i have always been a muso since i was in my early teens and have always followed whats been going on with music and i have always found what i consider 'good music' in the charts..more the album chart than the singles....but the last few years...i just find the singles chart is full of crap...its really quite depressing if young people think that is good music...

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or maybe i am just out of touch now and an old foggy...but i really struggle to see where the music talent is..i can see that 'lady gaga' has genuine music talent even if she is a bit too poppy for me but i am struggling with almost everything else...

No,it's not your age.The Top 40 really is full of crap

I say both

Most people realized this already 10-15 years ago, so chances are that you are not so old!

He's so naive he thinks Top 40 is the music to listen when you're 40

PANDURITO said:

He's so naive he thinks Top 40 is the music to listen when you're 40

... ...yes i know the singles chart is mostly aimed at teens but there has always been good stuff in there but i am struggling to see any in the last few years...there is good stuff but for some reason...it aint making the charts...i like to keep my finger on the pulse but i think it popular music might be dead now...

PANDURITO said:

He's so naive he thinks Top 40 is the music to listen when you're 40

that's really not true...when I was a teen there was a lot of shit on the top 40..but still we had MJ, Prince, Madonna, George Michael, Janet Jackson, Peter Gabriel, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dr Dre, U2, Guns N roses, R.E.M., Lenny Kravitz, Whitney Houston...2 name a few...now it's only crap except 4 a few exceptions. I feel the same way

Good thread.

I think it's maybe a bit of both blackbob. I am 41, and I cannot stand to listen to 95% of the current chart.

That said "Popular" music it exactly that. The top 40, is mainly bought or downloaded by the younguns.

In my teens, I spent my Saturday job wages all on records that were in the charts. I was aware of great artists then such as The Beatles, Stones, Elton John, Stevie Wonder etc but to me they were old hat and not hip enough for an 80s teenager. I was listening to early Hip-Hop and Electro also at the time.

My parents thought the music I was buying at the time was crap compared to the "proper" music of the 60s and 70s

As I got older, I started to appreciate the music and talent more, and expanded my musical palette.

I don't listen to current chart stuff, but not it's because it is crap, but more because I think its crap. My 13 year old daughter cannot get enough of Ga Ga and Minaj, but to my aging ears, I'm just not getting it. This is coming from the same guy who thought Salt 'n' Pepa were Goddesses once !!

When it comes to modern soul & r'n'b, don't even get me started on that one. Try as I might to love the current set, with very minor exceptions, I still go back to the artists of the 70s and 80s for my soul and funk fixes.

Someone will come along shortly and your faith will be restored. Take Adele for example. Taking the UK Album charts by storm currently. Somebody who appeals to the young and the middle aged. Now that's a proper talent.

^^ I agree with almost all of this.

blackbob said:

maybe i am just out of touch now and an old foggy..

This.

The top 40 is always full of crap give or take a few gems.

If you think today's top 40 is a bunch of bullshit, it doesn't mean you're getting old. It means the opposite, you're still young. Today's top 40 is all slow and dull and who has always liked nothing but slow and dull music....old people. So, like I said before, you're still young. You can't help it if today's young people have developed the tastes of a bunch of nursing home patients. You're wanting to move on forward but they have been going backwards for the last 20 years to a time when fast music didn't exist.

Shafty said:

My parents thought the music I was buying at the time was crap compared to the "proper" music of the 60s and 70s

In the early 1980s, the music that was playing in the clubs that my mother went to was the same music that was playing in the skating rinks that I went to. The only difference is, they brought a little more blues into the picture in her clubs but they were also playing stuff like Bill Summers and Summers Heat and Rick James, just like the skating rinks were playing for us.

Today's music IS bullshit. That's all there is to it. It's not a matter of getting older these days because people that were my age in the early 1980s still liked to party back then. They moved on with the style changes of the times because the styles kept moving forward back then, not backward like they have been since the 1990s when adult contemporary and shit hop took over and everything became as slow as a damn opera.

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[Edited 5/4/11 7:12am]

No it's not you..I'm 44 and listen to just about EVERYTHING. I have an 18 year old son who knows in his heart that Lil Wayne sucks much ass however the top 40 songs are so beat driven that these kids don't pay attention to a word that they are saying. It's good enough that they can sway and bob their heads, substance in top 40 doesn't exist are you kidding! The only reason my child is exposed to REAL music is because his father is a DJ and he has since followed suit. He is truly aware that tunes of the past were a lot better than tunes of today. He is actually teased with what his has on his iPhone because they are clueless....They tell him that he listens to old people music.

