In the Year 2525

[Fendercaster]

Okay, everyone get out your crystal balls. Some music has stood the test of time, from Gregorian Chants of the Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods. The music of Stephen Foster, written in the mid 1800's is still around, as are the ragtime pieces of Scott Joplin from the late 1800's - early 1900's. This music was all composed before it could be preserved on vinyl, tape, CD or any other format, yet it is still being performed today, some of the pieces having been written over 1,000 years ago. How will our music stand up? With the advent of recorded music, it is quite possible that today's music will still be available a few hundred years from now, but will it be listened to? Will people flying around in their Jetson space cars be jamming with Hendrix or the Beatles? Will the cowboys at Gilleys Lunar Honkytonk be listening to Hank Williams and Patsy Cline? Or will music have changed so much that all of our heroes will be long forgotten ghosts? What's your opinion?

[Cup]

Well I think great acts, deeds etc, last the test of time. Anything that's original and neccessary will definitely have it's place in the year 2525.

 

Figuring out what's original and neccessary is totally subjective. Punk kids in the year 2525 will most likely be jumping around to Pretty Vacant. They'll probably be very much in a sub culture. The Beatles and Stones will DEFINITELY be listened to, probably by a very large amount of people.

 

Some things are too good to ignore!

 

Nice idea for a thread btw.

 

Cup

[henryrobinett]

First of all I hate that tune. Always did. Zeager and Evans or someithng?

 

"In the year 2525, if man is still alive." I hope you didn't write it. It's not that bad in that case. I really like it.

 

I don't think the music we listen to will be remembered, save for a precious few - if any. I hope not. I hope we would have gotten a lot better than this.

[Tedster]

Certain things will endure. I'd say The Beatles would be one...if for no other reason than their faces will be recognizable as defining the 20th Century a very long time from now, along with Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Martin Luther King, John Wayne, Elvis, and (sadly) Hitler (not all good faces, just defining faces).

 

I watched a little of that "100 greatest one hit wonders" on VH1. A couple of things, it's amazing how dated and old stuff even from the late 80s sounds. That stuff, except for the occasional curiosity, will wither and die IMO.

 

But, they mentioned the fact that technically, in the strictest sense of the word, Hendrix was a one-hit-wonder. Never mind his voluminous album sales. The guy, despite his lack of AM radio airplay, was and is a legend.

 

IMO...what will be around...songs. Catchy tunes. I think some of the best Motown/Stax stuff, stuff you can't help but sing along with and tap your toe to, that will endure. How long is anybody's guess. Most of even the greatest stuff we listen to today will become as dated as "Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree" sounds today in just a few short decades.

[Fendercaster]

Posted by Henry Robinett:

First of all I hate that tune. Always did. Zeager and Evans or someithng?

 

"In the year 2525, if man is still alive." I hope you didn't write it. It's not that bad in that case. I really like it.

It's okay, you can bust on it, I didn't write it. I just thought it was an appropriate title for the thread.

[Dave da Dude]

IMHO

 

Chuck Berry, Yeah

Elvis, Yeah

Beatles, Yeah, yeah, yeah

Stones, Yeah

The Who, Yeah (especially "Tommy" album )

Led Zep, Yeah

Pink Flloyd, Maybe

 

Others? I'm not so sure.

 

Other opinions? Exceptions to my opinions?

 

BTW, Cool thread

 

Dave

[henryrobinett]

I think it's an interesting short coming and flaw in our baby boomeresque mentality to think we're important enough; those things we loved like Beatles and Stones and Hendrix, are important enough to still be listened to in 2525.

 

I read this great biography of Henry VIII and his wives. They mentioned some songs that, believe it or not, were very popular in their day. Henry (great name BTW) often hired some famous madrigal singers to sing for "the people". The audience all knew the songs, some of them reprinted in the book. Not one did I recognize. We can all recite the great and famous musicians like Bach and Hayden, but what of the more popular ones? OK Mozart WAS like a rock star then, but there were many, many, many lesser known today and very famous then performers and songs.

 

What makes us unique is recordings and a technology to preserve them. But if music continues to get worse (my opinion) may be The Beatles will still be known and revered in 2525.

[Dave da Dude]

henry,

 

I agree, to an extent. The GREAT ones (they have to popular too) will be remembered.

 

How many? I don't know. I would think a very limited number, say between 3 and 6 artists / groups (see my list ). Since I think between 3 and 6, maybe actually only one or two?

 

Dave

[BiC]

I think there should be a "musical time capsule". One that won't be opened until 2525, which would contain every Top 10 hit in all generes of music since the dawn of BillBoard to the present.

 

This would guarantee the preservation of some pretty good tunes, indeed.

 

Peace

[BiC]

Welcome to Klassic Kacey Kasem "the XXX", top 10,000 countdown!

 

hehe

 

Peace

[BiC]

Now, y'all know that Dick Clark is ageless!

 

I bet there will be a "Dick Clark's Rock'n New Year's Eve 2525"!

