Don McLean Quotes: On Modern Music

1. "I don't think that music is headed in anywhere near the direction that we were headed.... I think that the music itself has become pretty basic. But the other side of it is that technology has gone through the roof, and the playing ability of the musicians is much better than whenever I was around- we were basically simple guitar players, most of us. But it really doesn't make any difference how well-trained you are. There are a lot of well-trained muscians who have nothing to say muscially.
"So you have a lot of riffing, and a lot of disfussion rock, and a lot of endless guitar jamming that goes on that is basically sort of wanking in my opinion- it's not really making music, it's a time waster."

2. "A lot of artists who are in my position will try to line themselves up with what's going on now and say "Oh I love the red-hot chili peppers". Well, I don't love the red-hot chili peppers, I think they stink. I just think they're horrible."

3. "There used to be places where an individual could develop his talent in the dark without being discovered. There were places where the media didn't go. The Deep South, or the Far West, for example. So you could have an Elvis Presley creating pandemonium there before anyone else knew who he was. You could have a James Brown who'd being playing the black circuit; and when the college kids in the 60's discovered him he'd already been around for 15 years, he'd already been putting out great records that no-one knew about. Today they want 'instant' stars. It's mostly looks, because they don't have the time to develop as artists; and the whole video thing enhances and legitimises that aspect. That's the New Pop. It's looks, it's fashion, not repertoire. It's music, but only in the background."

4. "I think music is deader than hell. I think it's become music to watch fashion by, background music for videos... The essence of great songwriting has been eviscerated by the video culture. Now we have something else which doesn't include Don McLean - well, actually it does, but not because I want to be there - but I'm not interested in the background music for videos. I'm interested in what I would call beautiful, important songs. And I don't think they're being written ... You look at some of the stuff on MTV and you shut your eyes and you think, `what the f--- does this guy think he's doing?!' "

5. "I get called a cynic because I don't like a lot of stuff that's around or that I'm an old man, which I am, but a lot of this stuff I don't think I would've liked when I was 27."