Last Night, I Felt Old.

Walking along in the Trafford Centre, I noticed a kerfuffle occurring outside of HMV. There were loads of kids mingling about, and queuing up. I quickly realised that they weren’t just a bunch of chavs, and were actually waiting to see someone. Honestly, I was expecting Robbie Williams, Pink, or maybe Lily Allen. So, I grabbed a kid (not literally, you understand) and said to him “Why is everybody queuing?” He looked at me with eminent disgust and said “Tynchy Strycher is appearing here, doing a signing”. I said “Tinchy Spider? Who’s he?”. Not amused, he frowned at me and said “Tynchy Strycher….he’s a rapper”. I said “Oh…..I’ve never heard of him” Much to the spotty little oiks disgust. I asked him “Have you ever heard of Def Leppard? What about R.E.M.? Or Lynyrd Skynyrd?”, which was met by blankness. I walked away, shocked at the fact that I was so removed from the world of what’s ‘in’. The missus then appeared, from buying yet another pair of shoes, and I told her what had happened, and straight away she said “Oh yeah, Tynchy Strycher? He’s on that ‘Number One’ record”. “Hark at you, getting ‘down with the kids'” I replied.
But the thing is, these kids averaged 13-15 years of age. What on earth do they see, or get, from being into a rapper? It’s beyond me. Whatever happened to a kid being into ‘proper music’, I.E. guitar based, or even the piano? Is this what the modern generation is? Whatever happened to the kid who wanted to be the new Mark Knofler? Or even the new Slash? Or is the guitar not ‘cool’ anymore? I think the fact that nobody can go on X Factor with an instrument, or that nolbody has done anything with one on Britains Got (No) Talent has got a lot to do with it. Fact is, there is more put on ‘the look’ of an act these days, than absolute substance. I mean, ability. They’d much rather have an obese Greek and his obese mini-me of a kid, wobbling their bellies to Greek music, than have somebody slashing out chords and riffs on a Les Paul. Is that what entertainment has become? Deary, deary me. And the fact that they even put Susan Boyle in front of a camera is cruel to all concerned. Not least you and I what has to look at it…I mean HER. It was only her ‘freak-ness’ that got her on there. Is it not cruel to mock somebody like that? It was out of order. But I ask again, what on earth is going through these kids heads? Do they know what ‘Good Music’ actually is? Or do they think that ‘Tickly Spider’, or whatever his name is, is the epitomy of it?

Give me Def Leppard or a bit of Mark Knofler, any day. :D