By Frank “Smokin” Truatt
I was thinking the other day about my favorite decade of music, the 1970’s while I was listening to some of today’s music. How amazing would it be if I could get into a time machine and go back to the mid 70’s. I would love to have a sit-down conversation with some of the biggest artists of the day. How about Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen, a mix of three different genres of music? All the artists would have music on the charts in the mid 70’s with both Stevie and Paul coming out of the 1960’s, still producing hits on the charts.
The first thing I would have to do is apologize for what the music has become in 2024. Sure, there are some great artists today, but the music seems simpler, more repetitive. How would you explain to these hitmakers what the music being produced today is like? It seems that far fewer songs make the charts, and that they are played for months at a time, way beyond the burn-out time for a new tune. I’d have to explain that the record album and the 45-rpm records have been gone for a long time. Cassettes are gone too, along with 8-tracks. CD’s were big for a while, but they are pretty much gone too. They would probably wonder what the record stores today are selling since all this media has gone away. I’d have to explain to them that record stores have been long gone, along with many music instrument stores like Sam Ash as they have permanently closed their nearby locations.
How hard would it be to explain how we use the internet to purchase most of our goods, including music on what we call a digital download. I’d have to tell Paul McCartney that the English phone ringing effect in “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” has been replaced by a ringtone on what we call a cell phone. Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney had been on the charts for a decade already and they would be recording hits for at least another decade along with newcomer Bruce Springsteen. But, one day, even their creativity will dry up as musical tastes change, and their new releases will be few and far between. But one thing I would love to tell these musical greats was that their musical library has an everlasting following. Stevie Wonder will remain one of the icons of Motown with standing ovations at awards shows and Motown tributes. Bruce would play in sold-out arenas, not only in New Jersey, but around the world, and Sir Paul would pack stadiums with devoted fans, young and old, who know every word in the songs he has written decades ago. So, for these three guys and all the others out there still performing, thanks for the music! Keep performing so that the next time I might get lucky enough to score some decent seats for your next performance! Hey, while I’m back in 1975, I better fill up my gas tank, at $0.53 a gallon!
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