I can’t really say with absolute certainty, but I would venture that many people have a taste for pop music that they wouldn’t ordinarily admit. I remember during one particular moment in my adolescence one on my peers denigrating another for listening to a musical group that was deemed unfashionable. Of course, I, like all of my peers at that time lacking anything remotely close to originality or a spine, did nothing to defend the person being denigrated. I kept my mouth shut.
On another occasion during a visit in New York, I kept hearing about a new album from a particular group that everyone was raving about. Their name kept coming up at moments I wasn’t expecting. After my return home, I decided I’d go and purchase the album and see what was so awe inspiring that would get so many people worked up over it. It didn’t suit my taste.
These thoughts cropped up recently when I was purchasing some music through iTunes. There were selections that I would never have voluntarily admitted enjoying when I was younger. You know what’s great about getting old? You don’t care what people think about you. Or maybe you don’t care as much. You simply enjoy the music you missed in your youth. Music you missed because you were a product of peer pressure and group-think.
I now freely admit that I like ABBA. I like the Dixie Chicks. I like New Order and most of all I like Erasure. I think of these songs as the sweets in my musical diet. No one eats the finest cuisine at every meal, so why would I forgo the occasional dessert simply because it’s considered gauche by people who feel a sense of musical superiority.