences (as both I and others play), learning how to talk on stage, singing lessons, etc. I’m sure you get my drift.

I feel anyone with legitimate music talent owes it to whoever gave it to them (their own Creator) to entertain the rest of society in the best way possible and that‘s why they were given music capabilities. I DON’T feel what these acts are doing are helping people right now who are living in a present world of complexity, confusion, and troubled times to cope with it. I feel those of us who play music, need to give back by learning their craft properly and bringing as much sunshine into the lives of others that they can through music.

Incidentally, I didn’t mention the other imitation musicians I’ve seen up to now. There wouldn’t be enough space. But I will say, when I watch an act, I not only study the performers, I also study the audience. They’re NOT tapping their feet, snapping their fingers, moving their bodies in time to the music, and they seem to applaud only out of obligation.

So now I trust you understand why I started this thread. I feel I really can’t give back to ANYONE anymore. That it’s all about the “new kids on the block” who have lowered the bar so much that soon, with all this music technology available now, you’ll have more (unqualified) musicians performing than “civilians” to listen to them. The level of musicianship will sink to a new low as more and more wannabes go out there with no training, only a desire for a paycheck.

All the joy is out of the job. And....I’m at the point where I’m thinking about all the energy I have to put into playing now and how I have to market myself against the “weekend warriors” and everything else that I have to compete with in entertaining these days.

After all these years, I’m not sure I’d miss it, it’s just not the fun game and the satisfying game it used to be.

But, I’m reading everything you guys wrote and thinking not a one of you entertained the idea of giving it all up. So I’m going back to my “crossroads” for now.

BTW...I’ve been thinking these last few weeks about how do you give back to the system other than through music? I’m considering becoming a therapist and giving up music entirely. I’m thinking people could be better served by dialoguing with them. It appears the need for folks to talk out their problems is greater than the need for good music.

And the biggest decision of all. What do I do with my PA3x? I’d have to run a Chinese Auction on the SynthZone....or give it to the Boys Club!

Mark

I’d really like to hear more viewpoints on how this portrait I've painted is affecting a lot of you. Maybe I’m missing something?

Mark,
I have given some serious thought to selling everything and completely retiring from my music gigs. I even sold my Tyros 4 and one of my Bose Compact speakers. My gripe is not the quality of the competition but rather the corporations that refuse to give the retirement homes a decent entertainment budget but yet charge the living hell out of their residents. I, like you, have a very strong professional background that only a few here know about and I simply refuse to play for the money some of the senior places are now offering. Would you believe some have even lowered the pay offered this year!!! I dropped eleven places this year over pay disputes.

So, I don't know what I will end up doing. I would miss seeing the people I play for but I sure wouldn't miss the PITAl it is to get gigs booked and driving in the heavy Dallas traffic.

Deane