Friday, August 23, 2019 marks the ninth anniversary of my first music blog entry. In the summer of 2010, I had been contemplating something like this for a while at the time and decided to go for it. There were reasons for starting it. I had fallen off the track a bit in keeping up with new music, not just pop, but in my chosen genre of alternative rock. Although I had downloaded up to 15-20 tracks per month and put them in a mixed CD, they were songs that I barely had listened to, if at all.
The 2000's were a decade that, although there were several memorable tunes, were pretty much "lost" to me. Much of it was due to getting married, buying a home and pretty much starting a new life. My wife has followed music, too, as the tanning salon in upstate New York where she was working in, played current videos, much to the frequency that she got pretty much sick of hearing them over and over (much like when I worked nights at a local hotel and hearing the same songs that were piped in---much of them from that decade)---constantly.
 |
| The Black Keys had my first #1 song with "Tighten Up". Their latest, "Go", is my current number one, the band's sixth on my list. |
During Christmas of 2007, my wife gave me an iPod--the latest rage of listening to music. But during the next two years, I had rarely used it, preferring to play my monthly mixed CD's. However, by the summer of 2010, there were several things that changed the way I listened to music that led me to start documenting it. And much of that had to do with social media, in particular, Facebook.
(1) Year-end lists. From 1976 to 2003, I would compose a year-end list of favorite songs. For many years, I recorded (and "counted down") them on a series of cassettes. With changes in my life in 2004, I stopped doing that. Then, at the end of 2009, I posted my year-end 100 favorite songs of that year, which got a good amount of comments and likes.
(2) The emergence of bands that I had been following for awhile. In particular, The Black Keys have had some really great "back to basics", neo-garage rock sound, but like much of the stuff I listened to, fell on deaf ears. That ended when the Akron duo's sixth album, Brothers was a hit, as well as the single "Tighten Up", which wound up being my first #1 on my blog list.
(3) That summer, we followed a local country/rock singer, Rachel Allyn as she played many bars and clubs in my area, Lake Hopatcong. She had summers off from college in Nashville, and at the time, we thought she was really going places. The excitement that her potential would bring, had us wondering if we could see a potential star on our hands, and whether we can document her rise.
(4) My friend, Brian Sniatkowski, who, like me, had been following alternative rock music for decades, would post on his Facebook page, a "song of the week", and most often than not, it would be an awesome song. He'd also post his twenty-five favorite albums of the year, similar to what I do with individual songs. His taste in music gave me someone I could share new music with.
(5) In the influx of all these new bands and artists I was able to discover, some old favorites were releasing music as well, namely Foreigner, Heart and Bachman and Turner (half of the seventies rockers Bachman-Turner Overdrive). The mix of these longtime favorites with current pop/rock artists like The Black Keys and local up-and-comers like Rachel Allyn, and access to social media, all but assured me to start following and documenting the current music scene.
I am in the process of looking back at the decade of the 2010's which has almost gone by, and have been making a series of video and photo montages of both the events that I had experienced, as well as montages of my top 20 songs of that year. I have spent the last couple of weeks doing 2010 and will take on the rest of the decade during the next few months. And while nine years ago pales to what I was listening to 45 years back, the decade has taken on many changes, whether real or conceived.
When I started my blog in August of 2010, I was rather optimistic of the great music that would subsequently be released and hoping for a "rock renaissance" to happen. Sadly, that wasn't to be. In fact, with the exception of Fall Out Boy's "Centuries", I don't think any "traditional" rock band (i.e., guitar-driven) has made the top ten in the entire decade. And, except for perhaps 2011 and 2012, where the "indie folk" movement created a new trend with bands like The Lumineers and Mumford & Sons, popular music has pretty much fallen into the abyss. In fact, even what has been labeled as alternative has been falling into the same path. More on that later.
Still, without a local radio station outlet that played alternative (there were two short-lived attempts in the early part of the decade with WRXP, as well as the current, rather "oldies" driven WNYL ("Alt 92.3"), there were sufficient means to have access to new music. Albany/Manchester Vermont station WEQX published a currents playlist of over 30 new songs, some internet sites featured new, obscure bands, and Sirius XM's "Alt Nation" channel had a "alt 18" countdown. Then there were "Triple-A" stations such as WFUV which featured "The Alternate Side". All these media outlets enabled me to listen to new things going on.
Of course, I had always kept an eye to the current pop trends. I was probably looking like a genius when Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" came out. I added that song back in December of 2010 and it topped my list a month later. Half a year later, it hit #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 and she became all the rage. Other artists like Pink, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Maroon 5, Train and many others, would "cross over" and hit my top 20 with many of their songs. Aside from pop and alternative, I added many country songs, blues, reggae, some hip-hop and many songs that probably could have come out forty or fifty years ago. By making playlists for both my current top 20 favorites as well as the broader 100 list that I publish, it made great use of my iPod, and after December of 2010, I stopped with my burning of CD's, and started in on that new era.
