In all seriousness, the video above is part of what is now a mini-genre of sorts, one in which supposedly sophisticated Gen Z musical types on YouTube get exposed to classic rock for the first time and they dig it.
In this case, the guy in question (who apparently is a producer of some repute) is given a very intelligently chosen playlist of the Top 5 songs by The Who -- none of which he claims to have ever heard before (yeah, I know, I know) -- and he has his tiny mind appropriately blown.
For us adults watching it, the most fun is when he gets to the iconic scream in "Won't Get Fooled Again" and completely and wonderfully loses it.
That said, and all Boomer snark aside, I still find it difficult to believe these influencers and music professionals have never previously been exposed to the songs in question. I mean, it's not like the Who haven't been played endlessly in movies and TV cop shows and in commercials and on oldies radio. Is it really because kids(?) today get all their music from streaming services or some such shit?
Honestly -- I don't get it.
19 comments:
Given the songs in question are over 50 years old, it's not surprising that kids these days just don't know what they've been missing.
How many times on this site have we mentioned an SNL musical guest who we have no idea who he/she/they are or what they are there for?
Are music reactors real? I'm sure some are. What surprises me more is that people give them money.
It has just dawned on me that the issue in question may be a gag that I was naive enough to fall for. If so, I apologize to all concerned, but especially to my readers. 😎
Noticed over the weekend that Titleist uses the drum buildup and scream segment of "Won't Get Fooled Again".
As far as a 2-LP, for me, Quadrophenia is much better than Tommy.
I prefer "Quad" as well.
"Tommy" is my least favorite WHO record with the original four.
In all seriousness, the Top 5 Who songs the guy above is listening to in the clip are quite well chosen. I'm sure we all have quibbles, but it's a genuine great list by any standard..
I'm pretty sure these reactions are real. When I was in my 20s, in the 1970s, familiarity with 50 year old music would have meant grooving to George M. Cohan and early Bing Crosby. We forget, 50 years is an unfathomably long time when you're young.
July 21, 1968 - The Who at Oakdale Thd conversation with one - heater. Keith had his French Postcard drum set -:the band in ruffles and flourishes.
Who's Next - an album that has lived with our generation.
Steve referenced Gen Z.
I recently had this question posed to me - Favorite songs , albums of this 74 year old - Joni Mitchell, John Prine, The Who.She had never heard of them . I gave her a list of some ar ,😢tists, songs she needed to listen to.She took our conversation to heart and expressed in looking deeper.
Somehow our generations musical contributions have been lost in the ether
rob 😢
Forgive my initial sentence I still have Carpenters digits
That’s because he’s like 22.
The solution is clearly this: when you are with one of these young folks, get out your guitar, play something wonderful from 50 years ago, and tell them it’s something YOU wrote!
It’s a win-win.
Jai Guru Dave
😎
For clicks, above all.
I actually enjoy some of them, especially when they get, involunarily I believe, enthralled. I'm sort of envious if, in fact, it is their first listen.
Some are very earnest and thoughful, some not so much. But one can always just move on to the next distraction...:)
I’ve seen a couple of these, although not influencers - one was a classical longhair listening to Who’s Next for the first time (although he did say that he had heard WGFA before); yeah, his mind was blown…
Which is what happened to me at 17 - there were only two “rock” FM stations available to me as a teen in the late ‘70s, and the only Who that got played was occasionally “Squeeze Box” (which is a bouncy little song, to be sure, but not exactly representative). I had nobody influencing my musical taste except for reading TMFKASR, which I’d been doing for a few months. So one day, probably after reading Steve’s review of “Who Are You”, I picked up “Who’s Next”, took it home, put it on the turntable…”mind blown” doesn’t even begin to describe it; I had never imagined there was music like this.
But plenty of the kids are actually alright; my millennial son is going with me to Lost Wages at the end of September for the last show in the final tour; he’s been a Who fan for quite a while now.
Squeeze Box - that's a memory 😎
I'm thinking he'll be disappointed with Tommy after those five, especially if he actually sits through the whole thing.
I'm partial to the one where the guy gets his mind blown by a live performance of "Frankenstein" by The Edgar Winter Group on The Midnight Special.
These reaction videos are inexplicably addicting. My favorites are women reacting to Bobby Hatfield singing 'Unchained Melody.'
seems impossible that a music producer would not be familiar with one of the biggest acts in the rock era.
all the big band Rudy Valle stuff Elvis &. rest of original rockers were instantly ancient as Bach to the youth that were driving the market when. rock started.
the generation after the my generation that lived through the classic rock era were strangely as into it as their elders had been. Us folks that were around when all the great 60-70s stuff happened felt validated by the luv for the classics the next generation had as seen for example with the deadheads & festivals there is still a good hunk of the current youngsters that enjoy arena rock from the 70s. none of the songs of this century will have staying power of the classics from that generation.
There haven't been 5 songs better than this Pete sampler in last 10 years in all genres imo.
I agree with most longtime Who fans that they have @ least 4 all time classics albums that are better than Tommy but it is still quite brilliant & greater than 95%+ stuff released during the rock era. Culturally it is immortal. No singer has better captured material than Daltrey did with it. Woodstock was highlight of the era & their Tommy segment the highlight of the show. & still not top 4 of their releases.
Unreal . long live rock
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