Saturday, April 15, 2017

                                          The Pop Music Divide
You know how obsessed societies are about the concept of "multiculturalism"?
Wanting to bring together the most irrelevant elements into the same space?

Isn't it ironic that, in contrast, popular music, which at one time used to routinely comprise various elements from diverse sources, would wind up being one area to become so divisive within itself by forming numerous subcategories within each genre?

I grew up in the '60s, when rock n'roll and pop music was still normal, when it was the "catchiest" songs that got promoted on the radio, regardless of style or ethnic origins.

In the '70s is when it started to divide itself: at first into the "progressive/album rock" and "soft rock/singer-songwriter" subgenres.
Less than a decade later there would also be disco, punk rock, and "new wave".

I've since long gotten used to this "divide".
And, also, a lot of the performers in these subgenres had a few "token top-40 singles" of their own, making it easy to merge their signature songs alongside those of the more "mainstream" style performers.

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