I was listening to two shows featuring The 80’s and 90’s while travelling last night. We like categorising our music.

Of course when we listen at the time, we don’t always hear the changes occurring. But looking back, we can usually spot the moments when music starts to head in a particular direction. And that is usually because of artists who swam against the flow in some way or other.

Dylan sang about everything and anything, was poetic, obtuse, and controversial, and he didn’t keep it to 3 minutes. Suddenly Love and Sex didn’t have to be the only topics of conversation in pop.

The Sex Pistols and other punk bands brought an “anybody can do this” ethos to music. It wasn’t just for the trained musos and the naturally gifted singers. Attitude, energy and a short, sharp shockwave of sound could sound fantastic.

Just two examples that I’m more familiar with, but you get the drift.

Standing out from the crowd is brave. And it doesn’t often lead to success. But even artists and bands that did their own thing, and didn’t “make it”, often had an influence on other successful artists. Something to take pride from in itself.

Sticking out from the crowd is something we often admire, but also often avoid, when it comes to our own endeavours. I know that’s been true for me.

It doesn’t hurt to try and be a little bit braver sometimes.