rcd@opus.UUCP (03/12/84)
I doubt that anyone who knows or cares anything about audio equipment or
music has missed the "phenomenon of the century", the Compact audio Disc
(CD). If we are to believe its strongest proponents, it is the best thing
to happen to sound reproduction in at least fifty years - which strongly
suggests that its the best thing to happen to its proponents in fifty years.
Don't misunderstand me; I think that the CD is an important innovation in
audio technology - but it's being used as a substitute for something else
we need more, namely some decent new music (rock in particular).
Put down that torch (for a moment). I know that there are creative,
talented individuals and groups. Even this DeadHead is glad to hear the
likes of Mark Knopfler's thoughtful lyrics and impeccable guitar. I'm
happy to hear more from Chrissy Hine. Dylan seems to have his head back
together again after all these years. But there's not enough of them to
fill up a reasonable radio broadcast day, and the rest of the swill we get
to hear is monotonous, repetitious, and ineptly performed. I'd say it
reminds me of the late 50's, except that I was only in gradeschool then and
could appreciate it (it suited a 9-year-old's level of maturity); moreover,
it had some feeling to it (other than the drive for money), and the talent
level was probably better (since there weren't electronic percussion
whiz-bang boxes to make a sense of rhythm unnecessary). Today's mainstream
rock groups can barely muster a half dozen chords and two dozen words per
song - so they repeat chords and lyrics until the required three or four
minutes have passed. I can give examples aplenty, but I don't want to step
on some toes harder than others.
The bottom line is that these neorockwimps need something other than talent
or energy to prop them up - so what they use is technology. The CD is the
BIG THING - it doesn't matter if the percussion for your group is an
overworked/underpaid Z-80 that makes sounds like a popcorn popper in a
Saturday TV cartoon, because that inane sound emerges from the utter
silence of >90 dB signal-to-noise ratio. (And, of course, there's the
"videos". The best [<5%] are excellent, but the rest...) So, it seems,
Marshall McLuhan was right - the medium IS the message.
--
{hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd