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Wnat Constitutes "Mainstream" Nowadays in Music?


JohnO

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This is a spinoff from the most recent NAME THAT TUNE thread....with no more Top 40 radio really in existence, and the Billboard charts being somewhat irrelevant to most of us on this board (EXCEPT those of us who might be fans of hip-hop, processed cheese C&W (singers who look good in cowboy hats & tight jeans), movie soundtracks, and American Idol contestants (and not just the winners anymore)), WHAT is "mainstream" nowadays?

It certainly won't be any new product that Raspberries put out, for example....most likely, not enough exposure or sales. IMO, it likely won't be anything that anyone on this board over the age of 40 cares about, with a rare exception or two (e.g., latest Stones and McCartney CDs).

Thoughts?

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Some groups/artists that are commercially successful AND appeal to myself, and likely some others on this board:

Brad Paisley, I agree with the "processed cheese" label for much of country music but from the music of his I've heard, this guy's a real deal.

Allison Krausse + Union Station, authentic and enjoyable blue grass music that gets air play.

Natalie Merchant...if we're talking within the last 5 - 10 years

Green Day, at least "American Idiot"....these guys turn me off with their virule outlook...but the music on this CD is monumentally good, Armstrong is very talented and they're obviously getting airplay.

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James - Needless to say, I was speaking in generalities regarding the current Billboard charting artists. I suspect if I look at any Billboard top 50 CD listing regarding sales, I'll find that I have 4-5 of the CDs from the list....but this is versus 20-30 charting LPs that I used to have from any mid-60's thru late 70's listing, I'd guess.

I agree with your comments about Brad P. and Allison K. (although Ms. Krausse herself admits that she and all bluegrass/trad music types owe a huge debt to T-Bone Burnett and the Coen Bros, for the "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack, which kicked a lot of their careers into high gear, commercially speaking....hence, my earlier reference to soundtracks in the Billboard charts).

Personally, I don't care for either Ms. Merchant's or Green Day's music (although I agree with the latter's political sentiments)....the sooner they stop calling Green Day's music "punk", the happier I'll be (it sounds like 70's arena rock to me at this point...).

Still, I see so much of what I believe to be easy listening pap on the mainstream charts, that I feel that I'm just getting way too old......

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Mainstream music doesn't exist anymore on

'normal' radio stations for me, so thank God for satellite radio and for radio shows like "Little Steven's Underground Garage." To paraphrase Steven, if a group like the Stones came out today, they'd be hard-pressed to get radio airplay. In "Raspberries Tonight" there is another very telling quote from Steven: he said that it's important for a band like Raspberries to stay together so that younger audiences can learn from the best and get an appreciation for song structure.

Marv

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EXCEPT those of us who might be fans of

1. hip-hop,

2. processed cheese C&W (singers who look good in cowboy hats & tight jeans),

3. movie soundtracks, and

4. American Idol contestants (and not just the winners anymore...

Thoughts?

YOU NAILED IT!!!

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT CONSTITUTES MAINSTREAM MUSIC TODAY...

AND THE ersatz-PUNK bands who now litter the landscape-- very cookie cutter tattoed/pierced-to-the-gils idiots who couldn't write an original tune to save their life (bar My Chemical Romance)

also meat & potatoes ROCK:

3 Doors Down

Nickelback

Creed (Strapp)

Five For Fighting

stuff like Little Steven's show is "alternative" just like the Raspberries were & still are... nothing mainstream about them, except maybe the song "Starting Over"... good point on Green Day, they've morphed into an Arena-punk band... BUT they have the right idea & are doing it well... bless their hearts and Billy Joe's bad over-enunciating

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It's absolutely true that we need Raspberries and other fine bands to stay together or reunite so the younger people know what good *is.* Otherwise, they'll never learn! Such music is like classical music of the past, enduring masterpieces on which future art should be built.

It pains me to think about what is "mainstream" now.

--D

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hmmmm.....that could cover just about anything in the Billboard charts nowadays, except maybe C&W. Just curious about what African-Americans acting like they belong to another race are called? (Examples: Detroit rocker Mick Collins, Arthur Lee/Love, ANY African-American on "American Idol" who sings Broadway show tunes) While they are significantly smaller in number than the "wiggers", they do exist.

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