Don’t get me wrong. I lurve the amount of aural choices available now via the Internet. I’m listening to my own personal Pandora as I compose this.

But . . .

Time was there were bands/genres/songs that were the focal point of not only popular culture, but, mainstream political and social debate. Elvis, The Beatles, Rock & Roll itself, Metal, Rap; it all has come under National scrutiny in a way that has both pulled us together and torn us apart along all the familiar lines. The world was at the mercy of Billboard and, good or bad, we all worshiped at it’s alter.

Now, you only have to fire up your modem and every band/genre/song that has ever been is right there, available for download straight to your iPod. Music news has simply become an electronic fashion page and nobody but my great grandmother gasps at what Lady Gaga is doing. Has this total saturation of music on demand actually taken away a societal binder that we all once shared?

Topics: music, Lawrence Welk, rock, metal, elvis, society, rap, hip-hop, hippies, 2live crew, parental advisory