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From: rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Arthur Pewtey)
Newsgroups: net.music
Subject: Re: Good and bad music
Message-ID: <1087@pyuxd.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 14-Jun-85 19:35:12 EDT
Article-I.D.: pyuxd.1087
Posted: Fri Jun 14 19:35:12 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 16-Jun-85 01:24:35 EDT
References: <2652@decwrl.UUCP>
Organization: The Chartered Accountants Who Want to Be Lion Tamers Association
Lines: 30

> Face it. You are never going to prove that top 40 or any kind of
> music is bad. All you can ever prove is that *you* don't like it.
> And even then, what you might really be proving is that you're too 
> much of an elitist to allow yourself to enjoy the simple pleasure
> that pop music has to offer. This is not meant as a personal flame,
> but rather as a spark to cause you (and others) to examine your 
> motivation for wanting to insist that pop is "bad" and that the 
> music you like is "better".  [SETH JACKSON]

The one thing you may be able to prove is the shoddiness surrounding
certain elements and instances of the music.  I'm referring to
industry music, music designed not by musicians but by managers and
salesmen geared for sales, flaunting the singer's looks or some such
nonsensical attribute rather than the music, or designed to copy
directly from an existing successful piece of music, involving a
straight uninspired "lift" rather than a "respectful" quote or a
significant embellishment on the original.  Examples of the first
might include Wham! or Rick Springfield, examples of the second
might include Phil Collins' theft of 1999 in Pseu-Pseudomusico (Susudio).
Note that this doesn't discredit the genre:  examples of this may or may
not exist to some degree in various musical genres.  In fact, I defy
anyone to define the Top-40 "style" of music.  Top-40 is defined as whatever
is selling at the moment, and as time goes on EVEN the American public
learns to like a new and different thing (if it's packaged right!).  If
anything, one can only hope to prove that Top-40 is the most prominent
"genre" of the sorts of business manipulation just mentioned, but this
hardly defames the music itself.  Only low quality can do that.  (and what's
THAT you may ask...)
-- 
"Do I just cut 'em up like regular chickens?"    Rich Rosen    ihnp4!pyuxd!rlr