Bloggerhythms

While I have always known that a generation gap existed in pop culture Sunday night's annual Academy Awards show revealed something quite sad to me: the gap is far wider than I ever imagined. Because this show was Hollywood's 80th annual gala celebrating its own wonderfulness there was a lot of reminiscing using video clips from past Oscar telecasts. Several snippets featured Bob Hope, a man who was an icon to more than one generation. Hope became famous because of his stand up comedy, his long running TV variety series, his many overseas excursions to entertain our troops, his road movies with Bing Crosby, and also because he was the perennial host of the Oscars, but when I asked my 24 year old daughter if she knew his name when his face popped up on our TV screen she didn't have a clue. Her lack of recognition of one of the most famous American entertainers in our history was expected and that is why I asked her the question. Hope has been gone for a few years now s...

I'm a late comer to Joan Osborne. I liked the same songs from her 1995 debut album, Relish , that radio loved, "St. Theresa," "Spider Web," "Pensacola," and her huge hit "One Of Us," but not much else. It took listening to her fabulous cover version of "What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted" from the soundtrack of Standing In the Shadows of Motown for me to fully appreciate her vocal gifts. How Sweet It Is is a very fine set of cover versions of classic R & B mixed in with some vintage rock songs. The CD opens with two great tracks, The Spinners' "I'll Get Around," and Aretha's "Think." A cover of Stevie Wonder's "Love's In Need Of Love Today" is especially nice and her version of "Smiling Faces Sometimes" with Isaac Hayes, is as good as the original. Dave Mason's "Only You Know And I Know" rocks and surprisingly she tackles Jimi Hendrix's ...

PART THREE OF THREE Why is it considered acceptable to love some songs and artists but embarrassing to love others? The correct answer to that question is that there should be no answer at all. Taste in music, as in all of the arts, is totally subjective. Why else do such diverse genres as chamber music and gangsta rap both exist? Do you have better taste in jazz if you prefer Wynton Marsalis to Kenny G? Are you on a higher intellectual plane if you prefer Pavarotti to Bocelli? Are you a really a cooler dude if you prefer Pearl Jam to Bon Jovi? So what gives one musician credibility while another is thought of as a joke? Sometimes an artist's reputation is born from the words of the musical press who almost to a man fancy themselves to be the arbiters of good taste. Regional preferences often play a role too. If you're from Alabama and you like Toby Keith that's cool, but if your a Keith fan from Greenwich Village your taste in music will definitely be sneered...