Music To My Ears

**This is a blog entry I wrote a couple of weeks ago but never got around to posting. I think I wrote it on a Saturday. Anyway, finally getting around to posting it.**

I was unwinding from a long day yesterday in front of the television. I was constantly flipping channels, dissatisfied with practically everything I stopped on. It was too late for sports and mindless cartoons. Except for the crude stuff found on Cartoon Network. Sorry, I have nothing against Cartoon Network, but the kind of line-up they have in the late hours doesn't appeal to me.

In any event, I stopped on the Nickelodeon channel.

Sure, I'm way beyond the teen years. But having grown up on Nickelodeon, I still find things to catch my interest. And since I also have a nephew who insists on watching shows like iCarly and Victorious, I'm doubly exposed to the tween shows.

Anyway, I found myself watching part three of the iCarly and Victorius cross-over. They played the three parts in June, but apparently want to milk it for what it's worth and show it every weekend now. I have no idea if they only show part three, but that's all I've been seeing. Personally, I don't mind so much. I unashamedly admit I like the music. I'm not so close-minded that I won't give any kind of music a try.

As I was sitting and watching, something occurred to me. And of course, the thought is what prompted me to write my thoughts down. Well, actually, what I thought was, “Yay! An entry for the blog. Thank goodness!”

I sat thinking that the American television market has finally discovered in recent years, what the Japanese have known for quite some time. That music is appealing to all and that it's a big business in and out of shows.

Okay, this is probably confusing, so I'll back up. When I was in my teens, I was in love with Japanese anime. I probably watched as much Japanese anime as I did American cartoons. The thing is, more than the actual show itself, what always drew me to certain anime was the music. The Japanese, as I learned, took great effort in not only making the cartoon and animation a success, but the music that went with it. I could be wrong about this, (although I don’t think I am) but voice actors in Japan took their jobs very seriously. It wasn’t (and isn’t) like American cartoons where they will take anyone who can act. No. They find people who can act as well as sing. Which is why most Japanese cartoons always had the person who did the voice of a character doing any singing that happened to come along.

Ah, but music. Really, who doesn't like music. Some might argue with me about this, but I really think music is completely universal. By that I mean it's crossed the length of time and has only improved and expanded. Okay, I'm not completely sure, but in my humble opinion, music is everywhere and has been everywhere. It's probably even been here before there were books and written literature. Ancient civilizations, before they had books, movies, theater, etc there was music. So it's almost amusing to see how long it took for the capitalists to realize that beyond musical theater, concerts, radio and records, there were other ways music could still be marketed.

Okay, going back to Japanese animation, I must indulge myself by thinking of a few of my favorites that I used to love not only the cartoon, but the music as well. I probably spent a small fortune on their CDs. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least half a dozen shows that promoted music as much as the show. Naturally I'll name my favorites: Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon, Tenchi Muyo, Crayon Shin-Chan, Pokemon, Dragon Ball, Fatal Fury, etc.

The one thing that I remember standing out quite prominently was the knowledge that if I found myself interested in one of their beginning theme or ending theme songs, I could always find it. And not simply in the thirty-second file that most American cartoons produced. No, I could find a full-length version.

On a different note, I think of Disney right at this moment. I've had the pleasure of watching with my nephews and niece the Disney movie Tangled. I remember the first time I watched it. I was so pleased with it. And not simply for the simplicity of the story, the characters and so forth. No, my first and immediate thought was, hey, they got Mandy Moore to play the part of Rapunzel!

I will again admit that I ran through the credits, trying to see who played what voice and what singing part. If there are two people doing one part, I've yet to find it. At least, the main characters and main sub-characters play and sing their own parts.
This is good in my opinion. In fact, I would say it's more than good. It's fantastic. Maybe this isn't important to some people, but it is to me. For some reason, I was always let down if the person playing the voice didn't do the singing. Don't ask me why, it was just something I used to feel.

However, I digress. As for Victorious and iCarly, along with all these other shows that have singing in them... This is what I thought almost twenty years ago. Why didn't the American market do this too? They could make so much more if they put a little more effort into the theme songs, got people who could actually sing, etc. If they had done this, I’d thought, instead of me finding some homemade mp3 of a theme song that I liked, I would be able to buy the soundtrack.

That thought actually leads me into another, albeit brief, thought. I believe I remember the first time I liked a theme song from a television series and my delight when I realized that the series had put out a CD. It was the series Friends. I won't bore with details on how thrilled I was at liking a song and being able to find a longer, fuller-length version of it. Of course, I think this is another area where things have change. Most television shows are using popular music or creating their own with longer versions of the songs. Well, the popular shows anyway. But one takes what one can get.

Any who, this concludes my thoughts. Maybe others out there have recognized what I only discovered. Maybe. Maybe not. All I know is I'm glad for it. And in the long run...who cares right? Glad we got to this point in the end.

Long live music!