adult contemporary genre

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Anyone a listener of this genre of music?

There were a couple of tunes that I remember from my childhood that are still pretty cool.

Eye in the Sky by the Alan Parsons Project

and

Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty

Ah, it's on the tip of my tongue... HyperGammaSpaces? APP was enjoyable, albeit a little inconsistent with the cohesiveness of their songs.


M.

I don't think of "Adult Contemporary" as a real genre of music. I think of it as a target market. In other words, it is used to describe a group of people who are expected to be consumers of certain music; it does not describe qualities of the music itself.

The whole idea of Adult Contemporary rests on the concept that youth are the preferred target market for any genre of music - Adult Contemporary is for music of any genre that is deemed commercially viable and yet is not considered appropriate for the youth target market (often because it is too slow in tempo, or too complex or intellectual, or simply made by adults!). So it is "second best" from a business perspective, sort of like a music industry bargain bin.

Any music that is considered Adult Contemporary would be better described with a genre-specific label such as prog rock, country rock, art rock, folk rock, etc. (Usually, it is some form of rock.) And if it really crosses categorical boundaries, it's called "Americana" according to current popular convention. That is if you're thinking in terms of music, as opposed to marketing.

Please note that this is not a criticism of the music that is considered Adult Contemporary. And I don't think there's anything wrong with preferring the Adult Contemporary category - it probably means that you like a lot of different genres of music.

I listen to this kind of genre. It is one of those genres that stays constant (unlike emo, where the definition changes about every 10 minutes).

Don't know what to call/label music that I grew up listening to, in late 70's-early 80's. Once I was teenager, I sought out more "alternative"/college rock types of music on radio or bought tapes. Sometimes didn't even know title or artist for song until many years later (by which time my taste & range of available choices had changed). Seems bit embarrassing to admit I liked a few of these (unless it's considered cool because now it's finally "retro"). I learned words so I could trigger memory of each song, but lyrics don't matter much to me, compared with the music-vocals matter but I don't care a lot about what's being said. I often (not always) prefer the lesser-heard songs to the hits I was exposed to when younger.

"Oh Leah" by Donny Iris.
Didn't find out what that one was until I was 20, heard it on radio, and they said what it was & I had this whole "aha !" moment because it sounded so very familiar yet I couldn't actually recall ever having heard it. Just thinking about I can hear it in my head & it sounds great, still, to me.

"Home At Last" by Steely Dan (actually, the entire "Asia" album is great, in my mind). Of course, "Hey Nineteen" was the one I heard repeatedly on radio as a kid & I long wondered who did the song, what it was called-and what were the real lyrics compared with what it sounded like to me ?

"Ride Like the Wind" by Christopher Cross.
"Silver Blue and Gold" by Bad Company
Doobie Brothers-know a lot of their stuff, but can never be sure-are they the ones who do that "Old Black Water" ditty ? It's so catchy, really was crazy about the long drawn-out ending of the song as a kid.
Little River Band & many more...

Just what exactly is Adult Contemporary? Can someone provide an example?

From my understanding, it was applied to a genre of rock music that had folk roots but took it to a more experimental level without stepping into the realms of jazz and fusion. Not a textbook definition, though.

Anyone else find themselves enthralled with XTC's "Dear God"? That's one that I tend to listen to on a daily basis.


M.