Posted on 09/04/2019 8:20:41 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
The era of mass media may have ended decades ago, but the hangover is about to hit us all hard. In “The coming death of just about every rock legend,” Damon Linker of The Week explores the rock & roll carnage to come:
Yes, we've lost some already. On top of the icons who died horribly young decades ago — Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley, John Lennon — there's the litany of legends felled by illness, drugs, and just plain old age in more recent years: George Harrison, Ray Charles, Michael Jackson, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Glenn Frey, Prince, Leonard Cohen, Tom Petty.
Those losses have been painful. But it's nothing compared with the tidal wave of obituaries to come. The grief and nostalgia will wash over us all. Yes, the Boomers left alive will take it hardest — these were their heroes and generational compatriots. But rock remained the biggest game in town through the 1990s, which implicates GenXers like myself, no less than plenty of millennials.
All of which means there's going to be an awful lot of mourning going on.
Behold the killing fields that lie before us: Bob Dylan (78 years old); Paul McCartney (77); Paul Simon (77) and Art Garfunkel (77); Carole King (77); Brian Wilson (77); Mick Jagger (76) and Keith Richards (75); Joni Mitchell (75); Jimmy Page (75) and Robert Plant (71); Ray Davies (75); Roger Daltrey (75) and Pete Townshend (74); Roger Waters (75) and David Gilmour (73); Rod Stewart (74); Eric Clapton (74); Debbie Harry (74); Neil Young (73); Van Morrison (73); Bryan Ferry (73); Elton John (72); Don Henley (72); James Taylor (71);
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
This is just weird. Morbid. Unnecessary
Yeah, but their music lives on
Jazz died off as a mass genre for two reasons.
First, as Mark Gauvreau Judge wrote in his fun 2000 book, If It Ain’t Got That Swing, postwar economics and the rise of bebop as a counterforce in jazz greatly killed off the big bands of the 1930s and ‘40s, but the complexities of bop led many teenagers in the 1950s to seek out rock and roll as a simpler music style to dance along with.
Capitol Records putting the full force of their PR team behind The Beatles when they arrived in America in early 1964 cemented rock and roll as the dominant musical genre for teenage whites, as Nat “King” Cole, who helped make Capitol a dominant force in America in the 1950s, discovered to his horror when he called their flagship Los Angeles office that year and the receptionist answered “Capitol Records – home of The Beatles!”
My what a pleasant topic. “Game over man!”
Thanks to TV and the media, there was an explosion in the number of famous people starting in the 1960s. And now the first wave is nearing the end of their run.
It is weird.
At the same time thus counter culture movement is what destroyed Europe and the US.
Like the golden age of movies and the stars it created; they lived, the died, we mourned, and moved on. As far as Rock goes - at least we will always have their music...
“Thanks to TV and the media, there was an explosion in the number of famous people starting in the 1960s.”
Yes. And the influence of these 60’s people was bad.
It boils down to economics.
Why did rap become so popular? Because it’s cheap to produce.
I remember when Fleetwood Mac did “Tush”, I remember they spent at least a million dollars in studio time.
A rap record can be done for a fraction of the cost, and the “artists” are disposable.
Saw 69 year old Peter Frampton the other night, a guitar playing virtuoso.
“Tush” = “Tusk” (must have had ZZ Top on the brain)
I’ve been in 14 bands, most of which were “Classic rock”. I was talking to a bunch of guys that have been in the live music scene for many decades and one said something interesting: There was a time when all you had to do was hang a sign saying, “life music” and the people flocked to the place. Nowadays, it just might keep them away. There are just so many mediocre cover bands out there.
Since I moved to rural KY, I’m shocked at how many just plain horrible bands are playing all the summertime make-a-buck festivals. It’s one reason I don’t bother playing any more. I am thinking of starting up the old DJ thing again after I retire for a little extra money and fun. But life bands? No way. It’s simply not worth the work.
It’s amazing how long rock remained so popular compared to big band. The idea that many young people today still love fifty year old music - and it’s cool to do so, would have been foreign to my generation in the 60-s through 80-s.
On a side note, I’m developing a new appreciation for Herb Alpert and the TJB. Those guys were GOOD. The arrangements were Excellent. And the recording/mastering quality gives a lot of the best stuff today a run for its money.
I was trying to think of which rock bands have no current living members.
The Ramones is the one that comes to mind. Also, I know the original three members of Motorhead are deceased, although they did have a lot of band members since then who are still alive.
I can’t believe they left Keith Moon out of the died horribly young list. :(
Him and The Ox.
Many have just one or two, like 1 Dog Night.
Them and Metallica. Still selling out every gig they play.
Or “Palmer”
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