So, I have very wide and varied taste in music, and am constantly on the lookout for new stuff (new to me - not necessarily "bands no one else has heard of yet" or this). Occasionally, however, something passes me by. Elbow is an example. I only started listening to Elbow in February or March of this year. THIS YEAR. I don't know how the hell that happened, but somehow it did.

Anyway, Fleetwood Mac didn't completely pass me by, I knew a few of their most popular songs, and I knew they were pretty good. As a major Smashing Pumpkins fan (more on this in later posts) I knew Landslide through their cover. And loved it. I had a couple of Stevie Nicks albums and loved those too. I also have a couple of friends who are completely in love the Mac - friends whose judgement I trust - bun I somehow hadn't quite realised JUST HOW AWESOME they were (the band - I know how awesome my friends are, and it's very).

So I also watch Glee. I don't claim it's highbrow television, or the greatest show of its time, but it's entertaining, amusing, and often kinda sweet. Sure, there are bits that are corny, but in general it's a lot better written and more original than most of the crap on TV these days. Anyway, they did an episode devoted to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours. And I watched it. A couple of songs in, I was wondering why the hell I hadn't been listening to a LOT more Fleetwood Mac. So since then I have been and I just CANNOT get enough of it. It's so damned good. I've also been inspired to listen to several other artists after seeing their songs on Glee, even if none of them have been as amazing as Fleetwood Mac, and I'm guessing that much of the show's audience has less varied music taste than I do (if only because most of the WORLD has less varied music taste than I do) and may be less open to new suggestions. If other people are going on YouTube or Spotify or Last.fm or iTunes or whatever and looking up great artists because they saw them on Glee, then that's surely a good thing. Even if they decide they don't like the original as much as the Glee version, it opened them up to something new, and they gave it a try. Art is all about experience, it's often about taking risks, pushing the boundaries of your comfort zone. Mainly for artists, but also for consumers of art. Sure, sometimes it's nice (important even) to be comforted, to resort to the familiar. And that's why I'll never stop putting on Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Beatles, Tom Paxton, etc records that I loved when I was kid, and I'll never stop wanting to re-read my favourite well-thumbed books (Little Women, The Secret Garden, Crime and Punishment, The Moomin books, to name but a few) and I'll always like snuggling up on the sofa and popping Singin' in the Rain, Blackadder, Spaced, or one of my other favourite films or shows in the DVD player. But I also thrive on the new and exciting. Sometimes the new becomes the well-loved old and familiar, sometimes it loses its appeal after a while. But that's OK too.

In conclusion, a lot of people have a very negative attitude towards Glee, but I'd like to step forward in its defence. If you can't accept that other people find it entertaining and worthwhile, at least accept that it's helping introduce people - especially young people - to some of the great classic recording artists they might otherwise miss. Even if they're generally pretty good at finding good music.