Trends we admire, Trends we dispise

[Not Afraid]

I disagree. I understand the Rave scene, the Charlston, Jazz as much as I do Punk because some of the same idealism and rebellion and pushing of boundries was present in all of these things. What I will never understand is the medeoricrity that seems to come out of this beauty. I admire artists, musicians, architects who forged their own path, that challenged the norms. I usually dislike those that stole those ideas and made them commercial and squuzed all of the life out of them. That's how I feel about 80's pop music. The genesis was soooo damned great and it ended up THERE? Ugh.

For me, it really has nothing to do with my age, but in what I appreciate in these things.

[Kevy Baby]

I have enjoyed watching this thread. Because a lot of this boils down to personal taste and preference. I celebrate our differences; even if I don't much personally care for the actual particulars of what another is digging on, I am glad that we, as a whole, have so many different choices.

I am a fan of "Classic Rock" - one of my favorite things about the seventies. Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, The Outlaws, The Eagles (an oft maligned band)... the list is long and varied. But this is counter to the musical preferences of some of my friends. Cool. So we won't be going to particular concerts together. But that by no means dictates that we can't be friends. I try not to decide against any style of music or other trends without at least giving it a try.

Time is also an interesting player in this equation. I didn't much care for punk in the late 70's and early 80's as it came across as too angry and too "loud" (not in the volume sense of the word). But as time went on, it doesn't seem like that at all to me.

It often amuses me that each generation of parents/authority figures complains about how the "music is bad for our children." Tpper Gore and her PMRC was up in arms about the music (and we have their ilk to blame/credit for th "Parental Advisory" labels). But that was the same generation who grew up listening to Peter Frampton who THEIR parents complained about even though they grew up listening to Elvis. Thankfully, I think society is growing (slowly) and learning that music is not evil.

I think we also, as individuals, go through our own trends. I cannot stay listening to any one group or style of music though I have a tendency to lock on to one for a while. Some of my recent "trends" include 40's/50's jazz vocals, eighties dance (King, DOA, Stacy Q, Danse Society, Q-Feel), techno (including a whole CD I burned of techno remakes of classic rock songs), jazz and blues (old and new) (Stevie Ray Vaughn and Miles Davis both have spent time in the CD player recently), and Salsa & Merengue. And sometimes I like just mixing it all up: click on the main library in iTunes and just shuffle away. Sarah Vaughan to Oingo Boingo to Moby to Josh Groban to Molly Hatchet to Dirty Vegas. Keeps me amused.

And I never liked avocado green or harvest gold appliances. But I do like ultra low-rise jeans with the underwear showing - what can I say: I'm a guy.

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by Prudence

I confess (wrong thread?) that I hope the 50s style dress with petticoat/crinoline (see this and that) makes a return.

There are sites devoted to the this for guys (and girls?) who find this sexy/sexual. I looked but could not find any, but they are out there.

Originally Posted by Matterhorn Fan

Men's fashion doesn't seem to enjoy the same resurrections as women's fashion does. I wonder why? All I know is that it's probably for the best that Magnum P.I.-type shorts probably aren't going to come back.

While I join you in prayer about the Magnum P.I. shorts (and a few other male fashion trends), men's fashions do resurrect - it is just much more subtle. The most prevalent areas for this are in suits and ties. The width and cut of the lapels on coats and the width of ties varies over time. Although I hope the ultra-wide lapels and big knots on ties of the seventies never makes a comeback. What is it about the seventies that was such a fashion tragedy?

[Boss Angeles]

Originally Posted by Not Afraid

I disagree. I understand the Rave scene, the Charlston, Jazz as much as I do Punk because some of the same idealism and rebellion and pushing of boundries was present in all of these things. What I will never understand is the medeoricrity that seems to come out of this beauty. I admire artists, musicians, architects who forged their own path, that challenged the norms. I usually dislike those that stole those ideas and made them commercial and squuzed all of the life out of them. That's how I feel about 80's pop music. The genesis was soooo damned great and it ended up THERE? Ugh.

For me, it really has nothing to do with my age, but in what I appreciate in these things.