 

Peace

[Caevan O’Shite]

Well, look at how there are huge numbers of pretty much forgotten pop songs that made the charts and got lots of rotation on the radio back when they were new. A lot of what makes the charts is to music what chewing gum is to nutrion.

[Blue Strat]

Some metal will survive, some punk, some rock, blues, jazz, etc. A few top picks of mine:

 

1) Nirvana

2) Metallica

3) SRV

4) EVH

5) AC/DC

[HiRoller]

From the Conan O'Brien show:

 

"In the year two thousand five hundred twenty fi-ive, in the year two thousand five hundred twenty FI-IIIVE!!!!"

[skipclone 1]

a lot of good music will likely sound terrible (look out synthesizers) due to advancements in instrumentation. A lot more will have topical references that people can`t relate to (look out hip-hop). Some of it won`t travel well (southern rock). It`s also likely, and I can`t hardly wait, that we`ll be hearing a lot more music from the international scene. Every time I get on an airplane and flip through the current international hits, I`m amazed at how much great music is being denied to listeners in the U.S. and other major markets. Another reason major label tyranny sucks.

[alguit]

Yes, I'd like to think that certain songs, such as many of those by the Beatles, will endure. Something of a historical precedent here: the massive amounts of recordings made, the proliferation of notated music of almost all genres, the scholarly and amateur archiving of seemingly countless hours of music all differ from certainly the earlier civilazations, from which little to nothing is known of there music. And in those cases, it doesn't necessarily have to do with lack of quality material, the loss of interest by later generations or the creation of "better music." Mainly, much of it was not written down, none of it recorded, and, as with all ancient, oral cultures, music was bound to mutate.

 

Now, in addition to what I've already mentioned, music is very much a part of our social, religious, even political climates. Since visual images have usually been a dominant reference point and source into the past, most likely our movies, for instance, will be scrutinized and perhaps often cherished by generations to come. And if my great-great-great-great-oh, you get the idea-granchildren are watching "The Graduate," then they are listening to "Mrs. Robinson," and so on.

[michael saulnier]

When the mutant survivors of the WWIII "final battle" roam the cities, and poke through the still radioactive rubble...

 

They may find remnants of our music on cd discs.

 

Since it's nothing they can eat or use to survive... they will ignore it... and perhaps wonder... what the hell is it?

 

OTHERWISE...

 

As henryrobbinett said... our current ability to create archival storage of recorded material will keep our "modern" music available to all future generations.

 

Sure, teenagers will still have "their" music... and WHATEVER music people "grew up" with will probably be the music they mainly prefer.

 

But you'll probably have access to a virtually unlimited library of music... all databased and ready to play.

 

Future Job... Personal DJ... where you create the "backing tracks" for people's lives based on your understanding of their likes, habits, demographics and this "library archive" of music...

 

You make Custom playlists for people... FUN!

 

Or that WWIII thing...

 

guitplayer

[henryrobinett]

I can imagine a very real possible scenario where by that time we've blown each other up so many times we no longer have the technology to make and preserve recorded music. So a few will learn how to maintain old technologies like CD players and the old music will be revived.

 

But other than that I don't think anyone wil know Beatles or Van Halen at all save the odd historian.

 

2525 is like 1481 to our years. That was before Henry VIII. That was before Columbus and the first invasion of the Americas. Do you really think it's just because we don't have cassettes of those guys singing sailor songs that we don't know them?

 

If trends continue, we'll all be making our own music and have precious little time to listen to other people's let alone time to wade through the archives. Super market muzk will have more relevent music to pedal. For how many hundreds of years do you think generations will be able to stand listening to "Michelle" in the meat department? There will hopefully be many more brilliant musicians and much more brilliant music to come that generations will be much more interested in and that will relate to THEM rather than to us.

 

Come on. Get over it. We're in our own time capsule. They'll have their own time capsule 522 years from now.

[antimatter]

How about in the movie 'Demolition Man'? Future radio has an Oldies station that plays nothing but old TV commercial jingles.

 

Maybe muzak will be the rage.

[Fendercaster]

Posted by henryrobinett:

2525 is like 1481 to our years. That was before Henry VIII. That was before Columbus and the first invasion of the Americas. Do you really think it's just because we don't have cassettes of those guys singing sailor songs that we don't know them?

I agree with you to a point, the people of future generations will be primarily listening to the music of their time. But, there is music still being played today by composers from Columbus' time and before. Even though there was no way to preserve recorded music then, the manuscripts and scores have survived, the majority of music being played today by symphonic orchestras was composed before the advent of the ability to record. I'm not saying that the Beatles or the Stones are on a par with Beethoven or Mozart (though for their genre of music, I suppose they are), but don't you feel that there's the possibility that there will be a niche for todays' music, similar to our appreciation of the classical music of centuries gone by?

[henryrobinett]

Originally posted by Fendercauldron:

But, there is music still being played today by composers from Columbus' time and before. Even though there was no way to preserve recorded music then, the manuscripts and scores have survived, the majority of music being played today by symphonic orchestras was composed before the advent of the ability to record. I'm not saying that the Beatles or the Stones are on a par with Beethoven or Mozart (though for their genre of music, I suppose they are), but don't you feel that there's the possibility that there will be a niche for todays' music, similar to our appreciation of the classical music of centuries gone by?

