It's the advent of music download networks and the vast influx of blogging via. the internet.
Finding obscure bands/artists is as easy as eating sherbert.

believe these guys have a wide musical knowledge at all. I think they just know a few fashionable artists to namedrop.

when I was a teenager I was completely devoted to finding out as much as possible about all forms of popular music... I used to buy old issues of the NME, MM and Rolling Stone when I could find them, devoured music books and listened to a hell of a lot of records. Whilst an appreciation of music is in no way a competition, I think I was very knowledgeable for my age back then.

...an excellent piece in MOJO a few months back in which Alex Turner demonstrated a broad knowledge and sincere passion for all kinds of music.

...is very important at 13, 14, 15 etc, maybe even 51. I began my burden back in about 1969 ploughing thru' the backpages of Melody Maker and NME (and, probably, Record Mirror and Disc), picking up on names as much for their sound and the graphic of their names in the adverts for their shows, inevitably at 100 club or the Roundhouse, I expect. From then I moved to daily afternoons on the headphones at the trendy local record shop (Hello, CASS music of Eastbourne), which had an open policy for juvenile listeners, even when they never bought anything. Whilst listening, one would rifle thru' the sleeves of the stock, and I recall the amazement of reading about Henry the Human Fly ("Bugger, said God...") long before I enjoyed the music on it. And they always had loads of Jefferson Airplane and Frank Zappa, all quickly to fall from my tongue as favourite this or that.
I could have sounded as erudite as those guys, and probably as safe as them too, as, really, does anyone actually listen to Scott Walker? More than once?
And so, what are your influences, Mr Path? Oh, Stoneground and early Blossom Toes.... Yeah, right. (Funnily enough, an expensive habit of mine now is to put those favourite names of yore into i-tunes power search: I have found some, um, interesting stuff.......

...21 and I've been reading Word magazine for 5 years, do I get a badge? Anyway, if you truly love music and want to discover, it's never been easier to do your research. I don't know who Alex Turner's trying to impress by name-dropping Scott Walker, it's hardly likely to whet the appetites of the legions of Monkeys fans

Someone like Alex Turner has been brought up by parents who are themselves probably well-steeped in rock'n'roll and in an era when all music from all eras is easily available and accessible. Imagine if, say, a Tim Hardin song was used in an advert and it piqued the curiosity of a teenage music lover. Within a few minutes he or she could find out what it was, do a bit of research and window shopping at Wikipedia, YouTube, Amazon and i-tunes, order it online for next day delivery and have a good knowledge and appreciation of an obscure artist within days.
I remember hearing "Sha La La La Lee" on the radio when I was about 10 or 11 and thinking it was the most exciting record I'd ever heard. I couldn't buy it until about six or seven years later when Virgin put out a Small Faces compilation to cash in on the mod revival.
Things have changed since I was a girl.

Actually I did know "Jackie" at age 8 as my Mum was a massive Scott Walker fan, and indeed I still have all the singles - mind you for years having an encyclopaedic knowledge of the great brooder's oeuvre couldn't get you arrested 'till the likes of Bowie and Marc Almond spotted some good ideas to nick in the Brel recordings. I think people latch onto what they want the legend to be, rather than what they actually were - a good half of what SW recorded was MOR shlock, and my Mum used to see him playing at places like Batley Variety Club and the Manchester Golden Garter rather than some Berlin or Paris cellar club surrounded by haunted bohos in black roll neck sweaters.

(Mind you to be fair to Scott he did walk off the stage at one such gig as noone was listening - the scampi was particularly good that night)...

In answer to Retro's question, yes, I do still listen to some of it!

Scott Walker is to Marc Almond what Marc Almond is to Max Bygraves.

Surely a strand in genesis here....
Marillion are to Genesis as Genesis are to??

EDIT

Back in 1995. In fact Jackie was the intro tape to our band for many years.

When I was at school I used to hang out with the uni students, who introducted me to Scott Walker, Nancy Sinatra, Gypsy Kings and so on. Possibly they were trying to be ironic but I loved it all.

...I was rather fond of the old Leadbelly/Carter Family murder ballad John Hardy. My parents didn't have a vast collection of blues/folk/country albums. Manfred Mann recorded a version on the B side of Sha La La.

A few years ago I tour managed Miles Kane's old band The Little Flames (who were supporting the Arctic Monkeys) and was seriously impressed by their tastes on the bus - a healthy osession with the Fall, lots of Link Wray and US nuggets style garage rock. It's a common trait in Liverpool where record collecting seems to take huge significance from an early age. I can't think of many other cities where you see Captain Beefheart grafitti on bus shelters.

Given the latter became the former, surely this is a need for Rascals UK or the English Rascals?

Scott Walker wouldn't have been on my radar when I was at Uni (early/mids 80s) and frankly if I had been curious I'd have had to have taken a punt on a six to nine quid LP - not a chance! It was SO BLOODY EXXY to buy music back in those days.

Prices have flatlined (in actual terms) for many years. Alex could hear of this Scott Walker bloke being a good egg, check him on YouTube, listen to 30 sec samples on HMV/iTunes, buy 2nd hand CDs for less than a fiver on eBay/Amazon and he's done. Or download illegally from somewhere or other for nowt.

