Posted on 03/25/2017 10:13:00 AM PDT by Mariner
For music fans, the recent flood of celebrity deaths has been overwhelming: David Bowie, Glenn Frey, Prince, Leonard Cohen, George Michael and Chuck Berry seem like a disproportionate number of superstars to lose in a short time span.
But with many of rock’s founding fathers and mothers reaching their 70s, the end of the age of rock ’n’ roll is just beginning. While every generation bemoans the passing of its great artists, the outsize influence of rock promises to have a profound impact on popular culture and overall music-industry sales.
Of the 25 artists with the highest record sales in the U.S. since 1991, when reliable data first became available, just one—Britney Spears—is under 40, Nielsen data show. Nineteen of the 25 are over 50 years old.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Speaking of the master, the originator of Dark Americana:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VC6PIVYSI4
Only Keith Richards comes close in knowledge and reverence for America’s music. A soulful and passionate art form unto it’s own.
White Rabbit, the most iconic song from that era and in my opinion all time hall of fame material...........
Was overseas in the Army when Woodstock took place and never even heard about it till months later.......of course we never listened to the radio anyway
How could that same band later on do dreck like “We Built This City”?
There is plenty of awesome new music. Yes, rock too. There always will be awesome music. Creative musicians stand on the shoulders of those who went before.
Coheed and Cambria is my favorite band of today, not that new, but good music.
Clapton couldn’t perform this weekend so he’s postponing his last USA concert til Sept.
You’re like the only one who gets it. “Radio” is amazing these days and unlimited and the exposure to new sounds is almost overwhelming. My kids go nuts in a Vinyl store. And I love Spotify and all the sources for finding new talent.
I expect to spend the rest of my life being exposed to new stuff, while enjoying the old stuff. One of my sons plans to go into the music industry. He is well on his way, being accepted to music programs this spring, then he will choose.
Wide appeal.
Oh.
You mean there are no gate keepers anymore with the power to restrict what gets heard. And you, like many others on this thread regard that as a horrible state of affairs. No more herd experience. Individualism = bad, herd = good.
I am glad where you are sad.
I will buy as much Celtic music as I desire not just the few expensive imports I can get Green Linnet to ship me. I will buy albums from obscure Swedish reggae bands and a song here and there from Russian house bands. If I can hear an album from some local band in Boston or Witchita online and buy a song or two.
Years ago, I used to go to a local food and bluegrass festival. They had Texas fiddle competitions and chili cookoffs. One young performer that used to play became famous (and lost a lot of baby fat) - Allison Krause. She is good. But Erika Chambers is just as good despite not being famous. In yesteryear it wouldn’t have been possible for me to find or buy her music.
Nope. I don’t miss the power of yesterday’s corporate gatekeepers restricting what music and even what types of music were available. And I don’t long for.some.corporate decision making cowboy to round me up and drive me to what music is financed by the record manufacturers, and carried in the limited shelfspace of brick and mortar stores.
And I think he wants to get in at least one more at Royal Albert Hall.
I hope he makes it.
Aside from the old-school business of Rock, there were some very talented musicians, writers and performers.
It’s hard to argue with a Pink Floyd, and one’s Stones must Roll. Blind Faith is Creamy, not unlike Strawberry Fields Forever.
it was the concert tours where they profited
Yep touring is where the bucks are. Still hoping Rush makes one more.
http://www.cygnus-x1.net is my favorite Rush site
for the same reason "The Beach Boys" are still doing concerts.......
Very disappointing song and 15 years after their prime.............
I still think he has one of the greatest voices of all time (at least he did when he was younger); my wife thinks they should refund the money anyone spent on their albums back in the day.
Seeing them attempt to play the same type of music now is just sad; it is a younger man’s genre in terms of playing & singing the songs. Same for Ozzy; I’ll remember him fondly as the talented singer/performer he was, not the shambling mess he is now.
Well, if the lead members of the girly hair bands came out of the closet (Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Cinderella, Def Leppard, Guns ‘N Roses, etc.) it certainly would have been more surprising - but Judas Priest seemed more about rock music than the whole girl scene. I don’t recall teeny boppers buying posters with them striking poses in the same way the others were marketed.
The sexual ambiguity was just marketing - and it sold well as those rock bands morphed into girl bands.
But my favorite right now is Rival Sons.
You are right, there is a huge difference between Judas Priest and all that fruity hair crap. Priest had way more edge than that dog squeeze.
And yes, it was completely ridiculous that no one seemed to realize Halford was a complete flamer, looking back on it. I mean come on. But saying it would have bought you into plenty of fights in tough bars in 1984. He was wearing stuff like a bullwhip in a holster, holy moly already.
Freegards
I only listened to the music back then, and only later did I see early footage of Judas Priest before they made it big (where Halford’s outfits - before the S&M get-ups - were even gayer if that was possible; almost like Freddie Mercury).
I saw an interview with him after he came out, and he described how people would press forward to get whipped while he was on stage; he said “everyone needs a good thrashing”...Eeeeew!
I don't know where you're getting the bit about "gate keepers" from. It doesn't have much to do with what I was talking about.
For better or for worse pop music and rock music was a generational thing. It brought people together in what snarky critics would call a "mass" way. That's what it did and what it was.
You could still listen to your bluegrass and Celtic music, but pop hits had a way of defining or describing or characterizing an era. They provided a common "culture" for people who were very different in other ways. That was a big reason why people turned to pop or rock music. For the most part that's gone now.
Imagine if our modern listening habits had been around in the past. So instead of pursuing their traditional folk music our ancestors had each been walled away with their own particular music, rap, or ska, or what have you. Would it have been a good thing? Would something have been lost? I don't know, but the question goes deeper than your dismissal does.
There have always been independent labels, and if need be bootlegs, that provided a wide variety of music to people. Cult groups and singers have been around for a long time. What's lost is the sense of community and belonging that popular music once created. If that very idea of commonality threatens your sense of your own individuality even in its absence, maybe your individuality wasn't that robust to begin with. Touché, mon vieux.
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