(Please listen to the videos toward the end of the blog for examples. When you compare, there's simply no comparison.)
Let me start off by saying that I enjoy most of Garth Brooks' music. Some of it, I enjoy very much. This blog post isn't about Garth Brooks' quality of musical output at all. It's about what his success did to the Country Music Radio genre's "Target Audience," and, therefore, Country Radio's quality. I grew up on Country Music. When I say that, I don't simply mean that I listened to Country Music primarily, or occasionally, or intermittently. I mean that I listened to Country Music exclusively. That's it. Nothing else. And I listened to it all the time. I'd have it playing in my room while I was studying or playing. Later, I'd have it playing in my truck while I was driving, in the yard while I was working, in the bathroom while I was showering, and by my bed while I was sleeping. If there was such a thing as a Country Music nerd while I was growing up in the 80's, then I was King of the Nerds. I listened to Top 40 Country, and I loved it. I listened to Saturday Morning at the Memories, on 61 Country in Kansas City every Saturday......serious Old Time Country, like Hank Williams Sr, Ferlin Husky, Hank Thompson, early Johnny Cash and early Merle Haggard. And I loved it. Today, you couldn't get me to tune in to a Top 40 Country Station if you paid me. So what happened? And when? And why? Well, I have some thoughts.
I'd like to mention here that, as far as I can see and as near as I can tell, I'm not delusional. I know that Country in the 80's wasn't all great. For every Johnny Cash or Merle Haggard or Don Williams, we also had a Charlie McLain, or Janie Fricky, or, God forgive us all......Sylvia. So there was plenty of bad Country then, too. But I contend that the ratio of good to bad was much greater then than it is now. And you had to wait through, or wade through, a lot less garbage to get to the good stuff on the air back then.
There are very few songs that I remember where I was and what I was doing when I first heard them. You'd think that as much as I love great music and as much a part of my life as music is and has been, that I'd remember more of their first hearings. But I don't. It's that Thunderbolt moment, like love at first sight, when a song grabs hold of you in that initial hearing and you just burst with joy or sorrow. It makes an imprint on your psyche, on your soul. I remember very vividly where I was and what I was doing the first time I heard Garth Brooks "Friends in Low Places." It was the summer after high school graduation, 1990. I was working for a farmer outside of my home town of Butler, MO. (Don't believe God, Guns, and Ammunition.....Butler isn't like them at all.) I was in a hot John Deer tractor, no A/C; so I had the doors off and every possible airway open. I was moving round hay bales from the field where they'd been baled to another where they were to be stored. Radio blaring, to be heard over the tractor engine. Then, it came on the radio. It was a raucously rebellious song of being who you were, Country to the bone. It became the anthem of my generation of Country fans. I'll never forget that moment. I sang as loud as I could, figuring out the words and tune as I went. I felt that song to my core. So did we all.
And I became a fan of Garth Brooks. Though I was a bigger fan of Clint Black. I thought his music was more straight forward and real than Garth Brooks' music. Both stars became huge in the late 80's and early 90's. They set records for album sales, records for concert tickets, records for radio spins. They were as big as any rock stars, and that was a new things. And in many ways, it was awesome. Suddenly these guys singing Country were as popular as the ones singing rock or pop. It was validating, in a way, for me. I had listened to Country exclusively growing up, and now, instead of being lame, it was cool. I liked that. Maybe I was cool, after all........
The problem with their incredible success was that it convinced radio executives, record producers, and advertisers that instead of conceding the teenage market segment to rock and pop stations, that they could go after teenagers, too. And they did. Garth and Clint had been so popular among all age groups that the record labels began to search for and groom "artists" who would appeal to the teenagers. Soon, that was really all they were searching for. Throughout the previous decades, the Target Demographic for Country Radio stations was ages 35-55. (Learned that in my Broadcast & Cable Management class at MSSC.) Between the years of 1989-1993, that Target became blurrier and blurrier, skewed younger and younger, until, by 1995, the year I quit my job at KDMO in Carthage, MO, the Target Audience for Top 40 Country Music stations was ages 15-25. And the style and quality of emerging Country "artists" reflected that change. Suddenly, we were force fed what I call "Teenie Bopper Country."
And it no longer mattered how great a musician and artist you were. Or, at the very least, it mattered very little. What mattered was whether or not teenage girls would scream when they saw your face, or your body. Whether teenage boys would think you were cool, or hot. Sex appeal had replaced musical ability and expression as the key component of Country stardom. How hot were you? That's what mattered most.
I don't really mean to bash anyone's musical taste. We're all different. We like different things. What makes it most frustrating to me is that, if you like Country Music, and you get your musical fix from Top 40 Country Radio, you're missing out on much, much, MUCH better music that's out there. The fans of Country Radio are being robbed of the opportunity to listen to richer, truer, un-formulaic musical expression. For example. Everybody loves Tim McGraw, right? (Well, I don't, for the record. "I Like it, I Love It" is one of the 2 worst Country hit songs of all time. You can probably guess the other, Billy Ray.) Tim McGraw's musical abilities are utterly dwarfed by those of Darrell Scott. Who is Darrell Scott, you ask? (The fact that you don't know Darrell Scott is an indictment of Country Radio all by itself.) Nobody sings better than Darrell. Nobody plays better than Darrell, and nobody but nobody writes better than Darrell. Darrell Scott had his 1st big record deal in the early 90's. But the deal fell through because, in the market shift that resulted from Garth Brooks' and Clint Black's immense success, the record label decided they needed to go younger, and go sexier. His record was never released. And we're all the poorer for it. (Actually, he re-recorded it a few years ago under the title "Theater of the Unheard.") Here's a taste of the music of Darrell Scott.
Compare that with the musical chops of one Tim McGraw.
Whose music would have enriched your life more over the past 20 years? I know my answer. But wait, there's more. Let's hear Darrell rock out a bit, too.
And, just for comparison, one of Tim McGraw's greatest hits.....
I think I my soul just threw up a little.
I guess the point of all of this is that there is better, richer, fuller, more wonderfully expressive and enriching music out there than what they shove down your throats on any mainstream radio station. Don't settle for that stuff. Go out and find the good stuff, whatever style or styles of music you enjoy. Cause you don't want to have to listen to "what the kids are listening to these days." You really don't. And you don't have to. Here are some links to some youtube channels that I subscribe to, to give you a taste of what other awesome musical options you could choose, other than your radio dial.
Under the Radar Radio: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnKoevvsNDlEM_8tS0fsErw
Music City Roots: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq4MKKFxf_86d1A3sXIYHUA
Americana Music Association: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSgDmbl9pYwmlC7mmpsciow
Folk Alley.com: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5fVvom7-_EYv13-JLugAqw
Music Fog: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCriIdX-phM0jQB3VhL4NaLQ
Mountain Stage: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQqrOFHytxG_OzqVgdUDH7g
Chris Thile: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRCkL89mcxMETTcqou5o5ow
Punch Brothers: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxKSQr1q0IL-Ps0ekPhDE4A
And for spiritual musical as well as literary discussions and forums please visit and frequent the Rabbit Room: http://www.rabbitroom.com/
Thanks for reading, and for listening!
