The Next Big Thing?

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

The Hendrix thread got me to wondering. Although he was undoubtedly a genius and a huge influence on what followed, it is possible to see the influences that he drew upon – R&B and soul song structures, electric blues guitar licks, a huge dose of psychedelia, he was a big fan of science fiction movies, the Beatles and Dylan. In the same way, you can see some of what the Beatles drew on, British dancehall music, fifties rock & roll, sophisticated chordal elements from the American popular songs of the 30’s through 50’s, even country in Harrison’s Chet Atkins fixation – it didn’t hurt that they were four cute guys in the right place at the right time, with a marketing push behind them that itself drew on the best of Col. Tom Parker and soap flakes salesmanship.

So: what current trends are going to meld to be the Next Big Thing? You guys are smart, you have as good a chance of getting it as anyone else. The only things I can think of are:
A) It’s going to involve rap and electronic looping;
B) The capacity for imagery and the content therein among kids today is based on a really shallow pool of (primarily televised) knowledge, “teaching to the test” and self-indulgent yuppie parenting has taken a toll;
C) Please, dog, will melody please have a resurgence in popular music?

The last is probably wishful thinking, the first two are pretty depressing.

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

I think it's pretty hard to predict where it will go from here. I think external events have a huge effect on where music and popular culture go. I don't think it's any accident that the Beatles came on the heels of JFK's assasination, the Cuban missile crisis, the Bay of Pigs invasion, and a total preoccupation with things technological. People needed something. Vietnam and increasing obsession with technology certainly triggered the late 60s psychedelic/protest rock and country-rock movements. Similarly, 70s punk came on the heels of the establishment of a 'rock royalty', corporate rock, and a move away from its agressive roots and purpose, but also followed the decline of Western economies, leaving a lot of punks unemployed on the streets. It didn't really last long, but remained a subculture. The 80s saw the reemergence of the 'corporate rock' approach with an improvement in Western economies, but incorporated elements of punk and heavy metal. In the early 90s, there was a reaction against this, and music incorporating elements of punk and old garage-band rock took over as alt-rock. Rap and hip-hop also started a separate thread in the 80s, obviously influenced by major changes in urban social policy. This expanded greatly in the 90s. During this period, bands like Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, and Wilco formed (I believe) in reaction to the lack of melody in the emerging corporate/techno/dance-music culture, but also incorporated some of the alt-rock influences. A slowly fomenting roots-Americana movement has developed in its wake. In the meanwhile, Nashville has picked a bit of this, a bit of that, and developed their own modified corporate music threads. Add to this 'smooth jazz', 'adult contemporary', old peoples' "oldies", and so on, and we have the current segmented and niched music field.

There are all these threads of music now, and the biggest issue seems to be who controls the dissemination medium. Since there is a chokehold over what is played on broadcast media now, I don't think there's any real chance of anything happening there on a large scale. How many years has it been since anything really interesting has been heard on TV/radio? The last really identifiable 'big thing' band, to me, was Nirvana. Alternative media like internet channels will probably grow, but this will lead to increasing diversity, not a 'next big thing'.

I think the big issues here are cultural fragmentation, information overload, and massive large-corporate control of media. Right now, nothing has universal appeal to a wide audience due to wide cultural differences. Even if something did have that appeal, there is unprecedented competition for peoples' attention. Add to that a corporate media culture which doesn't want to rock the boat, and we get the static musical 'culture' we now 'enjoy'.

Of course, all this may provoke a reaction if people start getting uncomfortable. National and world events do appear to be setting up for a period of fairly serious problems. That may be, ironically, a good period for 'authentic music'. People seem to need music that really speaks to their problems when they have serious problems, not when they're riding 'high on the hog'.

Dan Sawyer · From: Studio City, California, USA

I'm almost certain the next big thing will not be rap. It will be some sort of Latino/Hispanic music. Just think about how many folks there are from that background. And yes, it will have melody. That's been a tradition in these cultures.

Skip Edwards · From: LA,CA

I think if we ever had a steel player that could play with the soul of, say, Jay Dee Maness, and sing with the soul of someone like Ray Charles, we might just have something.

David L. Donald · From: Koh Samui Island, Thailand

R.R. ?

Rick Nicklas · From: Verona, Mo. (deceased)

I say we all just go back to the early 50's and start all over again. You have to admit it has been a blast up until recently.

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Rick
Williams & Kline U-12's, Session 500

Charlie McDonald · From: out of the blue

Webb Kline · From: Orangeville, PA

Mudgett's last 3 paragraphs nail it.

I do believe that if there is any hope of breaking through into something new, it will come on the heels of the depressing times in which we are living. It most definitely will not happen as a result of big media evoking a new paradigm of creativity on us.

