"Thirty Things that Need to Stage a Comeback"

[Lady Day]

The singer-songwriter revolution was complete years ago. Popular music just doesn't follow the composer/performer divide any more.

Thats why it needs to make a comeback. If producers got off their arces and actually told artists how to do specific things instead of the 'sing how you want' headache we have now, then perhaps we can see an emerging composer come forth.
I mean wouldn't it be cool (and an interesting exercise) to have 10-15 modern artists sing the same song but give their own style under the same producer? But thats artistic development, another thing that needs to make a comeback.

The Beatles had a few songs that might be considered standards, in that they've been recorded by so many other artists, but it's not like the Golden Era, when songs were recorded by many different artists within weeks or even days of each other -- when different recordings of a song would make multiple simultaneous appearances on the charts.

Can you imagine three or four renditions of a popular song being on the charts at once today? I can't.

I was thinking the Beetles too when I was pondering the last real set of standards, and those are 40+ years old!

To its detriment, unfortunately. Porter, Kern, Youmans, the Gershwins, Rodgers and Hart, Warren and Dubin, Gordon and Revel, Robin and Rainger, and so many others of that generation wouldn't get thru the door today because they didn't moan tonelessly on stage while plunking on a guitar. Who knows what comparable talents today don't get a chance because they don't "perform?"

Another sad factor in the death of the Standard is the virtual extinction of the Broadway revue and the film musical. Most of the great songwriters did their best work for the stage and screen, but today's musicals are mostly vapid spectacle or repackaging of existing works.

What? You mean you are not going to see Shrek the Musical!

LD

 

[Edward]

The music industry does now seem to be sharply divided between those acts which perform their own compositions, and the sort of disposable pop fluff churned out by the likes of the Simon Cowell machine, covering old songs they often don't understand. The latter has, in my opinion, done far more than the rise of the singer-songwriter to devalue the role of the performer. In the classical world, most of the very foremost recognised performers will never record a single original note; most orchestras are, in effect, cover artists. And yet they are, rightly, feted as performers. In the world of popular music, not so. Perhaps it has to do with the differing values placed on live performance. Classical music fans will still go out to hear the music they love performed live. Pop audiences, it seems to me, well they're a different animal. Those who aren't interested in hearing 'covers', who scornfully dismiss covers acts as 'human juke boxes' simply don't value live performance, it seems to me. Typically this is a contempt born of reactionary attitudes to the effluent pumped out by the likes of Cowell and his cronies; pop muppets who never perform a note live, miming so that they can concentrate on the 'dancing'. These manufactured pop artists, you might argue, are all about the performer and the performance, but actually they're nothing more than a brand. The very fact that they lipsynch so often shows a contempt for live music. It's a sad state of affairs, and I don't know what will change it. It's certainly unique to music, too - I've never heard anyone denigrate an actor for not writing their own script.

 

[PistolPete1969]

> Manners
>Respect for elders/ authority
> The ability to punch someone who truly deserves it
> Personal Responsibility
> personal Hygiene
>Good local foods
>Diners
> Steel-bodied cars with tail fins....lol
> A strong economy
> Teddy Roosevelt.

 

[1961MJS]

Hi Edward

The term you're searching for is "Milli Vanilli". You remember them, their recording got stuck at a "live performance and they weren't / couldn't sing at all.

later

 

[Edward]

Hi Edward

The term you're searching for is "Milli Vanilli". You remember them, their recording got stuck at a "live performance and they weren't / couldn't sing at all.

later

Oh, yes, I remember them.... I also seem to remember that they were only a front; the vocals on the album were recorded by someone else entirely. If memory serves, the producers had duped them too - they didn't know it wasn't them on the album. Grammys were returned, and so on.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Hi Edward

The term you're searching for is "Milli Vanilli". You remember them, their recording got stuck at a "live performance and they weren't / couldn't sing at all.

later

The problem is that that has happened to several other music artists since & no onw has made such a big deal as they did back then.

 

[Feraud]

Society has become immune to the talentless dreck that is accepted as popular music today.
It is unfortunately not shocking to hear an artist does not write music, cannot play a note of an instrument, can barely dance, and resorts to dressing in some silly costume or pretenting to play gangsta as their sole selling point.

What needs to stage a comeback is the appreciation of people with a type of talent.

 

[LizzieMaine]

It used to take many years of lessons and even more years of practice to become proficient enough on a musical instrument to play it professionally. Does it still? Or are three chords on a pawn-shop guitar enough?

 

[Edward]

I have no quarrel with the unschooled. Certainly, punk rock heartily revived a very staid popular music scene in the late 70s by stripping rock and roll right back to its roots. Three chords are just fine with me - as are four, five, six.... however many - as long as it's a good song. I'm all for technical skill, but technique for its own sake can be as tedious as lack of talent, taken to extremes.

 

[John in Covina]

Speaking clearly. For me it seems that many young people high school age and a little older do not speak clearly. They mumble and slur all of their words together. Plus they speak fairly quickly as if it is painful to speak to others and they want to put the least effort into it, to spend as little time doing it as possible.

