Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Tony Bennett Slams Modern Music: Today’s Songs Are ‘Terrible’
Parade ^ | MARCH 21, 2014 | Lindsay Lowe

Posted on 03/22/2014 2:13:41 PM PDT by nickcarraway

Tony Bennett doesn’t have much patience for most modern music. The legendary singer, 87, told the BBC Radio 4’s Today program that most modern songs lack a “lasting quality.”

“The songs that are written today, most of them are terrible,” he said. “It’s a very bad period, musically, throughout the world for popular music.”

He added that today’s music industry leaders are more concerned with making money than making quality music.

“The corporations took it over and they want to make so much money and they don’t care whether the public likes it or not,” he said. “They think the public is ignorant, so their attitude is, ‘Don’t give them anything intelligent, because it won’t sell.’”

He also criticized what he sees as the music industry’s bias toward younger listeners.

“Today, record companies are failing because they are putting their accent just on the young, and I think that’s rather silly,” he said.

Bennett is a huge fan of one young pop icon, however; he’s collaborating with Lady Gaga on a new jazz album, Cheek to Cheek.

“She’s one of the best singers I ever heard,” Bennett told Parade.com in 2012. “She also plays great piano and dances very well. She’s an all-around great performer…I’ve met so many people in show business over the years and I’m very impressed with her. She’s one of the great talents coming up. She’s going to always surprise everybody with her artistry.”

Watch Bennett and Lady Gaga perform “The Lady Is a Tramp”:


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: akatonybennett; communistgoals; culturewar; hollywoodreds; music; musicindustry; payforplay; payola; schlock; singer; songpluggers; tonybennett
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 121-140141-160161-180181-182 next last
To: nickcarraway
What a joy reading this thread. All these old farts with their "Back in my day, music was music" rants. I remember growing up in the 1970s, it was the same thing. Only back then, the old farts were going back to Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters to point out "when music was music."

Forty years from now, all the young kids today are going to be grumpy old men yearning for the good old days of Coldplay and Arcade Fire while pointing out that the music of the 2050s is "utter garbage."


161 posted on 03/23/2014 8:59:29 AM PDT by SamAdams76
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Borges

I loved Cameo and P-Funk, myself.


162 posted on 03/23/2014 9:05:58 AM PDT by RegulatorCountry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 157 | View Replies]

To: Hugin
Artists write their own music!

The singer/songwriter model is the wrong model. Sure, it can work, but you don't often find both skills at the highest level in the same person.

Motown was great because the performers were separated from the writers.

163 posted on 03/23/2014 9:06:12 AM PDT by St_Thomas_Aquinas ( Isaiah 22:22, Matthew 16:19, Revelation 3:7)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: Steve_Seattle
There was tremendous variety - Beatles, Stones, Beach Boys, bubble gum, Motown, soft rock, Petula Clark, Dean Martin, Ronettes, psychedelic, novelty tunes, country cross-overs, and on and on.

Yes! That carried over for a time into the seventies, and it's what I miss.

164 posted on 03/23/2014 9:13:00 AM PDT by St_Thomas_Aquinas ( Isaiah 22:22, Matthew 16:19, Revelation 3:7)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 86 | View Replies]

To: Repeal The 17th
Yes

FMCDH(BITS)

165 posted on 03/23/2014 10:10:31 AM PDT by nothingnew (I fear for my Republic due to marxist influence in our government. Open eyes/see)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 109 | View Replies]

To: BuckeyeTexan
Yeah, he did and still going...in a way.

FMCDH(BITS)

166 posted on 03/23/2014 10:11:39 AM PDT by nothingnew (I fear for my Republic due to marxist influence in our government. Open eyes/see)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 121 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway; Revolting cat!

The popular music of today is the best chart success industry money can buy!

Psst, the same people who are telling you how wonderful Obamacare is are the ones saying Lady Gaga is the new Elvis Beatle.


167 posted on 03/23/2014 3:56:55 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (The Texas judge's decision was to pave the way for same sex divorce for two Massachusetts women.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: a fool in paradise

It’s the best popular music that a desk bound MBA can choose for you using an Excel spreadsheet!


168 posted on 03/23/2014 3:59:26 PM PDT by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong! Ice cream is delicious! We reserve the right to serve refuse to anyone!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 167 | View Replies]

To: Revolting cat!

More planning goes into the marketing plan and development of popstar musicians and their images than ever went into Obammycare.


169 posted on 03/23/2014 4:02:41 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (The Texas judge's decision was to pave the way for same sex divorce for two Massachusetts women.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 168 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

Tony lost me when I found out what a Libtard he really is.

Obama loving DemocRat, dumb as a fence post.


170 posted on 03/23/2014 4:04:43 PM PDT by Kickass Conservative (Nobody owes you a living, so shut up and get back to work...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

The songs of today are only terrible if you like melody, harmony, good lyrics and you can let your children listen to them. Otherwise today’s “music” is great.


171 posted on 03/23/2014 4:05:23 PM PDT by NCLaw441
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: a fool in paradise

Indeed, Excel is just a start of it, then comes SharePoint, and finally the Normandy stage of the campaign - PowerPoint! On to Berlin!


172 posted on 03/23/2014 4:05:44 PM PDT by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong! Ice cream is delicious! We reserve the right to serve refuse to anyone!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 169 | View Replies]

To: SoFloFreeper

When talking about music I don’t really care about a musician’s politics.


173 posted on 03/23/2014 4:07:50 PM PDT by NCLaw441
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Revolting cat!
Battle of the bands contests are great to sign up an act and park their career so that they don't threaten the predetermined “trends”. You sign an act to a 3 album/10 year deal. You work the press to get them face recognition. You work the pitchfork and social media sites.

Who wants to FOLLOW the trends signing the next big thing when you can TELL the people what is big?

174 posted on 03/23/2014 4:12:13 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (The Texas judge's decision was to pave the way for same sex divorce for two Massachusetts women.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 172 | View Replies]

To: a fool in paradise

The newest trend, I’ve just read in the Biz & Finance section of yesterday’s WSJ (I don’t know if it’s available online, but you can try finding it by searching on the author’s name: Hannah Karp), is for Swedish songwriters, who have had successes writing hits for the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears and others here, to develop their own stables of performers. Since the death of the CD and the rebirth of the single (alas without a B side), songwriters have been hurting, earning royalties only when they hit on a hit. Previously (and I suppose still), songwriters collected for each of sold album’s fillers, whether radio played them or not.


175 posted on 03/23/2014 5:54:30 PM PDT by Revolting cat! (Badwhereas things are wrong! Ice cream is delicious! We reserve the right to serve refuse to anyone!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 174 | View Replies]

To: Revolting cat!

The new racket is to permit the public to make “fan made videos” but then contact Google’s Youtube and demand revenue (in the form of revenue from a paid ad before the clip airs).

So in essence, the studios are profiting on the work of others in the absence of any court order giving them ownership of the work.

The song owners can demand that the song audio be stripped but they have no legal claim to the video work of someone else.


176 posted on 03/23/2014 6:06:52 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (The Texas judge's decision was to pave the way for same sex divorce for two Massachusetts women.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 175 | View Replies]

To: Hawthorn

The perfect country song..David Allan Coe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_qfujQ_jTQ


177 posted on 03/23/2014 9:17:52 PM PDT by berdie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 154 | View Replies]

To: berdie

Don’t be offended...I like C&W. :) Especially classic C&W.


178 posted on 03/23/2014 9:20:11 PM PDT by berdie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 177 | View Replies]

To: St_Thomas_Aquinas

Beatles??


179 posted on 03/23/2014 9:21:36 PM PDT by berdie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 163 | View Replies]

To: St_Thomas_Aquinas

I’ve always been rather partial to bands with an excellent writer who could write to and work in harmony (pun?) with the strengths of an excellent singer, whose abilities said writer probably understands more rationally than the singer him or herself.


180 posted on 03/23/2014 9:26:09 PM PDT by Paul R. (Leftists desire to control everything; In the end they invariably control nothing worth a damn.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 163 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 121-140141-160161-180181-182 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson