"Just look at the charts for the last 10 years....Yeah look at em... Britney and Mariah will out sell 99% of them all.....MANY times over."

Like he said: The dumbing down of America.......

Bill Cain:

Mike Lindsey:

I would rather sit in a corner and stab myself with a fork than have to listen to that. 

Have you considered a spoon?

"I'm sorry Mr. Hendrix.  Your enunciation is profoundly lacking." 

You lost me there...

American Idol Is unique entertainment. Love it or hate it, not much room in between. For me it was a great time to share with my daughter each week. It provides excellent oppurtunities to talk to her about not only different music types and the artists that performed them, but also that your dreams can come true. It also shows that you can not come in first and still feel good about yourself.

I am still trying to figure out what to tell her about the goofy auditions. Although strangly entertaing, I try to shellter from them.

For the aspiring singers, they have alot of guts to get up in front of millions and risk embarresment like forgotten lyrics. Sometimes life can be as simple as being in the right place at the right time. I think that Daughtry could front many of today's edgy sounding rock bands.

IndyKlipschFan:

Twisting your quote...Seti 

Just because it sucks to the masses and does not sell, does it make it "good" too...  LOL

It just means it is palatable for the non connected who found a voice which I also find boring 90% of the time. See The Ramones below...

Just look at the charts for the last 10 years....Yeah look at em... Britney and Mariah will out sell 99% of them all.....MANY times over.

I just watched a movie on the story and impact of The Ramones. End of the Century    So let's look at The Ramones.. A whole generation in 80's fashion punk singers and musicians based on that one band alone? But just a few, if I am gracious, ok songs..  

 

Description:
The film's timeline begins in 1968, years before the band's formation in the Forest Hills section of Queens, with the boys hanging around the neighborhood playground. It ends shortly after their induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2002 and Dee Dee's death from a drug overdose. Among the rare footage in the film is a September 1974 performance in which the band is dressed in a more glam-rock fashion than their signature ripped jeans and leather jackets.

Longer description by Colin Geddes:
New York City was caught off guard in 1974 by the angry scream of punk. Raw and unrestrained, it was a sharp contrast to the soothing banality of soft rock and disco. At the forefront of the scene were The Ramones: looking like they had leapt out of a Saturday morning cartoon, they were a grotesque version of The Monkees, strung out on sugar-coated cereal as they ripped through three-chord songs about sniffing glue, the neighbourhood, teenage sex and angst.

End of the Century: The Story of The Ramones is a chronicle of a band whose influence reaches over two generations of musicians. They were kids who grew up together, a gang of misfits united in the belief in salvation and deliverance through the power of rock'n'roll. True pioneers of the punk DIY (do-it-yourself) philosophy, they just picked up instruments and played - talent be damned!

It was a rocky road for the pseudo-brothers: the success that always seemed around the corner continually faded in the distance, as they were robbed of the title of the originators of punk by the British bands they inspired. The film's title refers to their 1980 album of the same name, produced by the infamous, gun-toting, hit song guru Phil Spector - an endeavour that strained the already tenuous relation between band members. Alcohol and substance abuse divided them further and poor record sales turned dreams of rock glory into gigging as a means of employment.

First-time filmmakers Michael Gramaglia and Jim Fields shared a love for punk through their high school days and their passion is evident in this candid portrait of a band torn by power struggles and consequences of the lifestyle. Never straying too far from the immediate subject, End of the Century moves from the band's early years, through to the deaths of Joey and Dee Dee and their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Together with unseen live and studio footage, extensive interviews with the ex-bandmates, family, friends and figures from New York City's punk scene, End of the Century not only documents an important chapter in music history, but also chronicles the bonds of childhood friendship and their gradual breakdown.
Colin Geddes

You'll just have to excuse me as I have been grumpy about popular music for a while. When I turn on the radio I can't relate. Maybe it is just me with the problem and everything on the radio is golden. It is possible I just pray it isn't : )

You know I get chastised when I tell me friends I think the Ramones were terrible. Yet again just an opinion.  Yeah they do get credit for being one of the first punk bands and I admire their attitude but I didn't like them that much.  The Clash were one of my favorite punk bands but they were on the brit side and they were two similar punk movements. It all started in New York with Velvet Underground 1965, The Stooges 1967, and New York Dolls 1971 to name a few. Then it spread to London like wildfire. The worst band out of the lot were the sex pistols. At least the punk movement was interesting but there was some crap there as well. Hard to imagine bands like Talking Heads emerged from that scene.

