Musical Evolution

I was driving home from yoga tonight, when I was once again confronted with something that has been bothering me for the past year. "It must be the economic meltdown we're currently embroiled in," you're probably thinking. Nope. "Oh! I know! It's the fact that she's edging ever closer to 30 and is still single!" Try again. No, the concern that is in the forefront of my mind right now, the one beating out all other concerns like global warming, our dependence on foreign oil, and how to get my DVR to actually tape "Grey's Anatomy" without my having to manually program it every week, is my rapidly changing taste in music.

I like pop music. There, I said it (albeit with a shudder). I actually like pop music now. You have no idea how distressing it is for someone like me to make that statement, given the history of my taste in music. You see, like many kids who can't yet drive and are clueless when it comes to music, I grew up on a musical diet of...adult contemporary. Yes, KMAJ, Topeka's local "mom station" was our family's station of choice. And as a self-described "good kid" I was totally brainwashed by this garbage. Kenny Loggins? Loved him! Amy Grant? Turn up the volume! I actually remember thinking that anyone who would name their band The Smashing Pumpkins was seriously messed up and should be looked down upon with shame. Oh, young me, how I wish you weren't so impressionable and, well, annoying to current me.

Everything changed when I met my high school boyfriend, Will, when I was 15. What started out as a first boyfriend "this'll be over in a month" kind of thing ended up lasting 3.5 years. In that time, Will, who was far more evolved in his musical taste than I, introduced me to the world of alternative rock. And I fell. Hard. Out went Barry Manilow, and in came the Goo Goo Dolls. Whitney Houston was no more. Now I worshipped Ben Folds, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Alanis. And yes, even those trouble-maker Smashing Pumpkins became part of my CD collection. My love of alternative rock grew through college, and morphed into a love of indie and folk rock. Aimee Mann, Nick Drake, Elliott Smith, and Iron and Wine became regulars in my CD player. This kind of music I was proud to love. It rang of being different and cool, not like everything else. In high school it was the "popular kids" who listened to pop music. That kind of music was shallow and lame. If you had any kind of "street cred" at all, you would be embarrassed to even turn the radio to that station, let alone LIKE what you heard. Not that that's why I liked the music I did--I did and still do truly love the sounds of these artists. But it was definitely a positive side effect in the crowd I ran with.

Fast forward to two years ago. I started to notice that, like far too many radio stations, my alternative rock station here in Chicago was starting to bore me because they were playing the exact same songs over and overandoverandover again. I had been listening to the major pop station here in the mornings because of the morning talk show DJ that I liked, and in the evenings my car radio would still be tuned to that station. So I started listening. And every once in awhile I would like what I heard. And then I started liking more of what I heard.

Somehow in the past two years or so, I got on a list of people who give their opinions on radio music. These opinions are then used to inform the radio stations of what they should continue to play, and what songs they need to retire. Every month or so, I get a phone call from the radio survey people. I have to listen to about 35 clips of songs and say whether or not I like them on a specific scale they have set up. One of the options on the scale is "Unfamiliar" which means I've never heard the song before. Almost all of the clips they play in this survey are pop songs. When I first started taking the survey two years ago, about 20 to 25 out of the 35 songs were "unfamiliar" to me. Now, only about five of these songs are "unfamiliar." Um.

A sampling of songs from the past year or two that've made me squeal with delight when they've come on the radio are:

"Smack That" by Akon (dirty sex)
"Sexyback" by Justin Timberlake (lord...)
"Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis (a completely manufactured "artist")
"Whatever You Like" by T.I. (about a sugar daddy)
Anything by Britney Spears (Britney f'ing Spears?! The hell??)

As lame as these songs may be on the surface, they're fun. They're catchy. They make you want to dance, or at the very least, move around awkwardly while singing at full volume in your car while people in the lane next to you point and laugh.

My friend Ashley made a completely true observation that I had failed to notice until I confided in her about my worrisome change in taste. She said that it was interesting that I was starting to like pop music now, in my late 20s, because most people start out liking pop music as teenagers and then their tastes evolve into something more, ahem, grown up. She didn't say that, but I think she was just being polite. My tastes, however, have decided to stage a revolt and become completely embarrassing just for the hell of it. I don't know what to do other than to go with the flow. Until 101.1 starts playing some fresh tunes, I'm going to be forced to listen to and (gasp!) actually enjoy pop music.

Do you hear me, 101.1?!? This is all your fault!