But “world music” doesn’t sell here.   Granted, I don’t listen to the type of music that sells by the bushel in India or France or Japan.  Most of that is pop music of the ilk I can’t stand – even in my native tongue.  However, there are some amazing discs out there in foreign languages.   Sa Dingding’s “Alive” is a beautiful record sung in five different languages and French singer Anaïs recent album “Love Story” is a really fine piece of pop. Dervish is an Irish band who sings strictly in Gaelic.  I’ve even heard guys rap in Turkish, Arabic and French and it sounds great.   And we hear “world music” everyday!  If you’ve been to Cirque de Soleil you’ve heard it.  If you’ve listened to a soundtrack – say “Black Hawk Down” – you’ve heard it.   How many duets have you heard between some rock star and the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan? 

 However it still never catches fire here.  Do you think we – as Americans – get turned off by a foreign language?  I know myself that I’m more likely to pick up something from another country that’s instrumental than vocal.  Do we need to know the words?  Would I like Bon Jovi better if I DIDN’T understand the words (Lil’ Wayne too for that matter)?  Or is it just like soccer – since it’s not our sport, we’re really not that into it.

 Just a thought. 

How many foreign artists do you own?

Where do you find new music?

For me, it is mostly thru Pandora.com.   I’ve programmed my station at Pandora.com to be music I can listen to while working.  Since I’ve been “teaching” Pandora what music I like for almost 3 years now, it really is very suited to my taste.  I find new new music and old stuff I had never heard before.  But obviously limited by what I have seeded the station with.

I still listen to the radio sometimes.  My favorite stations are the non-commercial WPKN at the University of Bridgeport and the commercial station WEHM in Long Island which is very much an anomaly in commercial radio, just check out one of their playlists.  And every once in a while, I’ll actually hear something on a TV show or movie soundtrack (Once comes to mind) that I like.

I hardly ever try artists I’ve read about or someone else has recommended.    I need to hear an artist for the first time without any preconceived notions.

That’s it for me.  A very small universe to find new music in…

So what am I missing?  Where can you discover more new music?

So – where’s the music?

We just did CDs based on five decades of music.  Each of those decades had a sound that branded it – sometimes more than one.  Almost all of these forms sprang from the Youth of the day.  Some were in protest of the way things were.  Others were protesting the protests.  But all the forms were propelled by the “under 30” crowd.  Created by and for, bought and sold to the young.

The 1960s, of course, basically created music as we know it.  The Beatles, Beach Boys, Dylan and the Stones were basically genres themselves.  Rock (as opposed to rock ‘n roll) and Pop became the terms and offered numerous branches that still thrive today.

The 1970s gave us Glam Rock and Hard Rock (per Led Zepplin and others) and Prog Rock (or Art Rock).  There was the Singer/Songwriter genre and Bubblegum.  Then Disco and Punk toward the end of the decade – each the antithesis of the other.

The 1980s showed Punk move to New Wave.  Corporate Rock (Toto, Foreigner) and Hair Bands were products of MTV and a rebellion against punk and new wave.  The end of the decade showed a confusion of styles that would erupt later, but also the beginnings of Rap and Hip Hop.

The 1990s burst out with more rebellion from the 80s with Grunge, Alternative and even Alt-Country.  But the kids need to dance so Techno , Electronic and Industrial music developed and Goth blended the three together.  The main genre that really kicked in was Rap and Hip Hop, which swamped the charts and all other music forms.

Then you have the Oughts – the current decade…. Was there a movement?  Is Tween the operative term for music this decade?  Where was the rebellion?  What are we calling the sound of being under 30?  Sure – punk sort of came back via things like the Warped Tour.  But it was more a side act than a movement.  All the past genres have come back – even as Classic Rock from the 60s finds followers in a new generation.  But what is the sound?  When they do a retrospective of the decade – was has been born?  Are Britney, Beyonce and Miley the leading forces in music for this decade?  I mean – I know we are all old farts and pop music is not for us.  But as music historians, we should still be able to identify a trend.  A movement.  Youth’s creation of a new sound.

Was there one?

Rolling Stone actually ran an article a few issues back called “The Battle of the B-List Bands” which referred to competing bands touring on the “good name” of former big bands, like L.A. Guns, the Temptations, Guess Who and Asia. The article tried to assess which of the competing bands were truer to the band in its hey-day, either in terms of how many original members were currently touring or which band had more essential members. In some of the examples, there was no contest — of the two touring Asia bands, one has all four original members and the other has a guy who for a while filled in John Wetton’s spot as lead singer. Aptly stated by the writer, “if you have to see Asia, go original”.

This got me thinking of other bands who tour on what might have been a big name at one time, but whose current incarnation sullies the memory of that band. Take the likes of Foreigner, Boston and Styx, massive draws in the second half of the Seventies and early Eighties. Between them, they now tour with three original members (one in each band), and nary one with an original lead singer. While they might replicate the sound of their classic days musically, vocally they do not, and I’ve decided that this is a critical element of what I’ll call the “bad cover band” scenario. You can play the music in a note-for-note replica of the original, but, if the original singer is not there, don’t refer to yourself with the old band’s name. Foreigner was Lou Gramm, and, while Tom Scholz’s guitar is a huge element of Boston’s sound, so was the voice of the late Brad Delp. The music Boston made without him sucked.

Which brings me to the New Cars, who I must say fall into the bad cover band category, just not as bad as the bands I just mentioned. Sure, they didn’t just call themselves The Cars, and, yes, Todd is a whole lot better than the jokers singing with Boston, Foreigner and Styx, but, in the end, New Cars was just a higher-priced bad cover band. I saw the original Cars twice (in the same week in Boston before their first album came out), and the New Cars were much more energetic, but they were still a cover band.

A few bands are on the fence between bad cover band and evoking fond memories. Earth, Wind and Fire hang on because of the vocals of Phillip Bailey, although, with one or two exceptions, no one else was around in the band’s most popular period. The same can be said for Chicago — Robert Lamm and the horn section have been around since the beginning, but, even with guys who have been in the band longer than Terry Kath or Peter Cetera, would you even care about Chicago if it weren’t for the music made, played and sung by Kath and Cetera? I have to mention Journey (I just had to). I saw their latest version in this year’s Super Bowl pregame, the one that featured the fourth lead singer (I think) in the band’s history, and all I could think about was the Brady Bunch episode about Johnny Bravo. This latest guy hits the notes, but that’s about it. Each of these three have levels of bad cover band associated with them, Journey the closest of the three, and they might really be there.

There are a few bands out there who have most of their significant former selves still in the band who should still hang it up (and I invite everyone to add to this list). Take the Who … please. While Pete and Roger may be the brains and face of the band, they lost the heart and soul (Keith and John) long ago, and they should just retire. The same can be said for the Eagles — hell thawed out a long time ago, yet they continue to tour and make new records and take their fans’ money (not mine) to support the lifestyle to which they’ve become accustomed. And, yes, I think it may be time for Yes to hang it up. They plan a 40th anniversay tour, and Jon Anderson has to bow out with a respiratory problem. Rick Wakeman declines because he fears for Jon’s health, and his son takes his place. They hit the road with a Yes tribute band singer as Jon’s replacement, and Chris Squire is struck down and has to have surgery. I think it’s time to take their cue from Bill Bruford, who announced his retirement from performing this year. And, I would still pay to see Bruford … anytime, anywhere. These other guys … not so much.