Murder on Music Row

I live under a rock.  Or at least I try to as much as possible.  I haven't listened to the radio or any new music since my acccident nearly 20 years ago.  I do enjoy listening to songs on my iTunes occasionally.  Of course this is all music that I've purchased on CDs prior to my accident.  Basically 80s and 90s country.

Yesterday, after Jeopardy! the CMA awards came on before Lisa could come start my DVD player.  So I decided to watch the first part of it, out of curiosity.  Even though I'm not familiar with the current country music scene, back in the 90s I was obsessed.  Well, obsessed is a strong word, but I was very familiar with all the country artists and their music.  If I heard a new song on the radio, I could usually tell you who was singing it just by their voice and style. I would watch the country music awards shows religiously back then.  Not so much now anymore.  I've seen a few clips here and there but haven't watched a full show in years.

I know things are bad now, but I was shocked --well, surprised-- at what is now considered country music and by the whole scene.  I didn't watch the whole thing.  But I saw the beginning and part of the middle.  It was enough.  I only knew two of the people -- Blake Shelton and Deana Carter, well three if you count Lionel Richie.  :-)  But he's not country.  I mean, I'm familiar with Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Dierks Bentley, and a few other names -- I'm actually trying to think of some right now and they aren't coming to me.  :-) But most of the people on the show I have never even heard of.  And I'm actually thankful for that.  It was horrendous!

First of all, the host (Luke Bryan) was terrible.  Not funny at all.  And his whole spiel about them all being safe and tested just made me mad.  Why do I care?  And how is that pertinent to country music?  Perhaps it was supposed to be a joke, but it certainly wasn't funny.

Some of my observations: I don't remember seeing any of the men wearing ties.  Some may have been but most weren't.  Granted, even in the 90s a lot of the men were dressing down at the country music awards shows.  I miss the days when the men would wear fancy rhinestone clad Nudie suits and such.  The women were still mostly wearing dresses or evening gowns. 

I saw a lot of tattoos.  I guess that's the world we live in now but back in the 80s and 90s I can't think of any country music artists with tattoos.

Another thing I noticed was a lot of long, scraggly, unkempt hair with long, scraggly, unkempt beards. The only country music singer I can think of with long, scraggly, unkempt hair and beard is William Lee Golden of the Oak Ridge Boys.  He was unique.  Now, they seem to be a dime a dozen.

Something else that was somewhat disconcerting was that they seemed to be pushing the black agenda.  Some girl came on and talked about being bullied about her hair braids -- which, of course, is totally unacceptable.  No one should be bullied for anything.  Ever.  But then three women, with giant afros, came on and started singing about hair.  I found to be quite strange.  They reminded me of Diana Ross and the Supremes.  Seems like they should have been singing in Motown, not on a country music awards show.  Now, don't get me wrong, I have no problem with black people in country music -- Charley Pride is one of my favorite country music artists of all time.  But it seemed disproportionate to me.  Like they were trying too hard to be "woke".

None of the music was country music.  Not even close.  The closest thing to a country song being performed was Deana Carter busting into "Strawberry Wine" a cappella while she was presenting an award. And even that song is borderline country.  I was sorely disappointed with Blake Shelton.  I was hoping he would, at least, do a country song.  But what he sang was nothing like "Austin" or "Ol' Red".

And what's with all the fire during every number?  Weird!  One performance, in particular, stands out for being the farthest thing from country music I have ever seen on a country music awards show.  It was a guy named Eric Church singing "Heart on Fire" (I looked it up).  It was an atrocity.  It was worse than heavy metal.  But that's the category I would put it in.  It was very dark with red lighting and fire.  It looked like going to a concert in hell -- literally.  That's what I imagine when I think of fire and brimstone.  Not a place I want to be!  I wonder how many people were thinking, "Get me out of here", as they watched the performance.  I certainly did.

Watching the CMA awards show yesterday was like watching the Grammys-- back in the day-- wishing and waiting for the country performance to come on.  But it never did.

George and Alan were right when they sang, "Murder on Music Row". 

Nobody saw him running from sixteenth avenue.

They never found the fingerprint or the weapon that was used.

But someone killed country music, cut out its heart and soul.

They got away with murder down on music row.

Murder certainly was committed down on Music Row.  Country music is dead.  It's pretty sad when you long to hear some classic Shania Twain or Garth Brooks at the awards show.  What I really wanted to hear was some George Strait, Alan Jackson, Tanya Tucker, Merle, Willie, Waylon and the boys.

But, alas, those days are long gone.  Now, country music is dead, and what we are left with is long-haired, tattooed wannabes singing heavy metal, pop, and Motown masquerading as country music.

I wish I had stayed under my rock.

That's my two cents.