I must say there is something to be liked from every musical genre. There is good to be found everywhere but sometimes you have to really dig. Personally I like bands with sparks of passion and originality. I try to explore other cultures for new music as well. Lately it has been African High Life jazz influenced music and Italian space age bachelor pad music like the transistors. 

It would be nice if there was more diversity. This is one reason satalite radio is so cool. You just pick a genre and it plays any song from any album wether it is a "hit" or not. I have found new bands in genres I thought I knew too well.

At least there is enough good music out there to find : ) Nothing better than finding a new sound that just makes you happy. 

sunburnwilly:

I don't watch the actual competition but I do enjoy watching the auditions .

I love a good train wreck !!!

OH YES!!!

I love the auditions too. Now that's entertainment! LMAO (I stop watching after the first few weeks when the comp starts to get........... good(?))

You see, I was a big Gong Show fan.  There were some great "out take" tapes around. I remember the hard R rated tape. Man, what some people will do on a stage. Too much.

Mike Lindsey:

Bill Cain:

Mike Lindsey:

I would rather sit in a corner and stab myself with a fork than have to listen to that. 

Have you considered a spoon?

"I'm sorry Mr. Hendrix.  Your enunciation is profoundly lacking." 

You lost me there...

The first line was in response to your using a fork; spoons are much more forgiving.

The second line was a continuing comment about how AI would treat former performing legends.

tigerwoodKhorns:

Howard:"Since you've already given your judgemen, I can reveal that this isn't Scott, but rather Josey Scott, who wrote and performed on the song "Hero" and is also in the band Saliva. So what does that tell you?"
Simon: "That we have absolutely no idea what we are doing."

vnzbd:

For me it was a great time to share with my daughter each week. It provides excellent oppurtunities to talk to her about not only different music types and the artists that performed them, but also that your dreams can come true. It also shows that you can not come in first and still feel good about yourself.

Can't argue with that sentiment nor your using the opportunity to share your love and knowledge of music with your daughter using an avenue she can relate to. It's probably the most wonderful use of an ongoing train wreck I've ever heard of and you should be commended. I'm not being snide nor snarky in this comment, I really do think you are doing a good thing here.

I also can appreciate but not agree with Dtel's Wife, Indy and Cain appreciation for this show. In a venue full of audiophiles they have demonstrated their integrity by honestly expressing themselves. 

BUT! (you knew there'd be a rant in here somewheres)

Only the brain dead lobotomized  inbred offspring of couplings between donkeys and carnival barkers could bring us such an overblown exhibition of no-talent, tasteless, moronic rendering of  insipid, over-emoting warbling our fallen civilization has ever experienced.

Faithful observers of the show, and I am certainly not one of them, could only conclude that the artists that originally recorded these songs these parvenu's cant at us had no grasp of human emotions, rhyme or meter, and probably composed them in 3rd grade or shortly before they entered a home for "Those who Have Gotten Very Old and Lost Their Minds".

Following the lead of Mike Lindsey, as I compose these words I am also sharpening a heretofore dull fork into a deadly blade which I will repeatedly thrust into my groin should I ever find myself watching a whole episode of this dreck.

One can only hope Dupont starts manufacturing Napalm again for a surgical strike on their studios prior to next years debut. 

Islander:

The show seems to be about wannabe performers imitating actual artists/performers, without any of the originals' scary (to the mainstream culture) creativity and willingness to be different.

Carrie Underwood has released some wonderful songs, and like MOST solo performers, doesn't write her own material.

Josh Gracin is still going to do alright over time.

I am quite surprised at how sophisticated the country music audience is becoming. (Except for GW, maybe... ) I am often appalled at the stupid and tacky country songs, but there are great songs in that genre.

Reminds me of seeing Maura O'Connell live, and she said people would come up to her and say, "Oh, you're just a singer." A lot of these are JUST singers, but they are very good at it, taking someone else's lyrics and molding them/interpreting them and making them their own.

I think you all would mostly be as rough as Simon Cowell. 

Bruce 

Marvel:

Islander:

The show seems to be about wannabe performers imitating actual artists/performers, without any of the originals' scary (to the mainstream culture) creativity and willingness to be different.

I don't think Crosby or Sinatra necessarily wanted to be different. They just wanted to be good.

mike stehr:

"Just look at the charts for the last 10 years....Yeah look at em... Britney and Mariah will out sell 99% of them all.....MANY times over."

Like he said: The dumbing down of America.......

Islander:

Pop music can be great or really not great, but why a song's a hit can be a mystery. 

