Instant earworms
Just on a whim, I played an excerpt from Glee for a colleague that didn’t “know” the program. No surprise: instant earworm. That explains so much.
Actually, last night’s episode was very good musically. Even if the storyline remains confused, the kids sure can sing. New music for me, which led to the inevitable Google on lyrics to find the original artist. When I was little, somebody (she will remain nameless) used to bring home lyrics magazines. Country and western content, for the main. My first contact with the idea that songs could be written out to facilitate the learning process. Bad idea for the industry; when your goal is to sell units of vinyl, that dropping the needle to get the next line soon wore the record out. Oh, you don’t know about records? Youth!
Did you think that the musical world started with the advent of iTunes? Or maybe with those tiny plastic mirrors that your parents refer to as CDs? No way, Josie! In my basement, I’ve got stuff in 78, 45 and 33 (an approximation). If you managed to find a turntable (check in the Wiki) and used a stroboscope to set the speed, songs even played “in key”, although country and western provided an exception to the rule.
Nowadays, the only place I hear new music is on my TV, thanks to Glee. Or American Idol. The music video channels have relegated music to “les oubilettes”, and opted for commentary. Not good. The Top 30 from CFCY (right after As It Happens) had cultural value.
