Do We Still Listen?
 

This just accured to me reading the thread about our "Least Listened To FM Album." Do we still listen to our favorites as much as we used to? I LOVE McCartney, Beatles (and solo), FM (and solo), Partridge Family/Cassidy, Clapton, and Costello but I don't seem to be listening as much as I used to. Granted I'm listening to other bands and artists but these are the ones that got me into music in the first place. My older brother LOVES Hendrix but he doesn't seem to play him that much either. Is it just me or do you notice yourselves listening less and less to your favorites?

I listen to music a lot less in general. I play more podcasts during my drive than I do music. But when I listen, I listen more to old stuff (my favorites) than new. I'm totally unaware of about 90% of the new artists out there.

Michele

I seem to go through phases quicker than I used to. I was in a Clapton phase for a few months, then an SRV phase, a BB/Buddy Guy phase ... and I've been in the Mac phase for a few weeks -- which I'm sure will last through my LB show next month, which will add another month on to that at least.

Three things have meant I listen to my favourites less. My wife hates pretty much all of my music (FM and Bob Dylan in particular) so I can only listen when she isn't around or in the car. I used to listen heaps in the car when I had to drive an hour each way to work, but now I only drive 3 minutes each way, it can take a while to get through a CD. Thirdly I discovered Russian download sites on the net, so added about 200 albums to my collection within a few weeks. Now I have to listen to all the new stuff...

No, I don't really listen to Fleetwood Mac or alot of my other favorites as much as I used to. If something new comes out then I tend to pull out the older stuff to revisit. I listen to the radio at work and have been on a country music kick. I also like some stuff that is out now like Coldplay, Alicia Keys, One Republic, Gavin DeGraw, etc. so I give lots of other artists a chance. :D

I'm always listening to music, just not what I used to listen to all that much. Since I've gotten to know Bob Pollard, who releases several full-lenght albums a year, I've been busy just keeping up with him. Bands like Fleetwood Mac were losing their appeal for me long before I got into the whole Robert Pollard/Guided By Voices thing, but Bob was exactly the type of thing I was looking for. It's artsy, smart, and a big party all at once, and I don't have to wait five years between projects or listen to a bunch of psychobabble. I've also gotten heavily into power pop (i.e. Big Star and Material Issue) and old school punk (Clash, Ramones, and Sex Pistols).

I mean, this has been Pollard's 2008 so far, as he has another full-lenght and another EP before year's end (newest first):

FULL LENGTH ALBUMS
http://www.rockathonrecords.com/prod...arinecover.jpghttp://www.gbvdb.com/images/robert_p...o_business.jpghttp://www.gbvdb.com/images/psycho_a...weve_moved.jpghttp://www.gbvdb.com/images/robert_p...s_a_rocker.jpg

EPs
http://www.gbvdb.com/images/robert_p...in_goddess.jpghttp://www.rockathonrecords.com/prod...rbonwhales.jpghttp://www.gbvdb.com/images/takeover..._onion_man.jpg

MAGAZINE OF STORIES
http://www.rockathonrecords.com/products/eat5.jpg

BOOK OF COLLAGES
http://www.fantagraphics.com/compone...01ad5729e3.jpg

Lik chriskisn, I rarely listen to music at home at all since I got married (9 years ago today), since my wife & I don't have a wide crossover in musical tastes. (read: my tastes crossover into music SHE likes, but very little of "my" music crosses over for her) Hence, 98% of my music listening is in my car, when I'm alone...and THAT only when I'm not listening to sports talk radio, which I somehow have gotten addicted to. Plus, my commute logistics have changed as well. Formerly, I used to drive my own car to work the hour each way, giving me plenty of listening time...but, then a couple of years ago I joined a vanpool and that cut my listening time down to the 7 minutes each way from home to the vanpool stop. And, the most music that BOTH my wife & I listen to together is also "in the car" on the weekends while running our weekly errands; which is mainly in 5-15 minute bursts.

AND...I've noticed that since I've dropped most of my "attitude adjusting" vices, I listen to a smaller range of music than I used to. (and also, I notice that I've been watching about 300% more TV in the past decade than I have at anytime since I've been an adult.)

