There has to be others like me.
I could probably summarize The Fun Time Music manifesto concisely by just quoting the infamous Ted Nugent. He once said, “Anyone who came here tonight to get mellow can just turn around and get the F*%$ outta here!” However, that is not very inclusive. I would like to welcome others into the fold. I want to invite others to become “part of the body”, like that old Star Trek episode.
I know that much of the music I play is an acquired taste, so I have no delusions about becoming the next Simon Cowell. I also want to be clear that everyone is entitled to like the music they like, even if it’s insufferable tripe like Iggy Azalea.
But, I have to admit upfront that I am a music snob and I can’t help it. I’m not a snob in an arrogant, “My music is better” sort of way. I am a snob in that it is not likely that anyone is going to impress me with their musical tastes unless that music has Fun Time Music attributes (which I will go over shortly). I believe the reason I like or dislike music is mostly genetic. I literally mean that the reason I like music a certain way is physiological.
I can actually remember my first favorite song. I’m talking way back here. I was definitely a preschooler like 3 or 4. My mom and dad were not particularly into music that much, but they did have this old .45 record player. My parents and my brother would typically put on pop hits from The Partridge Family or The New Christy Minstrels. They were ok to me, but I was not blown away.
Then one day, somebody put on this old .45 by a Texas Bluesman named Ray Sharpe called “Linda Lu.” What that record was doing in my parents collection is beyond me, but there was something about the Blues groove in that song that totally wrung my bell. I have basically been pursuing the emotion of that groove ever since that day. If the music does not contain some kind of groove, I won’t like it.
Much of contemporary music is so boring to me that it sucks the energy from my body. I mean it actually makes me physically weak. I equate it to going to church. I believe it is a good thing to go to church once in a while, but there is only one problem for me personally. It’s too boring. There is no energy. The pace is way too slow. I dread the thought of even going. Not because of the message, but basically because it’s forced boredom. If church was more like the James Brown scene in The Blues Brothers movie, I would go every Sunday–hell, I’d go every day.
So now you understand why I am so particular about my musical tastes–it’s innate in me and I can’t help it. That is why I’m a music snob.
This whole idea of my musical tastes being genetic leads me to ask, am I the only person like me? There certainly has to be others like me out there, right? I refuse to believe that I am alone in this world. That is when the vision for The Fun Time Music Festival became clear.
The Fun Time Music Festival is a means of reaching out to those of you who share my vision of how music should be. Well, let’s not go that far. Let’s say how music could be–just a little more frequently.
Attributes of Fun Time Music
One of the good things about Fun Time Music, is that it has tangible attributes. One of those attributes is that the time period is irrelevant.
It strikes me how many people actually believe that in order for music to be considered “good” it has to be from the current time period. I understand that younger people are weary of being told how great the 60’s were and all that. But to dismiss music out of hand simply because it is not current is not cool bro.
Another attribute is that genre is irrelevant.
Fun Time Music covers a wide array of genres–as you will be able to tell when you listen to the program. I play Jazz, Blues, Classic Rock, Punk Rock, Progressive Rock, Funk, New Wave, Ska, Show Tunes, Oldies, Rockabilly, etc.
Possibly the most important attribute is the one that ties all these genres together–and that is a downbeat. Something you can snap your fingers to, tap your foot to, bop your head to or air jam to. I once read in the liner notes of a CD that put it perfectly. “Today’s music is all Rock and NO Roll.” There needs to be some “Roll” in the music or it ain’t Fun Time Music.
Fun Time Music is more about the music and less about lyrics. Again, this is primarily due to another physiological fact about me--I don't hear very well. I have had hearing problems most of my life and am not able to understand lyrics as well as others. Therefore, I never bothered to listen to lyrics. Because of this, I will frequently play instrumentals. I will also play songs with, GASP, guitar solos.
Way too often I’ll go to a bar and hear a combo playing and just when it seems like they’re about to hit the groove and start jamming a bit, they end the song abruptly. To me that’s like having sex with no climax. Keep the groove going for a little bit! It doesn’t have to be the “Mountain Jam” by the Allman Brothers, but for God’s sake, 48 bars of jamming won’t hurt anyone. If the groove is good, stick with it
Another attribute of Fun Time Music is that it needs to have a sense of humor.
There is an old Blues number I like called, “Get to Gettin’” by Big Walter Price. It is basically a song about Walter and his wife squabbling. He’s telling his wife to stop her crap or he’s going to smack her upside the head. Honestly, I don’t think Walter really intended to hit his wife. It is more of an empty threat. The same way Ralph Cramden on “The Honeymooners” would threaten his wife with the “Bang! Zoom!” However, I’m sure some people today would condemn me as some kind of sexist misogynist who advocates for wife-beating simply for playing this song. That is not why I would play the song. I don’t advocate for wife beating. I just like the groove of the music. I love the lead guitar work. Besides, I listened to what Big Walter had to say and I’d have to agree that his wife had it coming.
Just kidding. It’s called a joke, so “Lighten up Francis.”
It provides a positive energy.
I called it The Fun Time Music Festival for a reason. The music is fun and about having fun. Nothing brings people together better than having fun.
When I say “having fun,” I mean in the common understanding of the term. There are miscreants out there whose idea of fun is to get in fist fights and vandalize things. Those are automatic disqualifications from Fun Time Music. Like Jack Black said in “The School of Rock”, “Rock n Roll isn’t about getting loaded and acting like a jerk.”
Fun Time Music is about providing positive energy not negative energy. Not like a Donny Osmond/Up With People sort of positive energy. And not in a pushy “inspirational” Super Bowl ad sort of positive energy. It is more like a “gettin’ loaded and gettin’ laid” sort of positive energy.
Rap and Hip-hop rarely fall into this category. Don’t get me wrong, I mean no disrespect to those who like Rap. However, Rap is not Fun Time Music. Rap is the epitome of “gotta make a statement” music. It’s all about “telling it like it is” and “speaking truth to power” and all that. Moreover, too many Rap artists hold themselves in very high regard. They take themselves way too seriously. They think of themselves as modern day prophets who are going to change the world with their tired statements about society.
Heavy Metal rarely falls into this category either. Again, no disrespect to those who like it, but Heavy Metal actually epitomizes “All Rock and No Roll.” Heavy Metal is also so dreadfully serious. It’s all dark commentary on the world and visions of the apocalypse. It’s filled with anger and angst to the point that it drives people to suicide. What’s fun about that?
Then there is all that other stuff. I don’t know what to call it, but it ain’t Rock N Roll. The Maroon Five’s and The Imagine Dragons…I don’t know what to say about this stuff. I find this stuff so contrived and disingenuous that I can’t find the words to describe my disdain for it.
With all that said, Fun Time Music is meant to bring people together IN FUN. While most of the music in the Fun Time Music Festival is likely to be considered heterosexual male music in nature, it is not intended to exclude or divide–not divide us by ethnicity, by gender, by sexual orientation or by political affiliation. About the only people it excludes are people who are ultra sensitive, have no sense of humor and who are always looking to “make a statement.”
In other words, boring people.
Like I said before, nothing brings people together like having fun. So hang up your hang ups and set your soul free with The Fun Time Music Festival.
Sincerely,
Mister Fun & Games
