  THE CD PLAYER THAT CAME FROM EUROPE I was up dating my "spinning" section in the column to the right, and I realized that the CD changer in my car has been completely over-run with bands from European countries again. I'm still not sure if that's a good sign about my high standards of music, or a sad statement about the quality of what is on the radio here in the states. The American public has created a monster in the music industry with the spending trends of the last ten years. Our economy has been good and strong here which allows much of the public (most of the cash coming from the young babysitters and lawn mowers of the world) to take a risk on buying a crappy CD. The fifteen-minute attention span of the public is also defacing the music scene in my mind. Flashy colors, big videos and more merchandise that you can shake a New Kid at.
If these industry-manufactured pop bands stay out of the Total Request Live circle for too long, people start to forget about them. Thus the fate of the Backstreet Boys who held the "number one boy band" spot until they disappeared for over a year. In that time, the rival 'N Sync moved in and took control. Quite possibly the saddest part about all of this is that many of these band members are pushing 30 years of age, so why do we keep labeling them boy bands? Maybe if we'd call them "man-bands" and the sixteen year-olds of the world realize that they're almost fifteen years the junior of 'N Sync's, Chris, the interest would start to dissolve.
And I don't want to make it sound like I'm forgetting about the females of this pop wave, they just haven't had the down-our-throats packaging that the boys have had. Britney flashes here and there but is currently only seen because she is in cahoots with a MAN-band member. And as for Aguilera, she might as well pack it up and go home. Aside looking like a damn circus freak, her grandma calling her a hooker, and being a sponsor for Coke (in which I NEVER saw and ad on television thank God), she's really got nothing going on.
At the bottom of the pop-girl heap is Mandy Moore and Jessica Simpson, who are both resting comfortably on the heads of the UGLIEST chick band ever, Dream. The bands that hit my ear are ones that have little to no radio play. Amnesiac had nothing radio friendly and MTV probably played "Pyramid Song" all of four times. Haunting melodic voices, bands that play their own instruments and deeper lyrics than "Tearing Up My Heart" just aren't in demand by the surplus-capital spending portions of our population.
They want something fun, entertaining, something they can sing along with. Nothing that would conjure up some false emotion or something they would have to crack up a CD sleeve for lyrics instead of Joey Fatone's huge head or the address for Aguilera's whore-page...I mean homepage. urlLink Travis had "Sing" hit the airwaves here and there, again with a video that played more on VH1. Travis reigns from Scotland and the gorgeous use of a banjo throughout the CD will probably frighten the synthesizer-prone youth in Amercia. urlLink Kent is totally foreign, Swedish born and they've only released two English speaking albums. urlLink Sigur Ros gets about as much air play as I do...none. The Icelandic band released their last album, "Agaetis Byrjun," into the U.S. music market without translation. The album remains in their native tongue. And while urlLink U2 remains one of the best bands in history, I'll admit my less-than enthusiastic liking of the "All That You Can't Leave Behind" and "Popmart" albums. I'm a fan of classic U2, I guess, from "War" to "Actung Baby. " I will also say that "All That You Can't Leave Behind" and "Popmart" were and still are FAR superior to much of the music that has been released in the last four years.
I'm not totally against American music either. There are bands that still move me like R.E.M. and Wilco, but there's a new wave of bands that have haunting reminders of Alice In Chains and early Stone Temple Pilots, bands that seem to think that trying to mimic Pearl Jam will get them into the longevity of the music biz. Then there are other bands who are just hanging on and no one seems to know why, a.k.a Limp Bizkit. I need music that lasts and doesn't get killed on the radio. I need music that gets under my skin and makes me stop to listen. I'm not out for catchy beats or a new remix of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal. " Jesus, write your own shit.
The last two bands I can think of that made it big off remakes were again Limp Bizkit for "Faith," and Marilyn Manson for "Sweet Dreams" by the Eurythmics. Look how far they've gone. "Would you like fries with that? " Think about what you hear on the "oldies" stations now. Do you think in thirty-years, people are going to calling in the hear "Lady Marmalade? " No, I don't think so. Maybe I'll just move to Europe. 