ALSO, with the rise of rap/hip-hop and the bland pop on the radio in the past 20 years, my enjoyment of NEW music has waned immensely. I used to always be on the lookout for new artists that would reach me, but there have been painfully few who have in that two decade timeframe, and my desire to seek new music has almost all but disappeared. The 80's was mainly where the decrease started. Never bought into glam/metal of the 80's, all those "hair metal" bands just all sounded the same to me...likewise with the grunge/alternative genre of the 90's. I never could tell the difference between Soundgarden/Pearl Jam/Stone Temple Pilots, etc. Nirvana kind of stood out, but even still it just never really reached me to an extent of seeking it out to listen to. So, I resorted into listening to the NEW music of my old faves...like FMac, Clapton, ex-Beatles, Stones, Allman Bros, Little Feat, ZZ Top, etc; or just going back to my blues-purist phase...or immersing myself into reggae for stretches of time. Even old bands that I didn't really care for when they were around then became music I would listen to and like...such as, The Grateful Dead, the Doors, etc. And, in the mid 90's, probably due to joining a country cover band, started delving into the "new" country genre (which basically all sounded like a spiffed up versions of "Southern Rock" of the 70's, or the SoCal country sound of Eagles, Poco, etc).

Taking this close look at my music listening for this thread, I never EVER thought I'd be so closed off musically as I've become. :distress:

The only way I wont be listening to music will be whenever I die. I am surrounded by music, and have been all my life - my taste is broad, from the 50's "do-wop" to modern day metal - from late 60's rock to 80's AOR rock.

I've lived through all different 'genres' of music; AM, disco, new wave, heavy metal, hair metal, grunge, alternative, etc. and I picked out the good and bad from each and stored those in my mind.

Just whatever mood I am in dictates what my current listening mood shall be. Also, the older I get the less and less I care to watch TV (Unless baseball is on I don't really care to watch the boob tube) and I bury myself in my music collection (Like now - Burning my cassettes to CDR because the lack of entertaining television).

I think that happens to everyone as they get older. Unless you still work in a record store.

Sadly, a great deal of my musical experimentation stopped in college. The main exception to that would be country. I have come to embrace Tim McGraw, Gary Allan, Brooks & Dunn, and some other country artists for the first time in the last decade.

As for pop, rock and soul, it's pretty much only the artists that I liked 20 years ago that I still follow today.

Michele

I don't listen to the band like I used to because there just isn't any new material for me to digest. I've heard each album I'm sure thousands of times. There aren't any nuances I haven't noticed, lyrics I haven't pondered; there's nothing new to discover. Tusk was part of my daily ritual for years. I'm listening the hell out of Gift Of Screws right now, but I'm sure that too will fade in time. Like everyone else, I'm doing a lot of musical exploration right now. It's fascinating to hear how the Mac and their solo members have influenced today's artists. That's my new musical passion. My favorite of all those is Joseph Arthur. He undeniably took a great deal of his style and musical sensability from the Mac, and from Lindsey's solo career. Major difference is, he has the talent of ever member of the Rumours crew wrapped up into one, and he also paints, sculpts, etc. When new Mac music comes around though, I will most certainly digest it, and no doubt go back and listen to the old standards too. :nod:

Thanks to everyone who responded. I listen to alot of music almost every day. When I'm on my computer, I have my RealPlayer on (unless my Orioles are on TV). I'm in the process of loading all my live CDs into it but since I have over 2500 CDs (not all live) it takes time. I go thru listening fads like everyone. If this had been 10 years ago and Lindsey had put a new CD out I would have listened to all his previous solo CDs to whet my appetite. Now it seems like I'm in no rush to listen to it when it comes out. I find I'm buying less CDs every year because I'm not into alot of the new music out today. I normally will buy the latest release from my favorite artists and maybe something I read a good review on in "Q" or "MOJO." I don't download alot from the internet (I think I've DL about 15 songs) with my dial-up connection. It just seems that I've grown bored with the music I loved all my life. Maybe it's true that familiarity breeds contempt. Like ChilliD, I've noticed I'm watching more TV (actually DVDs) than when I was younger (I'm 44 now). Like LouieLouie2000 could it be that I just know the music so well that there's nothing new to discover as I listen to "Rumours" or "Tug Of War" for the 500th time.

