Here’s a view from one of those working in a top slot at a radio station in the 21st century.
I often wonder what state today’s music industry would be in if we had somehow skipped the 1960s. We owe so much to an era that saw musicians react to what they saw and the youth of the day living out their lyrics.
The 60’s became an outlet for teenagers to express themselves and voice their concerns about society. So much so that many bands had more pulling power than the politicians, something that is still apparent today. An example of this happened in the late 60’s when Elvis Presley asked President Nixon to ban the The Beatles from the United States because of their left-wing political beliefs, which he called "anti-American. Beatles fans dismissed this as a fear of competition. The top two selling artists of all time are The Beatles followed by Elvis and this is reflected in the charts today.
Music seems to go round in quite predictable cycles of copying styles and sounds from the various decades - direct sampling of 60’s tracks and playing them under new tracks, as part of a bigger ensemble is very popular.The 60's have been pretty consistent in contributing to the pop/rock genre since both recording techniques and styles seemed to explode from the traditional conservative styles around prior to the mid-50's. Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly seemed to kick it all off by taking the electrified Blues from Southern and Mid-West America and making it global. It would probably be rare to find a band currently in the charts that wouldn't list some 60's music amongst its influences.
Bands that sound like they could easily do very well if put in a time-machine and transported to the 60's would be likes of The Magic Numbers, Michael Buble, Semisonic, Razorlight, The Zutons, Artic Monkeys etc. A lot of these bands I would call ‘second generation’ in terms of their influences. For example, The Beatles influenced Oasis who in turn may have influenced The Artic Monkeys.
The radio industry as a whole regularly carries out extensive research into what exactly it is that the listener wants to hear. As a radio DJ on a station that plays a vast range of music, I find myself on a daily basis playing tracks from the 60’s, namely the Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who, Elvis, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Small Faces, Van Morrison, Spenser Davis group, Jimi Hendrix and many more!
Many DJs have enormous respect for bands that emerged from the 1960’s, many of which are still performing today. The Rolling Stones have a combined age of 243 and are still touring after 43 years in the industry. If you go to any of their concerts you will find an enormous range of people. The appeal with bands like this is not just the quality of music but also the performance. You are guaranteed to see an amazing ‘Live’ show, something which I think only comes with years of experience.
Some would say the 1960s was a time of "sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Unfortunately I arrived in the world a little late, so for me it was a period that laid the foundations for some of my favourite bands.
The Tom & Kez Breakfast Show
Hertfordshire’s Mercury 96.6
hertsmercury.co.uk
