I've never really got into musicals. Just the thought of a young brunette heroine walking around the house, performing mundane chores such as sweeping, and suddenly breaking into song expressing her condition sends me into a stupor. The dancing, the operatic voices, the dramatic pause before bursting into the lead note; it all seems so contrived to me. And this realization happened when I was startlingly young. It has been a long held conviction of mine that musicals are complete jive.

My education in this realm took place in the confines of our tastefully wood paneled family room in the Northern wilds of Michigan. Up to this point, the only TV in our solitary farm house in the UP lowlands was a small black and white 13 inch job. You can only imagine the joy that swept through our house when Dad returned from Sears with a RCA color TV (same size, but color!!) and a newly minted VHS VCR. I was in the fifth grade. I basked in the glory of the realization that our family had stepped into the 20th century. We were now like other normal families. We could have friends over now without utter embarrassment. We had color.

So along with that 13 inch wonder, we now had access to a boundless selection of VCR movies. Well, check that...at least there was access to whatever Coast to Coast, our combined hardware and video rental store, was carrying on its racks. Between the bolts and the electronics was a complete shelf of all the modern movies. There was only one copy of a release. Checked out movies were symbolized by a wrapped thin rubber band. The most popular movies were put at eye level. My siblings and I would always clamor for these "pop" movies, starring Madonna or Sylvester Stallone, but my parents would always make the final decision, carrying a dust covered box from the fringe of the shelf to the wooden counter.

My mom and dad's taste in movies reflected their fringe hipiness. There were never any fluff or violent movies, just videos that would culture my brother, my sister, and me. We would crowd into our front room with a bowl of hot, buttered popcorn, and watch the avant garde films of the day. 2001, A Space Odyssey - now I could handle that. Freaky computers, voyages to Jupiter, and ape civilizations, that was the stuff of a wide eyed science nerd. But for every Mad Max, there was a West Side Story, where a bunch of tight pant wearing "gangsters" spin around, leap into the air, and act macho? Come on. Grease?? More spinning and feigned machismo. Jesus Christ Superstar?? Spinning in togas. My eyes rolled back and endured the pain. Why, you ask? There was nothing else to do in the middle of nowhere and the popcorn was delicious.

So you can imagine my disdain the other day when I saw a TV ad for Mamma Mia, the new musical starring Pierce Brosnan and based on the music of ABBA!!!! I could not concoct a better recipe for a vomit inducer. Not only is the plot ridiculously implausible, including an awesome altar scene in which the mother (Meryl Streep?!) admits to her sexual promiscuity to everyone in attendance, but, moreover, the plot is scripted with just about every cut from the ABBA songbook. Scene in which the mother is utterly surprised by her past: cut to "Mamma Mia"! Scene in which a love interest might develop: cut to "Take A Chance on Me"!!

What is the deal with the overwhelming obsession of 1970's pop music? The title track was written in 1975; that was thirty three years ago. Gerald Ford was president. The station wagon was considered a viable automobile. Our nation was not yet 200 years old. This music was written in a different world, for different people, and by different people. The point is every possible note and lyric of their music was squeezed out years ago. Granted, the history of this music is important...but the cause of massive excitement, a long stint on Broadway, and flocks of Visa swiping teenagers?? I find it incomprehensible.

So you say I'm jealous as a songwriting musician? I guess...wouldn't you be if you felt like music is still the most powerful form of art? Wouldn't you, if you feel there are many important, relevant things to write about? Wouldn't you, if you feel like music is not stagnant or even dead??? Wouldn't you if you want to write about real life, about the moments that are not jive, about the times when humanity comes to the forefront, when our values and ethics are questioned, or when we are startled by the complexity of ourselves and the world around us?

Yeah, I'm jealous...But I'll keep writing, thinking, feeling.

Peace,
Josh