I tend to go back and forth. All of my favorite bands from 10 years ago are still my favorite bands today, just in different levels of intensity (and one that I was a casual fan of 10 years ago that I follow much more closely now).

The age of the iPod has definitely changed how we listen to music. Back when it actually came to choosing an album to listen to, and having to stick with that album for awhile, it was easier to either stay into a band or let the interest in that band fall away a little, I feel like. Now that you can have all of your music in one places, it's a lot easier to keep up with old favorites. I have a huge Fleetwood Mac playlist on my iPod that I can put on if I want to just listen to FM, but if I get a little bored with it, I just shuffle all the songs on my iPod and usually still end up listening to a few FM songs as they come through. The impatient listener that I am, I actually came to love one of my now favorite bands even more when I had the option of skipping songs I didn't want to listen to and then accidentally finding that I liked them when I forgot that I didn't want to listen to it. It's another thing that caters to the lazy man, but at least it has some advantages!

This is a good topic.

I find that I will dig through my collection only to look for very specific songs VS listening to an entire CD. I go for the greatest hits stuff and the 25 chain box set way more than any other CDs. I can't remember the last time I listened to Rumours or the white album.

I do still listen to Tusk all the way through. I go to Mirage second most often because of Straight Back.

FM is still my fav band but I think becuase they rarely make CDs as the rumours lineup I have had to pursue other bands to compensate.

I am really liking Natalie Merchant lately and find that she will experiment with different styles of music which also keeps me interested. Some of her stuff def sounds like Stevie's more daring songs like GDW.

I listen to music all the time, but since I got my Ipod I haven't listened to full albums too much. At work I have a radio on that is tuned to the local classic rock station, and while they play the same music all the time it is refreshing to hear Gypsy, Sara, GYOW on a daily basis. In my CD player in my bedroom I have TISL, which for some reason I listen to every day while getting ready for work. I also have Petty and ELO in there for the weekend ritual of getting ready and putting laundry away. Odd that I can't seem to mix those up. I have no interest in today's music, and find myself more interested in my favorite artists' earlier work. Like Clapton, The Who, Petty, Springsteen....etc. These artists have such a huge amount of work I would rather discover "new" music in this way. I wish radio stations would play different songs...not just the same stuff over and over. I can just about time when "American Pie" will come on every day. As for FM, I haven't listened to the white album or Rumors in forever. Kind of sick of them actually.

Ever hear the Russian band Leningrad? They're quite exciting and original.

I listen to a lot of Mac stuff at the gym on my I-pod. I think the acoustic version of CM's "Friend" is the most frequently played song in my I-tunes library. Lately, I've been enjoying The Madge Sessions. I've also been playing the Christine Perfect album in my car.

Well,, I'm quite lucky to have grown up in a house that always has music playing. So I am constantly listening to something. I go through phases as various artists over the years have come and gone (at the moment, I have Duffy, Sara Bareilles and The Ting Ting's playing a lot) but there always seems to be staple music - my all time fav's - that I never stop listening to: Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks, Tori Amos, The Cranberries, Abba, Blondie and Bjork - that I can never really stop listening to.

I love the partridge family: "Echo Valley 2-6809," "Summer Days," "Brown Eyes," etc. I try to listen to partridge albums at least once a month or so. I never loved rock & roll very much but of course as teen & twentysomething & even thirtysomething I listened to it, but never to the exclusion of beethoven, mozart, & debussy & them guys. Of course, "pop" used to be more prevalent in my ears until my record player broke down in my junior year in high school. But, I must say it's hard to grow older with most rock music. I still love Beatles & such, but my diminishing muscle & brain tissue cannot sustain an emotional connection with that stuff. Also, rock tends to be emotionally limited. Of course, "rock" is a comprehensive term & can be just about any form of pop music. The first 1/3 of "Stairway to Heaven" is more english ballad than rock but it's still called rock. "Lay Lady Lay," a dreamy country song, is still discussed in the framework of rock culture. But for most people "rock" means stuff like Bon Jovi, Van Halen, U2, & such. Some of this stuff is really good but emotionally simple, stupid, puerile, naive, banal, &/or insane. It's fun when you're young but tiresome as you grow older. Indeed, one of the appeals of rock as you grow older is that it reminds you of youth. So I still enjoy "Go Your Own Way" or "Sugar Daddy" or "Accidents Will Happen" but I have to think of my younger days & put myself into a different frame of mind -- who I was in the '70s & '80s. That's all well & good, to look back on the younger days, but it's also a form of escapism from the fact of growing older. This is why classical music is better to grow up with, as I did. It expresses timelessness. It's neither young nor old. We need all forms of music. For young folks, I understand why rock is so important. I used to love pop in my teens. But it just doesn't cut it as you grow older.

