Well,I'm just 20 so I know I'm not old and neither are u. Purple Rain (the album) sounds fresh and hasnt aged at all in my opinion.

I'm 29. Today, I'll listen to Purple Rain or ATWIAD in my car as loud and proud as I would Jay-Z's latest blue print. But then I thought about it.... Purple Rain came out 26 years ago!!

I remember, when I was a kid around 1986, giving my dad a hard time when I was a kid for listening to the Beach Boys & Neil Diamond on blast all the time. I told him he just listened to "oldies." -- these included people who came out w/ music in the 1960's. But by comparison -- those songs were only 26 years old in 1980's!!

I don't know, it just seems different. Someone listening to "oldies" 1n 1986 that were recorded in 1960 seems different that us, today, listening to Prince albums recorded in 1984.

Questions: (1) Am I just crazy? (2) Is it the nature of Prince's Music or (3) Is it the nature of the music industry and what's relevant these days - as new quality music is harder to come by so we're more ok w/ older stuff?

I'm 29. Today, I'll listen to Purple Rain or ATWIAD in my car as loud and proud as I would Jay-Z's latest blue print. But then I thought about it.... Purple Rain came out 26 years ago!!

I remember, when I was a kid around 1986, giving my dad a hard time when I was a kid for listening to the Beach Boys & Neil Diamond on blast all the time. I told him he just listened to "oldies." -- these included people who came out w/ music in the 1960's. But by comparison -- those songs were only 26 years old in 1980's!!

I don't know, it just seems different. Someone listening to "oldies" 1n 1986 that were recorded in 1960 seems different that us, today, listening to Prince albums recorded in 1984.

Questions: (1) Am I just crazy? (2) Is it the nature of Prince's Music or (3) Is it the nature of the music industry and what's relevant these days - as new quality music is harder to come by so we're more ok w/ older stuff?

I still think everything before I was born is "oldies".

I'm 29....

Cinnie said:

I'm 20. And I will say this...as a music lover and a musician....good music does not get old....it's immortal. It lives forever....

Jatrig said:

The difference is this: Neil Diamond and The Beach Boys were not really cutting edge and easily lend themselves to being corny.



[Edited 5/10/10 19:57pm]

I'm 29. Today, I'll listen to Purple Rain or ATWIAD in my car as loud and proud as I would Jay-Z's latest blue print. But then I thought about it.... Purple Rain came out 26 years ago!!

I remember, when I was a kid around 1986, giving my dad a hard time when I was a kid for listening to the Beach Boys & Neil Diamond on blast all the time. I told him he just listened to "oldies." -- these included people who came out w/ music in the 1960's. But by comparison -- those songs were only 26 years old in 1980's!!

I don't know, it just seems different. Someone listening to "oldies" 1n 1986 that were recorded in 1960 seems different that us, today, listening to Prince albums recorded in 1984.

Questions: (1) Am I just crazy? (2) Is it the nature of Prince's Music or (3) Is it the nature of the music industry and what's relevant these days - as new quality music is harder to come by so we're more ok w/ older stuff?

skywalker said:

The Beach Boys weren't cutting edge? Clearly you haven't heard "Good Vibrations", Pet Sounds or Smile.

He was the best of many worlds. It was like Sly Stone, James Brown and p-funk meets the Who, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles meets Jim Hendrix and Carlos Santana meets punk rock and new wave... and later with Shelia E, The Family and Madhouse a big dose of jazz... all topped off with a smooth Jackie Wilson finish...

Jatrig said:

What a good post! At first, my reaction was to laugh because I was in my late teens in 1984, and for you all to think that you are old is ludicrous! But then I read your post and it is very insightful about age and music! It really is all relative to the culture, context, and time that you live in--otherwise, age is irrelevant. It also has to do with your tastes as an individual.

To answer your questions: (1) You are not crazy; I felt the same way about loving the Beatles and Stones way back when and my friends told me they were passe', old, and irrelevant; (2) It is not the nature of Prince's music because like many musical artists, including the ones I mentioned, their classic music lasts beyond genres and time; (3) This is a question I asked myself and decided to explore new, younger artists. What I found was that--yes, there is a deficit in good new, younger good music that is readily available to music fans through old means of availability--i.e. radio, record stores, etc. But, in reality, there is plenty of young, innovative talent but we don't hear them through old means of sales and communication. But, considering the popular music that plays through conventional means--I have to reluctantly say that it simply is not as good or of the quality of the kind of music that came out in the past... That is not your imagination, and my son, who is 21, agrees with you.

One additional note: I recently had this debate with my son after we went to see a Jeff Beck concert. He argued that there was equally bad music in my time as there is now. I said that's true--we had bad quality music. The difference between now and then is that we had a lot less of the bad quality music and more of the good quality music, in all genres, than what is available to music listeners today!
[Edited 5/10/10 18:56pm]

I'm 29. Today, I'll listen to Purple Rain or ATWIAD in my car as loud and proud as I would Jay-Z's latest blue print. But then I thought about it.... Purple Rain came out 26 years ago!!

I remember, when I was a kid around 1986, giving my dad a hard time when I was a kid for listening to the Beach Boys & Neil Diamond on blast all the time. I told him he just listened to "oldies." -- these included people who came out w/ music in the 1960's. But by comparison -- those songs were only 26 years old in 1980's!!

I don't know, it just seems different. Someone listening to "oldies" 1n 1986 that were recorded in 1960 seems different that us, today, listening to Prince albums recorded in 1984.

Questions: (1) Am I just crazy? (2) Is it the nature of Prince's Music or (3) Is it the nature of the music industry and what's relevant these days - as new quality music is harder to come by so we're more ok w/ older stuff?