Conference napalm::guitar

    Well personally, I would *LOVE* to do some Four Tops if I could
    only find enough people with good enough voices. I think that might
    be one of the reasons a lot of bands don't try much Motown stuff -
    that harmony is just too hard to do, especially if you're all playing
    instruments, too.  Rap music doesn't do anything for me, but that's
    just my taste.  If I don't like to listen to it, I usually don't
    like to play it either.  
    							jb

    Many of the artists that I most admire are (or were) black people. And
    most of the bands that I have played in did a significant number of
    R&B, blues, jazz, etc., music by black composers. But I am definitely
    aware of the distinction between being a white person playing "black"
    music, versus being a black person playing the same music. From what I
    can see, this is just a natural difference in cultures that exists.
    
    When I was younger I played in the South in black night clubs, but I
    never felt like really a part of their scene. We were sort of the
    "token" white band. It was interesting to see the reaction people had
    to us, which was kind of polite tolerance, and then see their reaction
    when the black soul band that followed us went on. We just didn't cut
    it for them.
    
    As another example, when I was in high school the schools were
    segregated, and there was a black high school down the street. When the
    city had parades bands from both schools would participate. I was a
    drummer in our band, and we would play strict military cadences, and
    seem very disciplined and proper. Then the black band would come by,
    playing syncopated rhythms, twirling their sticks, spinning their
    drums, etc. They even marched with soul. I always admired them for
    that. I felt like we were really boring compared to the stuff they were
    doing.
    
    I guess the bottom line is, there are some aspects of "black" music
    that have a cultural or ethnic appeal that is specific to the black
    experience in America. But there are other aspects of it that transcend
    cultural boundaries, at least for me. Isn't that what music is really
    all about?
    
    - Ram

    jb, Ram, I know exactly where your coming from, and to be honest
    I never thought about it in that way.  I've also wondered why
    "Black Metal" has never gotten up this way, its pretty big on
    the West Coast and down south, and even in New York, but I've
    never heard a station around here even mention any of the bands.
    It sounds just like" Metal" with a little more of a danceable beat,
    and a heavier bass line.
    I notice the Motown stuff seems much more popular than other material,
    is the reason for this, because at the time it was the only lable
    that crossed over.  I personally grew up listening to Motown but
    find much of it boring today, I appreciate the harmonies but I
    hated the fact that very few groups back then played there own music
    most of them were just singing groups, so much of it sounded the
    same to me.  It was the late sixties early seventies that I really
    got into what I though black music was all about, this was considered
    the birth of Funk, with bands like:
    
    Sly and the Family Stone
    The Chambers Brothers
    Parliement Funkadelics
    Mandrill
    Earth Wind and Fire
    The Ohio Players
    Graham Central Station
    The "original" Bar-Kays  (Most of the band was on the plane with
                              Otis Redding)
    The Average White Band  (funkiest white guys I've ever heard to
                               date)
    Commadores
    New Birth
     These are to name a few.  For some reason R&B, SOUL MUSIC,
    and DISCO, have all crossed over, and not until today is real 
    Funk starting to crossover.
    
    
    When it comes to Rap music, I'm black and it gets on my nerves to.
    In the beginning it was something new and I didn't mind it.
    But now I don't hear the creativity that I heard when it first
    came out.
                                     
    
                                  Thanks guys 
    
                                           Howard
    
    

    Hi Guys,
    	I can sort of see the significance of rap music, in that it's
    something that kids who can't afford music lessons, instruments,
    etc., can both relate to and aspire to create.  A few of the pieces
    I've heard, actually gave me a chuckle or two.  That I don't enjoy
    listening to it regularly is certainly not to be construed as a
    statement of its musical validity - There are many types of music
    that I can appreciate, but which I simply do not enjoy listening
    to on a regular basis.  I suppose the bottom line is, rap records
    are made because people are buying them, and any music that makes
    people happy is good music.
    							joe

    Re: .3
    
    Howard,
    
    If what you're getting at is the regional difference in taste, then I
    think the lack of much play for "black" music around here is a
    reflection of the way black culture in general is kind of cloistered in
    New England. After having been brought up in the South where things
    were supposed to be segregated, but where whites and blacks freely
    intermixed (at least I did), it was kind of a surprise to me to come to
    Boston and find how isolated the black community seems to be here. This
    is a generalization, of course, but I was used to living with and
    being around black people all the time, and here that is not the case.
    If this is really true (it's just my impression, not fact), then it's
    not surprising if there is not much cross-over music around here. When
    I get a chance to visit some place in the deep South it is so great to
    be able to tune in radio stations that play blues all day.
    
    If your point is that black music seems to be becoming more
    commercialized, and losing its "soul", then I would have to say this is
    no different for the music industry in general. I hate to be an old
    fogey, but very little of what is being produced these days in any
    genre appeals to me as much as the "classics". So much of it seems
    highly mechanized, over produced, and lacking any real heart. (Gee,
    maybe music really is a reflection of social change.) I enjoy watching
    Michael Jackson do his gyrations, and I think he is a neat dancer, but
    I would find it very difficult to compare him to, say, Ray or Otis.
    That's just one example.
    
    - Ram