Yup... They don’t make music like that anymore... Now music is made to be used as a commercial jingle at some point in the future.
I got into Kansas (the group) music around the same time.
The issue is, after about 1982 or so, we were given MTV, and producers immediately changed the way they produced the music. It was no longer an acoustic form of expression and emotions, it became a VISUAL medium for the masses, and music changed forever.
Kids today have NO IDEA how to LISTEN to music anymore because they all have the Visual portion that pushes out everything else. Ask a typical teenager to name all the instruments they hear in a popular current recording. They can’t do it because many of them have no concept of musical theory, or what an instrument even sounds like. Listen to the way kids nowadays describe new music… “OMG did you SEE the new Cardi B video?” Or wow, did you SEE the new Tucker Wentworth tic toc?????”
The acoustical portion is not even appreciated anymore. Of course so much now a days is so shaped and artificially processed, but that’s another rant……