Over-reactive music snobbery?

[ProfD]

Cliffk, nothing snobby about your reaction to the music. If it did not appeal to your tastes and/or was bad, you have the right to ask them to turn that sh*t off. Of course, they have the right not to comply too.

 

I listen to a wide range of music. Just to see if there is any useful data. I've heard some cool things in every genre. ALL styles of music have its good and bad.

 

Unfortunately, as musicians, we tend to listen to music from a different perspective than the average listener. Also, we tend to gravitate toward the music that we either grew up listening to and/or can identify with on some level.

 

There is audience for all kinds of music. That which bubbles up to the surface, record companies will take a chance, invest in and push down the public throat.

 

The best thing to do is ignore the really loud, over-compressed stuff that makes you want to "punch yourself in the balls" as Kanker puts it.

 

Still, I believe music is cool. Thank goodness I have my KB, speakers and headphones.

 

[Griffinator]

Hmmmm.. Actually.. Lenny Kravitz is, IMO, pretty damn good...

 

He has been around quite awhile now..

 

Check out some of his other stuff prior to discarding Lenny..

 

I'm afraid my view of him will forever be tainted by the bad first experience with the re-make of AW. Sorry...

 

Ironically, I despise both the Guess Who and Lenny Kravitz, so the marraige of the two didn't even cause a blip on my radar. Randy Bachmann had a great voice, but he damned sure couldn't write a decent set of lyrics to save his life.

 

How's that for snobbery?

[Griffinator]

The absolute worst I heard, however, was done by a DJ for a local radio station. The station was changing their format from Classic Rock, to really lame rap/r&b/crap. The DJ was so p**sed off, he played ACDC's "Highway to Hell" over and over for 8 hours. I like the song, but after hearing it 4 times on my evening commute, I was sick of it, and changed the station, never to return. I'm sure he effectively alienated all the station's loyal listeners, not only to the new format, but to him as well.

 

Stations pull those stunts all the time, dude. It wouldn't surprise me to find that the station didn't change their format at all.

 

I recall a station in SW PA once where the DJ was "protesting" the station's change from classic rock to some other format, and he played "It's Only Rock and Roll" over and over again all day long. I contacted a local DJ about it and he confirmed, classic rock stations are notorious for staging these "protests" to rouse the local rabble and bolster their ratings for a day. They never actually go through with the "format change" - and if they were making such a change, and a DJ tried to "protest" it on-air, they'd pull the plug on him in a heartbeat.

[mate stubb]

Err, Randy Bachmann has a whiny cringe-inducing voice - listen to "Takin' Care of Business" or "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" if you can manage it.

 

To his credit, he told me one time that the songs they were writing in Bachman Turner Overdrive were all about making money. That doesn't console me though when any song by BTO comes on the radio (except for "Let It Ride" - Fred Turner really wailed some vocals on that one).

 

Burton Cummings was the keyboard player and lead singer for the Guess Who. Their music was a giant cut above BTO.

[MikeT156]

Quote by ProfD:

 

"nothing snobby about your reaction to the music. If it did not appeal to your tastes and/or was bad, you have the right to ask them to turn that sh*t off. Of course, they have the right not to comply too."

 

Speaking of snobbery, he's a classic example.

 

There's a new Restaurant that opened recently. Its in a "old" bar restaurant that they cleaned up, remodeled, and serve great food. The owner also invested in large HD TV's and bought a football package so he could increase his weekend afternoon customer traffic, which was dead. He runs drink and finger food specials, and has the Steelers game and one other sporting event on his two large TV's. That means either the Eagles game or Racing.

 

Late one Sunday afternoon, this well dressed couple came in and wanted to get dinner. There was a football game on in the dining room, a few customers and the staff were watching the last two minutes of a game. The well dressed couple told the waitress there was a "ballet" on TV and they wanted to see it; please change the channel. The waitress told them that "everyone" had been watching the game all afternoon, and they weren't able to change the channel "now". The couple said they would "make other dinner arrangements" and left.

