Last week, a friend asked me, "Who is Noah Kahan?"
I didn't know.
I mean, I know he is a very popular musician. But I didn't know why because I hadn't heard a note of his music.
Then, last night during a quick social media scroll, I saw the name Jason Derulo and I had the same feeling. Who is this? He's huge, I thought. But why? Again, I hadn't heard a note of music.
If it was 1977, who would Noah Kahan, Jason Derulo, Turnstile and Angine de Poitrine be?
This isn't a knock on these or any artists. I just have a feeling that in 1977, I would have not only known wildly popular artists, I would also know a lot of their music, whether I liked it or not. Today, not so much.
I could probably name another 50 artists just by spending one minute on Brooklyn Vegan's home page. Who are these people? I don't remember being this baffled in 1977 or 1987, for that matter.
6 comments:
Angine de Poitrine are big in prog circles and have a viral video on youtube. Kind of proggy math rock. Just guitar and drums. But the reason they went viral is the costumes they wear. The costumes got people to hear complex instrumental music that they normally would never know about. I just ordered their 2 albums. The other artists mentioned I never heard of
Sorry, I should have been more clear. I know Angine and have listened to their music. But I would love to hear people's ideas about who those four artists equivalents would have been in 1977, if that's even something anyone can say.
All I can say, Sal, is I know the feeling. 😎
Back in 1977 'album rock radio' played new music so we got to hear what was new whether we liked it or not.
The internet is too sprawling for us to be able to keep up with all that's out there that's new.
Anyway something like that, it's too early in the morning for me to ponder this question thoroughly just yet. Good morning. Yawn!
Captain Al
Let me try this.
Let's say you were one of the "Disco Sucks" crowd in 1977. I bet you still knew 25 disco hits. You might have been a loyal fan of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, but you still knew why 1977's Mac was playing arenas. You may vehemently hate rap, but you KNEW who Public Enemy and Run DMC were.
Noah Kahan is playing Wrigley Field!
Without record shops, radio and music magazines that I like being available any longer, I discover music via various friends, blogs, and forums that feature music in styles I like or think I might. I never cared about top 40 or AM radio, and my streaming service conveniently allows me to filter new releases by genre, so it’s unlikely I’ll come across those you mention or others that have a broad fan base on TikTok and that ilk. I heard of Noah Kahan via a crossword puzzle clue that I couldn’t answer, but still haven’t listened to his work.
- Paul in DK
Post a Comment