The Beatles, Hendrix, Led Zepplin, Yes, all the desert/country rockers, Steely Dan, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Doobie Bros, Allman Bros., Boston, Kansas, Pink Floyd ...like them or not, they were innovative and perhaps more individualistic than any music from any other time period. It was an experimental time in more ways than drug use.

Those were artists who lived in a time when you didn't get signed UNLESS you were different. Like Dave says, big media has shifted from selling art to a let's-not-rock-the-boat mode and there is no evidence that they are about to change. If change comes, it will come from outside of the powers that be.

[This message was edited by Webb Kline on 20 September 2005 at 08:40 AM.]

David Doggett · Posted 20 Sep 2005 9:39 am

Well, let's look at what happened in the past. First of all, nobody ever predicted the next big thing. Nobody predicted jazz, or rock'n'roll, or punk, or rap. So in a sense this is futile. But why should that stop us? Anybody who plays steel guitar is not fazed by the prospect of futility.

In the past I see a couple of different sources of revolutionary music. The first one is when white artists begin to take a popular, but niche, black music and translate it for whites. That happened when black Dixieland and swing jazz was taken up by white big bands and crooners. It happened when the Sun Records Memphis boys took black R&B and gave it a white southern accent to create rock'n'roll. It sort of happened again when the British invaders took American blues and rock'n'roll and fed it back to us with a British accent.

This begs the question of where the new trends come from in black music. To some extent they come from the reverse. Dixieland jazz came from combining black rhythm, harmony and improvisation with white brass band and popular music. In a sense, rap came from combining black rhythm with white beat poetry (Allen Ginsberg, Ferlingetti, The Persuasions, The Temptations, Grand Master Flash, rap). But sometimes it's black mixed with black, as when you combine R&B and rap and get hip-hop.

So maybe some charismatic white artist will come up with a white interpretation of hip-hop that will take off. I don't think you can count Eminem yet, because he is more a pure imitation than something new and different. On the other hand, hip-hop is so hugely popular with white kids these days, maybe we're passed the point of needing white translation, and now have white listeners elevating the original black artists to national stardom.

Another source of new trends comes when working-class good-time music is intellectualized by middle class, um... intellectuals. Dixieland and swing jazz became bebop, cool jazz, and avant garde jazz. The only ones supporting jazz these days are the black middle class (it's their classical music) and music school whites. Early rock'n'roll was teen dance music. Dylan, The Beatles and others in the '60s intellectualilzed it and turned it into album rock. It became, like, art, man.

But then the reverse sometimes happens. When pop music gets too sophisticated and slick, and crowded with grown up pros, the kids take it back to the primitive amateur level, and you get stuff like punk and metal.

Country music has its own path and history. I guess you could say it takes white folk and gospel and adds a touch of whatever is popular. It's been influenced by blues, Hawaiian, jazz, ragtime, and lately by rock.

Okay, so based on all of that, what's my prediction? Not a clue.

Okay, I will take one wild guess. There are beginning to be traces of middle eastern influence in some of hip-hop. That could be just a fleeting trend. But it would not be out of the question if our obsession with the middle east brought more of that influence into pop eventually.

[This message was edited by David Doggett on 20 September 2005 at 10:51 AM.]

Chris Brooks · From: Providence, Rhode Island

Interesting thread.

Dave wrote,

"There are beginning to be traces of middle eastern influence in some of hip-hop..... But it would not be out of the question if our obsession with the middle east brought more of that influence into pop eventually."

This seems to be what is happening in "rai" music with artists like Khaled and Fadel; and I noticed on a recent visit to Paris that there are French/Arab rappers--in both languages.

Chris

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Mexican-Rap music?

Charles Davidson · From: Phenix City Alabama, USA

Please guys dont use RAP and MUSIC in the same sentence. That is sacrilegious. I love everything from grand opera,to the gran ole opry,Charlie Parker,to Charlie Daniels,Surfer music,to Van Halen,Thirtys Bebop jazz to bluegrass .All of this is legitimate music.RAP? hell no.Yes I know rap artist make millions of dollars,so did Al Copone,but he was still a gangster.The so called country music t,v. stations such G.A.C.[great american crap]is trying to legitimize this garbage with artist such as Tim McGraw and Cowboy Troy.As Frank would say[HOLY CRAP].

Bob Smith · From: Allentown, New Jersey, USA

Whoever becomes the next big thing , I bet they are under 30 yrs of age.

Webb Kline · From: Orangeville, PA

In my own world, I can sit here in my studio and create my own hits. After all, it is all about me. I'd buy my stuff. In my own world, I am the next big thing and if I don't soon go on a diet, I will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

David Doggett · Posted 20 Sep 2005 4:56 pm

And to find out what rap fans don't consider "legitimate music," see this thread: http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum10/HTML/200596.html

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. - Isaac Newton

Charles Davidson · From: Phenix City Alabama, USA

The thugs that were doing the looting took mostly rap and gangster rap.Only shows what outlaws thrive on.

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