So, what would you rather hear? The "new" lost Mozart song or Rumours?

Partridge Family? After the Brady Bunch, they could not hold a candle.

On the 4th day after my dad's stroke, he became unresponsive and lethargic. I told the doctors and they told me he was just "tired." Turned out his brain was swelling and once they actually acknowledged this, they removed his right skull flap to relieve the pressure.

After that crisis was over, I asked them why they hadn't realized his brain was swelling immediately and they said that due to his age (75) they didn't think it was likely, because although swelling is common after a stroke, the brain usually shrinks so much by the time you're that old that it doesn't outgrow the skull even when it swells. So, they never considered it might be pressing against his skull.

Anyway, be happy about your diminishing muscle and brain tissue. It might save your life.

Michele

If Anyone is interested the final Partridge Family album "Bulletin Board" is FINALLY coming out on CD. You can pre-order from Collector's Choice (www.ccmusic.com). It's due out in October.

I understand what David is saying about classical music. Some of my friends have moved on to classical and find it relaxing after a hard day of work. The problem I have with classical is just that. I want to listen to the music not have it put me to sleep. Some of the classical movements are so long that I forgot the beginning of the piece when it reaches the end. I feel the same about listening to live recordings with the 15 minute guitar or drum solos.

I love your musical referrences - The Beatles and The Partridge Family are my earliest influences as a kid. Clapton and Costello came later on. There is not enough time in the world for me to listen to everything I want to. I have a massive 30-year collection of music. I have about ten or so artists that I tend to listen to periodically....the rest I listen to when I'm reminded of them...i.e. references in the media, hearing a song on the radio etc...

As an avid collector...sometimes I'll buy cds just to add or complete an artist's catalog. I may not even listen to them until they pass by my radar. I consider my collection to be a like a library: I may not listen to a cd for years, but when I'm the "zone" of a particular artist, I'm really happy that I can explore, relive and discover things within the bulk of their work.

Thanks! It's a long time coming for that last album. It's their most obscure album since it was the last one released at a time when their time in the spotlight was fading.

I feel the same way as you do about being a collector. I have a pile of CDs and DVDs that I haven't listened to or watched yet. I spend most of my evenings and weekends in the summer watching my Baltimore Orioles play baseball on TV. I use the winter to try and catch up on everything. I'll play CDs while I'm using my computer.

I think like everyone else, I go through phases. Sometimes I listen to Stevie Mac all the time. Now, I don't listen to much at all. I've been through Chicago phases, Eagles phases and Country Music phases.

OMG- I love the Partridge Family too! Am glad I am not alone. I have all their stuff on my Ipod (and drive my poor husband crazy when listen). They were the first music I got into on my own. What can I say, the songs make me happy. I love "Brown Eyes" and "Echo Valley" "I'll Meet you Halfway"- they are such happy songs. It was a great little show back then too.

I do agree with whoever posted about Ipods have changed the way we listen to music. I don't run out asap to get my faves new CD (I even *gulp* forgot to get LBs last Tues and got it 2 days later) when normally I'd be there first thing in the morning and play it right away. I just down load a song or two I like from Itunes and that's it. Unless it's my fave artist, I don't normally buy the CD anymore.

