Is Old Music Killing New Music?

[onomatopoeia]

The UK was fortunate to have tv shows like the Tube too. Jools Holland was an amazing champion of music. New music needs a champion like him.

I have a lot of episode of The Tube and quite a few Later...with Jools Holland as well. They're great shows.

These used to be posted on a private bit torrent website name thebox.bz, (later renamed zxcv.bz, before closing in August, 2014). Content on thebox was exclusively UK television or radio broadcasts, old or new. I was a member for about five years, and there were less than five torrents posted that I wanted but couldn't obtain, and I went through every page on the site; older torrents with no active seeding were never purged.

Did you ever see Revolver? It was a local show from Birmingham which aired eight episodes in 1978, hosted by Peter Cook. The show got its name from the stage setup; bands performed on a round stage which could rotate. While one act was performing, the following band's gear was being set up behind them, with a backdrop wall in between. Somebody uploaded a home made DVD of 'The Complete Revolver', sourced from some original videotape from the broadcasting station and partially from reruns on the VH1 music station.

"Revolver" was hosted by Peter Cook, in the guise of the owner of a once-proud dance hall, reduced to using it as a punk venue against his better judgement. He antagonises the audience and insults the bands as a matter of course. The show featured many of the era's finest up-and-coming acts (as well as a few subsequent nonentities!) playing live.

One thing that was highly unusual about Revolver was that the show began with the last musical performance, in progress, with some end credits, then the broadcast would end in mid song, to be continued at the beginning. That's also consistent with the show's name.

Revolver had a lot of really good musical guests, and just as many who were terrible. In my opinion, it's the best 'chronicle' of the early New Wave music scene in the UK, as seen on television. Here's the Revolver Episode Guide, copy/pasted from the torrent file:

Show 1 (Pilot Episode - 20th May 1978)

01. Intro
02. Up Against The Wall (ending) - The Tom Robinson Band
03. Peter Cook
04. This Is Pop - XTC
05. Peter Cook
06. Ku Klux Klan - Steel Pulse
07. Peter Cook
08. British Tourist - John Dowie & The Policemen
09. Peter Cook
10. Rich Kids > Ghosts Of Princes In Towers - The Rich Kids
11. Peter Cook
12. Them Heavy People - Kate Bush
13. Les Ross
14. Willie & The Hand Jive - Ricky Cool & The Icebergs
15. Peter Cook
16. Glad To Be Gay - The Tom Robinson Band
17. Up Against The Wall - The Tom Robinson Band

Show 2 (22nd July 1978)

18. Intro
19. She's So Modern (ending) - The Boomtown Rats
20. Peter Cook
21. While I'm Still Young - The Autographs
22. British Hustle - Hi-Tension
23. Peter Cook
24. I Don't Need To Tell Her - The Lurkers
25. Les Ross
26. Peter Cook
27. Tank - The Stranglers
28. Curfew - The Stranglers
29. Peter Cook
30. I'm In Love Today - The Boyfriends
31. Don't Wanna Say Goodnight - Kandidate
32. Peter Cook
33. Like Clockwork - The Boomtown Rats
34. She's So Modern - The Boomtown Rats

Show 3 (29th July 1978)

35. Intro
36. What A Waste (ending) - Ian Dury & The Blockheads
37. Peter Cook
38. Judy Says (Knock You In The Head) - The Vibrators
39. Chis Hill
40. Radio - The Roy Hill Band
41. Peter Cook
42. If I Sing You A Love Song - Bonnie Tyler
43. Peter Cook
44. Noise Annoys - The Buzzcocks
45. Love You More - The Buzzcocks
46. Peter Cook
47. Hong Kong Garden - Siouxsise & The Banshees
48. Les Ross
49. Zombie Rock - Sore Throat
50. Peter Cook
51. Billericay Dickie - Ian Dury & The Blockheads
52. What A Waste - Ian Dury & The Blockheads

Show 4 (5th August 1978)

