Country Music

I don’t listen to much new music these days. I mean why would I? I have almost 75 years of rock and roll, my preferred major genre to listen to, but to be honest; rock and roll’s best days are probably behind it. Most things now are a variation of a theme. This is no criticism of modern bands. As Shakespeare himself said “there is nothing new under the sun”. And there are a number of bands this century that have grabbed me. I am talking The Hold Steady, Hockey Dad and Tame Impala for examples. But a lot of time I just can’t help hearing new rock bands and thinking “well that is good but it just reminds me of early XTC or Zeppelin” or whoever. I can’t help it. This is just part of being a baby boomer and yes, I know we can be annoying.

 But back then when the influences of the great African American music forms – jazz, the blues, and gospel merged with the local gumbo of folk and European roots music now known as country music to form rock and roll, well everything was fresh and new. Then in the 60s it exploded and in the 70s experimented and matured and then went back to grassroots somewhat in the 80s and then…. Well anyway I don’t listen to much new music anymore.

It’s not just the music but of course the way we find music and consume that is certainly a factor. It seems like now days you can listen on the radio to a constant stream of new music but only in broadly one genre. Or you can listen to endless repeats of old hits from the past. Once radio music, pop music and rock and roll were often one or at the very least co-existed. But now there are so many different ways to take in music that what you tend to find is a high degree of specialisation in the mediums. Look at the music played on the blokey Triple M FM station and its equivalents in the hit radio with NOVA. Bugger all cross over there but in the old days one station would play Rolling Stones to Barry Manilow, Skyhooks to Sherbet, Led Zeppelin to Labelle. It’s better on shows like good old Rage, digital radio like Double J and with community radio like Triple Z, 3RRR and 3PBS because they have different shows dedicated to different genres but why can’t you have a radio station that plays everything at once like the old days. Why couldn’t Thelma Plum, follow The Smith Street Band then Lemonade then Hilltop Hoods in a playlist?  Even streaming services try to work what you like based on preferences instead of saying cop this.

Like a lot of older rock music fans and by that I mean old white men I now spend more time exploring those roots of rock and roll. You’ve already met in previous blogs my friend the Jazzman, who listens to lots of stuff but has certainly spent more money on jazz than any other genre over the past twenty years. Or Vinylman who is more diverse in his tastes but whose spending seems to be driven by what old albums across any genre that he can pick up. Others embrace the blues and the new generation of players like Joe Bonamassa and Gary Clark Jnr, worthy talents to be sure, but in a genre that sometimes seems as rigid to me as classical music.

Me, I seem to be leaning far more into the country /singer songwriter area. It suits my taste. I love lyrics and country music always tells a story that is often personal. The light and shade is welcome and my favourite instruments are used. It’s not like I haven’t covered off the basics like Johnny Cash or Bob Dylan but it has always been in a greatest hits kind of way. So I am now greatly enjoying the newer generation of performers in these genres like Conor Oberst, Chris Stapleton and Waxahatchee, Alt country performers that I was slow to cotton on to like Townes Van Zandt, Drive-by Truckers, Wilco or Ryan Adams and the Australian versions like the excellent Halfway and the relevant albums from Taylor Swift.

This year’s two albums from Taylor Swift are actually great examples. Recorded in COVID isolation this year with key collaborators the stripped back style has some of the lyrical themes of her early country pop hits while also offering  both deeper self-reflection and more adult content. In sound the songs are a world away from the Taylor of “Shake It Off’ and “We Are Never Getting Back Together” but the immense song writing smarts are there. Taylor doesn’t always float my boat but this stuff I really enjoy. She knows her stuff and while her huge success as a pop star is perfectly understandable and deserved I don’t think she has peaked as a singer songwriter.

While I am on the subject “Shake It Off” is for my money the best pop song of this century. It fills all the criteria- insanely catchy melody, you can sing to it, dance to it, it is uplifting in its message, has a great film clip and it has sass. Plus almost 3 BILLION views on YouTube.

 If for no other reason than the royalty cheques I wish I had written it.

Scott’s 15 Best Pop Songs of the 21st Century so far in no real order after Shake It Off.

 I guarantee that Greatest Hits radio will be playing these in 2050 if we last that long.

Shake It Off – Taylor Swift

Call Me Maybe –Carly Rae Jephson

Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars

Firework – Katy Perry

Happy - Pharrell Williams

Mr Brightside – The Killers

Take Me Out-Franz Ferdinand

Single Ladies – Beyoncé

Rolling in the Deep – Adele

Are You Gonna be My Girl? – Jet

Royals – Lorde

Party in the USA- Miley Cyrus

Hey Ya – Outkast

Bad Guy – Billie Eilish

Dance Monkey- Tones and I