Hello Seattest readers, and welcome to what I think is the only time I've ever mentioned Rod Stewart in the entire time I've been writing this blog.
One of the reasons why I’ve been running a low-grade depression lately is because of stories like this: aka Old Farts Buy Music, Too.
I was born in 1960, which, depending on which demographer you care to put faith in, was either the tail end of the dreaded Baby Boom or the lost group between the Boomers and the equally dreaded Gen X. There are portions of both generations I can identify with, but on the whole I think I feel most comfortable with the latter, if I have to come down on one side or the other. Still, since my alleged cohort also includes the, um, more aged grouping, I feel that I have to wave the finger toward whoever signed off on that stupid story in the first place.
I’ve got a lot more to say on this subject than I can righteously spit out under the amount of quality bourbon I have on board at the moment, but let me just say here that there are those among us who may or may not qualify for Boomer status who have absolutely no interest whatsoever in what Rod Stewart or James Taylor, to name but two possible artists, have to say these days. I will cop to having bought the “new” Neil Young live album, as well as the first Crazy Horse album, (and at some point, if I can get my shit together, I have plans to go into both at great length), and to still digging more psychedelia than is perhaps proper in one so advanced in age (or maybe not, I guess), but I’ll be fucked if I’m ready to jump whole-heartedly onto (or under) the great rolling nostalgia wagon that seems to crush my cohort under its wheels with such apparently predictability. The day you see me buying a Rod Stewart album any newer than, say (off the top of my head) Never A Dull Moment, I hereby give you permission to shoot me on sight. All I ask for is a headshot, please.
(I'm giving Tony Bennett a pass because, while I don't really have much use for his music, every interview I've ever seen with him makes him out to be an OK guy.)
ADDED 11/24: I posted this response earlier today. Just in case you don't look around the site while you're here, here it is again -
I got linked on Seattlest yesterday. The guy decided to latch onto one part of my last post and twist it so’s he could make a “ha ha, old farts listen to old music” snark at my expense.
Well, yes, I do sometimes listen to old stuff. I even go out and buy it from time to time, either to fill a hole in my collection or because I’ve got the vinyl and can’t be arsed to rip it to the computer. I freely confess this.
I also listen to proportionally more new music than I do old. That was kinda the point of that particular piece, actually – that there are those of us of a certain age who don’t want to be spoon-fed the pre-chewed pablum we’re “supposed” to be into. The Mountain doesn’t get it for us. Not much of a point, maybe, but it was right there in plain sight.
I’m not trying to prove my hipster cred, mostly because I don’t have any. As the philosopher said, I yam what I yam and that’s all what I yam. I <em>do</em>, however, take exception to being quoted out of context. You wanna take a shot at me, be my guest. I’ve got plenty of foibles to choose from. All I ask is that you get it right. Or, in other words: rise above the cheap shot, motherfucker.
Comments