Moodies

We've just taken notice of the HDNet channel on our satellite tv menu.
Sunday night is concert night. Last Sunday they broadcast a "Moody Blues" concert
and I Tivo'd it. We just watched that recording last night.

We've been Moody Blues fans for years...
Went to a Moody's concert some years ago and enjoyed it thoroughly.
It took just a few seconds viewing last night to notice a BIG change...
Flutist/vocalist Ray Thomas wasn't on stage. I was concerned about him and immediately got on the internet to find out why he was no longer part of the group. My fears were for nothing... Ray apparently got tired of touring and retired. Good for him.

Before starting the playback I had expressed doubts to Sara Jean-
"They'll still be able to make their guitars sing, but I wonder about their voices." Justin and John both have to be in their sixties, and we've all seen groups that try, and fail, to "hit the high stuff" and make us cringe. With a couple exceptions last night we needn't have worried. If anything, their guitar playing has improved with advancing years. The only time we noticed any problems with their singing was on a couple songs where the cadence was really fast and required a lot of "breath"...
They should have left those songs to the new, younger folks they've added as backup singers.

But 95% of the music was GREAT.
And when Graham Edge took center stage and introduced a song the M.B.'s put out on an album 41 years ago I asked Sara Jean-
"Most of this stuff is still wonderful and sends a chill down my spine. I wonder of any music produced today will still be played over 40 years from now?"

There's no answer to that question and I probably won't be alive myself to see.
But I do know this-
My son went to that M.B. concert with us willingly and still loves "classic rock". I think part of the reason music from that era was special is the result of events that were unfolding at that time... late '60's/early '70's.
With the world seemingly coming apart, will the music of today be similarly impacted and fondly remembered in forty years?

My big question?
Will children of today be listening to music done presently by folks like
Yusuf Islam, or music more akin to that done by Cat Stevens?

We live in interesting times.