@hrd.hrishikesh
It does
begin as a generation thing.But need not
end like one.
In school,Simla,early-70's,I was listening to Cliff Richard,Neil Diamond,Beegees,Abba,Carpenters,Queen,Simon & Garfunkel,because this is what HMV/Polydor had released on LP's then.Even the radio stations played these albums most of the time.By the time we moved into college late 70's we were listening to Dire Straits,Eagles,Pink Floyd,Santana,Door's,Beatles,Stones,Who,Led Zep,Tull,Marley and in my case a LOT of Dylan and Young.Pretty soon we discovered Cream,Traffic,Blind Faith,Hendrix,Clapton,Mayall,Cale,Velvet Underground,Steely Dan,Grateful Dead.Most of my friends stopped here and never
sought further.
They are still listening to the same music although most of them have lost their passion for music.I believe they lost their passion because they stayed put.We may begin by sharing the tastes of our generation..all the flotsam and jetsam of what is fashionable and popular...but to discover something
special one has to
'break on through to the others side'.Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald are not from my generation.They were singing 30-35 years before I got into music.Yet at some point I,like many others,discovered them,and personally I am of the opinion that 99.99 % of the 'great' singers of the 20th century are not worth even one song of Ella or Lady Day.
To be popular does not require merit.Rather what is required is a mediocrity which will appeal to a large number of people with questionable/no taste.I have always used 'popularity' as a measure for 'mediocrity' and in most cases it holds true.So the fact that
everybody is talking about M or J or whoever happens to be the new kid on the block does not hold any water.Similarly,it is completely irrelevant if an album scores big on some awards/charts/etc.Most of that stuff is hype and froth and should be ignored!
This post is rambling a bit but basically what I want to say is that if you want to discover 'treasures' you have to 'walk on the wild side' in music and in everything else in life!
*Classical music/literature/paintings survived not because they are 'abstract' but because they are universal and eternal.They may have been 'unpopular' or 'unknown' at the time of their birth,as they were far ahead of their time, but ultimately they permeate the entire universe,where as,what was merely fashionable or popular is discarded and forgotten within a couple of generations.
