From: ajw@cbnews.cb.att.com (andrew.j.whitman)
Subject: Re: THE TEN MOST OVERRATED ROCK BANDS EVER
Organization: AT&T
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 14:17:58 GMT

In article <1992Apr14.212525.1@eagle.wesleyan.edu> kmagnacca@eagle.wesleyan.edu writes:
>In article <kum4tnINNsii@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM>, dudley@treefort.Corp.Sun.COM (Dudley Gaman) writes:
>> Open your minds.  Expand your horizons.  There is some
>> great rap out there that you've never heard.
>
>   Not necessarily.  It's all a matter of opinion, like the people who flame
>Rush to hell and those who say they are gods.  I have heard enough rap to
>distinguish between groups of different styles, but I still hate it.  The
>lyrics may be good, but the only type of musical instruments are (mostly but
>not all the time) drums and bass, which tends to give me a massive headache,
>especially when played at extremely high volume, which it often is.

Fair enough.  You don't like rap.  I like rap.  I have no problems with
those kinds of statements.  But Dudley's point is still a good one.
I have yet to find a musical genre that didn't offer *something* that
was worthwhile and interesting.  That doesn't mean that I like each
musical genre equally well, because I don't.  But it *does* mean that
if I automatically discount a particular genre as worthless, then I'm
bound to miss some good music.  

That's what I see happening with the "rap is crap/rap isn't music/
rap isn't "real" music" postings.  People have written off an entire
genre of music to the point where they're unwilling or unable to
distinguish between different performers/performances within that
genre - it's the old "it all sounds the same" argument.  Well,  
rap simply *doesn't* all sound the same, as you've noted in your
posting.  And if you've honestly paid attention and tried to 
understand what the music is all about and *then* decided that you 
simply don't like it, then we'll simply have to agree to disagree.
As you said, it's all a matter of opinion.

But here, at least, is some food for thought:  rap isn't going away.
It's been around for more than a decade, it's more popular now than
ever, and it's "infiltrated" almost every other genre of rock music,
from R.E.M. albums to Anthrax albums to Sonic Youth albums to Rush
albums.  Rather than covering up their ears and running away
screaming, people who automatically dismiss rap might want to 
examine *why* the music has such wide appeal.  

For some reason, a lot of people hate musical change.  It's nothing
new.  People booed Stravinsky at the premiere of "Le Sacre du Printemps."
Early twentieth century evangelists like Billy Sunday and Amy Semple
MacPherson denounced the evils of the new music jazz from the 
pulpit.  Lots of people threw their Elvis and Beatles albums onto
bonfires.  I'm not suggesting that the "rap is crap" crowd is
a bunch of unthinking reactionaries.  But there does seem to be
some historical evidence that innovations in music are viewed as
threatening by a lot of folks.  In each case, there were plenty
of people who were clamoring that the new stuff was "crap" and
not even really music at all.  

Well, maybe this time those folks are right.  But don't bet on it.
"Crap" has a way of entering the establishment and becoming the
musical mainstream.  And the people who denounce the crap simply
get left behind, and are as culturally relevant as the old
codgers who nostalgically look back on the good ol' days of 
Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller.  Take a good look around.  Watch
MTV, and look at the Billboard charts.  Rap *is* the dominant
movement in music today.  It's already happened.  You don't have
to like it.  But at least be open to the possibility that there
is worth there, that there might be merit in listening closely
to what is being said, and that, God forbid, some of the stuff
might not only be music, but good music at that.

>I'll stick with Pink Floyd and the Beatles, thank you very much.
>
>Karl Magnacca
>
> __________________________________________________________________
>|  "Lastly, I come to China in the hope  |  "Jesus creeping shit!  |
>|  of fulfilling a lifelong ambition -   |  We've walked into a    |
>|  dropping acid on the Great Wall."     |  time capsule!"         |
> ------------------------------------------------------------------

Andy Whitman
AT&T Bell Laboratories, Columbus, Ohio
att!cblpo!ajw  or
ajw@cblpo.att.com