Music Your Grew Up With, Music Your Were Comfortable With

With my piece regarding Hip-Hop & R&B and the dangers of its messages, I could not help but think about the music people grew up with and were comfortable with.

In the song "1985" by the pop punk band Bowling for Soup, it talks about a woman named Debbie who longs for the days of her youth and wanting to be star rather than a housewife with two kids in high school 'who tell her she is uncool.' Just because they did not exist in the 80's and can't not go beyond "their" time line just yet...and their mom? Well 'she's still preoccupied with 1985.'

The song mentions Bruce Springsteen, Madonna (guess who Britney and Xristina looked up too), U2, Wham! (George Michael), Whitesnake (David Coverdale), Duran Duran, and Blondie who were artists of the 1980's although some are still doing well in 2005.

The song asks when Motley Crue became Classic Rock, and when Ozzy Osborne did become an actor. Well his daughter Kelly sure did.

Several movies got nods too. Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and St. Elmo’s Fire.

Limp Bizkt and Nirvana got mentioned but this would be stuff Debbie's kids would be into. If anything Debbie has and always be comfortable with the music of the 1980's...and its movies too.

One thing that the trade publication Radio & Records does is specials for their format sections. For the Adult Contemporary special last year (July 16), Gary Berkowitz talks about his youth regarding control of the car radio.

Berkowitz and his cousins were fans of WABC back in its Top 40 music days. However when they were in the car his parents were in control of the radio and those parents were not going to let them listen to WABC. They stood firm and listened to THEIR MUSIC.

What was their choice? A station with the call letters WNEW, and we are talking about the AM side, not the WNEW-FM of the 1970's which was a Underground Rocker. WNEW played a Middle Of the Road format or MOR. MOR was a precursor to the current AC format. WNEW had their rival stations like WABC did, but WNEW was THE station for the adult listener at the time.

So what were the core artists of the MOR format? Berkowitz says they were Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Steve Lawrence and his wife Eydie Gorme (still enjoying wedding bliss to this day). Let me add a few more to the list. Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis, Perry Como, Dean Martin, and Patti Page. Another element to WNEW being the number one MOR station in New York City was its jocks that included William B. Williams, Julie LaRosa, and Ted Brown. They were stars in their own right, and the artists that were played on the station also made live appearances.

Berkowitz admits that his parents (any many back in that time) were not big fans of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles although Como did have an open mind however, and did present rock n' roll artists on his TV show back in the day. You could say that his parents were preoccupied with 1945.

Today Berkowitz is a radio consultant and only does the Mainstream AC format. Things go full circle don't they? He looks back on those days and what the current AC format is and where it is going. Berkowitz's parent trained him well :)

As for me, I am not one of those people that closes my mind to new music. If I like it, I like it.

I will not go into detail, but I can tell I you that I am no fan of most Hip-Hop out their, although I admit that Eminem can get me to crack a smile once an awhile, but I can do without Slim Shady.

It is not about style, it’s about its message, and Hip-Hop in its present form was gaining ground in the days I was in High School and was going towards the ghetto thanks to N.W.A., Ice-T, and Public Enemy.

Want to comment about my opinions. Drop me a line.
donmccullen@prodigy.net