What Happened to the Music? 
~ by James Banzer

   Over the past half-century, there has been an enormous
evolution in popular culture. On balance, it has not
been good. Nowhere has this been more evident than in
the music.

   For those of us approaching old geezer status, musical
memories from our teen and pre-teen years are rather
pleasant. There were songs about a doggie in the
window, waltzing in Tennessee, mockingbirds singing on
the hill, and taking our feet to the sunny side of the
street.

   Of course, we had our wild stuff. Elvis sang about a
"Hound Dog." Jerry Lee Lewis screamed about "Great
Balls of Fire." Bill Haley and his Comets urged us to
"Rock Around the Clock." Little Richard is fortunate
to still have a voice after all that screaming about a
girl named "Lucille."

   As back then, some modern pop music is tame, while
some goes way over the top. But much of what's tame
today would never have been allowed to hit the
airwaves in the 1950's.

   Britney Spears sings "Feelin kinda naughty come and
get me now - Woah ohh Ouw yeah!" There's not a whole
lot left to the imagination there.

   Ed Sullivan made the television cameras focus on Elvis
Presley above the waist, because of his gyrations.
Jerry Lee got into trouble when it was learned that he
had gone to Mexico to marry his 13-year-old second
cousin, while still married to his second wife. Lewis
saw himself being banned from radio play, and there
was an instant implosion of his meteoric rise in
popularity.

   Today's broadcasters didn't even blink when female pop
icon Britney got drunk and married a guy for a wild
orgy, then had the whole thing annulled within hours.
Later, there was barely a flinch when she snatched a
young hunk who had been involved with the actress
mother of his two young children.

   Call it old fashioned if you wish. But to those who
are not products of the time when Top 40 radio was
king, here is a suggestion. Go back several decades
and listen to the pop singers of an earlier era. The
appropriate question is, why are today's youth
listening to the junk that's offered? Could it be in
part that they have few other real choices?

   Yesterday, the popular music culture even blended in
with the giants of serious music. We were reminded of
that fact with the recent death of Metropolitan Opera
legend Robert Merrill. He left the world with a
treasure of memories, including a rendition of the
doggie in the window song. His rendering of "The Star
Spangled Banner" was anticipated for decades at the
start of New York Yankees' baseball seasons. Merrill,
who was born Moishe Millstein, passed from the scene
in his 80's.

   Less than a month after Merrill's death, a well-known
rapper named Russell Jones met his demise. Only in his
mid-30's, this guy, who carried the nom de plume of
Ol' Dirty Bastard, suffered a fatal heart attack
likely brought on by his young years of hard living.
Maybe he was lucky. He was one of the few popular
thugs who somehow managed to meet their end in a way
other than by the bullet.

   The guy who did "Nigga Please" left the world very
little of redeeming social value, other than 13
children. He was busted for drug offenses and spent
three years in prison, being released the year before
his death. He stands as an example of how not to live.

   Ironically, Merrill and Bastard both were born in
Brooklyn. As much as anything else, these two guys are
examples of contrast in our changing times. It's not a
happy picture, but that's the way it is.

   We do have choices though. The music from all of the
pop icons of the late twentieth century is recorded.
That makes it convenient to hear something a bit more
sensible. Pop a little disc into the CD player, and
you're almost back there in a time of relative sanity.

121404

After a long career in broadcast news, James Banzer is
now writing on his observations about the world around
us. He currently resides in Louisville, Kentucky. You
may send him e-mail at jamesbanzer@yahoo.com. 

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