Come on now we had THE VERY best from the 50's-mid 90's and then creativity took a back seat to the all mighty dollar. I'm just glad that my parents had the good sense to introduce me to all kinds of music from deep jazz to Bach. IT was great because it made me a better person I believe and more accepting in general to the vast array of cultures I have encountered in my life.

What's missing I believe is the magic of discovering just how music speaks to you soul and reliving that joy of when that song hits that nerve of music bliss. I actually feel sorry for today's youth....what a pity. To me top forty stands for one hit wonders...not the artist but the songs....they will never have the staying power of lets say....Prince's Purple Rain or Tchaikovsky Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy let's face it.

Frustrating... I know.... but count your blessings that you have experienced some great music in your time, and if you have children just pass it on so they will not be as clueless as their peers.

Shafty said: When it comes to modern soul & r'n'b, don't even get me started on that one. Try as I might to love the current set,

with very minor exceptions, I still go back to the artists of the 70s and 80s for my soul and funk fixes.

There's imo quality "grown folx soul" being released and aired online at stations such as solar radio , starpoint radio and soulchoonz radio in the UK.

Also a fair amount of independent soul-artists representing their product online :

( CDBaby | Urban/R&B | Soulchoonz | blog.jazz-not-jazz.com/ar...egory/soul )

Unfortunately this needs to be reminded from time to time because possibly too few are aware of this, and because this topic-subject is not uncommon

because it has been posted about before and likely will re-appear again somewhere on the org and countless of other discussion-boards lol.

DAV123 said:

No it's not you..I'm 44 and listen to just about EVERYTHING. I have an 18 year old son who knows in his heart that Lil Wayne sucks much ass however the top 40 songs are so beat driven that these kids don't pay attention to a word that they are saying. It's good enough that they can sway and bob their heads, substance in top 40 doesn't exist are you kidding! The only reason my child is exposed to REAL music is because his father is a DJ and he has since followed suit. He is truly aware that tunes of the past were a lot better than tunes of today. He is actually teased with what his has on his iPhone because they are clueless....They tell him that he listens to old people music.

Come on now we had THE VERY best from the 50's-mid 90's and then creativity took a back seat to the all mighty dollar. I'm just glad that my parents had the good sense to introduce me to all kinds of music from deep jazz to Bach. IT was great because it made me a better person I believe and more accepting in general to the vast array of cultures I have encountered in my life.

What's missing I believe is the magic of discovering just how music speaks to you soul and reliving that joy of when that song hits that nerve of music bliss. I actually feel sorry for today's youth....what a pity. To me top forty stands for one hit wonders...not the artist but the songs....they will never have the staying power of lets say....Prince's Purple Rain or Tchaikovsky Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy let's face it.

Frustrating... I know.... but count your blessings that you have experienced some great music in your time, and if you have children just pass it on so they will not be as clueless as their peers.

well my son is 12 now and has been exposed to lots of different music....prince a fair bit but a good mixture....he now has a lot of beatles songs on his mp3 player due to the beatles rock band game...he still has lots of modern stuff but at least he knows some of the great music of the past 50 years and not just whats in the charts..

And just when you think things can't get any worse - the Black Eyed Peas release another single.

will.i.am

will.u.fuck.off

The top 40 is full of crap! Nuf said!

I ask myself this all of the time. I think there is still some good music out there (even in the top 40), but a lot of the most popular songs and "artists" are not that great today to me.

I must be getting old because I keep seeing this same discussion since I first logged on to this site nearly four years ago.

There's still good pop/rock material and occasional R&B gems btw.

DAV123 said:

No it's not you..I'm 44 and listen to just about EVERYTHING.

I don't how you do not consider yourself in the same boat as OP.

Ultimately, whatever is in the Top 40 reflects the dominant culture at that time. I feel that when you have a disconnect from the culture I think, in a way, it reflects your feelings on the music from that time as well. Those who grew up with the music of their time will always find it to be more...significant than what's new. I mean, why not? You grew up with it and a lot of it has significance in your life. I mean...how many older people dissed on rock and roll when it debuted? On jazz? On swing? On hip hop and etc.? How many older people I knew dissed all of the music I grew up with saying it's wasn't as good as the stuff they gew up with? How many people I know diss all the new music coming out now? Hmm...actually...not really, unless they are not really into dance based pop music (dance-pop).