Kids these days - don't know they're born!

When I was a teenager, lots of decent music was available via our local public library. My brother and I listened to anything and everything, very open-minded, and took recommendations. It's a bit easier now (that was 25 years ago at least) but really, if the desire to learn about music is there, sooner or later you are going to hear some of the so-called classics.

I think its reasonable for a couple of 22 year olds to meet over a shared love of Scott Walker, it depends how you are brought up!
I'm 25 & was a lucky sod to have been raised in a atmosphere of great music. My dad played (as he still does) in various 60's & Irish bands, my mum is into her bille holliday/edith piaf, my older brother went from being a mad Altern8/KLF (remember them!)fan into a Joy Division & The Fall obsessive (via the delights of Nirvana, Megadeth & Metallica) & then theres my little sister who is into Westlife one minute & early Elvis Presley the next!! When you grow up surrounded by these variants then you will always appreciate great stuff. A few gentle nudges have ended with me being into everything & anything. A lot of people wont believe me for liking someone like Sam Cooke or Jackie Wilson as if I shouldnt have the right. Good music is for all & good on them for it. However, there is the plausible chance they may be talking shite to look good, for though there are young people who appreciate & have the knowledge of great music there will always be someone claiming to do so....I'm looking in the direction of the kooks, big Dylan fans apparently!

At school I had a friend who had an older brother who had a fine record collection. I used to borrow the likes of Can, Hendrix and Gong - some of this music stayed with me, some didn't. I got the NME, listened to the more adventurous radio shows. My parents certainly had nothing to do with it. I had an NME encyclopedia of Rock - gave me some ideas. There used to be a shop called Rainbows End where you could get back copies of Zigzag and International Times and such. Now it's all on the internet for this generation, but it's a similar process. I wasn't wanting to be cool exactly, OK maybe a little (though I think many of my peers would have despised what I liked) - I just wanted to find stuff that would surprise me and be exotic to escape the mundane and humdrum with.

...I heard their single the other day and it didn't half sound like Legend of Xanadu by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich.

None the worse for that, I should add.

...of well listened?
Why is it that name-dropping Scott Walker, Miles Davis or Lou Reed when you're in your 20s suddenly propels you to this knighted division of learned musical virtuoso?

My son has just turned 18 and has a decent knowledge of artists that were around years before - his favourites being Led Zeppelin (no great surprise) and Stevie Ray Vaughan (not an obvious choice for an 18 year old). The point is his formative years although spent in a split family were very much soundtracked by a continual background of whatever cd i happened to be listening to whenever he visited my house or whenever i picked him up in the car. As in most other facets of a developing childs personality, parental habits are a big influence and musical taste is not and should not be outside of the sphere of influence.I am happy that he has grown up with a love for music and am even more pleased that he has introduced me to artists that i hadnt previously considered such as Muse, Gogol Bordello and The Raconteurs to name a few.
Now if i can just steer my daughter away from High School Musical!!

...and my big bruv being 10 years my senior & with decent musical taste, I was set off on the right path (and thank the lord he was there to counteract the Nina & Frederick/Clio Lane my mum played over and over). Mercifully they were drowned out by T-Rex, Hendrix and Led Zep.

Now I work at a secondary school and parents/siblings continue to play a part in the musical education of many teenagers I work with. Plus these kids just love to check out old stuff, like I & many of my college mates did in our teens. So what's on the ipods of the kids I work with now? Well, T-Rex, Hendrix & Led Zep and much, much more from decades before. Aaah … it sure restores your faith to know they aren't all going the way of Simon Cowell and that they do know a good tune when they hear one - no matter how old it may be…

My 13 year old daughter has access to a mixed bag of tunes in the Windows Media Library courtesy of my supurb music collection. She watches Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes and other programmes and then checks out the music. With the demise of Top of the Pops and the availability of information on t'interweb kids will hopefully explore and find their own music.

There has never been so much music available and, unlike in my youth, there is no need for deleting records after a short while leaving only the "classics" or the current charts. I have noticed my daughter has a tendency towards completism and digging out original versions of songs or checking out the artists influences - I wonder where she gets that from?

I can well remember Julian Cope constantly waxing lyrical about Scott Walker when he was a whippersnapper. In fact I think his Teardrop Explodes haircut was an homage to Scott. No P2P in the early 80's.

I think the internet has opened wide the world of music to younger than I. I made do with my friends' elder brothers' albums.

ps I don't really 'get' Scott Walker. Last thing I heard he was slapping meat for a track. Er??

... there's a lot more of it to look for! I'm 44, so when I was really getting into music in my early teens (the early/mid-70's), there was only 20 years of "rock" to catch up on. A 15-year old now looks back at the New Romantics (for instance) with the same distance as I looked back on Elvis and Buddy Holly at the same age, so asking them to delve back further to (say) the sixties is like asking my generation to look back to Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey - not impossible, but you do lose a lot of people on the journey...

I think the "bush telegraph" of music recommendation still happens - like a few people here I got into Scott Walker via namedrops/covers from Julian Cope and Marc Almond - but whereas I had to haunt 2nd-hand shops and record fairs to get any further, today it's all YouTube, BitTorrent and Ebay, easier to access but less satisfying, an echo of the "iPod effect" perhaps...?