There are no more Rock Stars, rock is dead. (1 Viewer)

[Paul Bartlet]

So says a recent story in a local paper here in Toronto.
http://www.torontosun.com/2012/05/30/there-are-no-more-rock-stars
Is it so, I am not sure. If it's true, i find it sad.
My issue with todays music, I don't believe all music is given a fair shake. They only want to produce what will create money quickly. And if it doesn't sell tomorrow, blame it on X.
I turned 12 in 1980, and wow what perfect time to grow with music. Had friends a few years older, and younger, and of course same age. Enjoying what was happening at the moment, and enjoying the past just the same. While i didn't try myself, had enjoyed seeing friends put bands together. Some better than others, trying there best to play whatever band. Many of them still play today. I turned 42, and went and bought a guitar, no I can't play yet, but I keep trying.
This is what todays youth is missing out on.
No one seems to want to try to play anything these days. No Guitar, no drums, no bass, no keyboards, no .......
While i did not get to see everyone i would have liked to, i believed i was listening to the greatest. To many to name, so i won't. But i thought it so great, it would last forever. This article, while i want to disagree, i dunno.
I became a youtube junkie, really started when I bought the guitar. Looking up how this and that is played. Then coming across live acts I never knew were filmed. So much to see. So i will have to name just one band here, only because of the comments i see below the vids.
Queen.
Now while i'm sure there are many more, just picking one for an example. The comments under each and every live vid, it sounds like youth are asking for more than what is given.
Rock might be dead, for now, only because Recording industry doesn't see any money in it at this time.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

No one seems to want to try to play anything these days. No Guitar, no drums, no bass, no keyboards, no .......

Lots of kids today seem to want to play record players.
Rock music has become ridiculously fragmented, but thanks to the Internet, plenty of bands are out there to be discovered (even if they aren't going to become old-school "rock stars"). Never mind what the dinosaur media companies are peddling. Their days are probably numbered.

 

[ChristopherG]

That article is a pantload. Rock is not dead. It has simply evolved. The definition of a rock star has changed now just like it did then. When Buddy Holly was big - can you compare that to the wretched excess of the 60s and 70s? As for musicianship - there is plenty of it out there, one simply needs to look for it. I personally think that the dinosaur media companies are reaping a bit of what they sowed.

My example of a Rock star you ask? How about Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters? 43 years old, was in Nirvana for crying out loud and makes some awesome music.

The author is an old crank who demonstrates that he hasn't evolved along with the music.

 

[Paul Bartlet]

That article is a pantload. 
My example of a Rock star you ask?  How about Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters? 43 years old, was in Nirvana for crying out loud and makes some awesome music.
The author is an old crank who demonstrates that he hasn't evolved along with the music.

The author being me, or the Newspaper i linked to, I agree with both.
Funny you mention Foo Fighters, that I do like. Just wish there was more like it.
Country music seems to be doing fine, while I'm not a fan, it does well.
Rock though, the youth don't seem to care about it. What went wrong. Rock at it's core was about being young. I see youth music heading into this - [VIDEO]http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y4bZaLMsIQ[/VIDEO]

 

[TravisR]

Rock though, the youth don't seem to care about it. What went wrong. Rock at it's core was about being young.

I think it's just that rap has taken that position with kids today. I don't know if anything went wrong with rock as much as people and things have changed. However, kids are always going to pick up a guitar, play in garage bands and keep rock and roll alive. You might never hear them on the radio but they'll be out there.

 

[PopBodhi]

Paul,
Unfortunately all you have to do is tune-in to your local pop radio station to confirm that rock as it was known in popular culture during our youth (‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s) is quite dead. Outside the mainstream, ironically just like dance music, I'm sure it's still kicking. Hip-hop and rap are the kings of the airwaves today.

 

[ChristopherG]

First off, I agree with the comments on the prominence of hip-hop and rap (sad as it is to admit that). But the indie rock scene is thriving and as far as radio goes, I'm not sure where you guys live, but the choices I am lucky enough to have are amazing. I have access to 2 amazing indie style rock stations that also mix in various doses of alternative, blues, americana, etc. Then there are at least 2 more "classic" format stations one of which is exactly what you would expect and the other plays alternative rock from the 90s as it's mainstay. Follow those with 2 stations that play hard rock from all eras including today and finally one of the "JACK FM" stations that plays a more Pop/Rock format. Nary a hip-hop tune in sight....

Paul - was referring to author of article as old crank - not you. However, as one to another, please to meet you!

 

[PopBodhi]

ChristopherG,
There's no denying niche radio exists. In any given city you can find anything from dance music stations to indie rock and even bluegrass. I was specifically addressing popular culture and Top 40 radio. The music our youth is embracing, overall, is not traditional rock and its absence on the charts is a reflection of that reality. I doubt there is a single rock song in the Top 10 this week.

 

[ChristopherG]

Was traditional rock ever in the Top 40? Seriously, I don't think so. Top 40 has always been (and always will be) the mainstream acts that traditional rock was always separate from.