However to answer the first posters question (the other Partridge fan!) I still do listen to the same music sadly as I always have. I do get new faves but they are usually older artists that I get into and discover. I like a lot of different things though but my fave stuff is from the 1970s. I still believe the best music ever came out of that era. So on my Ipod I normally have on my 70s mix, Fleetwood Mac, Stones, Jefferson Airplane (Starship), Beatles, James Taylor, Elton John, Carly Simon, Partridge Family of course, Bon Jovi, etc. I like some new stuff - more a song here and there (love Chris Daughtry) but I always go back to the stuff I grew up with.
Maybe it's a comfort thing or maybe i am just too old and set in my ways.

Good post!

Yeah! Wow, thanks for the tidbit! That's my fave of their CDs. I have it on CD but someone made it for me from an LP so not great quality. Now if they'd release the rest of the DVDs.

Partridge Family Season 3 comes out on October 14th.:blob2:

are you serious?????????? You just made my day!!!! woo hoo!!! I thought for sure they'd never come out. How do you know - is it listed on Amazon? Now I will for sure be in line for that when it comes out that day. Now for Season 4 right? I have all the shows on VHS taped from TV - they are so sad- commercials and all and they are edited versions too which I hate (when they cut the ends or the songs). Plus I don't even have a VHS plugged in anymore so this will be awesome! That and Bulletin Board (which it says on that website you can get it now?)

Lauren

There's an incredible website called TV Shows On DVD (www.tvshowsondvd.com) that has all the news on upcoming TV show releases. I also go to the Partridge Family website (www.cmongethappy.com) and get stuff off the forum.

thanks. I will check out that TV Show website. I used to check cmongethappy.com often to see if any news but hadn't been there in a while so must have missed it. I remember the last time they posted about having Season 3 come out last year and it was pulled.

Thanks again- nice to talk to another PF fan and FM fan. My husband thinks I am the only one on this earth that listens to the PF :-)

I always listen Fleetwood Mac. Always. Not every day but at least every week. Sometimes random songs, less frequently a entire album, but never loose touch with the mac sound.

Almost the same with my 2nd favorite bands, Pink Floyd and ABBA. And my favorite divas: Donna Summer, Olivia Newton-John

Less frequently other favorites like Cher, Queen, Elton John, Supertramp, Pet Shop Boys, etc.

Sometimes I go thru phases. If I have been at a concert, I play those songs for several weeks. It happened with The Doors, Donna, Erasure, ABBA (actually the Mamma Mia musical), etc.

Don't like

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Like

Like

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Like

What about Nick Cave & the Bad Seed?

And, at my age, there's just no justification that would be sufficient to still be working in a record store. :thumbsup:

My best friend, Mr. Bill (now 53 yrs old), was the manager of a Peaches down here in Orlando for like...oh...16 years? I myself worked in a record store in 2001-2002, and it was the best job I ever had (to the count of $11.00 an hr). Too bad it doesnt pay the bills.

Of course, I think of the movie High Fidelity and can imagine there are real life people who have worked in a record stores who were just that snobby when customers came in with no musical taste whatsoever.

Michele

hahaha...oh man I LOVE that movie. I think I may have had ONE or two moments of snobbery, but it was always brought on by that one customer who was more musically snobby than anyone.

OH DEFINITELY! I think the writer of High Fidelity must've seen me in action at the five record stores I where I worked and wrote that movie about ME, splitting me between two of the characters...John Cusack & Jack Black (I seem to recall leaning a bit more toward Jack Black's character...but, friends tell me I was more like John Cusack's character, as well)

Not only was I a snob then, I'm still a snob, now...but, I've learned to hide it a bit better. ;)

But, then back then, minimum wage when I first started working in record stores was a whopping $1 an hour. And, on payday, I STILL could fill my VW bus with gas, buy beer & a small bag o' weed, PLUS buy a bunch of LPs with my employee discount...and have enough left over to go to a couple movies and buy my own lunches during the week. By comparison, I do not have the equal percentage of discretionary income NOW at my upper 5 figure salary (COMBINED with my wife's nearly equal salary, as well) as I did when I was making a measly $1 an hour. That's pathetic.

I still listen to:

Dead Can Dance
Concrete Blonde
The Jam
The Syle Council
Del Amitri
Mephisto Walz
Nosferatu
Virgin Black
Patrick O'Hearn
Swing Out Sister
Crash Test Dummies
Blur
Level 42
Peter Murphy
Bauhaus
and so many more