Why do 18-20 year olds (and younger) not know the classics?

When I was young, I liked some contemporary music, but preferred stuff from the 60s and 70s. I liked both old and new television, and mostly preferred contemporary movies. My mother objected to video games, so I never had an Atari and I never felt like blowing my allowance at the arcade, when the record store was right down the hall, so I never got into them.

 

That's hard to argue... It was pretty bad in decades past too.

 

It certainly wasn't the best time to go through puberty. AIDS! AIDS! AIDS! Sex kills. Wear a mouth condom before French Kissing.

 

My 10 year old daughter was walking through the mall with my wife and they were piping in Top 40. She said, "you know, I don't hate it, but it all sounds the same."

 

I'm 28 years old and I'm not as familiar with "the classics" as I probably should be. I'm definitely a big Neil Young fan, but I know I've got a lot of catching up to do when it comes to classic rock in the 70s. Why wasn't I ever into it? Mostly because when I was first getting into playing guitar, I was in a school 'guitar club' and a lot of the kids in that club ONLY played (or were only interested in) Zeppelin/Stones/Floyd, and I found those people and their choices incredibly boring.

So if I ever run into Jimmy Page or Roger Waters, I'll have to apologize... "Hi, I'm not familiar with your work because Brian in the 9th grade never shut up about you."

 

I swear, the practice of sticking "-core" at the end of a word to come up with a new music genre tag (or style names more generally) must be one of Gen X's most lasting contributions to popular culture.

 

Errrr. Lincoln, Kennedy, Civil Right era, the 60s.... I don't think they exactly whipped this "equality" idea last year on their own.

I think if you time traveled past to 1965 you'd hear kids saying "My old man is so out of touch with this generation. They don't know we're all a brotherhood, man! Right on!" Arrogant to think tolerance began with this generation. Every generation insists they're the "enlightened" one -- that's youth, not wisdom speaking.

 

Not in the U.S..

That's your opinion, not a fact.

 

And teen pregnancy was still an epidemic.

 

You all are talking about how kids today don't know the classic, but how many of you guys know the classics before you were born? How many of you know the classics that are not guitar rock?

 

When I was a teenager, I only knew about music from my own childhood/teen years (with a few exceptions, mainly music I heard via my parents). It wasn't until my mid twenties that I actively started seeking out music from before I was born.

 

I do, and did when I was young. Not everything, but a great deal more than my classmates. It helped having a father that was music obsessed.

 

Heck, I had my daughter dancing around to cartoon-y 1920's Duke Ellington and 1930's Raymond Scott music when she was in kindergarten. "Play the Duke, Daddy!" she used to say to me.

But your point is well-taken. I know a lot of music collectors whose musical interest is wide but not especially deep.

 

When I was a little kid I loved 1950s rock, I loved old Hollywood musicals, I loved Nat King Cole, I loved big band swing...I also loved KISS, Queen, ELO and whatever rock stuff was playing on late 70s radio.

In my teenage years in the 80s I was really into metal...but I was also really into exploring 60s psychedelia, 70s progressive rock, jazz fusion and classical. I would have friends come over and they would be confused when I'd play R.E.M., John McLaughlin and Slayer back to back.

Then in my 20s my musical tastes expanded even more.

Why are kids today unfamiliar with the classics? They didn't grow up in an era when radio was the main way to get introduced to new music. For them to become exposed to it someone needs to play it for them. If they only hang out with their friends and they all listen to the same stuff on Spotify or whatever how are they going to be exposed to music they aren't familiar with? Also, in the 70s when i was discovering music there weren't a lot of other distractions...we had 3 television channels that came over the antenna...no video games...no internet...no smart phones...very little money to purchase records...so the radio stayed on all day long. The modern world isn't like that anymore, there are so many distractions and so many entertainment options competing for our time that just "sitting still and listening to music" is frankly an alien concept to most people under age 30.

