I’ve liked pop music ever since I can remember. OK, when I was small it was Tommy Steele’s Little White Bull and Danny Kaye’s Inch Worm but even then I was a sucker for a good tune. I’ve always bought stuff, once upon a time converting my hard earned paper round money and Tesco shelf stacking pay packet into Beatles albums and Dionne Warwick singles and now, almost fifty years later I’m still searching for the next song that’ll change my life.
I hardly ever listen to the radio. Most music mags seem to have trundled off into a world of trend setting ‘next big things’ and skinny jeaned wannabes and good luck to em. TV? A couple of ten minute teasers late on Channel 4 and the odd special from BBC4 and that’s it. The Brits? The musical equivalent of a supermarket ready meal. It has its place but it’s not really music, is it? My world is populated by LastFM, Myspace, band websites, personal recommendations, and cover mounted CDs. This week I’ve discovered Freelance Whales, Skybox, The Rescues, Darwin Deez, The Generationals, Dark Mean, A Fine Frenzy, Seabird and rediscovered Matt Pond PA and the Watson Twins and it’s only Thursday
The business of music is healthy, there’s good stuff and it’s out there in mind boggling abundance and if only there was a way to let more people hear more of it the music business would be healthy too!