I miss the tribal communal musical adventures of my misspent youth.

Many things lead to the demise of radio, and the entire musical landscape. Many people who are way more expert than I have written about it.  But here are the things I think contributed and they are all connected.

-Loss of free-form radio stations and DJs who were allowed to play what they wanted.

-Corporate sprawl and commodification of absolutely everything in our lives, which basically boils down to…

-Money

-Music videos and the subsequent death of music video television.

-i-pods and digital media.

-Social media.

-Shows like American Idol and The Voice.

-Raising the drinking age from 18 to 21. Yes. I really think this played a large role in the change of the music industry.  Once 18 to 22 year olds couldn’t go to clubs and bars, those places that nurtured talent lost much of their business. And without places to hang out, young people inevitably stayed home, or in, wherever that was, and the music “scene” died or became hidden if you were not digitally connected.

I live in a small college town.  This college has a nationally renowned school of music and sound recording and engineering program.  It has graduated famous musicians, Grammy award winning music industry people and recording engineers. Yet today, there is virtually no organic music scene here.  Or at least it has become greatly diminished.

Thirty, forty, fifty, heck, sixty years ago there was a really dynamic and vibrant music scene here. I know people will disagree with me. There are lots of opportunities to hear live music on the weekends.  But rarely during the week.  And not original music. Almost every band that performs locally plays covers. These bands are really pretty good at what they do. Cover bands certainly have a place and are fun. I enjoy a good GD cover band. But it’s not the same as an original music experience.  I know of only two or three local groups/singers who currently perform their own songs on a regular basis.  And these musicians are not young people.  They are closer to my age than they are to my college age kids’ ages.  

It used to be that on any given night in this village, and in other areas of this county, you could go to a number of clubs or bars to hear live music that was original. Groups like The Great Train Robbery, The Goo Goo Dolls, 10,000 Maniacs and Rusted Root were just a few that regularly made the rounds on their roads to fame, gigging in dive bars and clubs and small concert halls.  And the people going to all these bars and clubs were mostly between 18 and 25. There are very few opportunities like this here anymore. 

There also were always high school bands playing the area too, like at CYO or YMCA or The Hub events.  The Hub was a teen center downtown that served as a gathering place for restless teens on the weekends, a place to use the bathroom after you had been drinking with your friends in the cemetery or down in the creek. Or just hanging out in the park. 

I think there was a ping-pong table inside and maybe you could get a snack.  I don’t really remember because one, I’m old, and two, as I said, I was usually in an altered state when I was there.  But the best thing about The Hub was that it was a place for local teen bands to perform.

We were friends with most of the bands.  It was so damn much fun to get drunk,  nor not,  and go hear your friends play.  Especially if you had a crush on one or two or three of the guys in the bands. Funny that at that time, the early eighties, there were very few girls in any of the bands. And there certainly were many girls who were talented and could have been.  The eighties were definitely NOT a time of gender equality.  Thinking back on it now, I am kind of surprised that none of my girlfriends and I started a band considering how much we looked up to Chrissy Hynde of the Pretenders, and the Go-Gos. Several of us were in the high school band or orchestra so we knew how to play music.

We did create a fake band; the aforementioned amazingly kick-ass airband The Virgins. We won a 1983 high school airband contest by lip-synching Mystery Achievement, which in my opinion is the best song in the Pretenders catalog.  Our costumes were curated from Salvation Army and Garment Gallery excursions, we wore fishnet stockings, tall boots or 1960s patent leather pumps,  elbow length gloves and sassy, sassy attitudes.  We were lovely, full of collagen and life and hope and excitement and we were whirling dervishes in that gymnasium on that late winter night.  Looking back, I don’t think we had any idea just how beautiful we all were. We were just girls who wanted to have fun. And we did! 

In addition to simply being a sign of the times, local high school bands were part of a musical legacy in our community.  I remember bands playing middle school dances, and watching bands play at my older friends’ brother’s or sister’s high school graduation parties.  It  was not unusual for local bands to play house parties. I remember reading that that was how Van Halen got their start in Cali, playing in backyards at house parties.  Does anyone still have house parties with live music? Time to bring that tradition back.

The college used to have battle-of-the-bands contests every year at the Campus Center.  Many of the bands played their own songs.  So, so cool.  There were also actual rock concerts in the acoustically perfect concert hall on campus.  I saw The Tubes, The Waitresses and  Eddie Grant.  Joe Jackson played there. As did The Kinks,  Lou Reed, Pat Metheny, Asia and Tracy Chapman. Peter Gabriel and Harry Chapin performed. It’s been a few decades since a big name concert was held here.  At a venue where Grammy award winners were and still are made.  Crazy. 

Forty miles up the thruway, the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium had tons of concerts. It was referred to as The Aud and has since been demolished. Bands still play in Buffalo at the arena that replaced it, but not as many and not as frequently.  Of course this was also way before Ticketmaster and LiveNation became the behemoth it is.  Concerts were promoted by Harvey and Corky, then Harvey, Corky and Tice (Harvey being Harvey Weinstein). I can remember buying concert tickets in the mail and paying with checks.  You could also buy them at record stores or at the customer service counter at Kaufmann’s department store. 

Promotional tuxedo jacket advertising the Rolling Stones concert at Rich Stadium in 1978 sponsored by Buffalo radio station QFM, Tux Ego and Harvey & Corky on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

 I remember smoking clove cigarettes in the parking lot under the Skyway before going to see the Moody Blues.  Or maybe it was The Police. Or both.  Probably both.  And Rich Stadium, home of the Buffalo Bills, had many  summer concerts.  Remember Rock with the Cock– Cock Robin opening for many of the acts? There were so many more shows back then. The Grateful Dead played there repeated summers in the 1980s and into the early 90s.  I saw The Who and The Clash in ‘82.  The stadium is a really terrible place to see a band, but wasn’t that kind of the fun of going to see concerts in the 80s? Ha ha! Terrible sound. Terrible sight lines. But fun nonetheless.

OK- so there are still concerts and music venues and opportunities to see and hear great live music. And music festivals that last entire weekends and include camping have become a really awesome way to experience music.  The Great Blue Heron Music festival is a blast.  And the Amphitheater at Chautauqua Institution has become more of a popular/rock concert venue in recent years.  And I’ve gone to Darien Lake to see a bunch of shows in the last few years.  All mostly good.  But it’s a hike to get there.  And not the best venue for comfort or good sound. ArtPark has tons of concerts in the summer lately.  But it’s a really long drive home after the show, when it ends after 10 and you’ve partied like a rockstar before and during.  Or even if you’ve partied like a 57 year old retired teacher.  And experiencing live music these days is often really, really expensive.  I just paid a small fortune for tickets to see the Rolling Stones.  And all the damn rules about what you can’t bring into shows anymore is ridiculous. The cost of a beer is outrageous.  I remember going to see the Grateful Dead, June 30, 1995, Three Rivers Stadium.  It was pouring. My friend and I were soaked.  Our seats  were on the floor of the stadium and at one point we looked down and lo-and-behold we saw a $10 bill.  Jackpot! It was enough to buy two cans of beer.  I’m guessing Iron City, lol!   Those days are long gone.

Ok, it’s been a few hours since I’ve trolled the internet for Cars info so I’m going to end my reminiscing for now and get back to that.