Will classic rock last for all eternity?

Oak Lawn (IL) Reporter ^ | 4/17/03 | Michael M. Bates

[weegee]

crapco music?

[archy]

Dammit, archy, it's tough to stifle laughter here in the office. Gives me a runny nose every time! (*sniff*) ;-)

The same sort of somewhat jarring substitution can be managed with the music from Stairway to Heaven and the lyrics to the theme from the TV show Gilligan's Island.

I may not be a great or talented musician, and others are better at working a crowd. But I can still conme up with a kicker or two for the ol' playlist.

-archy-/-

[GSWarrior]

Foreigner, Kansas and Boston are to popular music what Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart are to classical music.

[archy]

"Won't Get Fooled Again" is the perfect rock song.

Neatly balanced both musically and in thought by I can see for Miles.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

With that being a Latin version of rap at least I can't understand the lyrics, (and the babe was good to look at too).

[wku man]

Perhaps, but history will never remember Enema, Insane Clown Posse, etc., becuase they are pure hype, and no substance. Just as a FReeper earlier asked the question "can anyone imagine listening to Bad Company in the retirement home", I ask "can anyone imagine listening to Puff-Diddy-Daddy-Doofy, or whoever this guy who just got busted for cannibalism, in the retirement home?" Bad Company, Zeppelin, the Police, etc...yes. Rap...no.

Maybe some of the genre's founders, like Run DMC, Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash, etc. might get some footnote rememberance, but like many cheesy hair-metal bands of the 80s, unwashed Seattle greasy hair bands of the 90s, and the tattoed freak deathmetal bands of today, rap will become a thing of forgotten lore. I hope.

Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!

[wku man]

I'm surrpised The Replacements aren't on your list. They were, after all, "the last, best band of the 80s". I really miss the 'Mats, but they began a long, slow, painful decline after they kicked Bob Stinson out. They should have just quit after "Pleased to Meet Me".

I would also like to recomend another couple of additions to your list of great 70s/80s bands...The Ramones and Hoodoogurus. I'll still be listening to them when I'm sitting in my rocking chair on the porch.

Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!

[vollmond]

You forgot Yngwie's middle name. Freerepublic being a family site, I'm not allowed to repeat it here :).

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Bleah - I'm sick of boomers, and sick of boomer rock. It wasn't more special than any other era - it just marked a time when an entire generation of teens and 20 somethings allowed themselves to be manipulated by marketing.

[archy]

Billy Lee Riley and Sam The Sham (and Gino Washington, and Elvis' sidemen, and Dale Hawkins, and Tony Joe White, and Joe "Ducktail" Clay) and others will be playing at a festival in New Orleans in 2 weeks. Sun Ra's Arkestra will close out the show each of the three days:

Ponderosa Stomp

Already got my tickets down that way, via Amtrak's City of New Orleans. A couple of other oldies have come back to the spotlight, too. Canned Heat has a new album out and is touring again, with drummer Fito de la Parra and guitarist Henry Versine doing the vocals that not only recall predecessors Bobby *Bear* Hite and *Blind Owl* Alan Wilson, but do 'em proud. And Steppenwolf is back on the road again as well, playing at the Helena, Arkansas Wild Hawh fest on the 26th of this month.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

Interestingly, Bono is good friends with Jesse Helms, too.

Could be playing both sides of the fence, but Bono and U2 have always mixed politics with their music. Hasn't seemed to hurt their sales too much.

[JFC]

Natalie Maines of Dixie Chicks is HISTORY!

[majordivit]

Do we really want to be listening to bands like Bad Company when we're in the retirement home?

I think i'll still be able to listen to Bad Company's 'Ready for Love' even when i can no longer.... :)

My guess is though i'll probably fancy more classical music...more strings and less electric...

[weegee]

I haven't settled whether I'm going for the Wednesday rockabilly showcase or not yet. I'd like to see a few of the other performers on the other days but don't see that happening (3 nights of hotel stay, etc.).

I saw Canned Heat at a free outdoor show a few years back (already some of the members had been changed out, including the lead singer). 2 more members had passed on since that show. It was a good show but so few of the original members remain that perhaps the name should be changed.

I didn't get to Austin to see the Yardbirds at SXSW. The only review I read said that Billy Bob Thorton sang before their set and that they couldn't help but look good by comparison. Mr. Thorton's singing was compared to the vocal stylings of William Shatner.

[majordivit]

Here are some that should be, but might not be:

Yes
Jethro Tull
Deep Purple
Black Sabbath
Rush

Interesting list. It maybe because these bands were progressive rock bands. Baby boomers tired of prog rock in the mid seventies and turned to earsier/softer rock as performed by simple bands like The Eagles.

I think the prog rock bands like Yes and Jethro Tull will always be remembered. In the case of Yes, they morphed into a very successful pop rock band in the 80's releasing a string of hit songs like 'Owner of your lonely Heart'. Of course i will always remember Yes for their progressive albums, Fragile and Close to the Edge..etc..

On the other hand, Jethro Tull started out as a terrific blues/hard rock band before temporarily releasing prog rock albums like Thick as a Brick and Passion Play. Most people probably are not aware that Tull released a string of hit singles in the late 60's and early 70's. If memory serves me correctly, some of the singles were songs like 'Teacher', 'Living in the Past', 'Witches Promise', 'Sweet Dream', 'Inside', 'Rainbow Blues', 'Bungle in the Jungle'.

[majordivit]

I shudder to think of this dolt remembered, when Tull masterpieces may be forgotten.

Tull Masterpieces:

Stand Up - 1969
Aqualung - 1971
Thick as a Brick - 1972
Passion Play - 1973
Too Old To Rockn'Roll - 1976
Bursting Out - 1978
Heavy Horses - 1978
Stormwatch - 1979
Broadsword and the Beast - 1982

There are a few almost masterpieces like Warchild or Songs from the Wood or Living in the Past. There are also very good albums like Minstrel in the Gallery, This Was, Crest of a Knave, Catfish Rising, Dot Com.

Jethro Tull 1968-2003...and beyond...

[Reaganwuzthebest]

Natalie Maines of Dixie Chicks is HISTORY!

She's not going to be forgiven anytime soon by quite a few people that's for sure.

[majordivit]

I think you'd have to put Steely Dan in the list with Yes and Jethro Tull.

Timeless stuff - "Aja" is as classic as it gets. I still listen to it all the time.

Next to Jethro Tull, i think i listened to Steely Dan more than any other group. ah..thinking about my college days and going to the coach house every Friday Afternoon. Starting off the weekend just right with pitchers of beer and 'Dont Take me Alive' from Steely Dan..

[Chemist_Geek]

Keith Relf - lead singer of the Yardbirds - died in a strange way. In '76, he was practicing his electric guitar. In the bathtub. Ouch.

Well, it's better than in a tragic gardening accident or by spontaneous combustion...

[discostu]

Bursting Out, best live album EVER (... well OK maybe One More From the Road by Skynyrd is better). Don't forget Roots to Branches, Ian's re-learned flute work blows me away every time I listen to it.