By Jeffrey Cohen | Sports Writer
Growing up, the only music I listened to was whatever I heard on the radio on the car ride to and from school. There would be songs here and there that would catch my attention, and maybe I would listen to it on YouTube. With this listening habit, I never really found an artist, band, genre or time period that spoke to me. In high school, I developed a taste for country music and a small amount of mainstream classic rock, but only the songs that everyone has heard of.
Then, one day, when I was listening to my short rock playlist on Spotify, I listened to the Eagles’ 1976 hit “Hotel California,” and it gave me the idea to dive deeper into the band’s music. Once I listened to more of the Eagles, I never went back. The music did not just seem good to me, but rather, the music took me away. The almost heavenly harmonies from the 1970s American rock icons changed the way I went about finding and listening to music.
As the years have gone by and I have grown a music taste that suits me the best, I have found that many people are in a similar position to me. Some people have expressed their belief that despite music creation becoming much more accessible, there does seem to be less creativity and more standardization within genres. Understandably, current music takes precedence over music that is decades old, but older music can open new listening experiences and possibilities to music lovers everywhere.
Even over the last century, music has changed and evolved from the jazz revolution in New York and New Orleans in the 1920s and ’30s and the emergence of rock ‘n’ roll in the 1950s to the grunge movement of the 1990s. And now in more current times, mainstream rap in the 2000s and 2010s is what some of us grew up on. Almost every genre that is present today has been created and developed in the last 100 years. Every instrument, vocal range and emotion has been represented.
Older music can provide almost anything that a listener is looking for. Jazz expresses a musician’s emotions in a way that is so unique with the sounds of the instruments taking center stage. Rock has experienced its own revolution from the days of Elvis Presley and the early years of The Beatles to the experimental style of Led Zeppelin, the harmonies from the Eagles and the combination of jazz and rock with Steely Dan.
Soul and Motown brought African American influence into mainstream music with stories of love that still have a strong influence on many artists and genres today. Pop emerged with the popularization of MTV along with names like Michael Jackson and Madonna in the 1980s and has continued to have a hold on music and culture ever since. The 1990s saw the growth of rap and grunge, bringing to light music that played into less mainstream ideas.
This is only a small look into the world of music. There are many more genres and artists than anyone can know. I have only listed some of the most well-known bands and artists, but there are more that build strong connections that are not mainstream or popular. With all this released music, there are endless possibilities for music listening. Looking into music of the past can uncover musical connections with artists you didn’t know before.
With music’s drastic evolution over the past century, you better believe that there is at least one song that will tug at your heartstrings or put your mind at ease in just the right way — go out and find it.