 

My take? Don't let the door hit you in the ass.

 

Mike T.

[Griffinator]

Err, Randy Bachmann has a whiny cringe-inducing voice - listen to "Takin' Care of Business" or "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" if you can manage it.

 

To his credit, he told me one time that the songs they were writing in Bachman Turner Overdrive were all about making money. That doesn't console me though when any song by BTO comes on the radio (except for "Let It Ride" - Fred Turner really wailed some vocals on that one).

 

Burton Cummings was the keyboard player and lead singer for the Guess Who. Their music was a giant cut above BTO.

 

Well there ya go. I was under the mistaken impression that Randy was the screecher on both AW and Let It Ride.

 

I withdraw the praise for his vocals.

[kad]

I like "Undun" and "No Time".

Robert

 

I know its commercial but I always liked "Share the Land"

 

Ditto for "Stand Tall" (Burton Cummings solo).

[Steve Force]

Come on Mike T. --Ballet is a form of sport.

 

And I know the men up by Erie or Corry wouldn't mind the channel change.. LOL

 

(as they raise their shotguns..)

[ITGITC]

Late one Sunday afternoon, this well dressed couple came in and wanted to get dinner. There was a football game on in the dining room, a few customers and the staff were watching the last two minutes of a game. The well dressed couple told the waitress there was a "ballet" on TV and they wanted to see it; please change the channel. The waitress told them that "everyone" had been watching the game all afternoon, and they weren't able to change the channel "now". The couple said they would "make other dinner arrangements" and left.

 

 

You're lying.

[ITGITC]

[MidLifeCrisis]

Ditto for "Stand Tall" (Burton Cummings solo).

 

+1

 

That's a great tune. It's one of the songs that makes me want to sell my soul to have Cumming's voice. I've always felt that he and Steve Winwood have 2 of the best rock voices.

 

[BluesKeys]

...Lucky for me my sweetie has the same snobbish attitude towards bad music that I do.

 

That's rare for a 15 year old.

 

you clowns... sheezzz... you believe everything mr Git c the It says.....

 

I was talking about you!

(ducks)

 

I resemble that remark....

 

 

[Mr. Nightime]

The absolute worst I heard, however, was done by a DJ for a local radio station. The station was changing their format from Classic Rock, to really lame rap/r&b/crap. The DJ was so p**sed off, he played ACDC's "Highway to Hell" over and over for 8 hours. I like the song, but after hearing it 4 times on my evening commute, I was sick of it, and changed the station, never to return. I'm sure he effectively alienated all the station's loyal listeners, not only to the new format, but to him as well.

 

Stations pull those stunts all the time, dude. It wouldn't surprise me to find that the station didn't change their format at all.

 

I recall a station in SW PA once where the DJ was "protesting" the station's change from classic rock to some other format, and he played "It's Only Rock and Roll" over and over again all day long. I contacted a local DJ about it and he confirmed, classic rock stations are notorious for staging these "protests" to rouse the local rabble and bolster their ratings for a day. They never actually go through with the "format change" - and if they were making such a change, and a DJ tried to "protest" it on-air, they'd pull the plug on him in a heartbeat.

 

In this particular case, they did make the format change. I went back there the next day just to check, and they were playing the worst soft-pop-hip-hop drivel I'd ever heard. I stuck it out for a few songs to see if it got any better -- it didn't.

 

The station has changed formats a couple times since then, but never back to a palatable form. They probably didn't have a choice. They are owned by ClearChannel.

[Blue JC]

So the question is: has anyone else here ever reacted strongly to 'music' they absolutely hated?

 

When I was on the road, our manager/agent drove all the way from Chicago to the ski resort we were playing in Rhinelander, Wisconsin to bring us a pre-release copy of "Saturday Night Fever." He insisted that we all gather in one of our rooms and listen to the entire album without talking. As the last song finished, he proudly announced that we were going to learn every single song on that record.

