Parlor Spider...Step In, Little Fly

Insightful thoughts and/or rants from atop the soapbox from one who wishes to share the "right" opinion with everyone.

Monday, April 16, 2012

NOW I Know!

Every five years or so, it seems like musical tastes change dramatically. Sometimes, I can understand...I mean, going from the Andrews Sisters to Elvis Presley was a no-brainer. What teen wouldn't want to bemoan his or her trip to his or her own personal Heartbreak Hotel and commiserate with the myriad other ansgt-ridden teens while gyrating ont he dance floor? really! And so it went.
I never really got "into" acid rock because the allusions were too obscure for a kid from a small town in Kansas. As far as I knew, "drugs" was some odd form of the verb "to drag" meaning to a) be moved along the ground unwillingly, b) drive Dad's car really fast, or c) take a puff on a cigarette (usually against Mom's's wishes.
Following that trend came the "Have a Nice Day" portion of the 70's in which music was "The Night Chicago Died," the group Bread, and The Carpenters among many others. As contestants on American Bandstand used to bemoan, "It's a nice song but hard to dance to." Along came the disco era, and the world again exploded.
Until recently, I really didn't get why disco was so amazingly huge. Now, I get it. The Carpenters et al. did not inspire much beyond slowly rocking back and forth and singing along quietly. Disco made us ALL get up and "boogie," shaking our groove thing (booty)as the followers of Elvis were inspired to do years earlier.
Recently,I sat in a theater in Green Bay watching a musical/comedy performance that was more music than comedy...and the tunes were some of the above-mentioned 70s tracks. At intermission, I used my stage whisper to announce, "Now, I know why disco was so popular," and was rewarded with an elbow in the ribs. The performers were really good, the entertainment was fine, but it just didn't motivate me to get up and involve myself by dancing (though I DO admit to singing a bit under my breath on various occasions), despite the decent choreography exhibited on stage.
Disco eventually got dis-gone in favor of (gasp) country music, the attraction to which is something I still don't quite fathom (and I refused as recently as Sunday to drink from a red Solo cup!), much as I do not fathom the overwhelming popularity of hip-hop and rap among small-town Anglo kids. It's all a mystery to me, but at least I understand WHY the changes are so complete and so dissonant to adults.
Peace out, and rock on!

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