I have to go waaaay back to top-40 radio in the early 90's for stuff like "Dream Lover" you know, "Dream Lover, come rescue me, oooooo...." She can also really hit the high notes. I only know this because Muncie didn't have a college radio station, we couldn't get TTS, I couldn't afford tapes (no cd player), so was pretty much stuck with WLBC, country stations, or the classic rock/top 40 stuff from Indy. I haven't heard a new Mariah Cary song in ages. It's not really my taste in music, and well, I generally play kid's stuff in the car. "My 3 kids, in preschool, they now have made me un-cool" lol!

I'm trying, but Whitney Houston keeps popping into my head.

I meant to say this in the post, but talking to Charlotte today I realize I hadn't.

I think this is a sign of the fragmentation of music. We no longer have cultural tastes, we have subcultural tastes. We are much more likely to cross over to other genres. Rock and roll no longer defines a generation, but an attitude.

People are more likely to sample an array of music rather than identifying with just one genre.

I'm only guessing here but I think that in the 60s and 70s, if you think of the music listening public as a pyramid, the base was very small but the peak was very high, so everyone knew about the Beatles and Elvis. Their music was pervasive.

Now I think the pyramid has changed and the base is very wide and the peak is much smaller, so not as much attention is paid to the person at the top.

Make sense? Again, only a guess.

Bingo, Larry (and Charlotte). At one time, local radio stations played a variety of music, either in the same rotation or via theme programs. These stations played Top 40 but also all sub-genres of a format: e.g., you could hear Elvis, the Four Seasons, Motown, and Dean Martin on the same station. (Don't forget, Sinatra, Dino, Jerry Vale, Sammy Davis Jr., Engelbert, etc., had charted Top 40 hits in the '60s.) Musical differences were mostly regional differences (although there were also "beautiful music" stations). In the last 20-30 years, music has become an increasingly niche market. Can you name five Jay-Z songs? Five Michael Buble songs? Five Toby Keith songs? If so, you surf a h--- of a lot.

BTW, I can remember Mariah Carey's hits very well. She sang, you know, that one where she screeches really high and loud. :)

mariah carey does my favorite christmas song: "all i want for christmas is you." other than that, she reminds me of a 'my little pony.'

I thought she was a stripper?