Nobody Puts Tay-Tay in a Corner

If you're an alternative music fan, just stop reading now. Please. If you continue and get a stomachache, don't say I didn't warn you. I like alternative. I listen to a lot of it. But that's not what this post is about. This post is about TAYLOR SWIFT. Okay, now that's done, we can move on.

Quite a few years ago, I was at a David Grisman concert when he asked the question of the audience "How many of you like pop music?" Of course no one would admit to it who was there, including me, being as I am not the sort to jump up in front of everyone and proclaim that the first record I ever purchased with my own money was a 45 of Goody Goody Gumdrops by The 1910 Fruitgum Company (just remembering the name of this band makes one cool by default, so there). However, two decades and many Hot 100 hits later, I can answer David with an unapologetic "Yes, I like pop music"! That doesn't mean I only like pop music, just as the fact that I like hamburgers doesn't mean I don't also like pan-roasted filet mignons with potato-walnut confit, port wine reduction, stilton cheese, and shallot rings. And that's where Taylor Swift comes in...

There is a part of me that really wants to dislike Taylor Swift. It's the part of me that appreciates John Hiatt for rhyming "kiss" and "somnambulist" or The Decemberists for the line "Queen of supply-side bonhomie bone-drab". And it's the part of me that went along with everyone else at the concert mentioned earlier. Big problem here though: I can't. As much as I want to run away somewhere far, far out of earshot near the beginning of "We are Never Ever Getting back Together" I can't. Why? Because I like pop music. and Taylor Swift is pop music. After listening to 1989, it's clear once and for all. Nobody does this kind of stuff better than T-Swizzle. Not Katy, not Lady Ga-Ga and definitely not Miley. This particular brand of pop is owned by Ms. Swift, with nary a contender even waiting in the wings to step in and assume the throne.

What is it about Tay-Tay that we hate to love? It really amounts to what it is about pop music that keeps us listening: it makes us feel good. Despite what you may be thinking, I'm never going to confuse "Deep Red Bells", a Neko Case number about the Green River Killer that contains the line

A hand print on the driver's side

It looks alot like engine oil

and tastes like being poor and small

And popsicles in summer

with

And all you're ever gonna be is mean

Why you gotta be so mean?

because that isn't the point. The point is which song you'd rather listen to on a hot summer day blasting along the road or swimming in the pool, and therein lies the attraction. Pop songs have the ability to sweep us along on a tide of pure positive emotion, if only for 3 minutes and 17 seconds at a time, and the best ones can do that over and over again. The litmus test for pop has always been which song sticks in your head most immediately, hence the "hook" of popular songwriting, and again, it's all Taylor lately, as witness the repeated chorus "areweoutofthewoodsyetareweoutofthewoodsyetareweoutofthewoods" playing in my brain while writing this post.

So, for the haters, just stop already and listen to what makes you happy. For the 1989ers - never mind, that's a whole other post. For the rest of us, (that includes you too, David) remember, don't put Tay-Tay in a corner. You can enjoy the summery pop confections and the musical gourmet dishes both, they're not mutually exclusive.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and listen to some Neko Case.

The Finer Points of Frequency Modulation

There is, among a certain age group, a

tendency to dismiss all things 70's, including the music, as a green shag carpet, that symbol of bad taste that has come to represent an entire decade. While no one could reasonably argue with the idea that there was a lot of schlock that passed for pop music during those years, that has been true of each succeeding decade as well, as witness 80's Hair Bands and the proliferation of teen angst Nirvana imitators in the 90's. It may be too painful just yet to talk about the aughts, so we'll leave that for a further removed historical perspective, but along with some very exceptional new stuff there was also some really icky music around, and you know who you are.

I was reminded of all this over the weekend, the soundtrack to which was

provided by, what else, a soundtrack, from the movie FM. FM came at the end of

the 70's and so had almost the entire stretch to draw from. Admittedly,

this film was not the best example of American cinema, though it did highlight a

situation that had changed the on-air musical landscape forever, that being that by the end of the decade the positioning of business interests over programmers expertise and intuition as the determining factor in how much airplay a song

or genre would receive was complete. But back to the music itself.

Beginning with the ultra-cool "FM" (still no static at all, of course) by Steely

Dan, the two discs take us through a pastiche of hits from mostly the '75-'78

years. Some of the cuts, like Queens "We Will Rock You" or "Cold as Ice" by

Foreigner received so much airplay back then that it's still not easy to listen

to them (especially since, as a dee jay for a few years during the period, I'm

partially to blame). But others, such as the two songs from Becker and

Fagen, the aforementioned "FM" as well as "Do It Again" from 73's

Reeling in the Years, showcase what was arguably their best creative

period. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers "Breakdown" previews what would be a decade of tight ,tuneful rock and roll plus massive chart presence from that outfit, while the lesser known "There's a Place in the World For a Gambler" is actually a better song than any of Dan Fogelberg's later commercial successes. And as an added bonus, listening to these might lead one to some real 70's gems, like Patti Smith or Warren

Zevon. All highly subjective of course, but there you have it:

the 70's weren't all bad.

Or maybe I'm just looking at green shag through very large rose-colored sunglasses.

Dan Fogelberg – There's A Place In The World For A Gambler