Stories of the country, the railroads, the cities, told by the travelers instead of the third-party observers as was the case with popular vocal music. Zydeco and Cajun music thrived in the bayous of Louisiana and Mississippi. The Who, Guns and Roses rehashed Zeppelin who rehashed Blind Willie Johnson, Bo Diddly and Willie Dixon. As the various industries responded to the demand for records and radio time, money was made. Once the depth of the well was seen to be fairly bottomless, sucking it dry became the obsession of Hollywood and Nashville.
Repetition is required for true empire building.
Molds were established and pliable young artists were formed in them. The American spirit of adventure, independence and risk were lost to imitation, redundancy and pandering to the lowest common denominators in each stylistic camp. Fans of U2 were more than fans, they were disciples. The Police, R.E.M., The Cure, and the others all fired a devotion that bore no small resemblance to religious fervor. Politics, sex, the environment, justice and occasionally love, all the most important things to a generation raised in the sixties and seventies, were stuck together in a musical glue.