"I have to wonder, though, if any generation that has come
afterwards, and a few that came before, have not had music
that was important to them. What I am saying is that music
being important to a generation is not very defining of that
generation. It is the type of music that does the
defining."
You make a good point, miker. While there are statistics to
bear out that music was/is disproportinately important to the
boomer generation and that they continue their stranglehold
on what music is released, that does not downplay the
importance of music to other generations. Still, I would say
that boomers and after have managed to be especially anal in
their splintering of music into sub-genres and seeing musical
allegiances as personally defining characteristics.
Sure, there have been splits before. Gangsta rappers were not
the first to have an East Coast vs. West Coast feud; the same
went for jazz in the
'40s and '50s. Early rock fans could be divided between those
who listened to white covers or the black originals, etc.
However, popular music is now defined by increasingly narrow
niche marketing -- rock vs. alternative rock vs. punk rock,
etc, with similar microsplits in every other large genre --
rap/hip hop, soul, techno, etc. In addition, music fandom
became more widepread with the boomers, and they carried it
with them longer. So whereas an occasional hardboiled hero of
an older generation would make a peripheral mention of music,
it is necessary to define the younger, but no longer so
young, generations.
Pelecanos has said that he started the music lists as a
purposeful attempt to highlight a generational shift in his
books, as a counter to the "kids these days" attitude he saw
in writers like John D and John Ross. So those lists of names
do show subtle differences in the characters who listen to
them. Michael Cormany even used a cop's mispronuncation of
Husker Du to indicate the standard coolness/age split between
the PI and the cop.
That said, I do believe you're right that Pelecanos could cut
the lists a bit shorter and add more description of what they
sound like. The fans would like it because fans like to talk
about the sounds, anyway, and non-fans would have a better
idea of what was being talked about.
At his best, he already does this. There was a running bit in
King Suckerman where Marcus Clay and one of his clerks argued
about where Jimi Hendrix's albums should be filed in the
record store. I found it incredibly moving when Marcus moved
Hendrix from the rock to soul after the clerk, his friend,
was killed.
Mark
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