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The '90s Are Back

The '90s Are Back

Date: Aug 04 2008

Themes: Music, Pop Culture

Intro

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2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Is there still a pair of baggy jeans in your closet? If so, you must be excited that Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins and The Verve all have new albums out. Why? Because each of those bands achieved fame in the ‘90s, back when the more material went into your pants and the less you washed them, the cooler you were.

But now that those pants and flannels are long gone, what does music from ‘90s artists mean? Listen to Devan and Jason wonder what it means for our decade that so many of the top artists right now first became popular more than 10 years ago.

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Devan

Devan

Jason

Jason

Devan:  So the other day I bought a Rolling Stone Magazine. I was looking at the back page. I was reading the names of the artists that are the top 50 selling artists right now. It was like, it could just as easily have been 1996 as now because it was the same artists. Isn’t that crazy that over at least a 10-year period, the same artists are still topping the charts?

Jason:  I feel like our decade really has no music personality. Looking back, what are people going to say about this decade?

Devan:  Do you think that just maybe because of downloading stuff that new artists are being downloaded, they’re not really selling records?

Jason:  Oh that’s a good question. Those people’s fans are just people who are still buy records. There could be that. I think it’s just that, for some reason, it became fashionable in this decade to do a comeback tour and a reunion tour and a comeback album, you know? And I don’t know why that never happened before. Do you?

Devan:  No. I don’t know. It seems…I guess maybe comebacks are happening sooner now too because in the ‘90s the bands doing comeback tours were bands from the ‘60s that do comeback tours 30 years later, but now it’s 10 years later you do a comeback tour.

Jason:  I know. It’s kind of a shame. We’re just still rehashing all that stuff, I think.

Devan:  Yeah.

 

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Discussion

Devan was looking at the back of a music magazine and noticed that many of the top artists in the country were popular in the ‘90s. This upsets Jason. He says that he’s not sure if the current decade has a music personality that people will remember at all.

But Devan points out that maybe the reason older artists are doing so well is just because their fans still buy CDs. Fans of newer bands download their music instead. But Jason says he thinks so many older bands are on the charts again because it’s popular right now to do a reunion tour or album.

What’s your favorite ‘90s artist? What’s your favorite decade of music history to relive or revisit?

 

Comments

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jocelynliu

jocelynliu

China

I like music and I always download music,it's very convenient.I'll buy the albums if I really like them.

I feel like our decade really has no music personality,too.But it seems so many people like the new artists now.

 

05:41 AM Aug 04 2008 |

magic1015

magic1015

China

lol,good topic

when i was in primary school ,i was so falling into britney ,but now ,she is kinda mental .

yep ,i love the 90's bands like disturbed ,linkinpark,the killers … we can not deny their contributions in laying the firm  foundations  to the new music style and keep it going on , well,i still miss i holding a cd's book with cd player ,u now the feeling when listenning to music with mp4 cannot in a path with the cd player ,although the downinglaoding is convient …

anyways ,i 'd also like to see the offspring add up some fresh elements to the music stuff .

04:55 AM Aug 04 2008 |

xin7

xin7

Chile

I usually download music, but I like buying the albums when I really like them.

I think the same way as Jason, it seems that our decade has no music personality, new bands are just recycling old music…. I've heard some new bands but they don't look original.

 

04:47 AM Aug 04 2008 |

Jobee

Jobee

China

I guess what really is classic keeps from being fashion or popular or stuff.they are always fashionable as the passage of time.that's why people like to digest some music long while ago,I guess.

03:41 AM Aug 04 2008 |

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