A Lesson in Recording and "Good" Music

     This discussion occurred back at the end of September, but I found it rather captivating and exciting, and not just because I prefer pre-21st century music to modern music today. What started out as a simple lesson on the history of recording and how it affected mass media evolved into a more relatable discussion about teens in the 1950s and their ultimate rebellion against the "big man" with their "sinful" rock n' roll sex music.

     During this discussion, new ideas of the age of rock music surfaced that I had not known before, leaving me with certain thoughts I wasn't quite sure were right or wrong. For starters, it was new information to me to know that rock music, when first released to the public, was considered "race music," or "black music," meaning that many associated the different sounds predominantly with African American persons. For this reason, many parents and/or guardians didn't approve of their child's listening to the music, and not just because it was the 50s and everyone was racist as heck to pretty much any difference among the human population.

     Another interesting fact that struck me was about the king himself, Elvis Presley. When first on the Ed Sullivan Show, cameramen were instructed to only film his upper half, as his dance moves were extremely controversial to many of the time. I think this restriction on a public show really emphasized the public's dislike and controversy related to rock n' roll music.

     Perhaps the most interesting topic about this discussion, however, was the topic that appeared in my afterthoughts post-discssion. Looking back again at my notes really reminded me of how so many things can change over such small periods of time, and how the world can evolve from one common enemy to another. Today, rock n' roll, to the young adult, middle aged, and older generations who may have experienced or been told about the experience of emerging rock n' roll from parents/guardians, is considered a preferred genre as compared to many of today's popular hits. In fact, my father even encouraged me to listen to it from the time I was in kindergarten, when, on the way to or from school, he would play songs by the Rolling Stones, Whitesnake, or (my personal favorite) AC/DC. Yet, I wasn't allowed to listen to rap music, a controversial music today predominantly associated with those of African American descent, until I was in 8th grade (I don't know why I mourned the absence of it for so long before then...I really dislike modern music, and probably always will).

     Forty or fifty years from now, I think rap music will end up in the same place as rock n' roll, unfortunately. Although many songs, in my opinion, do not deserve such a high spot of honor like the one classic rock holds, I think that the transition of this genre from "race" music to "good" music is inevitable, and that by 2054 or 2064, we will have parents and grandparents downloading old rap songs by Nicki Minaj and Jay-Z on their holographic iPods, or whatever they'll have, encouraging them to listen to music that was considered controversial in their time. The entire concept of change is inevitable in any developing or developed society, and although scary, it is true and can be proven through previous experiences.

     The entirety of this post has really crushed my hopes for the future of music, so I think I'll go listen to some Black Crowes and Three Dog Night. Those were the days...