Happy anniversary Sesame Street. Forty years is a long time.
I've expressed my gratitude to the Children's Television Network before for shaping my musical tastes. Today I stumbled across this vid featuring a legend (and no, it's not a young Tatiyana Ali).
The video is long but it did get me thinking...
Barney f--ked the game up.
I haven't run the regression models or done any in depth analysis but something tells me there's a tie between the rise of Barney and the increased crappy-ness of the music industry. Think about it. Barney launched in the late '80s, early '90s. At that point, a cute dinosaur started to become the entertainment centerpiece of a number of kids' lives. Why did he become popular? Hell if I know but for argument's sake, I'll simply say the general happiness of the show was appealing. Remember, that time period in which the show launched was glum, in large part. A stock market crash, Panamanian invasion, Persian Gulf War I, crack, AIDS, Kurt Cobain and so on. I can imagine a stressed out parent plopping their kid in front of the TV that, unlike the '70s and early 80s, has a multitude of channels but a lower percentage of programming made with young kids in mind (Nick Jr. wasn't in existence yet).
All of a sudden, a happy-go-lucky dino and his pals appear on the tube with a veneer of clean wholesomeness taking place in a typical suburban backyard. That's a lot more appealing than a bunch of folks hanging out on a city street talking to a cranky-ass monster in a trash can and an ambiguously gay duo living in a basement.
We see ya B & E.
So all seemed fine and good, right? Wrong.
Please review the Herbie Hancock video and then the Barney. Talk about devolution. There was a sense of boundary pushing (showing kids a computer illustrating soundwaves) in the Street clip that I'm not seeing in what I'd say was a representative sample of Barney. Jacking the "This Old Man" beat? C'mon, dude. But then again, it isn't that far a stretch from that to this or this.
And wouldn't you know it, around the time Barney was launching and gaining popularity, the Soulja Boys of the world were being born and persumably watching. Their initial introduction to music was essentially low-creativity knockoffs of nursery rhymes, which begs the question to be asked, how the hell can you make an even more simplistic version of an already simplistic song?
Well, Barney found the way and we're all worse off for it.
The only Purple One is from Minnesota.
And what say you?
5 comments:
"...something tells me there's a tie between the rise of Barney and the increased crappy-ness of the music industry. Think about it. Barney launched in the late '80s, late '90s."
Sesame Street & Electric Company were artistically based...with the artists to prove it. (The cast and guests included.) At that time, it was about the art, the artists and educating the kids. A well-rounded education.
The bands in the 60's and 70's had actual musicians. And, schools back then had music and art classes to teach the next generation of artists.
The transition came about on several levels. Corporate minds were tired of "free thinking creative types" influencing the world and changing the status quo. Also, economics played a huge part.
No funds for art/music in school. Big bands too expensive, cheaper to pay a solo act and hire a backing band at scale. Hell, hire a DJ and lose the live music entirely. Studios and technology are the great talent equalizer!
Stop letting smart, educated hippies teach our kids... and get a dumbed down corporate mascot that we control.
At some point, the powers that be decided for the sake of retaining power, status and money... Big Bird and EZ Reader had to go.
Yes, Barney's fault. I agree.
I'm not a fan of Barney and loved Sesame St, but it's hard to compare the two as Barney seems targeted to early childhood (3-5 y.o.), whereas SS is probably geared for ages 5-8.
Isn't the "I love you" song just another nursery rhyme type melody, which have been around for generations?
But I'd certainly agree that children's programing seems less engaging than before, and Soulja Boy's "Kiss me through the phone" has about the same melody depth as Barney.
The title is from the incredible Mo Betta Blues, as spoken by Shadow to Bleek. The scene was used as the intro to the equally classic Illadelph Halflife album by the Legendary Roots Crew, circa fall 1996. Great work, Jacarl.
Oddly enough, my son just turned one, and he watches this show called Yo Gabba Gabba, featuring DJ Lance. Shit is real hip hop based, and the jingles and what not are pretty damn cool and artistic. By your logic, we'll see if his generation is influenced by this hella popular show, and the art reflects it.
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