When did pop music start to suck?

[Helen Highwater]

There's this great radio show called Crap from the Past (www.crapfromthepast.com) that I listen to when I'm working on projects. It's a very comprehensive retro show that plays pop music from the 70's, 80's and early 90's (not too much Morrissey or Smiths, unfortunately), and sometimes they play old airchecks from defunct stations. I was listening to an aircheck from 1991 when I realized how much commercial radio and pop music in general sucks these days. This is not to say that there wasn't shitty music back in the day, but it wasn't pushed in your face and you could switch to another station and hear something different.

Here in 2005 you have a choice of 5 different rap tracks (two of which will are by 50 cent and the other three are by Usher), 5 different pop tarts (ie, Jennifer Lopez and her ass) and 5 different rock songs by bland rent-a-bands like Hoobastank. Maybe a tune from some American Idol loser. Mix it all together and add an inoffensive DJ who has no control whatsoever and you have yourself a radio station, which will be like pretty much everything else on the dial. Same thing with MTV. I was 10 years old in 1994 and when I think back to the kind of music that got airplay back then, I can objectively say that it was both better and more diverse. This is a fact. So when did it change? What happened?

I think one of the reasons Quarry was so well-received is that Morrissey is one of the few artists left that still has some professionalism and integrity. And it's a damn shame that he doesn't get airplay on MTV because kids need to hear what he's saying. Here's a guy who was never afraid of taking risks or showing his intelligence. He says what's in his heart, takes the flak for it and never whores himself out. I wish I had discovered Morrissey while I was still growing up. There was so much that I needed to know about life back then and the music I listened to didn't tell me anything. I think Morrissey's music would have made my adolescence a little easier. It's almost like falling in love with someone and wanting to know why you couldn't have met them years ago.

 

[Dirty Sanchez]

Stop your griping grade grubber. Podcasting is an alternative to the radio.

 

[Mr.Improper PIMP of the fuggin nation..and proud P]

Totally agree with you. Music in general started to "suck" around 92. Since then, very few bands have had what I call "a good career". Most are f***ing useless and toys to the stations and labels. Next thing someone's gonna tell the PIMP is that Maroon 5 can sing???? and people wonder why music is so shitty these days???

 

[Mr.Improper PIMP of the fuggin nation..and proud P]

Re: Stop your griping you unwiped ass, he's right dickstain

 

[mozrebel]

I'm with you there

> Totally agree with you. Music in general started to "suck"
> around 92. Since then, very few bands have had what I call "a good
> career". Most are f***ing useless and toys to the stations and
> labels. Next thing someone's gonna tell the PIMP is that Maroon 5 can
> sing???? and people wonder why music is so shitty these days???
But there has always been shitty music out there. These its the rare exception that is good, but then it barely receives airplay. I suppose things started to go down the pan when bands where blatantly being manufactured, publicised and promoted before even releasing a record.

 

[noone]

There are some things that are different about the music industry now. In the past you only got to hear a new single the day it was released. Now, promo for a single starts about six weeks before release date and the week of release is often the least interesting time for a fan of the artist. An incredibly successful artist and some bland manufacured act that crashes into the chart at no.37 may get exactly the same amount of TV coverage during this promo period. They all know that their single is merely an excuse to get their faces into the media and thus boost album and tour sales. If they chart highly then that's an added bonus but it's not the main reason to release a single any longer. Say what you like about the musical taste of the general public but at least the charts used to provide some sort of filter allowing only artists with a certain level of popularity to gain exposure. Popular isn't always the same as quality, but right now we have to contend with unpopular crap as well as popular crap. Even worse, is the crap that the record companies have the power to inflict upon us. Rooster and Natasha Bedingfield were on TOTP/CD:UK before they'd even had their CDs pressed.

Things seem to be getting more interesting again with the advent of the internet and illegal downloading but the last ten/fifteen years do seem to have been particularly grim.

 

[TETSUO]

When did pop music were any good?

Back in the 80s and 90s there was a lot of c(rap) music, milly vanilly, vanilla ice, tone loc, mchammer, we had madonna, rick astley, debbie gibson, george michael and wham! (yuck!!).... and all the hard rock shit from bon jovi to aerosmith, new kids on the block, and so on.....

By the other hand, 80s and 90s spawn the smiths and moz, billy bragg, ministry, joy division and new order, front 242, swing out sister, depeche mode, teenage fanclub, smashing pumpkins, my bloody valentine, bit happening, as now there is some good alternative pop music around, like badly drawn boy, air, franz ferdinand, belle and sebastian, tortoise, spiritualized, etc.

MTV has never had a good taste for pop music, the last good video regulary programed were (for me) there she goes of the la´s or any regulary programed REM single.... i guess so.....