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On Thursday, August 12, 2004, at 01:27 PM, wrote:
> What is the current state of "Rock"
> music?
I already voted, but I wanted to toss in an opinion on this, as well.
I chose the Huey Lewis quote, as I felt it best fit my own feelings on
the subject. The heart is still beating. It's out there, and it's
alive. It's been kicked around, scratched, and beat on - but it's still
breathing. Biding it's time, somewhere outside the spotlight of popular
culture.
Rock and Roll has really had a hell of a time, in the past few years.
The recent loss of Ray Charles being just one example. (I still get
misty-eyed when I remember Joey Ramone is gone, too) but I'd like to
think that for every Ray Charles, and every Joey Ramone we've lost,
we've gained at least two more potential replacements, even if just by
osmosis. (I'm pretty sure that everybody here can name at least one
song, as being "the one" that made them want to pick up a guitar and do
something with it.)
While some will wring their hands, and declare "Rock is dead!" while
pointing to the festering behemoth, that currently passes for "pop
culture"... it's important to remember that the two are mutually
distinctive. Rock and Roll did not start out as pop phenomena - it
started out as a subculture.
And it wasn't exactly popular. Just playing it on the radio could get
your station picketed, or even worse - burnt to the ground.
Yes, after awhile, big industry found a way to tame it, corporatise it,
and finally brand & package it, but there have always been upheavals,
where the sound was reclaimed. (the punk movement of the 70's, for
example, was a deliberate harkening back to the early days, when you
didn't need a stadium, gold-sequined outfits and a laser show, just to
be considered a band)
Considering what's been happening to the pop mainstream recently, ( by
which, I refer to the tidal wave of cookie-cutter "celebrity stars
hired more for their looks than any actual talent, or bands riding
solely on shock value, or even the "songs" manufactured in-studio out
of racks of drum sequencers, and parts of someone else's old records)
it's probably no bad thing that Rock and Roll is defecting from the
crowd, once again.
It's not dying out, it's just returning to it's roots, as a musical
subculture. And, with the advent of online mp3 swapping, things are
actually better for Rock and Roll than they ever have been -
distribution of "the sound" has become as easy as point-and-click.
Anyone can record, press, and sell an album online. No need for
kickbacks, bribes, payola - and no need for a bloated Industry, which
wants 99.999% of the take.
Long after Big Industry's ruins have blown to dust, and the RIAA have
finally sued their single remaining customer into oblivion (for failure
to bow deeply enough, while purchasing), Rock and Roll will still be
out there. Living, breathing, and carrying on.
I'm happy to be a part of it.
-c*
