Posted on 12/28/2022 7:02:03 AM PST by Rummyfan
The backstory is a cretaceous tale, we might say: For years, great behemoths roamed and ruled the earth. But suddenly, an unforeseen change in circumstances laid them low.
The behemoths I'm referring to? The rock music titans of the 1970s: The Who, The Eagles, The Rolling Stones, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Aerosmith, and the like. In an era in which NFL players still took off-season jobs to pay the rent, top TV actors often made little more than scale, and nothing like today's technology industry existed yet, '70s rock stars faced almost no rivals in the contest for riches, fame, adulation, cool quotient, women, and power.
But as any triceratops or tyrannosaurus might have warned us, nothing lasts forever. By the late 1970s, the rock music ecosystem was dramatically changing, and its faunae were in trouble.
The first blow was disco. Hardcore rock fans saw it as garbage. Moderate fans saw it more as a joke; but commercially and culturally, it was no joke at all. Disco theorists like Australian impresario Robert Stigwood and English journalist Nik Cohn (who together invented the "Saturday Night Fever" phenomenon) sold disco as much more than a musical genre. In their telling, disco music was nothing less than the élan vital of an exciting new way of being. The disco lifestyle was glamorous, fun, sparkly, sexy, and carefree. It was also one in which every man and woman, on any given dance floor on any given Saturday night, could and would become a star in their own right: their very own Tony Manero (John Travolta's lead character in "Saturday Night Fever").
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
“The Who” bump.
Correct pluralization of "fauna," but only in the sense of "books cataloging fauna."
"Fauna" in the sense of "animals" is a collective noun, hence allows no pluralization.
Regards,
For those who may not recognize the author, Tal Bachman is the son of Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive guitarist, Randy Bachman. He’s also a first-rate musician, following in his father’s footsteps. (And, by the way, it’s pronounced ‘back-man’, not ‘bock-man’...)
I’ve not yet read the article, so won’t be commenting on its contents at this point.
The Guess Who was my first concert. Randy played lead guitar.
Man, I’m getting old.
L
At least you’ve not forgotten it yet. That comes next...
This is a great article! Only a few recognize the writer’s name, or half of FR would be commenting. (Rock and food pieces really draw the crowd here, for sure.)
But what is the song he alludes to in 1982 that hit him so hard?
After a long illness, Rock died circa 1985-86.
Tal is a great guy! The Friday night Trainwreck livestreams with his father was such a blessing during the lockdowns. He was kind enough to send me some signed CD’s and a DVD.
I looked at the January 1982 charts and the only ones I can think it might be are “Shake It Up” by the Cars (probably not since they were more New Wave and around since the late 70s) and “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey, which seems to fit the bill more.
Rock and Roll’s been going downhill ever since Buddy Holly died.
BILLIE JEAN –•– Michael Jackson
I was trying to come up with that but nothing. Thriller? Guess we'll have to wait for the next installment.
Anyone’s guess is as good as mine. I was thinking along the lines of something Duran Duran and MTV, meaning the “look” meant as much as the music.
Try again, get up to date, next January will be 40 years from 1983.
Shock the Monkey?
Maneater?
Shame on the Moon?
You Got Lucky?
Allentown?
Stepping Out?
I’m probably wrong on all counts.
You too, 1OldPro.
Oh, well, in that case, he must be talking about “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?”.
U2 - New Years Day?
Has to be it because it’s in the title of his article.
It's in the title.
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