Music

I'm sitting here listening to a mix I made for my Memorial Day BBQ, and it's a high quality mix. It's actually a fucking awesome party mix...well for the type of parties I throw, which are more like gatherings. But here is the dilemma: I can't seem to find someone who actually likes everything that is on this mix. I have friends who like bits and pieces of it, but detest other parts, and this bugs me. Good music is good music. It's not like I'm throwing on some John Cage or anything like that. I just made a mix of high quality rock, jazz, funk, R&B, and Soul (w/two rap songs). But the mix isn't the reason I'm writing. The reason I'm writing is that I wish I could find more people who actually appreciate this stuff. I feel like the only people who do are 20-30 years older than me. I don't get how people can't listen to good 60s Soul/R&B. I mean it's fucking Motown or Stax or Atlantic shit....it's the most danceable music on the planet. If you put on The Temptations' "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" or Edwin Starr's "Twenty-Five Miles" and don't have the urge to dance, you have no soul. I'm sorry, you don't. And this is coming from a white boy. But on the other end of the spectrum, if you can't appreciate good country/folk music (I'm talking about the backwater shit, not country pop) then you don't appreciate American music. Yea, it's my opinion, but I know good music when I hear it...ask anyone who knows me if I don't.

I am guilty of not liking certain types of music (most rap, new age, disco, country pop, emo/neo-punk), but that's not to say I don't appreciate it. I know several people who don't like The Beatles (blasphemous, I know), but they appreciate what the group did for music...which basically was change how rock/pop was written/recorded/produced/mixed/performed. Like I don't like rap, for the most part, but I respect many of the artists and producers for their talents and abilities to do what they do, and basically changing the landscape of the American music scene. Boy bands, however, I don't appreciate. Yes, you could say they are the same as many Motown artists, except that Motown was more about the music, rather than purely making money. Plus, the stuff that Motown put out is some of the best music ever.

The biggest thing is, however, that it's insanely hard for me to find someone who I can sit down with and have a full fledged conversation about music. I mean, shit spanning from rock to jazz to soul to classical to blues. I mean, I don't own a ton of CDs (I probably have 250ish, maybe close to 300), but I've studied different genres of music, and I absorb information and want to learn more. Maybe it's just that I love music, but I don't understand how people can't get excited about the stuff I listen to. You have no idea how much I just want to sit down with some and blast some stuff from The Faces or Weather Report or The Band or The Black Crowes or Miles Davis or Muddy Waters, etc. And it gets worse when I'm talking to a girl, because if they don't have some sort of appreciation for music, it's a huge turnoff, especially if they've never go to concerts. That's like my lifeblood, and I need to share that passion with someone. But if they say "I don't listen to music really" or "I listen to everything" I just want to get the fuck out of there. I need someone to share that passion with me. I want to say to someone (guy or girl), "I just bought/listened to some (insert band I like here) today," and have them respond, "REALLY?!? That's fucking I awesome. I love them!" I'm not talking Ben Folds or Weezer or any current and/or popular band, I'm talking the good stuff that most people don't listen to. Yea, I know it's a pipe dream, but whatever, it's what I want.

So in closing, if you want some good music, come to me and I will supply you with some.