I grew up in the sixties. That’s 1960’s, not as many assume, the 1860’s or earlier. Back then, AM radio was an exciting adventure, where each week saw the release of some new song from the latest hot group. New sounds, new concepts, new ideas were the norm. And regardless what our parents thought, there was real creativity being expressed. From Hendrix to Buffalo Springfield to Creedence to Booker T. and the M.G’s there was something for nearly every taste. It was an expressive era, and the music was memorable. You could whistle the tune and bring to mind the song.
But no one is whistling these days. Other than those whistling down Memory Lane. Giving it my best effort to be objective, while listening to the modern offerings on contemporary radio, I’m struck by the absence of something: melody. Where did it go ? Where is the progress of a musical idea that takes the listener through a pleasant journey, building tension and resolving in a logical conclusion? Where is a tune that is recognizable as a tune? Moving cautiously, blandly, up and down a scale does not a melody make. Why is banality the norm?
It would be enlightening, if sad, to chronicle the demise of melody. If a diagnostician could tell us when and what was the cause of death. It’s probably a complex answer, and each line a sorrowful one. It probably deserves a song, doesn’t it?
