Why Is It, That As We Get Older...

[Gunny5711]

We tend to listen to music from our youth more? My parents did it, and now I do the same. As I sit here I have a station on that plays music from the mid 50's to early 60's. (Pre British Invasion) I love this music! There isn't a lot of current music I can get my head around. Am I alone in this?

[auld argonian]

Both my kids (now 22 and 19) listen to pretty much what I listened to and eschew the music of the 90's and the aught's.

Incidentally....you know why middle aged people can't have children? Because they'd put 'em down and forget where they left 'em.

So we're long on the Beatles and Stones and Cream in these parts...

...and The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, of course.

Best

AA

[Zardoz]

A friend of mine who DJs at private events says people always like music from the 'stupidest' time in their life, generally their early college years. I know that works with me, I love the 80's New Wave and Alternative stuff.

[Nick the DSM]

Born in the '90s listen to rock from 50s-80s.

[tripleblessed]

No, you're not alone, and what life requires of people at different stages doesn't lend itself to the process of staying current with music that's designed to speak to issues we don't face in the same way. Plus, you reference some of the great popular music of the last 100 years. That said, lifelong learning and accepting of new information and patterns is helpful in avoiding stagnation and decline. It's one of the attractive factors in this sort of forum. To aid in this, one might choose to look at other musics on purpose, educating one's self about the issues of the times. I heard AM radio as a child, unformatted. One could hear jazz and blues from the 20s, live dance music from Tommy Dorsey or Count Basie, Texas swing from Bob Wills or Hank Thompson, Hank Williams live from Shreveport on the Hayride, the NBC Orchestra under Toscanini; Bill Monroe, the Osborne Brothers and others creating bluegrass, on into rockabilly, rock and roll, doo-wop, Mo-Town, British invasion....... Oh, MILLS BROTHERS.

Continue to enjoy the music that speaks to you, but it might be relevant to learn to speak to other styles, learn to play them, or whatever. Time, I know, is an issue. The apparent slow period in quality new music is no
reason to ossify. If you don't care for what's happening now, there's plenty in other directions.

[jgcunningham]

Yeah, I routinely listen to AOL Radio's 80's Alternative channel. It's everything I listened to in college. Now if I could find a good 70's channel that doesn't play sappy stuff like "Afternoon Delight" and more early Aerosmith.

[skauwt]

born in `78 and listen to music ranging over 120 years

[cessna152towser]

I think its a nostalgia thing, listening to music from happier times.

[McClef]

Perhaps because some of the older stuff is more tuneful and memorable than modern stuff.

[artificer]

I never stopped listening to music I bought in High School. Thank goodness for the advent of CDs (which is when they first became mainstream).

BTW: Anyone remember when there was a big panic about the plastic in CDs theoretically breaking down after ~10 years.

I've STILL got the same first 3 discs I bought as a sophomore in H/S, and they STILL play perfectly. Although these days I tend to listen via my iPod.