sofanumber2

McNaughtonPark: I know there was some good music in th 70's too, here in Italy the years between 1970 and 1973 were the best, with a few prog rock bands and some songwriters, but in my opinion the decline after 1973 was really sharp, with lots of bands that had previously made history making some pathetic attempts to follow the tastes of mass consumers to make some money (Genesis is one example). Of course there were exceptions (Frank Zappa, to name one, produced great music well into the 80s) Monostone: I'm sure there are some talents out there now, but unfortunately they don't make it to big distribution, so it's hard to find them... I guess a forum like this one should be a good place to find new talents. On the other hand, I think that if there are some real talented innovators out there they will come out, if there is enough demand for good music. My point is that I don't see that demand!

Just, as you say, today's young people don't listen very much to music, they don't lay on their bed with headphones and listen to a whole album. I used to do it a lot, and we exchanged LP's between friends because they were rare and expensive. Reading biographies of musicians from that era (I'm reading Keith Richard's now, and before that I enjoyed very much FZ biography), I see again and again that they did the same thing: listening to music and meeting other kids with the same passion. Why it doesn't happen today? Distractions and dumbphones are a reason for sure, but I wonder if it's also because there isn't anything good to listen to!

Many times I wondered why the years between 1965 and 1950 were such a prolific time for music creativity. In case you think I’m wrong, may I remind you of a few names who started writing songs in those years like the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, The Rolling Stones, Procol Harum, CSN&Y, just to name a few? I could easily fill two pages with talented musicians from that period, while I couldn’t think of a single name from the third millennium. What did these people have in common? Was it just a lucky combination? I don’t think so. One possible explanation is looking at their birth dates: all these people were born between 1940 and 1945 and were in their 20’s during the magic years. Is it possible that the social and economic environment that they grew up had a dramatic positive influence on their creativity? I think the answer is yes, and I think that probably the main reason is that in the 40s there was no TV. Boys and girls did not sit in front of a screen for hours a day watching to cartoons, sit-coms and (worst of all) MTV. There was also a lot less money and not as many gadgets, music was a scarse resource and a record to put on the turntable was a precious gift. I’d like to hear the opinion of others on this subject, so come on, don’t be afraid!