Look who's calling something "dead."
Posted on 03/19/2013 11:30:45 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
SIR Bob Geldof says the rock and roll age is dead.
The Boomtown Rats star and Live Aid icon said: "The central problem is, for us, rock and roll was a social medium.
"That period has passed because now there are many alternative social mediums. Rock and roll needs a context in which to exist.
"It doesn't exist anymore. It's ceased to be culturally relevant.
"The rock and roll age is dead, in my view.
He added: "I'm amazed it died. No-one expected that, but I'm lucky I jumped in halfway through it.''
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
could they be more self absorbed? Every art form has a period. If it’s classic, it will be relevant, though not contemporary. So what? Anyone in such a capacity should have put aside education, training and savings for future endeavors.
Rock is dead they say....Long Live Rock!
Look who's calling something "dead."
Just had the unpleasant experience of informing a business associate what the song Lola was all about. He had no clue after listening to it for decades.
At the same time the industrial revolution industrialized production. Production was not done by the local blacksmith anymore, it was done by the gigantic factory spitting out identical parts.
And alongside the factory, music was industrialized , by the radio. Suddenly everyone in the country could listen to the same music. And just as suddenly, music was something you didn't participate in, but observed.
Music went through a seventy year phase of industrial oligopoly control, where few could join, but those who did made money in a tightly controlled distribution network.
And then, the new phase of music began, with the IPod. Suddenly technology could go around the distribution network, and could connect an artist with an audience without going through the music industry selecting what an audience would hear. Does this mean music is dying, or dead? Probably not, but it does mean the music industry is largely irrelevant. The 2020s may be musically more like the 1890s than Led Zepplin's time, fragmented, but innovative to its own audience.
We had a great thread the other day where a lot of shared YouTube videos of songs back from the 60s, mostly obscure that most of us had never heard before, but were hidden gems....it’s like they say, it’s new, if you’ve never heard it before.
"Lock & Loll no die yet!"
Yeah, and the blues is dead too. Shut up Bob. You self-absorbed, liberal pansy.
Brilliant essay, Vince. I can see the truth in what you stated there.
It died when Buddy Holly’s plane went down.
I wish it were true for rap and hip-hop and digitized remixes..ugh. I hear very few original tunes anymore....and with very few exceptions, a good cover.
I’m in my late 50’s now, so maybe I’ve missed something.
One of the few innovators recently (to me anyway) are the Black Keys. And I love Jack Black’s remake of “shakin”. And I’m still a blues fan. So, am I washed up or is there other new stuff out there that actually has merit?
AC/DC says:
Heavy decibels are playing on my guitar
We got vibrations coming up from the floor
We’re just listening to the rock that’s giving too much noise
Are you deaf, you wanna hear some more
We’re just talkin’ about the future
Forget about the past
It’ll always be with us
It’s never gonna die, never gonna die
Rock ‘n’ roll ain’t noise pollution
Rock ‘n’ roll ain’t gonna die
Rock ‘n’ roll ain’t no pollution
Rock ‘n’ roll it will survive
My, how things have changed.
Well, I hope we're returning to that. Every time I see someone walking down the street with a real musical instrument (saxophone, guitar, flute, violin, etc.) I want to shake his (her) hand. Every time I see someone so absorbed in their iPod that they can't share the sidewalk or make eye contact, I feel like screaming in frustration.
I saw the Bootown Rats booed off the stage back in the day. Lots of fun.
I would say it died sometime back in the early 90s...maybe even late 80s. I listen to everything from Bill Haley & the Comets to AC/DC and Van Halen and all others in between, with the Surfer genre both vocals and also instrumentals only being my favorite. Beach Boys all time favorite group for me followed closely by Jan & Dean. Speaking of which, anyone remember the evening a few summers ago Dean Torrence called the Michael Savage show one summer Friday evening?
Dead? Excuse me, but a gang of us just got back from dancing for 4 hours to a great, live band. Music will never die. The man is old and maudlin. Too much chooming.
Poor feller was bullied for having a second middle name like “Zenon”. Back on RTE TV, he tried to play up the stereotypical “controversial” punk rock image by going after anything Catholic. Just an attention-seeker.
I remember the Boomtown Rats’ last Irish gig in Leixlip Castle, although I didn’t go (didn’t have to; it was loud enough and you could hear it on Main Street). Lots of bloodied-up faces walking up and down the town. The U2 and Police concerts at the same venue were much more dignified.
Get ready to boo again. The remainder of the article is all about how Geldof is in the midst of a Rats reunion. Exciting, eh . . . ?
