Justin Senneff said, "... we should bring some of that attention
to the youth if we want this hobby to survive.  In doing so we must
appeal to them by playing more modern music on band organs."

I fully agree, and that is one reason I am manually punching some
20er rolls, but there are some real issues involved.

1. What is "modern music?"  Justin cites "Phantom of the Opera" on
a Bruder.  According to the official Phantom web site, the original
production opened in 1986.  By the standards of today's youth, that is
their parents' music.  We need to play songs that are current (2008)
hits to keep our root culture alive.  When band organs were selling,
the music (including the opera excerpts) was the latest hits.

I think there is a pretty good lot of music from the 1960-1990 period
being played on some organs, for example, Dave Wasson's "Trudy" and
Larry Kern's "Ambassador."  Classic rock & roll music is covered,
but it is still old-folks' music.

2. Who of us is willing to commission good arrangers to produce
music we may not personally like, e.g., current country and rap hits?
On their own arrangers will only produce rolls or books which they
can sell.

I suspect most of us reading MMD tune out most current pop music.
One contribution non-arrangers, particularly young ones, reading MMD
can make is to point out current hits which might work on organs.

3. Much recent music just does not adapt well to an orchestral format.
I've just started my search for some suitable rap, but a 20er organ
bouncing on one chord doesn't sound like much -- you at least need a
percussion voice for most rap.  Country music things like punk rock
are a bit easier, but often are not very interesting musically, relying
primarily on lyrics and/or individual performance for their commercial
success.

Justin also said, "Although I feel that we should let some fresh air
into our hobby I do not think we should toss the baby out with the bath
water.  The old music is part of our culture and should be preserved
for the future."

I agree, and I'm also discovering and punching some nice tunes from
1880-1920.

Wallace Venable