Example, I have run into a lot of people who feel that the 80s had some of the worst music known to man. Why? It's was a very pop orientated dance music era and a big departure from all of the rock that they grew up with. Like, when teenagers discover classic rock and act like it's best thing to come to man since sliced bread, because it's different to them and I think it makes them feel special knowing that they are different from everyone else. In your son's case, he had parents who, actively, exposed him to a lot of music, so that music will be of more significance to him. For me, my mom is a very active clubber who loves lots of dance music. Guess what? So do I. My roommate can't stand any of that, because she grew up listening to a lot of older r&b/pop. Even when you revisit the top 40 from yesteryear there's still a lot of bullshit on it. That has never changed.

The older you are, the more of a chance you have from wearing your nostalgia goggles on too tightly I think.

Also, no offense, I don't even believe that anyone on this forum listens to 'just about EVERYTHING.' Especially when the forum posts don't even reflect that. They are mainly 80s r&b/pop heavy with the occassional rock and rap threads thrown in. Which is why I find it ironic when so many here complain about the younger generation not wanting to explore the old music, when the older generation doesn't want to explore the new music. =/

^ I post the occasional punk/metal song...

NO RESPONSES (except from two users ).

[Edited 5/4/11 11:06am]

Timmy84 said:

^ I post the occasional punk/metal song...

NO RESPONSES (except from two users ).

[Edited 5/4/11 11:06am]

There a few exceptions on this forum, but overall, not really. Which is the overall irony of threads like these I think.

Unholyalliance said:

Timmy84 said:

^ I post the occasional punk/metal song...

NO RESPONSES (except from two users ).

[Edited 5/4/11 11:06am]

There a few exceptions on this forum, but overall, not really. Which is the overall irony of threads like these I think.

Unholyalliance said:

Also, no offense, I don't even believe that anyone on this forum listens to 'just about EVERYTHING.' Especially when the forum posts don't even reflect that. They are mainly 80s r&b/pop heavy with the occassional rock and rap threads thrown in. Which is why I find it ironic when so many here complain about the younger generation not wanting to explore the old music, when the older generation doesn't want to explore the new music. =/

I put up country threads and other stuff, but I get told I have bad taste (whatever that means) or that no one is interested in obscure acts.

MickyDolenz said:

Unholyalliance said:

Also, no offense, I don't even believe that anyone on this forum listens to 'just about EVERYTHING.' Especially when the forum posts don't even reflect that. They are mainly 80s r&b/pop heavy with the occassional rock and rap threads thrown in. Which is why I find it ironic when so many here complain about the younger generation not wanting to explore the old music, when the older generation doesn't want to explore the new music. =/

I put up country threads and other stuff, but I get told I have bad taste (whatever that means) or that no one is interested in obscure acts.

People who usually talk about how bad music is would be the first ones to say this for some odd reason.

Timmy84 said:

MickyDolenz said:

I put up country threads and other stuff, but I get told I have bad taste (whatever that means) or that no one is interested in obscure acts.

People who usually talk about how bad music is would be the first ones to say this for some odd reason.

Look at the Prince section, there's people complaining about why does Prince have these other (R&B) acts on his tour, why does he let the background singers do all the singing, or why he does covers instead of his own music. Then, there's either "I want Prince to do all of his hits" or "I want him to sing some obscure song from a bootleg that most of the audience has never heard of".

MickyDolenz said:

Timmy84 said:

People who usually talk about how bad music is would be the first ones to say this for some odd reason.

Look at the Prince section, there's people complaining about why does Prince have these other (R&B) acts on his tour, why does he let the background singers do all the singing, or why he does covers instead of his own music. Then, there's either "I want Prince to do all of his hits" or "I want him to sing some obscure song from a bootleg that most of the audience has never heard of".

R u 2 related or something? U 2 sound like brothers.

[Edited 5/4/11 12:04pm]

daPrettyman said:

MickyDolenz said:

Look at the Prince section, there's people complaining about why does Prince have these other (R&B) acts on his tour, why does he let the background singers do all the singing, or why he does covers instead of his own music. Then, there's either "I want Prince to do all of his hits" or "I want him to sing some obscure song from a bootleg that most of the audience has never heard of".

R u 2 related or something? U 2 sound like brothers.

[Edited 5/4/11 12:04pm]

Now what makes you think that? Because we think alike in some ways? It's just a coinkidink.

MickyDolenz said:

Timmy84 said:

People who usually talk about how bad music is would be the first ones to say this for some odd reason.

Look at the Prince section, there's people complaining about why does Prince have these other (R&B) acts on his tour, why does he let the background singers do all the singing, or why he does covers instead of his own music. Then, there's either "I want Prince to do all of his hits" or "I want him to sing some obscure song from a bootleg that most of the audience has never heard of".

Right!