In my immediate circle of friends, there is one overriding conversation topic, which tends to get beaten into the ground, but can never truly bottom out. Of course, the fault may lie in the fact that nearly everyone in that circle is somehow related to music, but musicians are always a self-important lot. Subsequently, much mourning & bemoaning goes on about the sorry state of our radio landscape & it's inevitable fate. And while I must be honest and admit to my own contributions to the bitch pool, I do feel compelled to point out some saving graces to this desolate place.

I'll agree that it seems like the airwaves are choked with some particularly noxious vibes, but I can't say that it's a new phenomenon. Crap is crap & it has a pretty long pedigree. Ho boy does it suck, but I can't say that it's any worse than it's forerunners. Yah, the eighties had Joy Division & The Plimsouls, however I don't see Y&T as any more ground breaking than Third Eye Blind. Strained through the murky waters of nostalgia, any point in popular music history sounds better than today.

As for this for the inaccessibility of the best & the brightest, I can only say this: Good Lord are you blind? I don't remember ever being able to find what I wanted anywhere near as easy as it stands today. You can't swing a stick without tagging some upstart independent label nowadays. Community & college radio stations are amazingly diverse and about a thousand times more prolific than anytime in recent memory. There was not even a fourth of the used & independent shops in existence 10 years ago. Add Internet Radio & MP3 to that mix and you'll be drinking the sweet, sweet elixir that is the Information Age.

Of course, I have to agree that the industry as a whole could use a healthy enema, but I won't hesitate to wager you can't find a time when it didn't. Industry weasels are industry weasels and that's just the way it is. It's a business which exists only to perpetuate it's own sorry existence. Sometimes they manage to luck across some amazing music, but frankly I'd rather they just go away. I'm sure there won't be many dissenting votes on this one.

It comes down to one simple truth: Lowest Common Denominator. Forever will it be the dominating mistress of popular radio. But you have to take comfort in the fact that the mere existence of this deluge of shitty music being broadcast demands that newer, better music be made to kick it's ass from Hell to breakfast. It's the law o' the land. If being bombarded with Oasis is the fuel that powers the ever-moving Locomotive of music, I say choo-choo, baby, choo-choo!

And besides, the best way to make certain the good stuff is served is to tell those rat-fuck bastards that we lovingly call the industry weasels exactly what we want. It's rather simple really, use your damn wallet. Support the bands that deserve it (a maybe a few that don't) and go see a live show. Buy the album, wear the shirt, shove a buck in their pocket and say, you rock! Take a chance on a band you've never heard of, show up in time for the opening act, or stick around for those poor folks that have to go onstage and kick your ass at 1:30 in the morning when you're too fucked up to notice. Or here's a thought, pick up the phone and call the radio and request a song. If they've never heard of it, keep calling so they buy the damn thing just to shut you up. It's insanely easy.

It's rather easy to fondly reminisce about the good-ole days, but keep in mind that very rarely is anything truly taken for what it really is until it is well past it's due. There's some truly rockalicious treats out there just waiting to touch you in all those naughty, special places. Just stumble about wildly, waving your arms and I'm positive you'll find something worthwhile. TAK

Godot