Gulhenn, Thanx, no offense taken. I don't really know much about the music of my dad's era, except for a few that come to mind, and likewise, I don't know much about the kid's (contemporary) music scene today, except for a few stand out acts.
I'm culturally ignorant, (at least on that account), by my own definition, but more, I think that's somewhat natural, and it's called 'the Generation Gap'.
I'm 39. If you were to plot the body of my musical knowledge on a timeline, it would be a bell curve, where on the far left (the past), there would be a very thin, almost nonexistent line through classical, and it would start to ramp up a little (to the right) with 20's-30's classic-trad-jazz, then ramping up a little more through 30's-40's Swing/Big Band music, then ramping up a little more significantly with 50's era 'Rock & Roll', then... ramps WAY up on 60's-70's classic rock, then PEAKING sometime in the late 70's/early 80's, tapering off quite a bit through the 80's, and then down significantly to a thin, flat line in the 90's, and tapering off to virtually nothing, today. How's that for a visual?
Furthermore, I think we all get 'stuck' in, or attached to a certain 'era' of music, to a certain degree, and typically, by my own research, people seem to be most attached to the music scene or 'era' that corresponds to their teenage years and through their 20's. I think by a person's 30's they have pretty well made up their minds what (and who) they like, (and don't like), and stand accordingly.
I think at (or after) this time (or age) in a person's life (30), the interpretive hearing process changes somewhat (matures), and it becomes easier to discern what one considers to be 'good' music, in the personal, subjective sense.
(How's that for a LOAD of b*llsh*t? I guess now I'm just an amatuer sociologist! Haha).
Therefore, continuing, speaking of myself for example, I love music, but I'm very quick to decide whether I like something or not, and save for a few stand-out acts of today, (like U2 and a few others), I think the bulk of contemporary music is Boring (with a capital B). Also, there's a handful of bands out there making music, which I like the 'sound' of, but are not memorable in any way, and fail to make a significant impact on me,... and I -do- listen to -some- contemporary music.
I have a radio, and MTV, and most contemporary music I hear I either find altogether lightweight, or very derivative of much better, older music. The remainder of the sounds I hear may be 'sounds' I like, but the 'songs' themselves make little impact on me, and just wash over me, practically in one ear and out the other, ending up inevitably to be like 'wallpaper' to me.
Anyway, MTV is really more about 'visual' music than the 'music' itself. I've seen some GREAT and very memorable VIDEOS, but I would not listen to the CD's of these artists, even if you paid me. A lot of what is very GREAT VISUALLY (on MTV) is JUNK on the audio side, but I'm sure that's just a matter of opinion, (which I have a great many of).
Anyway enough about me. I guess today, I'm an amatuer sociologist, Dr. Bullshit, B.S.E. (E for Excellence).
Dragonworks, you're right, but I think the obscurity factor is time itself, and maybe not that these bands (listed above) were obscure in their own time. I'm sure most of them weren't.
Cyber Dragon, you are SO right, in fact, by definition,
ALL of us on this BBS are OBSCURE, and that doesn't even say enough. Most of us are virtually NON-EXISTENT on the cultural scene, except for the scene within our own home studios, and probably including a limited local scene in our own home towns. We've all been in pickup bands, or garage bands, with good players and great names, that of course, no one but our
own small circle of friends would know or remember, or even care to.
Blah blah blah blah blah. I've said enough, for now.
Interesting topic, you guys (and gals), Cheers.
David Archuleta/A Reel Person/Dr. Bullshit
)
well then i can tell all my friends i knew his dad...