 

In the 70s, young people knew the Marx Brothers and W.C. Fields, but today most of them only know the Three Stooges. One person even thought that the Stooges were the only comedians making films then. Funny that you can picture kids today listening to 50-year old music like the Beatles and the Beach Boys, but when I was a kid 50 years ago NO other kids besides me listened to the 50 year old music I listened to-creaky sounding acoustic records, with some good electrics thrown in. I was a big nostalgia buff, and one day at my neighbors I was talking about 1930s movies, and the neighbors' Mother said "Why can't he live in the Twentieth Century?" I got really annoyed-THE 1930s WAS THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.

 

In the 80s I'd go to the video store to rent movies and would invariably pick up a Hitchcock flick, or Frank Capra or Preston Sturges and my friends would *groan* that I'd dare rent something that OLD.

 

That's your opinion, please keep in mind that her opinion is decidedly different. Neither of you are right or wrong. I'm just recalling when my father took me to task for listening to rock music("it's just noise, they can't sing, etc") and I almost went that way when my son was listening to what he likes. I thankfully took a step back, realizing that any generations's music will be abhorred by the previous one.

 

I cannot tell you guys how much I can't stand it when people say "That is your opinion." I don't think anybody ever insinuated otherwise, so please stop it. It doesn't need to be said and just makes people sound like arseholes.

..And that's my opinion.

 

I don't think that's necessarily a conscious decision. People tend to identify with the types of music that they're exposed to while growing up, especially their teenage years. That soundscape is all tied in with the experiences of their peers, the good times, the loves, the pranks, and generally finding their way to adulthood.

At the same time, their brains are maturing, forming new connections and associations, which definitely applies to the shared music they're exposed to. Listening to music literally rewires your brain to recognize certain rhythms, structure, and conventions. These become hardwired over time, which is why 30 years later, you can recognize a certain 'classic' song just by hearing the opening few notes and it brings all the memories flooding back.

This is why, years later, new music which differs to the hardwired patterns you've acquired in your youth, doesn't sound as pleasing or emotional as the 'classics'.

Of course, there are differences amongst individuals, etc, but I feel that this underlying principle is a major factor.

 

I honestly thought I was going into another 60's / 70's rehash. Pleasantly surprised at the actual decade being discussed....but yeah I feel old too.

 

It's just a figure of speech to say that. I wouldn't have taken it so literally.

We say it because many people assert their opinion as fact.

I think you're right. Even today, I gravitate to new music that has elements of music I liked when I was younger. The majority of music I listen to when I was growing up was top 40 pop from the 60s and 70s, and R&B from the 60s and 70s. Throw in a healthy dose of jazz and some classical, and there you have the foundation for my taste in music. That is why I like "Uptown Funk" and Teenage Dream", and the last album from artists like Pearl Jam.

 

Same here. I find that most of the popular stuff these days has a vastly different structure. Songs don't have much variation - it's like continuous stream without the highs and lows or counterpoints and with a lot tortured ayoh-ayohs, etc, to which my brain simply does not respond. Yes, I know this can be seen as a generalization, but how else to sum it up?

What I find myself doing quite often these days is discovering new music by chasing down songs or snatches of songs that I hear (and like) while watching a TV show or movie. Then I listen to more from the same artist to see what else appeals. I remember discovering quite a few new (to me) songs/artists through watching Veronica Mars, for example.

 

My brain does respond, but the main reason pop music today sounds alike is because it's all created in Pro Tools, and they use generic sounds. If you want go get an idea of how it's done, watch the introduction to Pro Tools First video. Do a search. We really can't blame one thing for the sameness and lack of creativity. There's plenty of places to point the finger, from radio, to the producers, to the audience, to the record label. It's everyone's fault. The only way it's going to change is if everyone changes their thinking.

I listen to hit radio and keep listening until I hear stuff I like. I note what the song is, and/or who it's by, and track it down on the 'net. Then, I figure out the best way to buy it.

People I know are always getting me to listen to their alternative-type goth-black, or whatever it is they pull up on youtube, and it does nothing for me. But, I understand EDM.

 

Thanks, but I saw the Lorde Southpark episode(s)!

 

I feel sorry for ya, man!