 

I became physically ill and had to leave the room. I didn't have any money or any place to go but I was out of that band (which I loved) in less than two months. I played that crap for a month hoping it would fade away and then turned in my month's notice when I realized Disco was here to stay.

[MikeT156]

Blue JC:

 

Congrats an NOT SELLING OUT. I never played any "disco", I played the music that people that also hated disco asked for and took what work was available. No band, a solo. Its getting ever more difficult to find regular musical work where I live, a small market rural area. Oh well, not much I can do to change that except MOVE.

 

Question. How was it the manager's responsibility to decide what music your former band was going to play. Why didn't the band fire the manager and play what you all liked instead?

 

Mike T.

[iLaw]

Blue JC,

 

I'm interested in knowing what music was displaced from your setlist at the time by the Saturday Night Fever songs. I'm presuming that there must have been a body of music that you truly enjoyed playing (and that got you and the band on the road in the first place) that was pushed off the table by SNF.

 

Just curious,

 

Larry.

 

[Blue JC]

Blue JC:

 

Congrats an NOT SELLING OUT. I never played any "disco", I played the music that people that also hated disco asked for and took what work was available. No band, a solo. Its getting ever more difficult to find regular musical work where I live, a small market rural area. Oh well, not much I can do to change that except MOVE.

 

Question. How was it the manager's responsibility to decide what music your former band was going to play. Why didn't the band fire the manager and play what you all liked instead?

 

Mike T.

 

I don't know if it was selling out or not. The OP said "reacted strongly to 'music' they absolutely hated?" and I did to that music.

 

The band put itself in that position with the manager. His pitch was we would make a ton of money and have great routing (less than 500 miles per week or no commission) if we did what he said.

 

We were driving like crazy for chump-change before that but we could still play music we liked. We made a lot of money with him and doubled-it with the Disco stuff. He was right from a business perspective. I kept in touch with everybody after I left and they were making huge bucks.

[Blue JC]

Blue JC,

 

I'm interested in knowing what music was displaced from your setlist at the time by the Saturday Night Fever songs. I'm presuming that there must have been a body of music that you truly enjoyed playing (and that got you and the band on the road in the first place) that was pushed off the table by SNF.

 

Just curious,

 

Larry.

 

Late 1970's would have been: Stevie Wonder, Hall & Oates, Marvin Gaye, Paul Simon, Chicago, Ohio Players, Eagles, Beatles, Diana Ross, LaBelle, Emotions, Three Dog Night, Roberta Flack, Doobie Brothers, David Bowie, Bill Withers, Al Green, Barry White, Earth, Wind & Fire, etc.

 

We were a vocal harmony band assembled to play hotel and resort showrooms with two girls up front and four guys in the band. Back then, rooms had to have live music 6 nights a week to maintain their star or diamond rating so there was lots of work for road bands.

 

Between each floor show, the band would play dance sets of Top 40 songs. Part of our deal was always to be able to cover at least 5 of the top 10 songs. In 1978, I believe most of the Top 10 was from SNF and the frickin' Bee Gees. So we really had no choice if we wanted to stay in that circuit.

[JohnH]

some guy named Lenny Kravitz, whom I had not heard of until then.....

 

You can't be serious? Lenny's an arena touring, famous platinum selling artist. This would not be one of his finest efforts alot of his music is great.

[mikecorbett]

I love this thread!! As a keyboard player in a rock cover band I am constantly introducing other band members to sample based music, dance music etc. which we now cover. They are shocked at how well it goes over live, but even more shocked by how much they like the songs and enjoy playing them once they know them.

 

just because its new doesnt mean it lacks musical substance either.

[JohnH]

Oh great, just the kind of topic I love.

 

I share your pain, seriously! Sorry, I don't speak like that ... that just came over me.