Leixlip? West of Dublin? I visited my grandmother’s cousin there in 1983 while on my first trip to Ireland. :)
That’s the town. Lived there as a kid in the 70s and very early 80s, before they thought of building a highway through there. Not sure if I know your relatives, though . . .
We’re even further along than that. Everyone is an “artist” now. The participation isn’t limited to musical ability, distribution channels or anything and despite that we have in many cases better quality.
I’ve heard “fans” or audience members cover tunes better and more creatively than the original artist. The 20th century was a control freaks dream century of confluence. My hope is that the 21st century is one of liberty, real liberty.
bttt
Have you taken a look at the “virtual school” phenomenon that is taking root in K-12? Here in Louisiana, the teacher’s union has broken out in slobbering fits over the prospect of government schools becoming obsolete.
It will be a paradigm shift in the history of education.
Her name was Mary McGushin. She was about 80-85 when I saw her.
One would wish it had died, however the noise still “Rolls” out. The man is right in statinng it was a cultural thing-Western Culture is moribund. That is its meaning.
I love Imagine Dragons. Rock isn’t dead. Just different.
Very perceptive. I'm shocked that rap lasted longer than a few years, and that rap and dance have displaced rock. They're very monotonous.
There was so much variety and great music in Rock's hey-day, which I would peg from '67-'79.
If they ever come for my music they may as well take my amplifier and speakers too. Then they can have fun with it at their after-work parties.
I've felt as you do for years, until I heard this guy: Steven Wilson The Watchmaker.
I've always liked rock, but the more I learn about politics, and the politics of most musicians, the less I can stand to listen to it because of the insane liberal ideologies they promote (listen to Neil Young's "Rockin’ In The Free World", especially the last verse. Eff him and his opinion of America).
Suddenly technology could go around the distribution network, and could connect an artist with an audience without going through the music industry selecting what an audience would hear.
I hear ads on the radio that implore people not to download tunes for free (steal the music) and while I agree totally with property rights, I note that the music industry is mostly protecting itself, not the artists. My understanding is that the artists make their money off of touring, which of course you have to pay to see. Since they've promoted socialism and the destruction of private property for so long, it's hard to have any sympathy for them.
SIR Bob Geldof says the rock and roll age is dead.
Funny? But Rock n Roll says Bob Geldof is dead.
By the way, WTF is a 'Boomtown Rat'? (and why should I care?)
http://www.fender.com
He did that song “I don’t like Mondays” about the girl who shot up a classroom full of school mates.
Maybe he’s just frustrated that, because R & R is based on truthful commentary, and they can’t do truthful commentary as long as their masters won’t let them, it’s done.
Can you imagine anyone singing about the truth behind Newtown?
Rap is honest.
Kids, the audience, seek truth. They’re on to rap, leaving the BS behind in the dust.
And LONG overdue. The idea that all kids have the same learning style is just ludicrous. They need to be exposed to the same idea from different perspectives to fully grasp it. Some (like me) can garner it easily from the printed page. Others need to see it (video) or hear it (audio).
I think what you'll see is course content online, and teachers functioning more as tutors for those who need help grasping certain ideas.
Kahn Academy is just the barest beginning.
Its dead in the sense that I hear almost nothing new now that I like or resembles Rock and Roll in it heyday. I’m in my mid 50s and used to listen to the radio constantly as a teenager. It was all new stuff—you rarely heard “oldies”. Now when I listen, all the songs are decades old.
If that’s not a sign of death, I don’t know what is.
He was just a friggen Canadian busy-body who sounded like a squealing rat when he 'sang'. And I loved it when Lynyrd Skynyrd responded his rotten 'Southern Man' cr@p-song with 'Sweet Home Alabama' (YouTube live concert).
One of my fave Lynyrd Skynyrd songs Call Me The Breeze 1976 Live Concert, playing it now ;-)
LOL, I have done the same many times. They always get the same look of disbelief when they really pay attention to the words for the first time. I'm sure I looked the same way 25 years ago when someone first informed me.
LOL we own an Internet station and I play Classic Rock and Blues 3 hrs five nights a week!
You would be surprised at the younger Generation that considers it better than Top 40!
It’s out there and still has a great listner base!
Dead? Not by a long shot! Long Live Rock and Roll!
***It died when Buddy Holly’s plane went down.****
To me, it died when the BEATLES hit this shore. Music then went to trash.
For excellent surf (instrumental) music, may I recommend a Pittsburgh band called The Turbosonics. You can find their page on facebook and they have just released their first CD. They are influenced by Dick Dale and Link Wray. If I can find the site where you can hear clips of their music, I’ll reply again. Right now they all are at work at their day time jobs.
But it's cheap to produce. Disposable "flavor of the month" acts.
I blame Grunge. Especially Curt Cobain.
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