05-30-2018, 09:49 AM
(05-30-2018, 02:20 AM)TheNomad Wrote:(05-29-2018, 04:31 PM)Ragnarök_62 Wrote:(05-29-2018, 10:22 AM)Eric the Green Wrote:(05-29-2018, 05:16 AM)TheNomad Wrote: You said: The GIs liked their culture insipid, with bland crooners and the infamously-insipid "elevator music" that one heard on FM radio stations with the letters "EZ" in their call letters. That music took show tunes, TV themes, and rock top hits and gave them gimmicky orchestrations -- but apparently no violas in the string sections. It got very boring very fast if one knew anything about music.
You mostly focused on music.... I recalled a quote from S&H when jazz and r&b got "christened" by Ed Sullivan who was a "magistrate" of (I believe) Silent generation. Maybe this wasn't from the book but elsewhere. So, that was the beginning of the boomer culture of Beats and eventually Hippies.
What's different with this archetype, we may not be seeing their musical taste yet come to fruition. I can only make the observation as I have before the people of that age are clean cut as can be. No ink, piercings, crazy hair.... and they all look the same. The average age for Millennial first intercourse is 26. Total lack of risk. Total lack of non-conformity. From what I can tell, their preferred music is not so much bland as it is innocuous. Maybe that is the same thing. What they listen to is not hard edge, nor angry, nor political uprising, and certainly not anything involving revolutionary themes.
These are not the people who are going to fight a war. And they aren't ones who are going to protest over ideology. At least, not once they assume political power. Millennials as a mirror echo to Boomers are still held captive by Boomer culture such as music. They really will not ever form their own outer culture. Their station is to transform inner structure. They aren't tripping and tuning in or dropping out.
It could be that this varies by location. CA millennials are not so conformist as that. The older Millennials I know pretty much imitated the ways of their older Gen X brothers and sisters for a while; in youth children tend to do that. They just tamped down the Xer styles a bit and normalized them. Certainly millennial era pop music has been more innocuous and upbeat, much like that of the GIs "Greatest Generation." I felt that Justin Bieber's "Baby" was a smooth groove similar to "In The Mood" by Glenn Miller. "Happy" echoes "Get Happy." More will come from the Millennials, as you say. And although some Millennials echo Boomer music, as when Bieber's "Baby" also contained the same lyric line from the Silent/Boomer era Motown sound's similar paragon of smooth-groove, "Baby Love," (and Motown sound musicians had been big band members), the you tube views suggest Millennials are focused on their own music, and they still are influenced by some Xer styles like rap music as well, and Bieber imitated Michael Jackson and Boyz to Men.
In the Mood https://youtu.be/c2aqHGaSxRI
Baby Love https://youtu.be/mQvIbkFaq18
Baby https://youtu.be/kffacxfA7G4
Notice at the end of "Baby" Justin makes the victory/peace symbol, to a Beatles-like "yeah yeah yeah"
Uh no. Millies are just the next renditions of squares.
haha...
RAP has been the greatest form of millennial 'angst' as far as I can tell. And now, that's coming to an end with that genre becoming totally absorbed into the mainstream. 90s NWA and Public Enemy was co-opted by the must-need rapper appearing on some young white persons/groups hit single in the early new century. It has only been more diluted over time. Rap/hip-hop did not used to be angst but fun. At least when I was a kid listening to kurtis blow or ll cool-j or beastie boys... it was never violent or offensive.
On that note, I cannot envision what comes next for music. Music can be a huge indicator. WHAT form will angst and rage assume in the near future? What will the younger millennials and artists (those who want that) what will they be listening to? I can't see it. I'm sure they exist, but pop culture in general is on total lockdown. The very last rockstar THING I have seen in the recent past is Lady Gaga performing LIVE at the VMA when she basically bled all over the stage and mock hung herself at the end. I was beyond pleased with such a thing
Your take on rap is no doubt quite similar that rock 'n rollers such as Elvis and Chuck Berry got incorporated into the mainstream after being considered a fringe segment of music. Yet some older style crooners such as Frank Sinatra and Perry Como continued to churn out hits well after the rock 'n roll revolution.