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Who will slip of the radar in, say, 50 years or less?

I can name a few popular music genres/eras that very quickly slipped out of the minds of nearly everyone. Jazz rock/horn rock (BS&T etc) and Pub rock as examples. Early 60's pre Beatles has already been mentioned.

I think that some of todays female artists like Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Amy Winehouse will live on.
 
Woodface said:
Thoughts of the esteemed panel?
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I am not sure that I count in that panel, but here I go anyhoo.

First who will not slip off the radar in 50 + years.

Amy Winehouse, limited catalogue and tragic life story. Two very different main albums, one of which harkens back to a 1960’s sound. Winehouse had a style as well, which will be aped on a long loop by gloomy teens in the future.

Kate Bush - Interesting work and each album tells stories.

Bowie, obviously.

Kraftwerk. Innovation and still very listenable decades later. Defined brand.

As for which artists who are popular now? Difficult, because if they aren’t writing their own music and/or lyrics I am not that bothered.

Adele is a good case as she has a lot ahead of her depending on what direction her output takes. I like her voice, but the mastering is unpleasant. I hope she stays away from electronica. I would like to hear an album of jazz standards from her.

Public Enemy & Beyonce will last out, I think the impact of the politics will still be relevant (unfortunately) and I refer to the inequality of women when referencing Beyonce specifically.
P.E. might be of interest as much for its negative connotations as its positive ones.

When ‘lasting the test of time,’ there is a issue for me in defining that. How many folk need to listen to something in 50 years to qualify?
If internet plays or downloads are the measure, then Michael Jackson will still be played, as will Prince and Bob Marley - and Louis Armstrong.

Who knows what the format of the masses will be then?
 
stairpost said:
I'm pretty sure Cliff Richard will be gone with the generation that grew up with him.

Madonna seems less and less relevant these days too.

And I'd say zero of the pop idol/voice/got talent artists have a hope in hell of being remembered.
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Madonna never was relevant! Not even slightly... Bubble gum pop pap.
 
DipsyDave said:
There were a lot of fairly middle of the road singer-songwriter types who sold ridiculous numbers of albums in the late 90s/early 00s - Dido, Duffy, David Gray, James Morrison, Emilie Sandé etc. Considering the sheer number of units they shifted, they've by and large slipped off the radar after 20 years or less, let alone 50.
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Classical music tells us that many composers became forgotten and ignored by the ends of their lives and for 50 years or more after that and then got rediscovered
 
davidsrsb said:
Classical music tells us that many composers became forgotten and ignored by the ends of their lives and for 50 years or more after that and then got rediscovered
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Indeed. As I mentioned upthread the really good stuff is so far ahead of the game it often takes a generation or two to find its mark. Chances are it was largely ignored in its time but later generations discover it and build upon it, and only at that time does it gain immortality. It is exactly the same with art, e.g. Van Gogh died penniless, as did too many of the now big name Blue Note, Riverside, Impulse-era jazz musos who we are now all paying £35 a throw for lovely Tone Poets etc 50-60 years later.

PS As ever the mainstream is best ignored, there are very seldom any gems to be found there. The innovative and lasting stuff in any field is always in the fringes well off the beaten path.
 
Before I came here I read a newsline our government has just spent a considerable amount for a new Quantum computer..and my initial thought was:
Will computers like this decide what we get so see and hear in the future ?

I'm very hesitant with anything streaming and even broadcasting bc it limits my own choice too much for my taste.
Don't even have a tv.
The core question to me is, will society ultimately accept what they get delivered,
or will they always communicate, exchange and share experiences on a wide enough scale ?

Wide enough scale is the key I think, as a few individuums are not enough for this, they will fade.
And if an algorithm gets to decide what we consume, critical thoughts like Michael Jackson's:
'All I wanna say is that they don't really care about us.' can be muted out within a generation probably.
Critical thoughts, even more complex thought patterns that provoke creative own thoughts.

I meet up with friends in a cafe in the city and we share music tips among us,
so I got to Abbey Lincoln's: 'Abbey is blue' lately...which is phantastic..
or have 'Blackstone Legacy' coming in next week...mentioned here.

The question is who will suggest that to anyone in 1 generation ?
I'm really not sure...50 years is a long time.

I have an 18 yr old apprentice at present & we talk a bit during work.
Turns out he does not know who the Beatles are..that one hit me like a hammer.
But then I thought how often I came across them since 2002..hmm, honestly..not so much ?

He also wanted to hear the music from his iphone and tv louder, so I suggsted s/h loudspeakers to him, which he promptly bought.
The following week he tuned up bc he couldn't fit the speakers to his iphone.
It turned out he had no idea he needed an amp for that..

He does not know CD players either,
and I did't even mention record players as I felt dinosaur enough by that point..

So..the future may well become thrilling, I'm just not sure if I'd be happy or if I would really want to know it.
If I would be offered a one hour view into the real future, I think I would probably pass..

Interesting topic though...people communicating a vital aspect
of having a society worth living in to me.
 
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50 years! Rap or a derivative will have taken over the world and everyone will be rapping themselves to death on their own ‘YouTube’ channel. Even Chopin will be forgotten. Time to sell your Beatles memorabilia folks!
 
I'm not sure whether he's slipped under the radar or he just wasn't on the radar enough to begin with but you never hear Loudon Wainwright III on the radio, or in shops as background music while you're shopping for this and that.

Jools Holland is probably LWIII's best hope of being heard these days and once Jools Holland retires, that's it, the music of Loudon Wainright III will probably never be heard on TV ever again.
 
I think stuff from a specific time/scene will quickly be forgotten, aside from the fans who lived and breathed it. So I'm thinking Britpop bands and early 2000s NME indie like the Libertines etc.
 
Beatles will still be relevant for a long time, not because of the band as such, but the songwriting. Good songs can outlive the bands that made them famous.

Just my view.

And others are right, there tons of 'very famous' artists that the youth of today have never heard of. My 20 to 23 yr olds continue to astound me with how little they seem to know. But the truth is, I am an old fart.

When my Dad in the mid 1960s was playing the light radio programme on a Saturday while doing jobs around the house, a lot of the music seemed ancient to me - it was from the 1940s and some 1950s. Today Radio 2 is playing music of similar age - back to the 80s and 90s. An 8 year old child listening to that would think as I did in 1965.

I kind of put up with several plays of album by a rapper called Dave in the car recently. It wasn't terrible, although I did not seek it out on the hifi at home. I did once play Kendrick Lamar (Damn) quite loud - that surprised the kids.

We are going to a big family wedding in July (hopefully!) and it will be interesting to see what music gets played for us old dads to groove to. I am still up for embarrassing the girls - it is one of Dad's privileges!
 
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