KISS. Paul Lynde Halloween special, 1976.
I was 6 years old. This band came out in makeup, loud, crazy, fire, and explosions. Blew me away. Never forgot it. I recently found the performance on Youtube. Cool to see again, but not as good as I remembered! Seeing this doesn't seem too big a deal now, but when I was 6 years old and saw it on “live” TV, it changed my life.
Music is an experience. For me it culminates in the life performance, but every aspect of music is an experience. But times have changed and that experience isn’t what it used to be. Some of us, myself included have forgotten that experience. Others never had the chance to have that experience.
The availability and ease of which music, information and performances are now conveniently available has spoiled us and made us lazy music lovers. The Internet has contributed to the deterioration of such aspects of the music experience like the vinyl experience, the journey to the record store, the band fan experience and the exclusivity of live performance.
Do you remember going to the record store and seeing that a favorite band had a new album out, or opening the music section and seeing that a band was coming to town, or trying to stay awake to see that late night TV performance, or pouring through the music magazines looking for news on a certain band?
I love vinyl. I still have boxes and boxes of records, and a turntable in my office. No, it’s not hooked up to my computer yet, but I’ve got the connections! I'm of the school that thinks vinyl sounds better. Technology has made me lazy. It's easier to press a button and scrollbar than dig out a record, put it on the table and drop a needle. I remember getting a record, opening it, pouring over the liner notes, the new photos, the production notes. Loving bands that put so much thought and effort into packaging the albums, building a brand with a consistent look and feel, and creating an experience. No listen of that album or examination of the artwork and the liner notes is the same as that first time.
We can Youtube any historical performance we want, or just see that TV appearance the next day. Gone are the nights of trying to stay up for the late show to catch and appearance or video. Someone will get it on Youtube quickly enough. I remember being a Duran Duran fan in the early 80s. Sure, their videos were on MTV, but to see other things, you had to hunt. We didn't have Top of the Pops, besides MTV we had to see bands on shows like Friday Night Videos, Nightflight, SNL, Richard Blade's video show, and other appearances. If you had a VCR you could tape it, but if you didn’t that was it! That singularity contributed to the magic.
If we need band news, we go to the website. We can even go to Facebook and Twitter now and interact with some of the musicians we love. I know months ahead now when a new album is coming out, still call it "album," and have HAD the "new" Duran Duran album for months. I remember pouring through “Rolling Stone” looking for the names of my favorite bands, and some tidbit of news. I also remember joining the band “fanclubs” where you’d send $10 to get a periodically bad photocopied and stapled magazine filled with news that was already out of date.
The convenience is fantastic, but the magic is gone!
Don’t get me wrong. I love all the technology and use it all. I have an extensive digital music collection. I have a full iPod. I don’t by CDs anymore, I download music. I follow my favorite bands on their websites, and on Twitter and Facebook. I watch concerts, music videos and TV appearances on Youtube. What music fan wouldn’t take advantage of all these tools to enhance the music experience?
It’s sad that my young son and daughter one day probably won’t even know what a “vinyl record” is. One of my fondest memories of my Dad and I going to various record stores on the weekends before I could drive, and discovering new artists and finding imported treasures. He’d asked me about them and pretended to be interested as I babbled on about the latest new wave or alternative band.
I certainly love my iPod, iTunes, mp3s, but they’ve helped me grow lazy as a music fan. I no longer run out to the record store when things come out. I don't listen to as much new music. I no longer pour over album art and notes. I'm not as much of a completist as I once was. I no longer have to have every album, every song, and every version.
As one of my favorite songwriters, Morrissey of The Smiths sang, “don't forget the songs that made you cry, and the songs that saved your life…Yes, you're older now
And you're a clever swine, But they were the only ones who ever stood by you.”
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