The appeal of rock and pop vs other genres
To continue a train of thought started in the Hotel California thread, here's a post from Delilah I wanted to respond to. Her original post is on page 28, post number 279.
Quote:
Good grief! Why can’t people simply enjoy music without being stereotyped and categorized in neat little boxes? It’s very telling when it’s not enough to say, “I don’t care for that genre of music” but it must go farther than that with digs at those enjoy that genre.
FWIW, Merle Haggard is generally considered a legend, a status that I cannot imagine will ever be bestowed on Bon Jovi or Whitesnake.
And Hillary Clinton is 72 years old! Her generation came of age in the classic rock era.
I categorize genres because nowadays rock and country isn't the old rock and country. Today's country IS more encompassing and is doing away with the more dated sound I don't care for. And today's rock has none of the things that made me love rock and roll. I don't care what someone likes, but to me those who like one are less likely to like the other, JMO. We may see it differently. I don't care, honestly. But to me very few people truly are that open with their tastes and love everything. There are plenty of country fans who hate a certain kind of country. It isn't cut and dry anymore. Old vs new. Traditional vs progressive. Etc etc etc. I'm not sorry for saying it the way I see it. But I'm sorry if that bothers you. Country to one person is very different than another. I'm personally of the opinion that most stereotypes happen for a reason and are called out for a reason. But no harm no foul here. If TLR wants to back out of the conversation, that's fine, I was pointing out some irony in their post. That's all! It's my belief that if you are going to say something to someone about doing something, and then go and do it yourself right after is hypocritical. If they didn't mean it that way, then I misunderstood and again, I'm sorry. After all it is words on a screen. But unless they come back here and elaborate, then I think I hit on something that was true and will stand by the fact I think it was ironic and kind of a "pot, meet kettle".
I was surprised HRC liked The Stones simply because she seemed like the type of person who was too serious to appreciate rock music, too prim and proper. Not an age thing so much. After all you can be that way at any age. ;) I just figured she'd be more of a Sinatra or a Manilow fan, more classy, lol.
Merle Haggard is considered a legend to those who like him and his music and are country fans. The rest of us understand that some people do see it that way and will acknowledge it, although he might not be a legend to others. Bon Jovi and Whitesnake probably aren't going to appeal to a Merle Haggard fan and vice versa, sure. That said, to some out there I'm sure they bestow the legend status on Whitesnake (myself, for one). They've made their mark on music and there will be those who appreciate it and those that don't. Same with Haggard. How you rank them is entirely up to you. I still say that the country fanbase isn't as encompassing as more generic genres such as pop or rock. Most everybody likes some form of rock and pop music. Country, jazz, heavy metal, classical, etc are more "acquired" tastes IMO. Not as widespread and as reaching as wide of a demographic of age, gender, race, location of birth, etc. I think of this stuff like a census. Just me.
