What Ever Happened to Easy Listening?

                What ever happened to easy listening music?  My wife and I were in a nice restaurant recently and the loud raucous music that was playing over the music system did not make for a pleasant dining experience.  It seems everywhere I go, in department stores, the  grocery stores, in restaurants, I am bombarded with the wild music of today, blaring above my head.  I remember when almost all restaurants and even the fast food chains played nice soft music in the background which made dining out a nice experience.  But it seems in the 1970s, it was decided to kill easy listening or so called “elevator music” from our society. Remember Montovani?  Probably never heard of him if you are under the age of 70.  I doubt there are any broadcast easy listening radio stations to be found.  Online you may be able to find some so called easy listening stations, but even that is questionable.   If you search easy listening on the online Accuradio site, it will give you “Smooth Jazz”.   Sorry, not a Jazz fan.  Even the SirriusXM radio I have in my car with its zillion channels doesn’t give me a true easy listening channel.  They wimp out with “Jazz/Standards” channels with Sinatra and music from the 40’s.  Sorry, guys, that’s not the soft strings of the easy listening music that prevailed in the 1950’s and 60’s.  Yes, the music industry made a successful coup to literally kill easy listening music in the 1970’s and that death is apparently permanent.  Oh, love those good ole listening days.