When Did I Become Old? (Long Post)

[two fingers]

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?

Take a look around this place. 80% of us are 45+ years old. Most of them/us don't rhink there has been a good song recorded for maybe three decades..... unless, of course, it was done by a band that made it big in the 60s.

Here's my advice. Use your wife like I use mine. Every now and then I need to listen to music for pure joy, NOT as an analyst/musician/critic.

Sure, fusion and prog music can satisfy my need to hear talented musicians finding the boundaries of ither genres and then crushing them. Complex, well-performed music is impressive. And I enjoy it for that reason.

But every now and then you just gotta listen while you party, or work out, or wash your car like non musicians..... NORMAL people.... listen to music.

My wife has the most eclectic tastes in music of any non musician I have ever met. She rocks out to AC/DC, grooves to old Motown, dances to Katy Perry, loves Paramore, Ella Fitzgerald, Blake Shelton, Journey, etc.

But here's the thing. She doesn't give a CRAP about the musicians, production, solos, skill set of the players, chord structure, etc. If it touches her heart, brings her joy, makes her think, makes her cry, forces her to dance... it's a good song.

I try harder every day to listen to music like my wife does. Believe it or not, as a musician who has played (and enjoyed) every genre of music you can think of, she has opened my mind to accept newer music many musicians (especially our huge "get off my lawn" crowd we have here) would find to be "cheesy".

If it's a good song, it's a good song. It doesn't matter if it was played flawlessly and complicated by a blind man with only three fingers or sampled off of a computer by a guy with a backwards hat and gold teeth. If it touches me, it's a good song.

And there have been THIUSANDS of good songs recorded since the 60s and early 70s. THOUSANDS of them.

 

[BassBrass]

If I didn't have the Boston music scene and a half dozen great college radio stations to listen to, not the least of which is WZBC No Commercial Potential program now on for over 30 years at Boston College (a Catholic institution that protects the creative mission of it's station)....I would use digital streaming service designed to play a mix of new music. There's as much now as there ever was. Maybe more. To use a horticultural metaphor, there's lots of cross pollination going on. If you bury your head in the yard work and don't tune in, it's your choice. (sometimes a good choice, I like plants and soil)

 

[gregmon79]

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?

It’s the same exact way for me man. And I turn 39 next month. It’s crazy how fast the years tack on. I’ve heard it my whole life, “it only gets/goes faster as you get older” so it’s not a new concept. Until you’re going through it though, it doesn’t hit you. I was just 27 yesterday, swear to God haha

But with music, I’m just like you. I pretty much despise any new music. I do enjoy some things but only if it’s “real” rock or metal to me. I usually listen to old stuff all the time these days, Tool, Pearl Jam, AIC, then older stuff like Zep and so forth. I used to have an insatiable appetite for music. And I just said this to my girl last week, it’s funny that since I really started playing in bands, I kinda stopped listening to music as much as I did growing up. I watch more YouTube vids than anything nowadays. I used to sit or drive and listen to music all day. But there’s not much for me to get excited about nowadays. Not to say there isn’t a ton of talent out there. But I’m a kid of the 90’s. I came of age right before the tech boom happened and everything went digital. Music is recorded so differtly now. It makes it all sound the same in a way. I hate that. I wish they went back to analogue tape. They never will though. It’s a dying art, a dying medium and it’s way too expensive. But it’s a damn shame because that is where I feel music made the most changes sonically. Tape had such a great sound to it. Digital, while it has its advantages, sounds very clean and pristine. But look, I’m showing my age. Dammit!

 

[Altitude]

I wasn't trying to be contrary. I think what you said was pretty right on. Apologies if it sounded like I was calling you out.

Not at all.

 

[TexasHeat]

Wait til you teens and pre-teens. My 12 yr old is always in my office showing me youtube videos of new stuff. Some I like, some not. I could listen to Pink sing all day long, though I'm not sure she is considered "new" anymore.

When the term "Classic Rock" first came about, I was like, "I don't want to listen to the crap again. Gimme me something new." I get tired of hearing the same old songs decade after decade.

34 ain't old. I'm 56, that ain't old. though sometimes I feel it when my bones creak, my eyes can't see and my hearing.... er, what was I talking about again?

 

[Fender_Bender]

@Fender_Bender When you say A Grande do you mean Arianna Grande? She's actually a talented singer. You can find her isolated vocals during live performances somewhere on youtube for proof of it, as well. If you don't like her music/pop style, that's another subject entirely.

