Polluted Angels

I'm sure many of you are aware how easy it is to waste time on sites like Youtube.  First you look at some random clip, then you look at the "Similar videos" section, and then, four hours later...

This is pretty much what my Saturday Morning started with.  I'm not even sure what I was looking for.  I think I was looking for a random music video.  I got sidetracked and watched an REM/Bruce Springsteen video.  Then I watched a Patti Smith video.  Then I watched an Eric Clapton video.  Then I watched a Who video.  Wash, rinse, repeat.  Four hours later, I've watched 4 versions of Layla, 6 versions of Because the Night, 3 versions of My Generation, etc.  And of course, once you watch Youtube flicks of all these people, you have to wikipedia/google them.

There's two things that struck me on my crusade to learn about this stuff.  One is how much these bands influenced the punk movement.  There's even a category of music for them, according to wikipedia: protopunk.  Usually 60s/70s rock is seen as a separate entity from the punk movement that followed, but then (if you're old enough) you remember the guitar-smashing shows by The Who, and remember the late 60s, rebel-against-authority movement brought on by the Vietnam War, and you realize that punk in its current incarnation is just the evolution of the rock and roll movements of the late 60s and early 70s.  Like for example, if you were to pull out "Horses" by Patti Smith and friends, you would pretty clearly hear aspects of "punk" in her music.  And it just goes to show the ebb and flow of music in general - no matter who you are, no matter how brilliant you are, your past influences determine your current and future work as a musician/artist.

The other thing that struck me is the level of instrumental talent that was displayed by a lot of these people.  And this strikes me partly because although I am certainly entertained by all sorts of music, and I'm not about to denigrate their vocal skills (which for the most part are excellent), I still wonder who is this generation's Eric Clapton or Jimi Hendrix or Mark Knopfler are.  I know there's a few out there - The guitarists for Tool and Avenged Sevenfold come to mind.  Nonetheless, I still feel like there are fewer great instrumentalists today.  Maybe today's music is all about vocals and drums/rhythm, with less emphasis on guitars, saxophones, and (to a lesser extent) piano.  I don't really buy into the conclusion that musicians as a whole are less talented today - there's more people and more exposure, and that almost always means more talent.  Perhaps the market is somewhat flooded  with all the new media formats making it easier than ever to put your music out there.  Maybe the business people are exerting some of their power to homogenize popular music in the name of the dollar.  There are many possibilities.  For me, all I can do is hope that more of the good music finds my way in my ears, and that the bad stuff doesn't turn me into a jaded old fool.