"…….demand something visual and participatory with content coming a bad third….."

Andrews, I'm beginning to wonder if old fartdom hasn't finally crept up on you!    I won't repeat here what I once heard a middle aged school music teacher say about some of your early songs… I seem to remember though that "Not a fit subject" came into it somewhere.   

Surely it's the job of youngsters to get seriously up the noses of their parent's generation, and create their own music and means of expression.   I don't seem to remember Elvis Presley and the Rolling Stones being universally admired for their artistry, unlike your good self of course.

I have this dream that one day, during a power cut, some spotty oik is going to stand up a sing his song unaccompanied. A couple of hundred other spotty oiks will then all say "Woooo that was amazing…He sung without the lights…"

Singing and playing while standing still will suddenly be the epitome of cool, performers will talk enthusiastically 'really communicating with the audience', somebody will moan that music has no production standards any more, promoters and managers will suddenly realise they can save shed loads of money. Of course we'll all have to listen to the words, good or bad, because there'll be bugger all else to distract us from the song.....then we'll all go round the block once more. …

Meanwhile, we can be sure, somewhere in the upstairs room of a pub a bunch of balding old grey hairs will be singing mournfully about English Ale, moaning about the state of contemporary song writing, and protesting that they've been singing that way for years anbyway.

Then all will be well with the world, because for one thing, we will all be spared the spectacle of 60 year old blokes (and gals) getting up on stage and behaving like they were twenty once again.

SM