Oh no. You're absolutely right. What I mean and what I didn't say (Duh!!) is that the music of our era that will survive will likely be music we don't even know about. Our present day classical music. Maybe Zappa's more esoteric type stuff will be the only survivor of our pop era. When we look to the past we tend to see the highlights of technical and artistic achievments of their age, don't we? I mean I think this is true. We don't see the folk musicians or books on common everyday variety things. We see Copernicus, Galileo, Rembrandt, Michaelangelo, Newton. Only the absolute best. And the best not judged by popular opinion. That's our blind spot today and the blind spot of every era I'd imagine: popular opinion.

[Dave da Dude]

Posted by henryrobinett

2525 is like 1481 to our years. That was before Henry VIII. That was before Columbus and the first invasion of the Americas. Do you really think it's just because we don't have cassettes of those guys singing sailor songs that we don't know them?

Fendercauldron,

I agree with you to a point, the people of future generations will be primarily listening to the music of their time. But, there is music still being played today by composers from Columbus' time and before. Even though there was no way to preserve recorded music then, the manuscripts and scores have survived, the majority of music being played today by symphonic orchestras was composed before the advent of the ability to record. I'm not saying that the Beatles or the Stones are on a par with Beethoven or Mozart (though for their genre of music, I suppose they are), but don't you feel that there's the possibility that there will be a niche for todays' music, similar to our appreciation of the classical music of centuries gone by?

bluestrat,

Some metal will survive, some punk, some rock, blues, jazz, etc. A few top picks of mine:

1) Nirvana

2) Metallica

3) SRV

4) EVH

5) AC/DC

I think that SOME, maybe very few, songs and artists will be remembered in 2525. Fendercauldron makes a good point about songs still being "covered" now. Being a Folk player I can attest to that. There are many very old songs, some that can be traced very far back (I'll guess at 12th century). So, YES, we do still play and sing some of the songs that Columbus' men sang on the way over. Which ones I don't know, but maybe an odd historian does.

 

Which ones is the difficult WAG. I've already stated mine, maybe one or two of those will make it. I also think that one or two of bluestrat's picks will make it too. Which ones? I don't know, that's why it's a WAG.

 

Dave

[Caevan O’Shite]

Originally posted by henryrobinett:

"...I don't think anyone wil know Beatles or Van Halen at all save the odd historian."

 

"Come on. Get over it. We're in our own time capsule. They'll have their own time capsule 522 years from now."

Very accurate assessment of the way things are.

 

Where I work, some satellite piped-in music service is employed, and two channels that see heavy rotation there are the "Classic Rock" and "Progressive". (NOT "prog" as defined by many here, but newer rock and pop styles, sort of smart-alt-lite/adult-contemporary.)

 

When a song comes on that is a real chestnut to me, but not commonly heard anymore, I tease and quiz some of my co-workers, asking if they know who it is, etc. Some are on the same wavelength as myself, some are just old enough to remember, and some don't have any idea. But one young girl's usual answer, no matter what the song or channel, puts this whole topic in perspective. She always says, " I told you, I don't usually listen to this type of music."

 

It seems that if there is an identifiable melody, or chord progression, it's that "type of music". If it has pronounced deep "dub" bass, lots of room in the mid-range register, lots of quick motion, rapped or brief motific sung vocals, a la some rap, dance, house, breakbeat, etc.- it's the "type of music" that she listens to.

 

Now, if I were too narrow minded, I'd get all bent about this. But, c'mon, maybe now I have some idea of how my parents felt about much of the music that I liked as a kid, in contrast to "their" music.

 

Wait 'till it's this young girl's turn- someday, she may very well be exposed to some newer strains of music that will definitely not be like the "type of music" that she is used to... Hell, it may even be a neo-classical-Arabic music that doesn't even reference to the Western twelve-tones-to-the-octave system, extreme microtonal! Or, if the extra-terestrial aliens bring their music with them...

[RockNRev]

Every song that's ever been released will be databased, categorized and available.

[zeronyne]

Originally posted by RockNRev:

Every song that's ever been released will be databased, categorized and available.

On Napster ver 33203.34beta

[henryrobinett]

Originally posted by RockNRev:

Every song that's ever been released will be databased, categorized and available.

Yeah. My point is who is going to be interested?

[Blue Strat]

Originally posted by Dave th Dude:

Which ones? I don't know, that's why it's a WAG.

 

Dave

Dave,

 

Is that engineering vernacular for Wild Ass Guess?

[magicman]

In 2525 the Howlin' Wookie will top the charts with Wang-Dang-Doodle.

[Funk Jazz]

Originally posted by RockNRev:

Every song that's ever been released will be databased, categorized and available.

i love this idea! it's hilarious... and spot on!

[Venkat]

May be further dwarfed by what the remaing 95% of humanity has to offer - after all, the optimist in me feels that in 2525 there will be no boundaries, even if nations exist !