Yep, I’m referring to her. I heard her big hit song from 2-3 years ago in malls and stores etc and it seemed quite apparent to me that even with modern studio trickery that her voice is marginal in power and range at best. She tries to crank things up to 10 about 5-6 X during the track and the result is pretty shrill to my ears. Feel free to like her if you want.

 

[JLW]

Yep, I’m referring to her. I heard her big hit song from 2-3 years ago in malls and stores etc and it seemed quite apparent to me that even with modern studio trickery that her voice is marginal in power and range at best. She tries to crank things up to 10 about 5-6 X during the track and the result is pretty shrill to my ears. Feel free to like her if you want.

Keep in mind, Ariana Grande usually does collaborations, sometimes with 3+ other singers in one song. The one song that was really popular a few years ago was Bang Bang, and there were multiple artists on it...maybe you were hearing one of the other artists singing?

You don't have to like Ariana Grande's music. But to say that she can't sing well just isn't true. Like I said, check her out on youtube. You don't have to, of course. But basing your opinion on a cursory listen while walking around a mall doesn't really seem fair....but at this stage it's probably a moot point. You're more concerned with being right than actually listening.

 

[Against Will]

I had a moment like the OP described but it was a earlier this summer, I was listening to the Allman Brothers while I was refinishing a handrail on the back steps of my house. From age 16-23 I virtually only listened to punk or hardcore, the more extreme the better, until I was only listening to noise acts. I’m 34 now and, in addition to a lot of the classic rock I used to mock, I’ve also been listening to a lot more jazz, fusion, Bebop but also swing and ragtime. Plus a lot more country, as well as dancehall, Tropicalia and Gamelan music from Java. I’ve also dipped my toe into Latin music which is its own rabbit hole.

I like some new hip hop but there are so many singles and mixtapes that it’s hard to keep up with it. 90% of new rock and metal bores me to tears.

I sometimes get nostalgic and pull out old albums I used to love but, while they still have a special place in my heart, often I’m bored by them because I don’t identify with those emotions anymore. Exploring new genres and new music is exciting and educational for me, plus it helps my own playing evolve.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I’m 68. I feel old when my back hurts. As far as Music, I’m not crazy about much of what I hear these last two decades but that doesn’t make me feel old at all. I feel grateful that I grew up with such great music.

Sorry about your back. That sucks.

As for music of today, like any other decade in history, there is good and bad. I really don’t get some of it, especially song/arrangements that are generated using automated techniques, or cobbled together using “cut, click and paste” using computerized software.

Today, pretty much my interests lie with specific genres of interest, and originals, which on the surface maybe a regurgitation of prior artists, but there is a depth to it, a humorous approach in application, or using old ideas out of context.

 

[Mannyinnewyork]

Sorry about your back. That sucks.

As for music of today, like any other decade in history, there is good and bad. I really don’t feel moved by most of it, especially song/arrangements that are generated using automated techniques, or cobbled together using “cut, click and paste” using computerized software.

Today, pretty much my interests lie with specific genres of interest, and originals, which on the surface maybe a regurgitation of prior artists, but there is a depth to it, a humorous approach in application, or using old ideas out of context.

Well, a couple Aleve can sort out my back. As far as the music, I do enjoy listening to locals doing originals. Yeah, I’m limited to locals simply because i feel a small connection them geographically .

It’s a very different world from the one I grew up with. My kids are okay with it, but I suspect that’s because they don’t know anything better. I could be wrong. I don’t care. Keep playing and enjoying one of the few thrills that age doesn’t seem to ravage (in most cases).

Sorry about your back. That sucks.

As for music of today, like any other decade in history, there is good and bad. I really don’t get some of it, especially song/arrangements that are generated using automated techniques, or cobbled together using “cut, click and paste” using computerized software.

Today, pretty much my interests lie with specific genres of interest, and originals, which on the surface maybe a regurgitation of prior artists, but there is a depth to it, a humorous approach in application, or using old ideas out of context.

Aleve will, sort me out ( my back at least). As far as music, I feel the ratio of inspired to cookie-cutter has declined dramatically. I could be wrong, but I don’t care one way or the other.

I love that I can still be moved by a great composition - written a thousand years ago or yesterday. How cool is that?

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Take a look around this place. 80% of us are 45+ years old. Most of them/us don't rhink there has been a good song recorded for maybe three decades..... unless, of course, it was done by a band that made it big in the 60s.

