Things you take for granted
Oct. 21st, 2010 05:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jaunthieRecently, a friend and I (both about the same age, both the same gender) were talking about music we liked, and musical influences. We got to talking over our favorite bands, and particularly bands from the 1990's. She's a big fan of music from that era, as am I. So I started rattling off a few favorites - Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Screaming Trees, Mother Love Bone...
"Who?"
She didn't recognize either of the last two names. This startled me, to put it mildly, but I figured that it was just one of those cases where you don't remember the name of the band, but of course if you played one of their big radio hits, you'd get the "oh yeah, those guys!" responses. I'm like that myself; I'm really bad with names, but I rarely forget a tune.
So I played her some Screaming Trees - among others, one of my absolute favorites, Shadow of the Season:
(Apologies if the link doesn't work for you; go look it up on YouTube.)
And nope, no recognition on her part.
Whoa. This was ALL OVER the radio, at least the stations I listened to - and The Pirate and The Rock/The End (my most-listened-to stations at the time) were 1,800 miles apart. Both West Coast, but very different cities. I mean, yeah, Screaming Trees never achieved the same fame level as Soundgarden or Nirvana, but jeez, we're not talking "local favorites" only like Young Fresh Fellows or Goodness or Love Battery, or at least so I thought. But apparently the stations my friend listened to didn't play Screaming Trees, or at least not enough that she remembered them.
Weird.
And Mother Love Bone? Possibly more famous for the death of their lead singer (Andrew Wood) just days before their first album debuted nationally, and certainly the tribute album for him (Temple of the Dog) went ENORMOUSLY more famous than Apple, but still, I thought everyone heard Stardog Champion back in the day.
Just goes to show you that regional location really DOES make a difference, or at least it did back in the day. I have no idea how much of a difference it might make now with streaming stations and much more media conglomerate ownership and so on.
So...a few questions for you readers, assuming you made it this far.
A) Do you recognize either of those songs?
B) Who were you listening to in the early 1990's? (Assuming you were listening to anyone; that was a long time ago.)
C) Do you think there's still a lot of regional difference in what gets airplay in modern radio stations? (And I'm not talking about "local band hour" late-nights on weekends, I'm talking about regular station hours and playlists.)
D) Any "lost classics" you want to share, from that or any other era?
Food (and music) for thought.
"Who?"
She didn't recognize either of the last two names. This startled me, to put it mildly, but I figured that it was just one of those cases where you don't remember the name of the band, but of course if you played one of their big radio hits, you'd get the "oh yeah, those guys!" responses. I'm like that myself; I'm really bad with names, but I rarely forget a tune.
So I played her some Screaming Trees - among others, one of my absolute favorites, Shadow of the Season:
(Apologies if the link doesn't work for you; go look it up on YouTube.)
And nope, no recognition on her part.
Whoa. This was ALL OVER the radio, at least the stations I listened to - and The Pirate and The Rock/The End (my most-listened-to stations at the time) were 1,800 miles apart. Both West Coast, but very different cities. I mean, yeah, Screaming Trees never achieved the same fame level as Soundgarden or Nirvana, but jeez, we're not talking "local favorites" only like Young Fresh Fellows or Goodness or Love Battery, or at least so I thought. But apparently the stations my friend listened to didn't play Screaming Trees, or at least not enough that she remembered them.
Weird.
And Mother Love Bone? Possibly more famous for the death of their lead singer (Andrew Wood) just days before their first album debuted nationally, and certainly the tribute album for him (Temple of the Dog) went ENORMOUSLY more famous than Apple, but still, I thought everyone heard Stardog Champion back in the day.
Just goes to show you that regional location really DOES make a difference, or at least it did back in the day. I have no idea how much of a difference it might make now with streaming stations and much more media conglomerate ownership and so on.
So...a few questions for you readers, assuming you made it this far.
A) Do you recognize either of those songs?
B) Who were you listening to in the early 1990's? (Assuming you were listening to anyone; that was a long time ago.)
C) Do you think there's still a lot of regional difference in what gets airplay in modern radio stations? (And I'm not talking about "local band hour" late-nights on weekends, I'm talking about regular station hours and playlists.)
D) Any "lost classics" you want to share, from that or any other era?
Food (and music) for thought.
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"...one which he'll ruthlessly smash at the end of another show."
Date: 2010-10-22 01:11 am (UTC)Some of the things I was listening to:
Rusted Root - a Pittsburgh band, so very heavy rotation where I was, but I realize Send Me On My Way is one that I take for granted, maybe falsely, that anyone of the period would recognize:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGMabBGydC0&ob=av2n
Morphine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXnGxASoXn0
And of course, Cake. I can say "of course" for Cake, right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLEG2YMAQgs
Re: "...one which he'll ruthlessly smash at the end of another show."
Date: 2010-10-22 03:14 am (UTC)Rusted Root - yes, I remember this song! Although I didn't hear it until the mid-90's I think, and certainly not on the stations I mentioned above. I heard it more on stations that also played bands like Indigo Girls and Crash Test Dummies.
Morphine - nope, can't say I've ever heard Honey White before, and the name of the band isn't ringing any bells either.
Cake - I'd be right there with you saying "of course everyone of the era knows Cake" - although again I'd say they were mid-to late '90's in my consciousness, not early. But who can ever forget "Sheep Go To Heaven"? ;-D And "The Distance" got HUGE airplay.