No enunciation skills seem to be taught, no public speaking, no elocution concepts seem to be taught any more.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5749212/why_every_child_should_take_elocution.html

 

[anon`]

It used to take many years of lessons and even more years of practice to become proficient enough on a musical instrument to play it professionally. Does it still? Or are three chords on a pawn-shop guitar enough?

Clearly, it depends entirely on the instrument and music in question...

I have no quarrel with the unschooled. Certainly, punk rock heartily revived a very staid popular music scene in the late 70s by stripping rock and roll right back to its roots. Three chords are just fine with me - as are four, five, six.... however many - as long as it's a good song. I'm all for technical skill, but technique for its own sake can be as tedious as lack of talent, taken to extremes.

...and this is 100% truth.

 

[Danny Ocean]

Speaking clearly. For me it seems that many young people high school age and a little older do not speak clearly. They mumble and slur all of their words together. Plus they speak fairly quickly as if it is painful to speak to others and they want to put the least effort into it, to spend as little time doing it as possible.

No enunciation skills seem to be taught, no public speaking, no elocution concepts seem to be taught any more.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5749212/why_every_child_should_take_elocution.html

John,

I totally agree with your comments, regarding the younger, and also some of the more mature generations, being somehow unable to speak, so that those they are addressing, are able to hear, and hold, a basic conversation.

Something else that bugs me also, is those, who when speaking to you, are unable to look you straight in the eye, and instead feel it necessary to let their eyes wander over the floor - it's most irritating!

Danny O

 

[Pompidou]

John,

I totally agree with your comments, regarding the younger, and also some of the more mature generations, being somehow unable to speak, so that those they are addressing, are able to hear, and hold, a basic conversation.

Something else that bugs me also, is those, who when speaking to you, are unable to look you straight in the eye, and instead feel it necessary to let their eyes wander over the floor - it's most irritating!

Danny O

Funny you mention looking people in the eye when you talk to them. I've done it. Rather than eyes locking, more often than not, it makes the other person look away. I imagine this is a useful trick for people in negotiating situations. Nothing establishes dominance like looking a person in the eye and not wavering. Unleash your alpha dominance that people inherently respect.

 

[Bebop]

Funny you mention looking people in the eye when you talk to them. I've done it. Rather than eyes locking, more often than not, it makes the other person look away. I imagine this is a useful trick for people in negotiating situations. Nothing establishes dominance like looking a person in the eye and not wavering. Unleash your alpha dominance that people inherently respect.

Strangely enough, when I get a guy that wants to "lock eyes" with me while having a conversation, I know I'm dealing with a nut. Either that or I'm so incredibly handsome they can't look away and calm down.
One thing I do not respect while talking to another male is "alpha dominance". I see it more like "a chip on their shoulder dominance" and take my business elsewhere.

 

[Geesie]

I have no quarrel with the unschooled. Certainly, punk rock heartily revived a very staid popular music scene in the late 70s by stripping rock and roll right back to its roots. Three chords are just fine with me - as are four, five, six.... however many - as long as it's a good song. I'm all for technical skill, but technique for its own sake can be as tedious as lack of talent, taken to extremes.

I'm pretty sure my great-grandfather never went to a conservatory to learn the fiddle!

 

[Pompidou]

Strangely enough, when I get a guy that wants to "lock eyes" with me while having a conversation, I know I'm dealing with a nut. Either that or I'm so incredibly handsome they can't look away and calm down.
One thing I do not respect while talking to another male is "alpha dominance". I see it more like "a chip on their shoulder dominance" and take my business elsewhere.

You're right. There was a good stretch of a month or so where I was just experimenting to see what would happen. I'd look into people's eyes when talking. I'd look into people's eyes when passing - which almost always solicited a nod or a hello. I wanted to see first hand what happens if you make a point of doing the things people say you should do. My friends and bosses always said, look people in the eyes - it shows confidence. It does. It makes people sheepish and feel awkward and mumble a hello before shuffling on their way. Interesting stuff, to say the least. The eyes are very important. If you look into the other person's eyes, you're either crazy or looking for trouble. If you look down or away, you've got no self confidence. If you look at a person's naughty bits, you're a pervert. I wear sunglasses and look straight ahead. At night, I'm screwed.

 

[scottyrocks]

I generally look people in the face. A smile goes a long way toward making people feel more comfortable. Facial attitude has a lot to do with it.

 

[Edward]

I'm pretty sure my great-grandfather never went to a conservatory to learn the fiddle!

That's the thing I've noticed; all too often nowadays, learning an instrument is something middle class kids do at school or private lessons; there's less of the folk tradition of these things being handed down informally, it seems, than in the past. At least, where I grew up... of course, it seems to me based on the experience of friends in Northern Ireland that things are rather different in the Catholic community, but there you go.

 

[CharlieB]

I generally look people in the face. A smile goes a long way toward making people feel more comfortable. Facial attitude has a lot to do with it.

Excellent point, especially if you are talking to a woman. Keep the eyes north of her mouth!

 

[Feraud]

That's the thing I've noticed; all too often nowadays, learning an instrument is something middle class kids do at school or private lessons; there's less of the folk tradition of these things being handed down informally, it seems, than in the past. At least, where I grew up... of course, it seems to me based on the experience of friends in Northern Ireland that things are rather different in the Catholic community, but there you go.

I hear some dads are now passing down Guitar Hero lessons to their sons..