Here's my advice. Use your wife like I use mine. Every now and then I need to listen to music for pure joy, NOT as an analyst/musician/critic.

Sure, fusion and prog music can satisfy my need to hear talented musicians finding the boundaries of ither genres and then crushing them. Complex, well-performed music is impressive. And I enjoy it for that reason.

But every now and then you just gotta listen while you party, or work out, or wash your car like non musicians..... NORMAL people.... listen to music.

My wife has the most eclectic tastes in music of any non musician I have ever met. She rocks out to AC/DC, grooves to old Motown, dances to Katy Perry, loves Paramore, Ella Fitzgerald, Blake Shelton, Journey, etc.

But here's the thing. She doesn't give a CRAP about the musicians, production, solos, skill set of the players, chord structure, etc. If it touches her heart, brings her joy, makes her think, makes her cry, forces her to dance... it's a good song.

I try harder every day to listen to music like my wife does. Believe it or not, as a musician who has played (and enjoyed) every genre of music you can think of, she has opened my mind to accept newer music many musicians (especially our huge "get off my lawn" crowd we have here) would find to be "cheesy".

If it's a good song, it's a good song. It doesn't matter if it was played flawlessly and complicated by a blind man with only three fingers or sampled off of a computer by a guy with a backwards hat and gold teeth. If it touches me, it's a good song.

And there have been THIUSANDS of good songs recorded since the 60s and early 70s. THOUSANDS of them.

Funny you mentioned it, but my wife has been lambasting me ever since we met 43 years ago over my inability to listen to music like normal people. Being perfectly honest, I don’t think I hear music like normal people.

It’s like a compulsion to know what every sound is, where it is headed, what was the logic behind it to get it to where it is and where it is going. How does sound A impact sound B...What was the technique used to make the beat turn around, how many beats does the drummer take to set up the next cell? What was the modal scale the bassist used out of the bridge into the key change? Does the math work?

Then the next step that happens every stinking time I hear a song, what would I have done differently? And this could go on for minutes, hours or even days, weeks if it “doesn’t compute”.... yeah, nutty as a fruitcake but I am what I am.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Well, a couple Aleve can sort out my back. As far as the music, I do enjoy listening to locals doing originals. Yeah, I’m limited to locals simply because i feel a small connection them geographically .

It’s a very different world from the one I grew up with. My kids are okay with it, but I suspect that’s because they don’t know anything better. I could be wrong. I don’t care. Keep playing and enjoying one of the few thrills that age doesn’t seem to ravage (in most cases).


Aleve will, sort me out ( my back at least). As far as music, I feel the ratio of inspired to cookie-cutter has declined dramatically. I could be wrong, but I don’t care one way or the other.

I love that I can still be moved by a great composition - written a thousand years ago or yesterday. How cool is that?

At this point I’ll root anybody on that will pick up an axe and play, and there are stinking too few of us left willing to bother. Sadly for the most part we have been replaced by streaming music. Back in the late 60s I was making $45 for a polka band gig. My last gig I played two weeks ago netted me $45.

There is no doubt I am 2,000 times the bassist I was back in 1967. And that’s is what steaming music has done for us. It truly has made us irrelevant.

 

[pcake]

i think what makes someone old in mindset is not being willing to try new things, to write off ALL new music or ALL new shows or all new anything as crap. whether new music, new foods, new cars, new books, new TV shows, new software, new cell phones - once you get stuck in the mindset that everything new is crap, i feel like you stagnate.

i was surprised to see from reading this thread that there's a tendency to write all new music off as soulless, talentless crap, but writing off all new music as beiberesque does a disservice to the artists' music out there who aren't turning out just autotuned corporate music industry product or half-baked, unpracticed not-ready-to-go-live stuff on youtube.

 

[Muddslide]

...Every now and then I need to listen to music for pure joy, NOT as an analyst/musician/critic.

Sure, fusion and prog music can satisfy my need to hear talented musicians finding the boundaries of ither genres and then crushing them. Complex, well-performed music is impressive. And I enjoy it for that reason.

But every now and then you just gotta listen while you party, or work out, or wash your car like non musicians..... NORMAL people.... listen to music.

My wife has the most eclectic tastes in music of any non musician I have ever met. She rocks out to AC/DC, grooves to old Motown, dances to Katy Perry, loves Paramore, Ella Fitzgerald, Blake Shelton, Journey, etc.

