Smooth music for bitter old ladies.

What does everyone have against the music of our grandparents?
This post was inspired after a conversation with an associate* of mine. I asked him what he did this weekend, and he rolled his eyes dramatically and told a story about his grandma and how she sat him down, forced him to listen to grainy old records, and made carrot cake for him and his family.
First of all, if my grandma made me a carrot cake, I would not gripe about anything; especially something that would potentially impede her willingness/ability to continue creating the cake.
But, why is old music such a torture for young people to listen to? What happened to make it such a turn off?
Well, partially, I believe it's a preference thing. If you listen to the music on the radio, you will notice that there is very little piano, and very little quiet singing. Moreover, it is hard to find a bit of music that is not technologically altered in some way or another.
Take a look at this video that makes me wish I was better at the piano.

If this song doesn't make you want to put on a flapper dress and shake your legs wildly, nothing will.
So, it's no wonder that our grandparents loved this stuff. This was the pop music of their days. When we browse through pictures of our grandparents in old, dusty photo albums, we see grainy, black and white (or worse - sepia!) photos of people in old-looking clothing. Of course these look old. They are old. But, as one of my favorite history professors once told me, "It's not just old; it's history."

Perhaps it's just me. It very well may be, because I am an old person trapped in a young person's body. But, this music that our granddaddies grew up wagging their white-gloved fingers to is not actually bad. It's just a different style of music. For example, if a (very unfortunate) person had grown up listening to only a pandora playlist based on the Happy Days theme song, he would be appalled to discover such wonders as Bruno Mars and Adele.
That was a long tangent. The moral of the story is just because your granny likes it, doesn't mean it's bad. Put away your iPod. Listen to some Nat King Cole for awhile. In fact, you know what? I'll give you a head start.

*I don't have any real associates.