>You can go back
>through the twentieth century and see that the predominating influential
>music of an era was rather high-speed frantic, sexually charged rhythms and
>lyrically suggestive
>vocals which seemed to "speak" to the adrenaline-laced, sexually confused,
>frustrated and seemingly manic-depressive alter states which is adolescence
Though I found myself nodding along with most of your assertions, Tera, I
would insert one caveat. While Elvis Presley would certainly win a lot of
votes as this century's most influential performer, and his music was
certainly frantic AND highly-charged sexually, it wasn't quite so simple. He
also took his cues from non-frantics like Dean Martin and the "White" hit
parade, and his example is repeated often, for even the most "suggestive"
musicians. The pop charts have been something that has affected even the
most marginal of musics--in one way or another--and in some cases it was
good, in others not. Thus, some alt.country musicians may be struggling with
this very punk sense of "How commercial is too commercial?" Or from the
record company's/financial investor's side: "How country can alt.country be
and still make a decisive commercial impact?"
Lance . . .
