First posted on Mark Is Cranky:
Are old & favorite records "security blankets"?
On my way home last night I caught a bit of yet another tasty episode of The Front Porch on my local public radio station. It was all about bands from New Hampshire. Sadly, I arrived home about three minutes into the show and had to miss the rest (thank gawd for podcasting though...I'll get the rest this weekend). During the show's intro host Shay Zeller wondered about why it is that we tend to become disinterested in new music, resorting to listening to the same few recordings over and over again:
- There's something really comforting about listening to music that you know really well. It's like we reach our capacity for acquiring favorite bands and then we just stop.
Yea, most people do just stop. I had the opportunity about a year ago to interview John Medeski (Medeski, Martin & Wood) and we sort of got on to that topic. I said that people get out of school, become adults and just stop listening. His reply? "That's why this country is fucked!" Much laugher ensued.
Seriously though, there are all sorts of valid reasons for revisiting old favorites. I do it often, though my hunger for new music (of which there seems to be an unending flow) never abates. I always find it interesting when folks proclaim how much they hate music from the past ("Ah, I burned out on that.", etc.) Sure, I maybe listened to, say, Dark Side Of The Moon a few too many times (whatever 'too many' means), but that doesn't mean that I'll never listen to it again.
So this morning I stood in front of the rack, jaw a'slack, trying to pick out something that had a lot of miles on it....and Aerosmith's Toys In The Attic fit the bill.
Now of course this album is 'road tested' in more ways than one. "Walk This Way" and "Sweet Emotion" have been played a bazillion times on the radio. Still, I don't ever tire or the record. Me and the girlfriend blasted it in high school, I annoyed people with it in college, I annoyed neighbors with it in my first apartment after graduation. And, as I'm sure you would expect, there are tons of memories attached to it: the time I actually had tickets to see Aerosmith at the Augusta Civic Center (they cancelled), the time that the principal at our high school threatened to shut down a dance if the band played "Big Ten Inch Record" (they played it anyway).
And then there's the music. No amount of supposed 'overplay' can get me tired of the tangled & angular guitar solos during "Walk This Way", the slurry opening to "Adam's Apple", the adrenaline rush of the title track and yea, the goofy stomp of "Big Ten Inch Record".
So maybe these things are security blankets. Maybe my real name is Linus.
Anybody else have any well-worn records that they just can't bear to part with? I just bet ya do.
Article comments
1 - DJRadiohead
You know I have some of those records!
And we are still planning on discussing one of those golden oldies in a couple of weeks.
I enjoyed this piece. I still have that same hunger for new music yet I have found myself looking for new 'old' music. I have spent the past two years (roughly) discovering the blues and by that I don't mean John Mayer. So a lot of the records I have bought over the past few years are 30, 40, 50 years old (and older).
And yeah... I have 'Toys in the Attic' in my collection.
2 - Mark Saleski
hey, will you stop bringing up John Mayer?!!!
;-)
3 - DJRadiohead
I am start referring to him as "He Who Must Not Be Named."
4 - Mark Saleski
by the way, The He Who Must Not Be Named Trio Live in Concert is being released on november 22.
;-)
5 - DJRadiohead
Have they set the track list for that? I want to know which songs have molested.
6 - Mark Saleski
yes, i belive the first track is called "Ballad Of Big Nothing".
7 - DJRadiohead
Low blow, Saleski. I am pretty sure Mayer is too busy aping Dave Matthews' voice while trying to learn to play "Voodoo Chile" and "Pride and Joy" to have noticed the nuanced art of one Elliott Smith.
The actual tracklisting, according to Amazon:
1. Who Did You Think I Was
2. Good Love Is On The Way
3. Wait Until Tomorrow
4. Gravity
5. Vultures
6. Out of My Mind
7. Another Kind of Green
8. I Got A Woman
9. Something’s Missing
10. Daughters
11. Try
8 - Mat Brewster
Though I dug Aerosmith as a teen, I can't freaking stand a single note of theirs anymore. Something I can say for the vast majority of "classic rock" anymore. I never thought of it being a matter of hearing it too much, but rather just a change of tastes. I just don't dig loud guitars and inane lyrics anymore. But certainly I see there is a place in the world for it.
But for comfort albums I always turn to Willie Nelsons Stardust. The first couple of guitar licks from the title track floor my ass everytime.
9 - Vern Halen
Interesting........ if anything, when I want to hear something new, I go back & buy something from the 60's or 70's I missied the first time 'round. An example is Traffic - quite a good band that I just never got into at the time.
10 - Eric Berlin
Great topic, Mark. Maybe those who "stop listening" at some point stop doing other things as well: learning, growing, changing, etc. As I'm now in my early 30s I sadly see this very thing with some of my contemporaries.
That said, for those who *want* to keep hearing new sounds and exploring new channels, its never been cheaper of easier. The Internet and podcasting have made it easy to get your ear on a galaxy of fabulous sounds.
I liked your anecdote from Madeski, by the way. I dig his trio's stuff when I just in the right funky cheese-adelic kind of mood, you know?
11 - Guppusmaximus
I think that alot of people look to the older stuff because way too much "new" stuff doesn't really expand upon anything that you've already heard. Plus, the fond memories that are built upon those old tracks are priceless...
I do agree that the internet is a much better way to find new music,however, I think it's getting inandated with alot of garbage...
Even though I was never a fan of Aerosmith, I did enjoy reading this article....
12 - SteveH
I find that I tend to search out new music which sounds like the old music; which is pretty damn easy these days. Let's face it, Green Day really just *sound like* (no comment on musical or political integrity here, although there are **some** similarities) a polished Clash.
When Soundgarden released BadMotorFinger I pounced on it, realising later it sounds exactly like old Black Sabbath. In fact when the whole grunge thing happened, old rock-dogs like me got a chance to connect with "contemporary music" all over again.
The only thing that worries me about this is that rock music as a genre seems to be stagnating - I'm sure some would argue it has been thus for 20 years or more... But try as I might I can't connect with rap, or hip-hop, and even the newer "rock" bands (Chemical Romance, Charlotte, etc) I'm having trouble "getting". I don't mind Killers & F-Ferdinand tho.
My fear is that rock as we know it will die with us - but then why should I care, I'll be dead ;-).
cya
SteveH
13 - Evan
Billy Joel is better then Aerosmith
14 - Vern Halen
BJ is better than Aerosmith - if you need a frisbee.
15 - Evan
and also Barry Manilow is better than Aerosmith