Music is dead, long live Music!

I remember the first record I loved.

I used to play it on a Fisher Price record player. I told my parents I loved rap music, which meant I loved Run-DMC, but they brought me home this weird disco/rap album. I didn't know what to make of it. What I didn't realize was that this album had one of, if not THE very first rap songs on it, Rapper's Delight. (the B-side was Apache)

How did my parents know to buy me this seminal rap album?
The story I've often told myself in my own head goes like this:

My parents went into a record store and told the clerk that their son was a fan of rap music. They wanted to buy him (me) a rap album, and which album dear Record Store Clerk should they buy for him? This unknown Record Store Clerk had the foresight to hand them a rap album that actually meant something. The rap album that, for all intents and purposes, started rap.

The Sugar Hill Gang.

I had never heard any of these rap songs on any radio stations (later Run-DMC would cover Rapper's Delight), it was like nothing I had ever heard before. It was one of those discoveries that made me love music. I had found this band all on my own, with some help from my parents, and a knowledgeable record store clerk.

I've been reading about the Sony Music settlement. (bugmenot login) Apparently Sony used money and expensive gifts to bribe disc jockey's to play more of Sony's artist's music. While I can't say this is a huge surprise, it does make me feel gross and dirty. It also shows that the Record Companies are getting more desperate. You know why we found out about these bribes? Because a competing Record Company ratted out Sony.

David Byrne has some interesting things to say about radio station payola:
(Mr. Byrne, get a proper journal please, with tagged entries by date)

In case some of you think this only applies to rap or mainstream pop or dance music or whatever you and your friends don’t listen to, think again. Alt rock, the symbol of “integrity” and “authenticity”, along with hip hop, is just as guilty of payola and promotion as the songs of Madonna and J.Lo. There’s a reason you think so-and-so is cool, and the reason has nothing to do with how good it actually is. There’s a reason writers write about certain artists, etc. etc.

The advent of high capacity mp3 players is like a breath of fresh air for music lovers. I can program my own radio station now, with music that I find motivating and exciting, not just what is EXPECTED to sell more records. Rapper's Delight will be at the top of my newest playlist.