True.

What I would use as a litmus test is the value of collectable vinyl, not the crap that made the top 40.

Top 40 music was never played at teen dances in Pittsburgh.  It was just crap.

We searched junkpiles and old record stores for our music.  Today, that stuff is worth much more than anything from American Bandstand.

AI is just a new version AB.

seti:

I must say there is something to be liked from every musical genre. There is good to be found everywhere but sometimes you have to really dig. Personally I like bands with sparks of passion and originality. I try to explore other cultures for new music as well. Lately it has been African High Life jazz influenced music and Italian space age bachelor pad music like the transistors. 

 It would be nice if there was more diversity. This is one reason satalite radio is so cool. You just pick a genre and it plays any song from any album wether it is a "hit" or not. I have found new bands in genres I thought I knew too well.

 At least there is enough good music out there to find : ) Nothing better than finding a new sound that just makes you happy.

Oh yes!  There is indeed quite a bit of good music out there, but you do indeed have to find it. Thank God for the internet and satellite radio!  I can't even begin to count how many awesome new bands that I've never even heard about simply from surfing the internet or hearing something on satellite radio.  For example, I have an account on eMusic, with which I've found an downloaded a ton of stuff.  Also love listening to internet radio (friggan AOL of all things has this totally kick-@$$ power metal station on thier "AOL Radio" service that I love to listen to!) 

Unfortunatly, my experience is that I am not finding the good music on the so-called "mainstream" media, such as terrestrial FM radio, nor on TV, including "American Idol".  I just find myself not enjoying any of that pop tripe they keep parading out on that Godforsaken show.  I think I barely managed to sit through one episode and vowed that I'd never do that again!  Another example was that New Years Eve countdown thing they have with D ick Clark (edit - seems our naughty word bannisher is getting a bit over zealous here).  This past one, I found myself muting it out on nearly every song that was played on there.  As soon as the ball dropped, I killed the TV and went to bed - enough of that tripe!

To find an "Idol" artist that I actually cared about, I ended having to watch, via internet, a version of "Idol" from another country!  "Finnish Idol", that is, to see Ari Koivunen belt out some pretty kick-@$$ heavy metal songs, including "Fullmoon" by Sonata Arctica (video of Sonata Arctica themselves performing this - can you imagine THAT being done on "American Idol"?  BTW, thier most recent album, Unia, friggan totally kicks some serious @$$!) and "Hunting High and Low" by Stratovarious (Video).  Despite getting negative reviews from all the judges, due to constantly picking heavy metal songs, the public disagreed and kept voting him on to continue.  He ultimately managed to win the entire thing!  There used to be a YouTube video of his performance singing the Sonata Arctica song, which was in the finals, but alas, can't seem to find it anymore (probably has since been taken down).  I've even managed to get ahold of a copy of his album Fuel For The Fire, which was not easy as it has never been released in the US, which I found to be pretty darn good.  Somehow, I don't think he would make it past the first round in "American Idol", simply due to the different culture of the whole thing.  I don't know how the American public would take to something like that!  Agast!  Heavy Metal on an 'Idol" show - the horrors!  Who would've thunk?   I doubt Simon Cowell would even know what to do with himself if somebody got up there and started belting out some Iron Maiden (which Ari also did BTW!), for example, let alone a lesser known band such as Sonata Arctica.  Says something about my taste in music, though!  Will buy an album from an "Idol" artist from another country, which was never released in this country, yet I would not even give two nickels nor the time of day for any of the artists nor thier albums that came from the "Idol" show in this country!  Heck, I won't even waste the bandwidth and harddrive space to download any of them off a pirate torrent site, either!

As far as the big numbers of albums sold that was quoted above, I still go by the old adage - because something is popular, does not mean it is also good. Look at Bose!   Need I say more?

skonopa:

As far as the big numbers of albums sold that was quoted above, I still go by the old adage - because something is popular, does not mean it is also good. Look at Bose!   Need I say more?

Great analogy.

IB Slammin:

OH YES!!!

I love the auditions too. Now that's entertainment! LMAO (I stop watching after the first few weeks when the comp starts to get........... good(?))

You see, I was a big Gong Show fan.  There were some great "out take" tapes around. I remember the hard R rated tape. Man, what some people will do on a stage. Too much.

Oh now you've mentioned the gong show.

There was a band called Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boing later known as Oingo Boingo. I was more a fan of the early material. They tried to recreate European street circus and had an amazing time. Check out this rare clip on youtube. It is crazed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTRd1a5MVMw