53. Intro
54. Radio Radio (ending) - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
55. Peter Cook
56. Top of The Pops - The Rezillos
57. Chris Hill
58. Empire Road - Matumbi
59. Peter Cook
60. Forget About You - The Motors (with The Dodgers)
61. Peter Cook
62. Heart Of The City - Nick Lowe
63. They Call It Rock - Nick Lowe
64. Les Ross
65. 19th Nervous Breakdown - Brent Ford & The Nylons
66. C'mon Everybody - Brent Ford & The Nylons
67. Peter Cook
68. This Year's Girl - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
69. Radio Radio - Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Show 5 (12th August 1978)
01. Intro
02. Peter Cook
03. Mirror Star - The Fabulous Poodles
04. Chris Hill
05. Sultans Of Swing - Dire Straits
06. Peter Cook
07. Don't Believe What You Read - The Boomtown Rats
08. This Wheel's On Fire - Julie Driscoll, Brian Augur & The Trinity (Archive Clip - Top Of The Pops, June 1968)
09. Peter Cook
10. The Groove Line - Heatwave
11. Ain't No Halfsteppin' - Heatwave
12. Les Ross
13. Grandad - Jab Jab
14. Peter Cook
15. David Watts - The Jam
16. 'A' Bomb In Wardour Street - The Jam

Show 6 (19th August 1978)

17. Intro
18. Devil Gate Drive (ending) - Suzi Quatro
19. Peter Cook
20. Dancing The Night Away - The Motors (with The Dodgers)
21. Peter Cook & Chris Hill
22. Tell Me Your Plans - The Shirts
23. Peter Cook
24. Blockheads - Ian Dury & The Blockheads
25. Peter Cook
26. Down In The City - The Steve Gibbons Band
27. No Spitting On The Bus - The Steve Gibbons Band
28. Peter Cook
29. To Be Alone - Goldie
30. Les Ross
31. The Bingo Crowd - Patrik Fitzgerald
32. The Race Is On - Suzi Quatro
33. Devil Gate Drive - Suzi Quatro

Show 7 (26th August 1978)
34. Intro
35. Circles (ending) - Eddie & The Hot Rods
36. Peter Cook
37. Leave It To The Kid - Eddie Kidd
38. Chris Hill
39. Identity - X-Ray Spex
40. Peter Cook
41. Piccadilly Lights - Roy Hill Band
42. Peter Cook
43. King's Cross Blues - Lindisfarne
44. Jukebox Gypsy - Lindisfarne
45. Biko - Merger
46. I'm Her Man - CGAS 5
47. Take It Or Leave It - Eddie & The Hot Rods
48. Circles - Eddie & The Hot Rods
Bonus: X-Ray Spex Outtakes (26th August 1978)

67. Identity - X-Ray Spex (Raw Take 1)
68. Identity - X-Ray Spex (Raw Take 2)

Show 8 (2nd September 1978)
49. Intro
50. Peter Cook
51. Lie Down - David Coverdale's Whitesnake
52. Chris Hill
53. Immune To Life - The Tourists
54. Les Ross
55. At The Hop - Danny & The Juniors (Archive Clip - The Big Band Beat (BBC), November 1957)
56. Peter Cook
57. Ghosts Of Princes In Towers - The Rich Kids
58. Falling In Love - The Rich Kids
59. Peter Cook
60. Another Girl, Another Planet - The Only Ones
61. Chris Hill
62. Be Alright - The Showbiz Kids
63. Peter Cook
64. Who's That Knocking? - Darts
65. Bones - Darts
66. I Gotta Go Home - Darts

Bonus Outtake (2nd September 1978)

70. Another Girl, Another Planet - The Only Ones (Raw Take)

Ask for a song from this show, and I'll make a clip for you, put it Youtube, (with a forum link), and I'll put it online on 4shared, where it could be downloaded. I'll even use your TERB handle followed by a number as the Youtube file name, and bold formatting to indicate filled requests. The work involved takes me about five minutes.

This offer in open to anyone, and multiple requests are fine, but please limit yourself to one request per post.

 

[shack]

Correct. His definition of millennial is clear cut.

His definition is clear cut. That doesn't make it universally accepted.

 

[shack]

The UK was fortunate to have tv shows like the Tube too. Jools Holland was an amazing champion of music. New music needs a champion like him.

Alan Jones (editor of Uncut Magazine and Melody Maker before that) was a great promoter of new British music. He promoted many unheard of (at the time) bands and launched many careers. He was not beholden to "pop" music. Lots of alternative and indy acts.

