I'm sorry, folks, but.. "Smooth Jazz" is not Jazz - it's just really bad new age bullshit (not that there isn't good New Age bullshit). To those of you are only into "Classic Rock", get a life. As much as I love Jimi Hendrix, music has evolved. It's not 1968 anymore. Go buy some new CD's. To those of you who despise Rap, look past the stereotypes. It's poetry put to music. Rap, as a genre, has great potential. Unfortunately, it's an industry dominated by uneducated, gold chain-wearing little boys who are more concerned with how macho they look (yo yo) than the work itself. If you think I'm implying some statement of race, sorry - rap is black and white. I like the PROMISE of what it could be (Kerouac would have loved it), but.. there are only a handful of artists who have come close to fleshing out its potential (Outkast, Cee Lo, Nappy Roots, Goodie Mob - even De La Soul back in the 80's) have put out some great stuff. If all I heard was Snoop Dog or Eminem's more ... vitriolic banter, well... I guess that I, too, would close my eyes and ignore it before I started grabbing my crotch and calling my "bitch ass girl" a "ho". I mean.. I don't mind telling her to "back that ass up", but show the girl some respect. Thing is... it does have potential - if you listen. Rap just needs a literate spark. I think Eminem is tremendously talented. It's just too bad that he's still caught up in trying to prove how tough he is; maybe one day he'll grow up.
With music (or film)... you have to open your mind. Don't block out Opera just because you can't understand what they're singing. Puccini composed some of the most incredible music, but if you're going to be ignorant enough to hate it because it doesn't come with a value meal translation - you don't deserve it! Don't boycott foreign films just because you don't want to... "read". "Cinema Paradiso" and "Three Seasons" are two of the most beautiful films I've ever seen. Don't put off listening to African dance music just because you think African music is "tribal" and "primitive". Jazz, Blues, Country - they all have evolved from other cultures. Jazz and Blues came to us from Africa and Country sprang from the Irish. Besides, you're just going to miss out on some of the most amazing music you'll ever hear. If you think Country music is Toby Keith and Shania Twain, well... how sad for you. That means you've never listened to Emmylou Harris - or Matraca Berg! The best music should, by default, leave you speechless. I still remember the first time I heard Springsteen's "Born To Run" album in its entirety. I remember how I sat there for hours, mumbling .. "Oh my God". I couldn't believe how someone could take this ... "Rebel Without a Cause" poetry and infuse it with such raw, blinding emotion. It was as if everything I ever felt or wanted to feel was contained within that album. I remember where I was when I first heard Orchestra Baobob - the legendary Senegalese dance band. It was so exquisitely melodic. Or.. the time I heard Sarah Brightman singing "Time to Say Goodbye". I walked up to the clerk and demanded to know what the hell that was that I just heard. Great art is great art - be it a blockbuster or an Indie film that nobody has ever heard of. It knows no boundaries.
Barry Manilow. You mention this guy's name and people laugh. John Denver. Same thing. But.. why? They've written some fantastic music over the years. "Weekend in New England" is one of my favorite tunes. "Annie's Song" is heartbreakingly sweet. Yeah, ok.. they LOOK like dorks. So what. Brian Wilson has mental problems. Sinatra was an ass. Beethoven was mad. Mozart was a flake. Tom Waits is a drunk. Greatness isn't a GQ fashion shoot. It's not a debate performance. You don't like someone (or, well.. you SHOULDN'T) because they're ... "cool" or .. "wholesome" or .. whatever. You appreciate what's good and discard the rest. Is Barry Manilow a great songwriter? You're fucking right he is. A bit sappy, perhaps.. but oh well. Open your mind and then judge...