ellis@FLAIRMAX.UUCP (Michael Ellis) (09/04/83)
In a recent article, uw-june!eli asked:
<<What's so cool about forsaking your own musical tastes so as to
constantly be bucking the popular trend?>>
It seems clear to me that most people's musical taste is based on what
gets played, and is subject to manipulation by money music interests.
There are a few weirdos out there whose ears pick up at unusual, seldom
heard sounds -- and are disappointed should an artist establish some
boring `successful formula'. Once a sound has become commonplace enough
to be `climbing the charts', it has by definition ceased to be unusual.
Besides, there are more than enough people out there buying the same
records over and over again -- I'd much rather send my bucks to the
hungrier, creative noise-makers for whom the music comes first and not
the money.
My favorite radio station (KFJC) has a policy (more or less) of playing
new music until it becomes popular on the commercial stations, then
dropping it. The idea is to support those who deserve it the most and to
avoid the dreary repetition of overplayed `successful' music.
-michael