But, the ultimate test of writing a blog and sharing what I was listening to was, "were people into it?" While not the overwhelming response that I perhaps was expecting (I would have loved a series of comments regarding "pros and cons" of a particular song or artists resulting from a blog post), I would get the occasional like and comment, in particular the first few years. Songs like "Junk of the Heart (Happy)" by the Kooks, and "Stay Young, Go Dancing" by Death Cab for Cutie, attracted a following with Facebook friends, as well as bands like Fitz & the Tantrums, Florence + the Machine and several others. Plus, similar as to what music of the 1960's and 70's did, it would place a memory with the song to an event. In 2015, I added links to the entries on my SNS 100, and several friends were introduced to these new songs that perhaps they would have never attempted to listen to. Much of my blog would mention whether these artists would be playing any local venues to check out.
So, nine years later, where do we stand? Sadly, I am afraid, not very well. Not only has the current pop scene gone downhill with sparsely-produced excuses for songs (which are enhanced by the constant streaming, pretty much wrecking havoc on chart-compiling methods), the alternative charts, similar to its attack by nu-metal twenty years earlier, has been tainted by songs which seem to have that same beat to it. Much of the music that is awesome (and there are many songs that I currently listen to), simply doesn't chart. And if it doesn't chart, it falls on deaf years. Two cases in point: My #1 song from 2018, "Straight Love Affair" by Nick Waterhouse, which didn't chart anywhere when it was released in late 2016, garnered no likes or comments when I posted it. Can you imagine that lackluster response if I posted "Rolling In the Deep" my top song from 2011 or even "Shape of You", my 2017 chart-topper, much less one of my number one songs from the sixties or seventies? One of my favorite songs from this year, Lil Peep featuring ILoveMakonnen and Fall Out Boy's "I've Been Waiting", also drew blanks from my friends.
In August 2019, some of the new music websites where you can download music for free are no more. "The Alternate Side" is just a one hour show each week. You need a subscription to find out what the "Alt 18" is. Even WEQX, which still faithfully plays current and recent alternative music, only updates its playlist a few times a year online (although it does play new music). Brian's "song of the week" is pretty much now the "song of the quarter".
Let's face it...my "contemporaries" (those my age and who I grow up with) have left music back around 1980 or so. We are well-versed when it comes from music of that decade. The sixties and seventies music has a long shelf life and me and my friends often discuss that era, and several of my friends has joined various bands that play music from that era or are in tribute to a particular artist. The eighties were also a viable decade and some of my slightly younger friends love that decade as well, even though in my opinion, that music for the most part, has a shorter shelf life.
Around 1992 or so, I dove deep into alternative rock (although my love for it started several years earlier), and even though top 40 initially followed me there, it retreated back to more danceable pop as well as the birth of the boy bands and pop princesses. Still, I had many friends who followed alternative during the nineties as well; two of them attended the second Lollapalooza festival in 1992, for example. The 2000's changed all that as I lost touch (albeit briefly) with many of those friends, or those that remained, stayed with the nineties music.
I do have several friends on Facebook in their late teens and early twenties, but they have not responded to my music blogs or posts; one can only wonder what they listen to. In addition to the current artists, I have added current music by classic artists such as The Beach Boys, Tommy James, The Monkees, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, The Cars, as well as the aforementioned Heart, Foreigner and Bachman and Turner and many bands still kicking around from the 80's and 90's. The Carolina beach music I added earlier in the year is "new", although in a retro-style by bands that have members my age.
Looking at the views on my blogs the last couple of years, that has decreased dramatically. I have given up most of my blogging on new music and concentrating on events that concern more classic artists. Much of my more popular blogs include a classic artist's passing, most recently Micky Dolenz of The Monkees. A recent popular blog centered on the band Mortimer and its near brush with fame and The Beatles. However, in recent weeks, I have been lucky to get as much as twenty views. My most recent blogs about Woodstock--both the original as well as the ill-fated fiftieth anniversary celebration, got some views, but even last week's blog, in spite of 14 likes on Facebook, only actually had twelve views. The only recent edition to do well was my blog on up-and-comer Shannon Marsyada, who is also a Facebook friend. Sharing it on her timeline, it picked up more than seventy views, obviously much of that from her central Pennsylvania fanbase.
So, where does that leave the future of this blog? I had said many times that when this decade is over, I will stop listening to new music...or at least slow down on purchasing it. Given the fact that I might not live until the end of the 2020's, I will at least have sixty years of music in my library that I can reflect on, and will able to share the classic top 40 and rock era with my friends. Streaming has replace the iPod and mp3's as the primarily listening source. I regularly spend many hours each week writing a blog for ten people to read. I spend roughly $500 a year purchasing new mp3 songs; over ten years, it's come close to five thousand dollars. My interest in new music is still great; as I mentioned, listening to Nick Waterhouse, The Black Keys, The Big Takeover, Foster the People and many, many others is still a pleasure. But, one of the perks of music is that you can share it with people. The question is, who do I share it with? I don't think any of my friends care about the latest from Cage the Elephant, Cold War Kids, or Two Door Cinema Club. My blog about Lana Del Rey's latest attracted a whopping 8--yes, EIGHT, views. It's pretty clear that my new music mission has, indeed ended. With "Go" by The Black Keys only peaking at 15 alternative this week, and "Kombucha" by Winnetka Bowling League holding at 39 without a bullet, it seems the taste of alternative music has moved on anyway. But for a while, it was one helluva ride.
With that in mind...
Effective next week, I will cut down any discussion about new songs or artists that are nationally known, unless there is some interesting news associated with them. However, you'll still hear about Winnetka Bowling League, Offguard, Hegazy, Shannon Marsyada, Christina Taylor, Donna Missal, Paul Czekaj and a few others. I will still feature my SNS 100 on each blog until the end of the year, although there will be limited discussion on movements, other than the #1 song or a significant debut. I will be discussing my "song of the summer" (mid-September) and my year and decade end review in December and January. Whether I myself will stop listening to new music in January (or perhaps start streaming them instead of purchasing it) will remain to be seen. In the meantime, as always, click on a song to start listening or at least refer you to a website or Facebook page. I, most likely will explore the music that has graced my ears for the last sixty years and explore more in that direction. My blog, which probably will no longer be a weekly thing, will focus more on the history than in the present. But, that's still a few months away.
Of course, if there is music news of note, in particular, involving a classic artist, or a newer artist referenced by a friend's post, I will be right there, and in that sense, Scenes 'n' Soundwaves isn't going away.
You'll just see it a bit less.
BRIEFLY: "Old Town Road" finally drops out of the #1 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 this week, landing at #3, after a record 19 weeks at the top. It is replaced by "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish, after that song was stuck at #2 for nine weeks. "Bad Guy" had topped the Alternative chart a few weeks ago, making the song the first since Lorde's "Royals" to top both of those charts. "Royals" also had topped my list; one of nine songs to do so in the blog era. "Town" also drops out of the number one position on my blog, to be replaced by The Black Keys' "Go"; the duo's sixth #1 on my list, appropriate, since they also had the first, "Tighten Up", nine years ago. "Go" is also the third consecutive SNS chart topper for them, dating back to 2015's "Weight of Love:, the fourth single from their previous album Turn Blue. As for "Bad Guy", it moves to #37, but mostly likely won't be a repeat of "Old Town Road". The top debut this week is the latest from Electric Guest, "Dollar". They combine their soulful sound from their first SNS hit, "This Head I Hold", with a combination of 70's funk and current pop. It is from their forthcoming third album to be released in October.
(Since I am late with this blog, finishing it on Monday, August 26, this does not include the Billy Ray Cyrus concert I went to on the 24th, with a killer performance of "Old Town Road". My next blog, about that performance, will mostly likely result in "Road" returning to the top of my list.)
Finally, MTV's annual Video Music Awards (does that channel still air videos?) are on the 26th. No interest there, of course (even though they will take place at Newark's Prudential Center), except that Jonas Brothers will be playing at a remote location at the Jersey Shore. While you might not associate the Jonases with anything to do with the Jersey Shore sound, they do hail from Wyckoff. Their "Sucker", a former Billboard #1 song, peaked here at #3 and their follow up, "Only Human", isn't bad either. Relatively speaking, of course.
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100
August 18, 2019
| This Week | Last Week | ARTIST-Title | Weeks on List |
| 1 | 2 |
NUMBER ONE:
"Go"
Album: 'Let's Rock'
|
10 |
| 2 | 1 | Lil Nas X ft Billy Ray Cyrus - Old Town Road | 9 |
| 3 | 3 | Blanco Brown - The Git Up | 8 |
| 4 | 7 | The Horrors - Point of No Reply | 10 |
| 5 | 8 | Shannon Marsyada - Caught Falling | 7 |
| 6 | 10 | Foster the People - Imagination | 6 |
| 7 | 6 | Winnetka Bowling League - Kombucha | 11 |
| 8 | 4 | The Driver Era - Low | 12 |
| 9 | 15 | Nick Waterhouse - Song For Winners | 5 |
| 10 | 9 | Molly Burch - Candy | 17 |
| 11 | 11 | Amber Arcades - Something's Gonna Take Your Love Away | 10 |
| 12 | 17 | Fitz and the Tantrums - I Need Help | 7 |
| 13 | 18 | Donna Missal - Transformer | 6 |
| 14 | 14 | Band of Skulls - Love is All You Love | 8 |
| 15 | 20 | Kungs ft Olly Murs and Coely - More Mess | 8 |
| 16 | 5 | The Big Takeover - Shy | 13 |
| 17 | 21 |
TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:
Album: Oceans
|
21 |
| 18 | 16 | Phantogram - Into Happiness | 10 |
| 19 | 25 | Maybird - Gonna Lose Your Mind | 8 |
| 20 | 24 | Absofacto - Dissolve | 9 |
Songs with the greatest increase in favorite
points over the prior week.
● Songs
with 25 or more plays on my iTunes and iPod.
▲ Songs with 50 or more
plays on my iTunes and iPod.
¨ Songs with 100 or more
plays on my iTunes and iPod.
The “Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100” is a list
of current and recent song playlist which I am listening to.
No comments:
Post a Comment