I suppose it had to happen.
Radio 2 has long had the 60s and 70s sewn up, providing a nice pension for Tony Blackburn and the like. More recent acquisitions to their stable, like "Ooh" Gary Davies, have tied down the 80s, whilst the addition of Fearne Cotton and Dermot O'Leary allow for 90s-themed programming, for listeners who are getting on a bit but don't want to admit it. "I can still mosh down the front of my provincial festival, as long as I'm in bed by 11.30 because I've got to get the kids up in the morning." You know the sort. Maybe you are the sort. Maybe I am too, a bit, though I was never really one for the moshpit.
But a new low has been reached. Listening to 6 Music this morning, I discovered they are currently running a whole slew of 00s-themed features and shows. Noughties forever! Like it is some colossal rose-tinted nostalgia-fest and not just yesterday, surely?
I live in hope that they might play something like this, at least: Lights Out For Darker Skies by Sea Power, or British Sea Power as they still were then, from Do You Like Rock Music?, one of my favourite albums of that ancient decade.
What's most depressing, I guess, is that I tend to think of the Noughties as the decade Pop Idol, X-Factor and the like took over, and the death of bands happened, with every chart act suddenly being "A featuring B" or "C vs D" rather than a group. Or maybe I'm just a curmudgeonly old git. Or maybe those statements are not mutually exclusive.
Blah, blah, blah... something about getting old... blah, blah... something about wishing it was the 80s again... blah, blah... some non-specific misery... You can fill in the blanks yourself, can't you? I've only been back three weeks and I'm already tired of blogging. And as Samuel Johnson might have said, had he been online 20 years ago, "When a man is tired of blogging, he is tired of life." Probably.
We're still in the noughties as far as I'm concerned. I'm only really interested in 20th Century nostalgia.
ReplyDeleteExactly!
DeleteAs Rol says. But then I remember about how listening to '60s stuff in the '80s felt...
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of blogging, I do hope you don't get too tired of blogging as it's been great to see you here with new posts.
In the 80s, I listened to so much 60s, it's engrained as a result.
DeleteYes, same here. I loved '60s stuff in the '80s (well, I still do) - but so weird to think it had come from less than 20 years beforehand and yet sounded so different and so... old... to my ears. Must be the same scenario re. noughties material for those who were also just babies/children in that decade - hard though though that is for my ancient head to get around!
DeleteThe whole mod revival thing was a real gateway to the 60s for me. I got so into The Small Faces, The Who, The Kinks... And they've never left me, I'm happy to say.
DeleteI think it’s very lazy, not to say predictable, when (not just) men of a certain age decide to pull up musical drawbridges and slate every musical genre that doesn’t align with their own views. Having met Martin in real life I know he doesn’t fit the profile; though in this post he does come pretty close!
ReplyDeleteMight I suggest that (linked with your final paragraph) you write about stuff that fills you with joy. Stuff that makes you happy and puts a smile on your face. Life’s too short.
(Feel free to delete, Martin, if you think this is rude. It really isn’t meant to be).
JM
Not rude, John, it's just an opinion and I don't mind that at all. I don't know if I've slated any entire genres though, have I? More curmudgeonly bemoaning the fact that a period feels too soon to warrant nostalgia. And I think the charts, admittedly just one barometer of success, do support the idea that groups have been somewhat usurped by A featuring B and C Vs D, and that does make me sad.
DeleteAs for blogging, I mostly do write about things that make me happy, but sometimes I just have to get things that make me grumpy out too. Hopefully I get the balance right most of the time because, as you say, life is indeed short.
Thank you, Martin. Well put. I see it like the tide: the tide comes in, the tide goes out. Repeat. You can't fight the tide - it's been around a lot longer than me and thee and it'll still be here long after we're six feet under.
DeleteHave a great weekend!
JM
Cheers, John, you too.
DeleteI was remembering recently that my cousin used to ask my granny to tell us about "the olden days" when we were young (much to her amusement). The olden days were probably only about 50 years prior. It occurred to me that most of the music I feature at my place comes from the 70s or thereabouts - my "olden days".
ReplyDeleteGolden days, I think you mean...
DeleteQ : Nostalgia????
ReplyDeleteA : It a'int what it used to be........
I go through spells where all I want to do is play and listen to the new albums that I buy....but increasingly find myself going back to things that have been lying around Villain Towers for years. Doesn't help that two of my most enjoyable recent purchasers have been compilations of old songs, one put lovingly together by Ian Rankin and the other by Pete Paphides - both come with, as you'd expect, outstanding sleeve notes.
I try not to think about it too much. I'll just play whatever songs best match my mood(s) on a particular day.
That's probably the best approach, I reckon.
Delete