Gee Eddie, you're even more cynical than I am, didn't think that was possible.

I think that everybody posting on this thread is 60ish. We're "old pros" and most of us pay no attention to what's happening with current music except for country. Even though country certainly is big, rap and hip hop is probably 10 times bigger if not more. With hip hop the star is the DJ and there's few live musicians, it's all prerecorded. I suspect Eddie that you don't pay attention to that scene but there probably is a lively hip hop scene in your area run by DJ's. That's where everybody under 40 is going you're probably checking out the wrong places. Talk to young people say 25-35 and ask them where they go on a Friday night.

A few years ago I was hired by a good friend for his daughters wedding as a single. She wanted traditional wedding stuff just for the ceremony, I didn't play the party afterwards. That party was all hip hop with, I hate to admit, a very good DJ. That DJ is a real performer just like we are. He knew the material intimately just like we know all about our stuff that's 30-50 years old. I was watching the party for about 30 minutes thinking about how would I do something like that and the answer is I wouldn't. I have no clue about that stuff and there's little for me to play on keyboards anyway. I would have to somehow learn about all those current hip hop artists, understand what they're saying, have all those songs memorized, grab a mic and DJ. Right. Grandpa DJ's a rap party. Ain't gonna happen. Oh yeah, this party was at a big restaurant complex and there were three other wedding parties going on and I checked them out too. All the same, all rap and hip hop run by DJ's.

This is just the normal cycle of things. All the thousands of big bands and lounge crooners doing Glenn Miller and Perry Como were suddenly being replaced by all of our beloved stuff starting in the 50's on through the 70's. Those guys fought it, bitched about it, talked about how terrible this rock and roll stuff was and how the quality of music is going down the tubes. Sound familiar? Now it's our turn, simple as that.

Bob

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