A Tranny Mess

Sadly enough, this post was prompted by the great whore that is American Idol. I don't pride myself on being someone who tunes in to this freak show, but most of my viewing goes to disparaging the meager talent of many of the contestants. This is especially true this season, but nevermind.

This week on the show (predictably following '60s and '70s era themes) was '80s week. Which got me thinking about my musical 'philosophy' of the '80s, or just music in general. As the first contestant belted out "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" by Wham!, I thought what a crazy cultural bubble the '80s turned out to be, especially when it came to pop music.

I'm no expert, and wasn't really a child of the era, but here are my thoughts. Every musical era has its styles and artists that live and die within that period, but the musical baby boom of the '80s was something to be marveled at. Granted, there were artists who rose long before who enjoyed success through, and after this period. There were also several '80s musical babies who had success later. But amazing to me are all those products of the time that died right along with it. All those catchy tunes, we '90s children even know the words to, but have no substantial knowledge of the artists behind them.

But alas, this truly is the way of the musical world. Hanson, TLC and MC Hammer got left behind just like Wham! and so many others. And just as many popular artists of today will invariably fade into the background. An interesting thing to think about. Now go and pull out your favorite old BBMak CD and mourn the passing of so many mediocre artists...