Response to Jeff

Jeff said...
"but something super-special was discovered in classic rock, and
has largely been lost, ignored, or subdued. It can be found
from time to time in "jam" music, pop, or the blues, but not as often
as one might think. "

I wonder sometimes, though, if for us and those who are 10-20 years older than we are, classic rock is great at least partly because we heard it young--not because it's the greatest music ever.

The test of time will be interesting. What will be "classic" popular music to those who are babies now?

5:29 PM


David Weinberg said...
Jeff,

You make a good point. It is my understanding that the emergence of punk music and the aesthetic that came along with it in the mid and late 70s was in some sense a bitter reaction to classic rock, which dominated the airwaves for years. The classic case and point is that Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven' is the most-played song of all time, and must've worn people out (particularly those not into rock music) back in the day. However, songs get overplayed on the airwaves today just the same, but most of those will not stand the test of time as well as Zeppelin tunes (not to mention Zeppelin put out great albums from start to finish; the I-Pod and downloading may be the final nail in the coffin for that convention).

Call me crazy, but I think the era of classic rock, led by such titans as the Beatles, Stones, Doors, Floyd, & Zeppelin, to name a few, marked a musical renaissance as great as any in human history (though, of course, the Blues are never given enough credit as a progenitor), and will be appreciated for many generations to come.. not just by our kids..

I feel somewhat for contemporary Indyrock.. the totalizing perversion and subversion of music by advertising today did not exist in the 70s or 80s.. much of Indyrock sounds as if it were composed to be immune or impervious to this subversion. Alas, what we're left with is something that-- I personally, at least-- don't find overly enjoyable to listen too. I cringe everytime I hear that commercial for Cadillac that uses Zeppelin's 'Rock and Roll' but I wouldn't vote to sacrifice my deep appreciation and enjoyment Zeppelin's oeuvre just because some worthless schmucks at an ad firm are getting paid 200K a year to think up this stuff, and record industry contracts grant virtually no artists (Eric Clapton and Tom Petty are notable exceptions) exclusive rights over commercial use of their music.

We may be turning a corner. Get satellite radio.. tune out commercials. Download and just listen to your I-pod incessantly (we have an army millions strong here in NYC who fall in to that camp). TiVo out your commercials, or better yet.. kill your television. Unplug from the corporate massage, enjoy good music unabated.

You can do it!