Random Thoughts, Part 1

Listening to the radio on the way to work Saturday, heard one of my favorite shows - "The Big Bandstand" on KSER (90.7). Music of the '20s, '30s, and '40s. (Then I find that it's on the same time as the reggae show on another station. Curse you, programming gods!) So I bounce back and forth, and let me tell you, THAT'S a mash-up you won't believe!

I wondered, why does big band music still have the ability to keep me entertained? It's rhythmically stilted, sentimental, and completely out of sync with our current time. I mean, there's so much junk on the airwaves now, and yet the big band era shines -- what's up with that?

I think it boils down to math and history, two of my worst subjects. Nobody knows what's going to be a hit, so the record companies throw as much as they can against the wall to see what sticks. Working at record stores I'd see so many new releases that couldn't possibly make it onto the charts, a mixture of mimicry (sounds like another band that's a hit!) and test-tube experimentation (let's mix hip-hop with metal and see what happens...) and sometimes it works. Who knows? (I ignored the cynical American Idol machine.)

History (mostly) sifts through the chaff and leaves us with the wheat. I think the reason why big band music sounds so good is because time has let the crap fall by the wayside. I mean, the radio show covers the '20s, '30s and '40s -- 30 years and we usually draw from, what, 300 or so tunes?

"Not so fast, smartypants", you're thinking, "following your line of reasoning, that would mean that classical music would now be boiled down to the best of the best of the best." Well, yes, you might think so, but composers relied on selling their music to publishers, who then sold the sheet music to performers. Let's just say, they wrote more than they sold, they wrote like machines to give the public more of what they liked, and earnest scholars dig through dusty libraries to unearth hidden "gems", as yet unrecorded. Well buddy, there's a reason they should remain unrecorded....

More on publishing and why many of your favorite bands members hate each other next time!