Well, not really shit… And certainly not all. But here is a list of the number one hit singles on the UK charts in 2009 (list copied off Wikipedia):
With the exception of a very fortunate few, this is almost exclusively dance music. Club music. Don’t people want something to listen to in this country? Don’t they want something with substance? Granted, it’s impressive that a Rage Against the Machine made it on there. The only rock tune that did, even if it’s old as dirt, so I don’t quite get it… The Children in Need song was also very sweet, and I like it that people care enough about their charities and their kids to get it on there. I also don’t mind Lily Allen. But apart from those specific examples, I can’t say there’s a thing on there that I like. Some of it’s tolerable, and I don’t mind them so much, but mostly, I think these tunes are shit.
Which shouldn’t matter to you. My opinion affects you in no way at all. But the thing that really bothers me is that apart from two or three of these tracks, even among the ones I can stand to listen to, there’s hardly a single real instrument between them. So many fantastic instrumentalists out there, and these blood sucking record producers won’t spend a dime on them. They’ll get someone to programme a few loops instead, and that’ll be that.
I have no vendetta against electronic music. I quite like electronic music, when it’s done well, and when the computer is played like an instrument. But that’s not what this is. It’s cheap sound for an instant hit. It costs less and it makes more money for the record companies than most “real” musicians can ever dream of.
I’d like some music, please. Is that too much to ask?
EDIT: Regarding Rage Against the Machine, according to Wikipedia:
“In 2009 the song was part of a successful Facebook campaign to prevent The X Factor winner’s song from gaining the Christmas number one in the United Kingdom. The campaign provoked commentary from both groups and other musicians, as well as gaining coverage in national and international press. The song became the first single to reach Christmas number one spot on downloads alone.”
8 Comments
It is, and it has been since around 1979.
But why can’t normal people like real music?
Do normal people buy singles? I don’t know anyone who’s done that more than, say, once or twice, unless they collect a band.
Normal people buy albums, or download.
I don’t know… I think radio plays and single downloads on iTunes count, too….
Well, other than “downloading the one song by [band] that they like”, I don’t know anyone who’s bought a single [vinyl, CDsingle or download] since the mid-1980s. This probably means that single buyers are who they always were; teenagers, and [band] completionist collectors. You’re right about downloads, but I don’t think radio plays count towards the charts, or else you’d have a self-perpetuating spiral of “song gets played more because it’s in the charts which puts it higher in the charts because it’s played more which puts…played more…”
I agree with you in the general sense though; check out Amy McDonald as an example of what those of us who’re buying original compositions and like real instruments with our singers are listening to.
I’ll give her a listen later on.
I hope the title of my post didn’t offend anyone; it was meant to be tongue in cheek. We got an assignment in Songwriting Analysis to analyse a number 1 from the UK singles chart of 2009. I got stuck with I Gotta Feeling, which, despite being an utterly boring song with a grammatically nonsensical title, is apparently the highest selling song on iTunes ever, with 6,000,000 in the US alone. Needless to say, this left me feeling very disillusioned about humanity in general….
Well, I wasn’t offended; I just felt that your post was a useful place to hang my rant about “how singles charts are a really bad belweather of musical taste in the earning population”! If you can find a use for it along the lines of “the opinion has been stated that…” you’re very welcome to do so.
Lol! Thank you. I might just do that.