 

[onomatopoeia]

His definition is clear cut. That doesn't make it universally accepted.

Regardless of how I define Millenial, you shouldn't be having difficulty comprehending 'born after the 1970's'.

 

[Mr.Know-It-All]

There are a limited number of chord sequences which are both memorable and pleasant to the ear. By now, most of them have been discovered or co-opted in one song or another by someone.

This is really what it comes down to. The youth of today are severely disadvantaged because generations before them have already taken most of the best melodies, harmonies, rhythms, and musical sequences that sound good to the human ear. Hip-hop and EDM melded some of the most infectious grooves and sounds of the past into loops or new interesting mash-ups, but now that well has also run dry.

All good things come to an end, and music is no exception.

 

[shack]

Regardless of how I define Millenial, you shouldn't be having difficulty comprehending 'born after the 1970's'.

Comprehension on my part is hardly the problem.

In terms of philosophies, following trends, ideologies, cultural preferences etc., etc., the average person born in 1979 is exactly the same as the average person born in 1980.

In fact somebody born in 1979 was born in the 1980th year A.D.

 

[poker]

You weren't joking. You just misread my post, the same as shack. Man up, and take your lump.

1980 births are the start of the Millenial generation. That was the point I was making.

There are are large number of GREAT guitarists from the Baby Boom Generation. There are quite a few from Gen X. No one has been able to name more than one Millenial even in the same league. I love Rock music, but I don't love Rock music performed by senior citizens, even if they still have the chops. I DID see Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul at the Danforth Music Hall on Thanksgiving Day, 2017, and I enjoyed the show, but that was an aberration, rather than a trend. I ONLY see concerts in small venues these days; I'm past the point where I would go to any show in a hockey arena or stadium. I don't like watching ants on stage perform with the audio out of synch with the video playing in the background.

 

[poker]

 

[onomatopoeia]

Comprehension on my part is hardly the problem.

In terms of philosophies, following trends, ideologies, cultural preferences etc., etc., the average person born in 1979 is exactly the same as the average person born in 1980.

In fact somebody born in 1979 was born in the 1980th year A.D.

Is 1979 after the 1970's? No. If I had said 'the 190th decade AD,' you would have had a nit to pick. The rest of this argument is irrelevant. The significance of 1979 vs 1980 births is that those in the former group are usually considered part of Gen X and those in the latter, Millenials.

Although I was born in 1961, I consider myself to be a 'Gen X elder', as opposed to a 'later Baby Boomer', partially based on 'philosophies, following trends, ideologies, cultural preferences etc.', and partially because I have multiple older siblings, all born in 1958 or earlier, with whom I have next to nothing in common, other than that we had to eat meals together until part way through 1977.

 

[Adam_hadam]

I was downtown on Thursday, Tim's was using the north face of Dundas Square to promote Biber nads. That's the problem with current music, it's 110% corporate, someone like Bruce Springsteen or David Byrne would get crushed today. Y2K babies are starved for decent music, all their getting is sugary insipid one note crap.

I introduced this, the raving was infinite!

Today's music, too me is over produced. Ever listen to BTS? They are awesomely overly produced to the nth degree. Unlistenable but I'm not 20 something.
All the good simple songs have been written.
ABABCAB

 

[shack]

Is 1979 after the 1970's? No. If I had said 'the 190th decade AD,' you would have had a nit to pick. The rest of this argument is irrelevant. The significance of 1979 vs 1980 births is that those in the former group are usually considered part of Gen X and those in the latter, Millenials.

Although I was born in 1961, I consider myself to be a 'Gen X elder', as opposed to a 'later Baby Boomer', partially based on 'philosophies, following trends, ideologies, cultural preferences etc.', and partially because I have multiple older siblings, all born in 1958 or earlier, with whom I have next to nothing in common, other than that we had to eat meals together until part way through 1977.

Like I said, that is your extremely narrow definition.

I guess you couldn't understand my point that there is basically zero difference between a person born in 1979 and one in1980. Try reading it again a few times and maybe you'll figure it out.

Clearly wikipedia disagrees with your narrow definitions. They say that you're a Baby Boomer.

