When Did I Become Old? (Long Post)

[MYLOWFREQ]

You're not old. I don't really listen to new stuff either, but I don't listen to music in general as I work with audio all day and silence is more appealing to me. From my experience, non musicians are better listening to whatever where the musicians might be a little more picky. I used to be a metalhead listening to extreme metal only. Although I still love metal, I can enjoy anything that sounds good to me.

 

[SactoBass]

I’m 54 and pretty much stopped listening to “new” music about 20 years ago. I don’t see any reason to change that as the Beibers and Drakes of the world do absolutely nothing for me. How people who have very little voice talent, like A Grande (shriek much?), become popular is beyond me.
My theory is that the millennials literally have never heard music made by people who can actually sing or play an instrument.

 

[LUCE]

I remember when I was a kid you heard Frank Sinatra and 50's music at the supermarket. Now the oldies they play are from the 80's and 90's. When I could identify with King Soopers' music, I knew I was old.

 

[SactoBass]

I’m 34 years old

So, when the hell did I turn old?

You haven't yet! You have a long way to go, which is good!

I’m curious if generations before me found themselves listening to similar type music they grew up on, or matured and listened to older music around the time they turned 30; or if the good music of the day kept their interest in new music?

I was listening to (and learning to play) YES music in 1972 when I was 16 and bought my first bass. I'm now 62, and I still love to play 70's-era YES music!

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I took the week off to do some yard work before the summer is over and my wife was joking with me as we ate breakfast, “When was the last time you listened to new music?”

I laughed and said “Well, I listen to a modern jazz radio station (Jazz FM 91 The Grooveyard, which plays more jazz fusion/jazz-funk kind of music. I highly recommend it if that’s your thing) and they play newer stuff. I also listen to Esperanza Spalding, and other newer jazz stuff.”

She laughed, “That’s old people music. When was the last time you listened to new music? When you started being a musician did you ever think you would not be on the cutting edge of music?”

I had to think, and she was right. What got me to buy a bass was learning Pink Floyd’s bassline to “Money” on my acoustic 6 string, but the band I really cut my teeth on were the Arctic Monkeys and at the time (their first and second album) were really different to everything I had heard before and it was real refreshing. At the time, I was playing towards joining a band of that style.

My music taste evolved as I got older to 70’s Prog Rock (Rush, King Crimson, Yes, etc), older Rock/Metal, Classical Music, and Jazz. I pretty much despise all new music (except for new releases of the older styles I like). In my teens, I also loved 90’s hip hop/rap, but feel that hip hop has also tanked since around 2005.

Anyways, after I ate breakfast, I went outside to do my yard work. I turned on this Grooveyard station on my iPhone. A few hours later, my wife came out to see how I was doing, and joked around about listening to this old music again.

A minute later, a real sweet neighbour we have (a married, Christian couple in their 60’s, give or take), came over to talk to use and the wife screamed, “Oh, you’re jazzing it up back here!” And she put her hands in there air and started dancing.

After they left and my wife went in, I couldn’t help but feeling like my Dad. I’m 34 years old, and while that number sounds old to my old teenage self. I don’t feel old at all. I’m immature as hell. I still watch Marvel movies and saw the new trailer for Bumblebee (the new Transformers spin-off movie NOT directed by Michael Bay), and was very happy to see OG Starscream will be in it.

So, when the hell did I turn old? If I had to pin-point it to an age. I’d say it was around the time I turned 30...

I’m curious if generations before me found themselves listening to similar type music they grew up on, or matured and listened to older music around the time they turned 30; or if the good music of the day kept their interest in new music?

My wife is my age and she loves new music, but we don’t listen to music the same. She listens it to it passively as she drives or works out. She likes uptempo stuff that gets her dancing. I don’t dance. I listen to stuff that inspires my musical endeavours.

Thoughts?

Well back when I was 34, disco was all the rage and it drove me away from playing out and into the studio until the 90s. When I started gigging again what was I playing? Right! Oldies. Mowtown and Memphis soul.. Todayi’m gigging in two bands, a DooWhop/Beach Music Band that does a fair amount of originals, and a Corporate/Wedding Dance Band that plays? Yup, Disco...

Really,I don’t listen to much music other than for the projects I’m working on, or have worked on. Please don’t think I’m a egotistical maniac, but most of the time I want some music, i’ll Break out my Taylor 510 and have at it.

