State of music today

Whatever happened to America’s “popular” music, once the envy of the world? More important, what has happened to the American people, to whom today’s musical equivalent of raw sewage is apparently so readily acceptable?

Sixty, 70, 80 years ago, America’s popular music was a healthy, wide-ranging admixture of vocal and instrumental music of the highest order and topped off with a generous helping of humor. Yes, in those far-off days there was actually room at the top for music and songs to make us all laugh.

Now, apart from its appalling lack of creativity and poor musicianship, today’s popular music is entirely without humor. Ironic, is it not, that performers so bad should take themselves so seriously? In “ancient” times, the songwriters and balladeers of the day were of the highest order, the instrumentalists the best in the land, and all so very distinctive and instantly recognizable.

My argument is not about generational differences or changes in musical taste but, instead, very much about former musical excellence versus current musical banality. My modest plea is for a return to musical sanity.

All of today’s “screamers” and “screechers” should listen long and hard to truly gifted performers like Vic Damone, Judy Garland and Sarah Vaughan and then, suitably humbled, consider a change of career. WILLIAM G. CARLYLE

North Little Rock