[MD] Turning Point?

[Platt Holden]

Quoting Michael Hamilton <thethemichael at gmail.com>:

> Okay, as repugnant as Barry Manilow may be to my tastes, Platt does
> have a point about the majority of pop music being inane, vapid,
> disposable trash, often relying heavily on "dancing girls" to make up
> for the lack of quality in the music (just take a look at any of the
> major music video channels, if you can stomach it - it's more
> soft-porn than melody). The formulaic bitches'n'hoes that apparently
> passes for R&B today is clearly nothing more than a way for the music
> industry to make a fast buck - this chimes in with Arlo's point about
> Quality being smothered by commercial interests. However, this is
> nothing new. Pop music, by and large, has always been this way.

At least, a voice of reason! Maybe making a buck by appealing to biological appetites
is not what you and I would approve of, but the Quality of a free market trumps our
personal tastes. Recall what Pirsig said about NY being where the best and worst
exist side by side due to the free play of Dynamic Quality.
 
> Platt, my advice to you would be to pay little attention to trends in
> popular, commercial music. There's plenty of good music to be found,
> without necessarily harking back to before the '60s. If you enjoy
> Barry Manilow, then good for you.

Funny thing is I don't particularly enjoy Manilow. My point was that real singing may
be making a welcome comeback.  

> But don't assume that all modern
> music lacks melody or Quality. If you're willing to scratch the
> beneath the surface of MTV trash, there's melody and Quality to be
> found in many styles of music - rock, instrumetal, ska, and yes, even
> dance and jungle music can be melodic. You might even find that these
> have more Dynamic impact than ol' Barry.

No Dynamic impact in ol' Barry I agree. But you don't have to beat pots and pans to
qualify as making a Dynamic impact. I'll take someone like Martina McBride for
"impact" any day.

Best regards,
Platt


-------------------------------------------------
This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/