As for when do you become old? I have 30+ years on you and it’s when you stop doing the things you love, and settling for convenience over passion.

 

[wesonbass]

A coworker told me the other day that I should check out this new blues guy. His name is Robert Cray. I guess if you haven't heard it yet, it's new!

 

[jamro217]

I believe when music was phased out (or curtailed) of the public school curriculum the quality of music began a death spiral. Kids need to understand music from an early age, whether they attempt to play it or not. Many poorer kids never get the chance to own an instrument or take lessons. Even a musical genius could be stifled by the lack of opportunity. Couple that with the record companies unwillingness to risk a safe bet for profit by churning out more of the same instead of a product that has some imagination behind it. There are still some great musicians out there creating fine work. Snarky Puppy comes to mind. It's just that you need to search for it in different places than you did in the past. YouTube and Spotify are my main sources now. I won't comment on the ratio of quality to quantity of recordings over the various decades because any such exercise will only render one's musical tastes, not actual fact. Does this make me old? No. The fact that I was born when there were only 48 states in the USA makes me old, whippersnapper! And don't you forget it.

 

[japhy4529]

Well, I’m 45 and my favorite band right now is “The Warning“, a rock group comprised of three teenaged sisters from Monterrey, Mexico. They’re awesome and give me some hope for the future of rock music.


Music starts at 1:10

 

[alaskaleftybass]

I'm 53 and grew up on KISS/Styx/Abba, basically anything they played on the radio.

But, IMO, back when I was a teen the local "hit" station played all those groups. You'd hear Joe Walsh, followed by Abba, then maybe the Starland Vocal Band (remember them? ), then maybe KISS and Little River Band. It just seemed looking back that the stations were not so segmented. It was all just called "rock" and that was it. These days you won't hear Five Finger Death Punch and Taylor Swift on the same station, but that's what it was like back when I spent hours every day with my FM radio.

Maybe that's why my playlists now cover everything from Muse to KISS to Bob Marley to Abba to John Prine.

And because we have kids I hear the stuff they listen to and hear some of the new stuff coming out. My older two are in their 20's and I can relate more to what they listen to than our 15 yr old.

Such true words. There was a time when EVERYONE younger tolerated each other's music to a point. Dances were mixes of all kinds of music. When I was really young, I even remember OLD PEOPLE dancing at my dance for kids! How times have changed. It's the state of music now, and the social habits of a young society raised on the internet. C'est la vie I guess.

 

[Fender_Bender]

i feel odd that i like music from my youth, before and long before i was born, and music all the way up to now. i wonder what that says about my brain



there's a lot of artists and bands out there who aren't beibers or drakes, i'm happy to report. some can actually sing AND play an instrument.

I’ve tried wading through the trash to find a nugget (to my ears anyway) or two without a great amount of success. Bruno Mars seems to have potential to me, but I feel sort of funny listening to music that the young people like.
When I was in high school, what is now considered classic rock was considered to be a bit passé and washed up. New wave was seen as progressive,but we didn’t know that it was going to be a bit of a passing fad. I don’t listen to much of the new wave these days but do appreciate the classic rock, funk,soul,Motown etc. From the 70’s.
I’ve had an idea for awhile to do some research on what was popular during that time period in different markets, such as Australia or Japan, because I know that as a Canadian there was a lot of cool music from Canadian bands like Lighthouse etc who didn’t get much play in the states. I’m sure there was lots of cool music from other parts of the world that are relatively unknown here.

 

[dpaul]

It creeps up on you. The day I turned 40 my hair noticeably started graying. I’m almost 50 now, and my body feels different. Truth is, I don’t mind turning older. I care less about what is ‘cool’ and how relevant I am. I play a bass most kids deem ‘uncool’ (both brand and string configuration). And I’m ok with it.

 

[Spidey2112]

Well, I’m 45 and my favorite band right now is “The Warning“, a rock group comprised of three teenaged sisters from Monterrey, Mexico. They’re awesome and give me some hope for the future of rock music.


Music starts at 1:10

I'm certainly liking what I hear! Nice energy, especially from the drummer! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Matthew_84]

So this is a pretty interesting article, describing an analysis that says the music you connected with as a teenager basically sets your musical tastes for life: Our musical tastes peak as teens, says study.

