201 – What happened to the music? December 2, 2014

IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE

By Hetty Gray

 

# 202

 

December 2, 2014

 

“What happened to the music?”

 

When you forget to pack the DISH receiver and you go to the Northwoods where remote is a mild term for the location, you resort to DVDs and the radio for entertainment.

 

Alas, we ended up in that position the week of Thanksgiving, but it wasn’t all that bad at all. After a rush of old movies and a few TV series DVDs, we opted for a Doo Wop disc.

 

Both my husband and I were teenagers at the height of the rock and roll era, and we still remember the lyrics of an unbelievable number of songs. Watching the old groups that still sing together is a remarkable experience. Interspersed with the current performances, the producers include clips of the original singers at the apex of their careers.

 

The first thing you notice is that they all looked fabulous. The girls wore dresses that accented figures but left more than a little to the imagination. Shirts and ties were very common for the men’s groups and they took pride in their appearance.

 

We cannot forget that many of the groups featured wonderful Negro singers who encountered trouble with lodging and meals while on tour. The 1950s and early 1960s still saw a fair amount of blatant segregation — and all the while the audiences went crazy over their music. Go figure that….

 

The extent of such discrimination was very alien to those of us who grew up in sleepy Indiana. It still angers me that anyone was treated so badly. Their music lives on for countless Americans. The lyrics featured love songs and the occasional car wreck (“Brown Eyes”), but no song urged young people to kill policemen or praised the drug scene. I vaguely remember the term “reefer” for marijuana, but drugs were of no interest either to me or to my friends.

 

How is it that our entertainment industry has sunk to the point where illegal activity is praised and singers mouth filthy language so often that nobody pays much heed to it? It’s a mystery to me.

 

Our teen years were sandwiched in between Korea and Vietnam. None of us met war head-on until we graduated, and I did lose a classmate to the Viet Cong. Mike Debusk remains in my thoughts whenever I write of veterans. I don’t know if Mike’s parents are still alive, but surely one of you knows someone who is related to him.

 

We danced at the “sock hops” and “strolled” down the gym floor with the best of ‘em. Slow dancing was more for the girls with steady boyfriends, but for those of us who went to the dances alone, the rare invitation to dance with a guy was the highlight of the night.

 

Prom parties were supervised and often held at really nice venues. We had “The Ink Spots” at the old downtown Elks Club and it was a spectacular evening. Oh, there were those among us who left early and went out to drink beer. Still others made the trek to Ohio to buy 3/2 beer. I would hate to think what would have happened to me if I had been caught with a beer. Needless to say, it wouldn’t have been pretty.

 

Parents were involved and saw no harm when England sent us “The Beatles.” My father thought they were a lot of fun to watch, but he did comment on their Prince Valiant bowl haircuts.

 

When we basked in the Doo Wop music, we were reminded how many wonderful role models that the Mo-Town groups under Barry Gordy provided. Buddy Holly and the Crickets, the Big Bopper, and others gave inner city kids the hope that they, too, could become a big star.

 

Few of the main groups came on the scene from promoters. Many of the Negro groups had begun singing together in the churches. Ah, yes, the churches…. Church was a mainstay of the Negro family and nearly all the families had a mom and dad at home with the kids.

 

We need to return to the days where entertainers kept their clothes on, presented themselves in a tasteful way and brought lyrics to our children that instilled love and respect. The hate and antagonism of the current music is not only insulting, but it also has a really damaging effect of the listening public — especially the teenagers and younger children.

 

If you can get your hands on a DVD with the rock and roll groups, share that music with the younger generation. We need it back. We need the fun, the melodies and the harmonies of the past to inspire a better musical future.

 

Instead of “Back to the Future,” let’s take a hike to the past. Do it. You’ll enjoy it and the memories are golden.

 

 

 

 

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