I disagree. Pop music has always been terrible.
Beware, serious venting follows.
Yeah, Elvis, Beatles, Dylan, Smoky Robinson, Sinatra and Bennet, Ray Charles, Righteous Brothers, Simon and Garfunkel, Sam and Dave (whom the Blues Brothers represented) Janis Joplin, Ry Cooder, Linda Rons… stop me from wasting my time listening to those! Btw, if you have access to music through an Alexa or some such, treat yourself to “Rock and Roll Heaven” by the Righteous Brothers, and to “Lovesick Blues” by Little Richard. The former are the embodiment of “ Blue-eyed Soul,” paying tribute to deceased singers. The latter takes the twangiest country tune from Hank Williams and makes it R&B.
Spirituals came to the US from African slaves, then it evolved into Rock and Roll, then it crossed the Atlantic and came back to us with the Beatles and Stones. I was in a bar in Bavaria some years ago. A German rock band started to play. The drummer began with the cowbell clink-clink opening to “Honky Tonk Woman.” One of my best misical experiences ever. What a country we have!
I love Bach, a great influence on jazz musicians, which then morphed into rock, Cf “Lover’s Concerto,” by the Toys, from a Bach minuet. Elvis turned two Italian songs “Sorrento” ( Surrender) and “O Sole Mio” (It’s Now or Never) into hits, and Darin did “Mack the Knife” and “Beyond the Sea,” German and French tunes respectively. If you want older folks to dance at a party, tell the DJ to play “Brown Eyed Girl.” If you want them have to shed tears, search for “Abraham, Martin and John.”
Greeks did democracy before we did. The great US gift to the world has been music.