Woah. (glaze recedes from left eyeball) You are soooo CASH.

[Name]

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

And I never liked avocado green or harvest gold appliances. But I do like ultra low-rise jeans with the underwear showing - what can I say: I'm a guy.

Butt Cleavage, gotta love it.

[mistyisjafo]

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

I am a fan of "Classic Rock" - one of my favorite things about the seventies. Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, The Outlaws, The Eagles (an oft maligned band)... the list is long and varied. But this is counter to the musical preferences of some of my friends. Cool. So we won't be going to particular concerts together. But that by no means dictates that we can't be friends. I try not to decide against any style of music or other trends without at least giving it a try..

I'm with you on that one. I'll try just about any music once. So far I'm not a fan of most country western music. But again, it's not like I wouldn't try listening to it.

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

It often amuses me that each generation of parents/authority figures complains about how the "music is bad for our children." Tpper Gore and her PMRC was up in arms about the music (and we have their ilk to blame/credit for th "Parental Advisory" labels). But that was the same generation who grew up listening to Peter Frampton who THEIR parents complained about even though they grew up listening to Elvis. Thankfully, I think society is growing (slowly) and learning that music is not evil..

Very true! My parents grew up during the time when Sinatra was "evil". If you can imagine. They in turn were horrified when they heard me listening to Oingo Boingo, Duran Duran, Billy Idol or even classic rock. I guess we all just want to protect our kids from those things we (the parent) don't understand or like.

[lizziebith]

Sushi: sorry, that ain't what I call "food." Bah-bye!!!

[Cadaverous Pallor]

All this reminds me of my quick music shifts in the mid-nineties. My love of ska lead me to big band, my love of big band lead me to classic lounge. I remember playing some of this big band/lounge stuff for my father, an ex-hippie, who looked somewhat confused and said to me, "That's what my parents listen to", as if that meant that it sucked.

The idea that the only good music is the rebellious ground breaking stuff is something I used to hold, but now I realize that there's plenty quality and beauty to be found in the status quo. Of course yesterday's rebel is today's status quo...

The big problem is, where do you draw a line? When does a band, or style of music, cross the line from "rebel" into "mediocrity"? It's not about how many records you sell - plenty of breakthrough music has made money and become wildly popular. The only measurement that I can see is one's own subjective tastes.

[Ghoulish Delight]

I try not to let somethings trendiness status cloud my perception of it. Sure, I get sick of things that I'm over exposed to due to trendiness, but I generally don't pay attention to how popular it is when making my first impression.

Of course, that's often because I'm clueless as to what's popular and trendy. Shag's a great example. I remember when the Tiki Room line of Shag merch came out. Everyone was linking to pictures of it and I thought, "Wow, that stuff's pretty cool...now what's this Shaq [yes that's a Q, I kept reading it that way] thing everyone's talking about?" I was clueless, no idea that I was supposed to know the name Shag. So my opinion came pretty much solely from my reaction to the art.

And in that way, I have to thank the concept of trendiness. I'm not particularly good at finding things I like, especially when it comes to art and music. I honestly just don't have the patience to make the effort to dig for it. So it's nice when something that I happen to like catches that trendy wave and filters its way to me.

And honestly, the precentages are probably about the same. I can dig through the vinyl bin at your local used record store for hours and find 1 new thing I like. Or I listen to radio for hours and hear 1 new thing I like. Sure, I do like the occasional discovery of something before the masses. But not enough to regularly put out the effort when I can just let it come to me.

[€uroMeinke]

Hmmm to continue the slight drift off topic, I love the joy of discovery - finding a new band or genre and learning all about it on my own and then sharing with others who do the same. Sometimes I'm amazed when something I think obscure suddenly makes it into the mainstream.

Sometimes I think certain musicians, artists and writers are only creating their works for me, becasue I can't imagine anyone else liking them as much as I do (e.g. Wim Wnders, Pina Bausch, Jonathan Borofsky, laurie Anderson, Murikami, DEVO, etc.) in that respect, it's always cool to accidentally find another fan.