Not at all. But I'm sticking with my position on the value of how we all come into music and playing bass guitar.
I think if I was coming of age in the 80s or 90s I wouldn't be playing music. The scene was no longer magical or innocent.
Blue
I think I would tend to disagree with you, Blue. I'm a child of the 80's and early 90's (graduated high school in '91), and compared to today I think the 80's were a great time and very conducive to those who thought about getting involved in music.
Maybe my view is skewed because both of my parents played instruments proficiently and my father was a working drummer.
In thinking back, I remember trips to the record store, listening to the radio (or my WALKMAN....remember those?), and having the songs mean a lot to me. I looked forward to seeing my father's band perform when my mother could get the club owners to let my sister and I in (it was usually early in the night, we were well underage).
I was a big fan of Aqua-Net Rock (as I call it), and most of those songs were about having fun, parties, chasing girls, being an individual, or standing up "to the man".
By comparison, most of the stuff I've heard out of the 50's, 60's, and 70's (pop music or rock-n-roll) was about having fun, parties, chasing girls, being an individual, or standing up "to the man".
With the introduction of MTV, kids in my age group not only got to hear the music, but to see the performers, as well, and just how "cool" it would be to be a musician.
As far as the innocence of the time....it was probably more innocent than your childhood of the 60's. The 80's were almost dead opposite of the 60's; it was a more conservative time in many ways. Lots of energy put into dissuading drugs, sex became scary due to AIDS, and there was no war for musicians to write protest songs about. Everyone wanted to be Ferris Bueler. Or Alex Keaton. Or Marty McFly.
With the style of music being released and finding it's way to the mainstream, including rap, I think the idea of being involved in music was VERY attractive to young people. Because there were so many styles that were common and popular. Dance music, rap, hard rock, heavy metal, etc...., you could turn on the radio and find something that most everyone liked.
Now that I'm almost 40, I can see where you're coming from. I look at the music of today (when I turn on the radio) and all I can see is a soul-less, mass produced mess of commercial crap with created artists or truly depressing tunes that I have a hard time understanding why anyone would want to listen to, much less learn to perform.
And I imagine in 20 years I'll be just like you, having someone just like me tell me just how wrong I am.
