micro:
Re: “BTW, how are things in your neck of Virginia this morning?”
We only received a smattering of snow. Looking down upon the lawn from my apartment window, the grass still pokes up. The snow couldn't have amounted to more than an inch.
Re: “You think along those lines De?”
I think that Americans are no longer Americans.
But I also think that the music industry was taken over by producers - who much prefer to hire songwriters to churn out volumes of music that all sound the same and costs little to write, then hire pretty boys and girls who can't hold a tune to become record stars - than to look for actual artists who used to put real effort into writing and singing what was often a single hit - and, even more often, not a hit at all.
Something similar happened in the early 1960s, between Elvis entering the army and the British invasion. Producers began churning out songs and hiring pretty boys to sing them. This is when all of the "Bobbies" became "rock stars" (Bobby Vinton, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Darin (whose 'Mac the Knife' really is a great work), etc. The Beatles saved the '60s from being the most boring period in music history... except for what's happening today.
Have you noticed that rock and roll is hardly being written anymore? It's just too hard to do and there aren't many musicians who are talented enough to write good, original music anymore. Rap is so much simpler.
IMO, the music industry is dying off. The later generations don't listen the way they once did. Have you noticed that stereo systems and sound quality don't hold the attraction they once did?
FWIW...