But here's the thing. She doesn't give a CRAP about the musicians, production, solos, skill set of the players, chord structure, etc. If it touches her heart, brings her joy, makes her think, makes her cry, forces her to dance... it's a good song.

I try harder every day to listen to music like my wife does. Believe it or not, as a musician who has played (and enjoyed) every genre of music you can think of, she has opened my mind to accept newer music many musicians (especially our huge "get off my lawn" crowd we have here) would find to be "cheesy".

If it's a good song, it's a good song. It doesn't matter if it was played flawlessly and complicated by a blind man with only three fingers or sampled off of a computer by a guy with a backwards hat and gold teeth. If it touches me, it's a good song.

That's never been an issue for me, though I get your point completely.

As a (half-@$$ed) musician, of course I admire technical skill, but in many types of music I like, that doesn't come into play for me. In fact, in the world of pop and rock, I think it can get in the way.

I listen to cats like Django, Oscar Aleman (both technical masters who also dripped soul), Segovia, and assorted classical and older jazz artists/recordings which both move me emotionally and dazzle me with the proficiency of the players.

But while I do admire and respect pop and rock (and assorted offshoots...soul, reggae, etc.) players who have great skill and mastery over their instruments, I listen to that music mostly for the way it hits me in the heart and groin.

I like a lot of shambolic, raw-boned stuff. Not so clinical, sterile and overproduced for the most part. And I think sometimes rock music needs that wild abandon.

I mean, a mindblowing guitar solo executed flawlessly never made a crap song better. There are bands of great musicians (Tull, King Crimson and Can come to mind) that also rock and have heart, but gimme The Stooges anytime over some hospital waiting room fusion muzak.

 

[bass12]

New stuff? I'm still trying to catch up with all the old.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Where will that be? I have been stuck in my backyard for the last week and haven’t seen anything about it.

Edit: Googled it and see it’s in Memorial Park. A thunderstorm is supposed to roll in at around 3pm (maybe a bit later) and last for the rest of the night. What time are you guys going on?

Matthew.. which Warwick did you have and what strings do you use?

 

[Fender_Bender]

Keep in mind, Ariana Grande usually does collaborations, sometimes with 3+ other singers in one song. The one song that was really popular a few years ago was Bang Bang, and there were multiple artists on it...maybe you were hearing one of the other artists singing?

You don't have to like Ariana Grande's music. But to say that she can't sing well just isn't true. Like I said, check her out on youtube. You don't have to, of course. But basing your opinion on a cursory listen while walking around a mall doesn't really seem fair....but at this stage it's probably a moot point. You're more concerned with being right than actually listening.

We’ll have to agree to disagree. I spent a surprisingly long time to find the song that I remembered hearing just about every day for 6 months. It’s called “problem” with the parts I call shrill occurring at .039, 1:30 etc. If her voice doesn’t get shrill and nasty to your ears, then to each their own.

 

[JLW]

We’ll have to agree to disagree. I spent a surprisingly long time to find the song that I remembered hearing just about every day for 6 months. It’s called “problem” with the parts I call shrill occurring at .039, 1:30 etc. If her voice doesn’t get shrill and nasty to your ears, then to each their own.

yeah i mean that song def isn't my cup of tea. I don't even like Ariana Grande that much. I could see how you'd think her voice is shrill, especially in those examples. She has a nice voice in general, though...at least imho.

 

[Fender_Bender]

yeah i mean that song def isn't my cup of tea. I don't even like Ariana Grande that much. I could see how you'd think her voice is shrill, especially in those examples. She has a nice voice in general, though...at least imho.

To be fair, that’s the only song of hers I knew and even then it took me a rediculous amount of time to find which one it was. I was getting nowhere until I remembered it was definitely before the famous “spitting on donuts” incident, so that narrowed down the time frame. The other stuff I came across did not sound as far out of her range as that song. She looks like she’s 90 pounds, so I can’t expect her to sound like Aretha did.

 

[BassBrass]

To be fair, that’s the only song of hers I knew and even then it took me a rediculous amount of time to find which one it was. I was getting nowhere until I remembered it was definitely before the famous “spitting on donuts” incident, so that narrowed down the time frame. The other stuff I came across did not sound as far out of her range as that song. She looks like she’s 90 pounds, so I can’t expect her to sound like Aretha did.

This particular diva does have pipes, she ain't fake. wait till 4:19...