 

If you want a constant dose of bad music go to any fitness center; when I was younger they were called gyms.

 

I'm constantly asking them to turn down the .... music. I'd even pay more money per month to have no music in the .... fitness center.

 

If I walk into a store or restaurant with good music, quite rare, I always make it a point to tell the person in charge that I like the music.

 

I thought I was the only one. The music in our 24 hour was so loud last night, that I could hear it through the walls and windows of the pool, and I had those solid balls of wax earplugs in. Somebody'd turned it down by the time I left.Unfortunately I can't get on the stairmaster much if at all because of an injury, or I'd really be going nuts. I did have to tell them to turn it down when I was doing weights Monday. It's gotten progressively louder since the injury stopped my routine in June. I'd pay more money too to turn it off. I keep a remote in my gym bag to shut off their tvs whenever I can. The worst was the day two years ago when they hired a Dj without informing anybody, and the noise levels were louder than any of my bands. I told one of their managers off, then stormed out. I think that's the angriest I've been in many years. I work out to my own high energy melodic European hard rock CD's so, their loud music destroys my own enjoyment. One of their aerobic classes kept opening the aerobic room doors earlier this year blasting their hip hop rubbish into the gym at high 90 plus levels. A polite call to management informed me that they were not allowed to do that and it was stopped. Usually to get things done about these kind of annoyances I call the next day and ask to speak to a manager and it usually helps.

 

John

[DonaldM]

some guy named Lenny Kravitz, whom I had not heard of until then.....

 

You can't be serious? Lenny's an arena touring, famous platinum selling artist. This would not be one of his finest efforts alot of his music is great.

 

Sorry...guess I'm a Philistine.

 

But I don't recall any of his songs...but I don't listen much to pop radio either, and if my daughters aren't listening to it, then I don't either. Neither of teenagers have heard of him either,by the way.

[Dave Pierce]

Hmmmm.. Actually.. Lenny Kravitz is, IMO, pretty damn good...

 

He has been around quite awhile now..

 

Check out some of his other stuff prior to discarding Lenny..

 

I'm afraid my view of him will forever be tainted by the bad first experience with the re-make of AW. Sorry...

 

I agree with forceman, and I think you're making a mistake by writing off Lenny Kravitz on the basis of one cover song that you don't like. Give a listen to "Mr. Cab Driver" or "Let Love Rule" or "Are You Gonna Go My Way." Is it the most original stuff you're ever gonna hear? Nope, and that's definitely not Lenny's vibe. But the dude blends many styles (hard rock, soul, funk) with real talent, and, unlike many of the "artists" who have gotten airplay and publicity over the past two decades, he's actually a real musician.

 

One man's opinion . . . .

 

Noah

 

Make that two...

 

--Dave

 

[Joe Muscara]

It's hard to believe that gyms nowadays pipe in music the way Dave Horne and JohnH describe with everyone having iPods and the like. It seems pretty stupid to me (though I can understand the aerobics classes since they're doing that to the music as a group).

 

Lenny is cool, stuck in the 70s, but he's not alone. I think the coolest thing was when he had John Paul Jones play bass on Are You Gonna Go My Way at one of the MTV awards shows a number of years ago. When asked, Lenny said that he had copped the bass part from JPJ anyway, so why not have the man himself actually play the part?

 

To the original question, no, I haven't. I know there have been times when instead of staying at a place say after a meal, my wife and I said, "let's get out of here" because we were tired of the music.

 

The biggest thing I hate about the big chain music stores is often how they categorize music. I remember them getting as bad as video stores ("Action Adventure" "Action Comedy" "Action Drama" "Action Mystery") which makes it nearly impossible to find music. Some artists really blur the lines between rock, country, or whatever, and you have to look through several bins to find them. The whole vibe of most of those places drives me away.

[Joe Muscara]

Someone finally posted a clip of Lenny Kravitz with John Paul Jones at the 1993 MTV Awards. Crank the bass up!