Rock and roll just used to be for kicks
And nowadays it’s politics
And after 1986 what else could be new?

So sang Billy Joel in his 1986 single “Modern Woman,” a song meant to light-heartedly illustrate how the stereotypical man’s antiquated behavior toward women was no longer effective. In recent times, though, I’ve started adopting the above verse as a banner representative of my own relationship with pop culture. After 1986, there may as well not have been anything new — because a good portion of my favorite songs, TV shows, cars and media in general come from before that time.

I was reminded of this a short time ago, when my sister-in-law Cherry called and wanted to know if there was a song I’d like to request on her radio show. In case you weren’t aware, Cherry has been a DJ at a university radio station in Thailand for a good many years. It’s a job she loves, and I can see why — as a bit of an audiophile myself, spinning popular Top 40 tracks from the western world for an hour every morning sounds like a great time. Particularly so in Thailand, where the regulatory pressures of radio probably don’t begin to compare to those of America’s own FCC.

The problem was, I was a bit stymied by her question. After all, her radio show specializes in playing the hits that are currently making waves in countries like England and the United States, treating young Thai audiences to a taste of the western media that fascinates them. But to me, a citizen of that western culture, popular music stopped being interesting somewhere around my eighth birthday. I have never been a fan of hip-hop, and with hip-hop and R&B sounds inexorably woven into the fabric of all pop music today, there’s not a lot for me to listen to.

So I go back to my old standbys instead — Billy Joel, Genesis, Phil Collins, The Beatles, Black Sabbath…all artists I enjoyed both as a child and during my teenage years. Coupled with them, ironically, is a smattering of pop hits from Asia — because like those Thais who love western music, I’m a westerner who craves the diversiform tones of Thai and Japanese pop. Go figure. (What’s that they say about the grass always being greener…?) And while I admit that there are a few songs I hear on Top 40 radio that are pretty good, I couldn’t begin to tell you the name of the artist or the song — rendering my ability to request them useless!

Thus, it was true to my usual form last week when I responded to Cherry’s offer by asking to hear Billy Joel’s “River of Dreams” spun one more time. While it’s a good song — and while hearing it again got me interested in spinning the whole album, nearly every track of which I find appealing — I couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed as I heard my request bookended by much more modern, progressive and “urban” sounding beats. Granted, Cherry doesn’t play hardcore rap, but you heard what I said about hip-hop influencing pop music. It lends its feel to a great many of the acts in all of music’s genres today.

To be honest, though, I actually sorta liked some of the songs she played that night. Cherry’s radio station recently revamped their website and now offers an online stream of their broadcast, so we were able to tune in for the entire hour and hear Thailand’s take on the western world’s best tracks. Since Apple and I were lounging in the bedroom during this time, and I had my iPhone with me, I went over to iTunes to see if I could figure out just who was popular these days.

There isn’t yet much that makes me feel like a curmudgeon from a past age, but looking at iTunes’ “Top Songs” list is one thing that does. Lil Wayne? Fall Out Boy? Ray J? Danity Kane? Who are these dudes? I recognize a few names, to be sure — Madonna and Mariah Carey for instance — but even their new singles are infused with a larger dose of hip-hop or R&B sound than my ears prefer.

Of all the types of music I still listen to with genuine affinity, perhaps dance music is the only genre that still has any sort of modern following. After all, Thailand’s own China Dolls specialized in crafting bright and energetic dance music which, while I would never dance to it (or to anything, I suspect), is so catchy that the same albums are still in my playlist after all these years. I’m starting to think that I should ask Cherry if there are still any dance acts in Thailand — and if not, a back catalog of used CDs would suffice!

For the curious, Cherry can be heard on air Monday through Saturday at midnight Eastern Daylight Time (GMT -0400) at http://www.psuradio88.com. As of the time of this writing, the website seems to be offline, but with luck it will soon return. (That has had the unfortunate side effect of preventing me from double-checking her show schedule, but if I’ve made a mistake I’ll correct it post-haste.)