My daughter will insist that I correct the record. She is not a Taylor Swift fan. That anecdote about the girl who was disappointed with her concert tickets was someone else.
I once read a book called “Designer Boys and Material Dreams” written by one Dave Hill which was all about 80s pop music and Hill made an interesting comment about the difference between music and audiences in the 50s/60s and in the 70s (the latter being the age I can relate to). Hill’s observation is that the performers of the 70s were “creatures of twilight rather than limelight”. He was thinking of e.g. Roxy Music and David Bowie (twilight) as opposed to Elvis and the Beatles (limelight).
John’s comment about meeting up with Howlin’ Wolf made me wonder about the difference between his generation and mine. And the “sinking in spirit” that seemed to come about in the course of the “cynical 70s”. There is a sense of a shrinking, of an increasing mistrust, and an increasing expectation that if you are too open you’ll risk being attacked.
Back in the 80s I saw The Pogues for £5 and went to a rock festival featuring Bob Dylan, Santana, Nick Lowe and UB40 (with unannounced appearances from Eric Clapton and Van Morrison) for £17. Meanwhile I read a recent article (can’t recall where – “cybernesia” strikes!) in which it was noted that various pseudo-prole channels were complaining about snooty classical concerts that “cost a fortune” without noting that currently it was actually considerably cheaper to get into a Beethoven or Mahler gig than one by Beyoncé or Taylor Swift.
Shaenah’s comment about audiences being more interested in filming concerts than in directly experiencing them shows up the prescience of an early Kinks song, “People Take Pictures of Each Other”:
My daughter will insist that I correct the record. She is not a Taylor Swift fan. That anecdote about the girl who was disappointed with her concert tickets was someone else.
I once read a book called “Designer Boys and Material Dreams” written by one Dave Hill which was all about 80s pop music and Hill made an interesting comment about the difference between music and audiences in the 50s/60s and in the 70s (the latter being the age I can relate to). Hill’s observation is that the performers of the 70s were “creatures of twilight rather than limelight”. He was thinking of e.g. Roxy Music and David Bowie (twilight) as opposed to Elvis and the Beatles (limelight).
John’s comment about meeting up with Howlin’ Wolf made me wonder about the difference between his generation and mine. And the “sinking in spirit” that seemed to come about in the course of the “cynical 70s”. There is a sense of a shrinking, of an increasing mistrust, and an increasing expectation that if you are too open you’ll risk being attacked.
The book title should be "Designer Boys and Material Girls ” referencing the then topical rise of Madonna. I've no idea where "Dreams" came from.
Back in the 80s I saw The Pogues for £5 and went to a rock festival featuring Bob Dylan, Santana, Nick Lowe and UB40 (with unannounced appearances from Eric Clapton and Van Morrison) for £17. Meanwhile I read a recent article (can’t recall where – “cybernesia” strikes!) in which it was noted that various pseudo-prole channels were complaining about snooty classical concerts that “cost a fortune” without noting that currently it was actually considerably cheaper to get into a Beethoven or Mahler gig than one by Beyoncé or Taylor Swift.
Shaenah’s comment about audiences being more interested in filming concerts than in directly experiencing them shows up the prescience of an early Kinks song, “People Take Pictures of Each Other”:
“People take pictures of the Summer,
Just in case someone thought they had missed it,
And to proved that it really existed.
Fathers take pictures of the mothers,
And the sisters take pictures of brothers,
Just to show that they love one another.”