So I was in Trader Joe’s getting some stuff and this piece of pablum came on the speakers. As it percolated up through my consciousness to recognition, I found myself with one thought: I could have happily gone my entire life without hearing this song ever again. I grew up in the 70s and 80s, when music was largely a thing provided by DJs at a half-dozen or so FM radio stations in any large town, and if something made it to #6 on Billboard (as this did), it would be pretty inescapable for months on end.
People are always expected to be all nostalgiac for the top hits of their teen years, but I’m not. Maybe it’s because my teen years were a big pile of grey depression after my father died. But maybe it’s also because stuff like this was still lingering?
Folks tend to say punk was a reaction to the technical excesses of prog-rock, but honestly I find myself wondering if it was as much a reaction to this. On the other hand I went from the technical wankery of soft-rock prog into the even more technical wankery of electronic music, and occasionally love listening to music that is so technical and intricate that it cannot be played in realtime by human hands, so what do I know.
I’m rambling, my ex-with-benefits is here, and I’m not stoned. Let me fix that last. Have a good night.
I’ve been grappling with the fact that the high school music that I hear in my neighborhood corner market is what the kids at the cash register call “oldies.” New Wave is oldies. Time to go kill my lawn.