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Subject: What killed the Singer-Songwriter boom?
Written By: Trimac20 on 04/09/06 at 7:53 am
What do you think abruptly ended the boom in singer songwriters in the mid-70s (around 1974)? Were they the predominantly slow-ballad style of their music just too boring?
Subject: Re: What killed the Singer-Songwriter boom?
Written By: AmericanGirl on 04/10/06 at 6:28 pm
Here's my opinion on this.
The "singer-songwriter boom" never actually DIED, but was relegated to second-class status. Along with several other highly popular sub-genres. Why? A main reason was the Disco "Takeover". Once Disco became SO popular, it was as if almost all other music styles, with the exception of romantic ballads, suddenly seemed "stale". (Part of my reasoning comes from information given by artists who suffered through the Disco era.) Most certainly, the music industry and their eagerness to "catch the wave" was to blame for this.
It's a little like what happened when the Beatles hit the U.S. - anything that sounded like music that was popular before the Beatles suddenly sounded stale. Unfortunately, in the case of Disco, the change wasn't an improvement... :-\\
Subject: Re: What killed the Singer-Songwriter boom?
Written By: B on 04/10/06 at 9:37 pm
I know that the boom is gone, but singer/songwriters do maintain a steady audience. Until last year, radio station WXPN hosted a Singer/Songwriter weekend, a concert fest that ran from Friday through Sunday evenings once a year. Last year, they changed the name to the "All About the Music Festival", but it's still all about the singer/songwriters.
Speaking of that station, WXPN has an online feed where you'll hear those artists. You'll find them www.wxpn.org. Click on the Listen Live link and you're on your way. ;D
B
Subject: Re: What killed the Singer-Songwriter boom?
Written By: CeeKay on 04/11/06 at 2:42 pm
Uh...."video killed the radio star" would be my guess.
New generations that, to a large extent (leaving room for exceptions...don't get mad at me young ones; I don't want to piss off two entire generations) need multiple levels of entertainment all at one time to keep their attention.
A guy with a guitar and great lyrics isn't boring in his own right; but seems boring when you expect song, dance, electronics, lights, etc.
Subject: Re: What killed the Singer-Songwriter boom?
Written By: Trimac20 on 04/12/06 at 10:32 am
Perhaps it was oversaturation of the market? As you say, the singer-songwriter thing spawned a million copycats - which is kind of a pity, cause it took away from truly great music. Personally, I think singer-songwriters tend to thrive in political troubled times - i.e.where protest movements are greatest. It happened during the folk era with civil rights etc., and probably peaked towards the end of the Vietnam War as well. Less so today though.