<galaxey@earthlink.net> wrote:
quoted 3 lines I know a guy writing a book on the history of pop> I know a guy writing a book on the history of pop
> music. He teaches a course on it. Now he'll start with the delta blues and how it
> went on up to Chicago ... to Elvis....to Beatles....to 70's disco ...so forth.
This sounds just like the curriculum of the very excellent PBS mini-series "The History of Rock And Roll." Don't let the title deceive you - it's one of the most amazing and insightful documentaries ever made about the history of modern music. I wouldn't be surprised if your freind were using the 10-odd episode series as a course guide.
quoted 4 lines Now the> Now the
> most current book he showed me goes all the way up to the ALTERNATIVE craze
> when Nirvana blew up the charts. Do you all think that groups like
> (P/CB's/Orbital/etc.) will eventually be written about in these types of books?
The last episode of the show covers hip hop, electro, Kraftwork, Afrika Bambaata, Techno, and has extended interviews with Alex Paterson. The show was made about three or four years ago, so they were pretty hip even back then. The show basically implied that this was what was next.
I highly recommend that all of you watch this series whenever it's on. You don't have to catch the whole thing either - every episode, whether its the one with the huge profile of Lee Perry's Black Ark Studios (showing him walking through the charred remains wondering why he did it), or the one about the James Brown/Bootsy Collins/Sly Stone connection, or the one about the stones vs. the beatles, watch them all! Don't avoid the southern rock episode because you hate Lynyrd Skynyrd - it's fascinating and damned relevent even today.
quoted 3 lines I often hoped this style of music would be able to avoid this. Kinda wanted my> I often hoped this style of music would be able to avoid this. Kinda wanted my
> children (later in life) to discover this music all to themselves, like I did, not by
> some retro-fad like kids today discovering Punk Rock b/c of Green Day.
I was watching some Punk Rockers on St. Marks Place, NYC the other day, and I realized that their post-apocalyptic aesthetic belied a more disturbing characteristic: They were retro! I mean, I was a punk rocker about a decade ago, and even then I was about ten years out of date. And I remember at the time thinking how stupid the hippie kids were since they were aping a style twenty years out of date. Now Punk Rock is twenty years out of date! Who's the throwback now?
If you want your kids to make informed decisions about what music they choose to enjoy, keep them well informed. A good start is to show them the PBS series.
I can only wish one blessing upon you: That your kids will listen to music which at first makes you cringe in horror, but which they eventually teach *you* to enjoy. I hope my kids do not sinply worship what I was into two decades before, and I hope I don't either.
-CF