Photo by Cheryl Hasse

By James (JJ Rocks) Johnston

I often ask myself why I keep listening to music that is at least 30 years old. Maybe it’s because I feel that it was the age of extensive creativity, and not the over packaging of musical ideas. Today’s lack of adventurous arrangements and creative melodies are a product of star filled eyes and musical acrobatics. Many bands just want to make money and that is cool in my book. But I often wonder what happened to the ones that connected with the people, but were still viewed as musical explorers. I don’t have to mention their names, because they will live on way after most of the members of today’s bands retire from their eventual day jobs.

It seems like every time I hear a new tune, the singer is more concerned with vocal riffs than the actual melody. But I guess that is also the fault of modern day composers who don’t know the old saying “putting the cart before the horse”. They actually consider these overdone vocal adventures to be part of their melodies. But in reality it’s a product of poor writing skills being covered up with flashy twist and turns that fool hungry listeners. This used to be known as “over singing” in a performance, but now it has sadly become a part of the airwaves.

I bet if you were to ask a young music lover to sing a few lines, many of them would lean toward singing riffs and pay less attention to the melody. This practice really shines in R+B. I personally don’t care if someone has a five octave range or can sing super riffs. I just want to hear the melody treated with respect, great tone, and originality. And if it seems like I only chose singers to pick on in this article, it’s because there is not enough room on this page for other melodic underachievers who are more concerned with playing super fast and technical than emotional and melodic. Music is not a sport with winners and losers. It is an art form that thrives on creativity and human character. – JJ Rocks

February, 2010