Honestly, though, don't beat yourself up about liking what you like and not liking what you don't like. My dad was born in 1920, but he spent most of his adult life listening to opera and classical music. Stuff that was written and popular sometimes hundreds of years before he was born! You're not required to like current music, and let's face it: most of it is absolute rubbish, as was most music in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, etc.

There are some good contemporary rock artists around today. I love Spoon, the Decemberists, the Shins, Nate Rateliff, and others. That doesn't make me "young." It just means I'm a 59-year old who likes some contemporary music.

The article is interesting, but I don't quite fully agree with that stats. When I think of the songs I was listening to at 14 (not necessarily what came out at that time, but what I was listening to), while some of those songs are some of my favourite songs. I would say I discovered my absolute favourite songs between the ages of 23 and 30.

However, I do agree with the premise. I do think we kind of cling to the music we grew up with and we reach a certain plateau where we know what we like and base our tastes around that.

Honestly, though, I am still evolving my musical taste. It's just that I'm listening to a lot of music that's new to me, but may have originally been released 10, 20, heck, even 60-odd years ago.

I guess there are other songs that I wouldn't bother listening to that came out in those eras as well, it just seems that we have new that's coming out today is simply less appealing to me.

 

[Matthew_84]

I'm 60. The most recent thing on my mp3 player (note - not iphone) is Paul Simon's Graceland. I consider Metallica "new". I'n still angry about hair metal. And punk. And the first thing I learned on the bass was "money". I'm stuck in the past. That's old.

Well, the first thing I learned on bass was "Money" too. That bassline is just too damn good!

 

[Spidey2112]

I think I know what I like...

... as you get older, it's just hard remembering where you left it.

 

[tycobb73]

Ed Sheeran is awesome.
Buddy holly is awesome
Taylor swift is awesome
Robert Johnson is awesome
Protest the hero is awesome
Dukes of dixieland is awesome

 

[jazznrick]

Hold the phone here... I thought Arctic Monkeys were current music. If you’re old and you’re 34 and I’m 28... OMG NO NO NO I’M COOL AND HIP AND NO GOD PLEASE NO... I’m old.

 

[cmcbass]

I'm fairly young at 27, but I don't like pop music. To me it focuses on emotions that I can't relate to. I certainly listen to new music from bands I like, but they certainly aren't pop.

I feel like we as musicians are typically more in tune with the emotions that music attempts to portray. Most pop music is meant to make you dance and feel good. People like to dance and be happy, but that isn't everything.

The emotion a piece of music conveys is what you relate to. You can't fake that emotion, and when music is clearly made for appealing to mass audiences, you can tell.

I just seek out the music I can feel in my heart, and I know it when I hear it.

 

[Matthew_84]

I’m 54 and pretty much stopped listening to “new” music about 20 years ago. I don’t see any reason to change that as the Beibers and Drakes of the world do absolutely nothing for me. How people who have very little voice talent, like A Grande (shriek much?), become popular is beyond me.
My theory is that the millennials literally have never heard music made by people who can actually sing or play an instrument.

To be honest, I have no idea what teenagers listen to nowadays (and I don't think I want too know, haha), but my wife does listen to new music, especially Drake, Lady Gaga (though I guess that's getting old now?), and other newer music like that.

She also has a decent taste in music when it comes to older stuff (she likes The Brothers Johnson, Jamiroquai, George Michael, Earth Wind and Fire, Bob Marley, and The Beegees). She's always liked stuff with a good beat that gets ya movin'.

She's also different in that while there a few "old favourites" she listens to, there's a lot less of them than there are for me. She also listens to them a lot less. I don't quite know if it's because she gets bored of songs quicker, or what, but she's always checking on YouTube and playlists for the next new thing to catch her attention... For the next week until she stumbles on something else.

I guess it just boils down to what we like.

 

[dab12ax7ef]

I make it a point to buy some new music and designate at least one new album as my album of the summer. Good new music is out there. This year for me it was “One Drop of Truth” by The Wood Brothers.

I also listen to the NPR music podcasts for discovering new stuff. And also podcasts like Song Exploder and a few Song of the Days. The streaming services are also pretty good too.

For reference I’m 32 and enjoy everything from classic rock to jazz, post-rock, post-hardcore, to show tunes, alt-country, gospel, blues, and all the required bass player listening.