Rant #1,404: Equal Opportunity Listener

My wife had to go to the doctor yesterday after work, and I went to accompany her at the medical office.

We waited a requisite amount of time, were led into a room, waited a little more, she was checked out, and I am happy to say, she is pretty much as fit as a fiddle.

A very beautiful fiddle, but that is my own humble opinion that goes beyond medical science, of course.

Anyway, while we waited to be seen, they had music playing in the background, one of those modern stations that play modern pop.

We must have waited for about 20 minutes once in a room, so we both got a good sample of the most popular tunes of the period.

Yes, I know there is probably some very good music being made today somewhere, and I know that the music of today is not being programmed for my nearly 58 year old tastes, but let me tell you, my wife and I pretty much agreed that what we heard was pure trash.

I am sure that people that were my age today in, let's say, 1967--meaning that they were born in 1910 or so--probably said that what we listened to then was pure trash also, but what I was listening to yesterday, compared to the music of my youth, well this new stuff, to me, was unlistenable.

My wife is much more music forward than I am. She listens to more modern music than I do, and she even agreed that what we heard yesterday was pretty bad.

It actually seemed programmed, the singing voices were certainly impacted by some sort of device, and the songs themselves weren't memorable at all.

Yes, I know that I grew up during some wonderful years for music. Certainly the 1960s, and the environment around us at that time, fueled the music that we listened to.

And growing up in what was generally a mixed area plopped down in the middle of one of the longest lasting ethnic neighborhoods of America, we heard a lot more and different types of music than your standard 1967 Top 40 hits.

All the stuff I listened to was popular, but if you are looking for diversity through music, we had it all--whether it was the Supremes or Sly and the Family Stone or even Peaches and Herb and the Tymes.

Pop/rock was still new way back when, and there were no rules. I think what we have today is a lot of stuff that is like fourth or fifth generation pop/rock, and while I am sure it pleases the young kids, I just cannot listen to it. It does nothing for me.

So while I am admitting that I am an old fuddy duddy--heck, I am even having trouble typing this today because my allergies are affecting the sight in my eyes, and I cannot see clearly right at this moment--my ears don't deceive me.



What I hear on the radio today, the current hit stuff, to me is pure trash. The kids of today don't know what they are missing.

But again, as I said earlier, I am sure people said that about our music way back when, so maybe that is the way it is supposed to be.

Adults should not be listening to kids' music, and if they are, they simply aren't going to get too much out of it, especially when compared with what they themselves listened to as a child.

I get it, I get it.

I just don't like it.