Baby boomers are the demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is generally defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the post–World War II baby boom. Wikipedia

You can't even properly define what generation you came from.

 

[onomatopoeia]

I can't name a GREAT guitarist born after the 1970's, and those born after the 60's are fairly rare.

Is 1979 after the 1970's? No.

Like I said, that is your extremely narrow definition.

shack, if you are trying to argue that 1979 is after the 1970's, you are an part of an army of two, along with eddie kerr. There is no debate here. If you want to include 1980 as part of the 1970's, it only excludes any GREAT guitarist born in 1980; it doesn't make 1979 part of the 1980's!

There is no 'extremely narrow definition'; this is empirical mathematics; 1979 is less than 1980, whether you are counting years, apples, oranges, or fat chicks banged. There IS subjective debate about when different generations begin and end, but that is irrelevant. I didn't state "I can't name a GREAT Millenial guitarist"; I specified a specific calendar decade of birth for inclusion or exclusion. You gave me the names of three guitarists who did not qualify, under that very specifically defined criterion.

 

[shack]

shack, if you are trying to argue that 1979 is after the 1970's,

I specified a specific calendar decade of birth for inclusion or exclusion.

You keep saying that (even though you know that it is not my point) yet ignore my point that someone born in 1979 is basically the same as someone born in 1980.

And that leads to my question, what is so significant about Jan 1, 1980 and onward, other than it's an arbitrary date that you've chosen? What does that date specifically mean in terms of guitar players and their evolution? Did something happen on that date? Why is it so important?

 

[onomatopoeia]

You keep saying that (even though you know that it is not my point) yet ignore my point that someone born in 1979 is basically the same as someone born in 1980.

And that leads to my question, what is so significant about Jan 1, 1980 and onward, other than it's an arbitrary date that you've chosen? What does that date specifically mean in terms of guitar players and their evolution? Did something happen on that date? Why is it so important?

Here's a big difference between someone born on December 31, 1979 and one born on January 1, 1980: One was born after the 1970's, and the other one wasn't. If I had arbitrarily chosen 1985 as the birth year, Gary Clark Jr wouldn't qualify. You are trying, but failing, to disprove my statement.

MY point is that there are no YOUNG Rock superstar guitar players that someone who is young now can consider 'one of their own'. YOU consider Derek Trucks to be 'young', because he's much younger than you are. To someone who is currently twenty years old, someone Derek's age is in the 'creepy old guy' demographic. Punk rockers considered members of The Who and Pink Floyd to be 'boring old farts' when those Rock Stars weren't yet 35.

 

[onomatopoeia]

(See post #81)

Siouxsie and The Banshees - Hong Kong Garden

Siouxsie and The Banshees released Hong Kong Garden as their debut single about three weeks after this performance on Revolver:

 

[onomatopoeia]

(see post #81)

Ian Dury and The Blockheads - Billericay Dickey

This band always performed last on the bill on the Live Stiffs from October-November, 1977. The lyrics are quite rude, if you understand the cockney slang terms.

 

[onomatopoeia]

(see post #81)

Kate Bush - Them Heavy People

When Kate Bush appeared on the first episode of Revolver, her debut single Wuthering Heights had completed its 4 week run as the #1 song on the UK singles chart about seven weeks prior. She had appeared on Top of the Pops singing live to a recorded instrumental track, but this is likely her first live performance on television with a backing band, and such performances by her have been few and far between since. Kate celebrated her 20th birthday about two months after this broadcast.

 

[mandrill]

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[shack]

Here's a big difference between someone born on December 31, 1979 and one born on January 1, 1980: One was born after the 1970's, and the other one wasn't. If I had arbitrarily chosen 1985 as the birth year, Gary Clark Jr wouldn't qualify. You are trying, but failing, to disprove my statement.

Thanks for verifying that Jan.1/80 is a totally arbitrary date and has no relevance to anything let alone as to WHY there are so few young guitar players nowadays. If you were trying to make a point about why this is the case, that would have been interesting. I never tried to disprove your statement, because it was an arbitrary date that is meaningless.

You need to lighten up, baby boomer. Maybe a joint would help. And you're welcome for me turning you onto Gary Clark.

I'm done because you have no point to make.

 

[onomatopoeia]

Please troll someone else, shack.