Kids will always gravitate to music that their "elders" disdain. Today's older generation embraces and loves traditional rock because we grew up with it - at a time when the then elder generation viewed it as a nusiance at best and dangerous at worst. Since we grew up, now are kids look at what is viewed by us as a nusiance and perhaps dangerous as something to gravitate towards.

Its the classic age old story of youthful rebellion. /Carl Spackler

It doesnt mean rock is dead.

 

[PopBodhi]

I can cite Bruce Springsteen with at least five Top 10 hits, Queen with three or four Top 10 hits, Aerosmith scoring at least six Top 10 hits, the Rolling Stones boasting more than fifteen Top 10 hits and many more. I’d say traditional rock was a staple of the Top 40 during its heyday. That era is now the past.

 

[ChristopherG]

I will cede the point that if your ruler is the "top forty" that you might be wistful in thinking that Rock is dead. I will counter that your ruler is flawed - the top forty has always been a measure of artist's who are selling the most records on a weekly basis regardless of genre. It has always been stacked towards mindless pop, genre of the moment and otherwise generic ear candy of the current flash in the pan.

If you look at Billboard's rock chart, please don't tell Linkin Park, The Black Keys, Gotye, The Offspring, Soundgarden, Foo Fighters, Slash, or Godsmack that rock is dead as they are all currently in the top 20...

 

[PopBodhi]

The Top 40, by its very nature, is reflective of the music that is most popular in our culture during a given era. I think we can safely say hip-hop is the genre that has held the most interest with the public and actually "sold" over the last ten or fifteen years. As a niche market, rock is still very much alive and that can't be disputed. I'm sure it will eventually be revived and once again crossover to the Top 40 because these things tend to be cyclical. As a person who has a collection of dance music from the '70s, '80s, '90s, '00s and now the '10s I know this from experience. While the word disco became unfashionable in 1980, the beat never stopped. As long as there is an audience the music will live.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

If you look at Billboard's rock chart, please don't tell Linkin Park, The Black Keys, Gotye, The Offspring, Soundgarden, Foo Fighters, Slash, or Godsmack that rock is dead as they are all currently in the top 20...

I would hope that there are more than 8 rock acts in the top 20 of the Billboard Rock chart, regardless of the general state of rock!

 

[ChristopherG]

Originally Posted by Aaron Silverman /t/321371/there-are-no-more-rock-stars-rock-is-dead#post_3939623
I would hope that there are more than 8 rock acts in the top 20 of the Billboard Rock chart, regardless of the general state of rock!

Obviously. Those were merely the ones I felt like including in my post.

RandallV - I agree with every word of your last post.

 

[Dave Moritz]

I don't think rock is as dead as some would think. Look at new bands like The Treatment from England just coming out. People are still going to rock concerts and selling them out! I was just at a Motley Crue / Kiss Concert where The Treatment was the opener. I know some people where I work that listen to the newer and older music. They may not be part of the majority and there is some good new music out there. But as far as I am concerned rock is still alive and it will continue to do so as long as we get out there and go to concerts and buy the cd's. At the last show I went to there was a good mix of older people and younger people in there early 20's at the show!

The Treatment - opening band for Motley Crue & Kiss

Motley Crue live at Irvine, CA

Kiss live at Irvine, CA

 

[andrew markworthy]

I think it depends how you define 'rock'. To quote an earlier post:

I can cite Bruce Springsteen with at least five Top 10 hits, Queen with three or four Top 10 hits, Aerosmith scoring at least six Top 10 hits, the Rolling Stones boasting more than fifteen Top 10 hits and many more. I’d say traditional rock was a staple of the Top 40 during its heyday. That era is now the past.

There's a big cultural thing here. In the UK, Queen were considered a pop band with rock leanings (most of their hits were pop rather than full blown rock). Aerosmith were never that big in the UK, and Springsteen had some single success, but mostly with his more anthemic and pop oriented stuff (Dancing in the Dark, Born in the USA, etc).
Most dyed in the wool rock (Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, etc) might have had the occasional singles hit almost by accident, but in the main they were bands that made their living from albums and touring (in case you don't know this hackneyed statistic, many rock bands made most of their income from profit on T shirt sales).
So if you define it slightly differently, rock hasn't died as much as evolved.

 

[Mikael Soderholm]

I saw Iggy and the Stooges live about a week ago, didn't look or sound dead to me

 

[Paul Bartlet]

Was traditional rock ever in the Top 40? Seriously, I don't think so.  Top 40 has always been (and always will be) the mainstream acts that traditional rock was always separate from.
Kids will always gravitate to music that their "elders" disdain.  Today's older generation embraces and loves traditional rock because we grew up with it - at a time when the then elder generation viewed it as a nusiance at best and dangerous at worst.  Since we grew up, now are kids look at what is viewed by us as a nusiance and perhaps dangerous as something to gravitate towards.
Its the classic age old story of youthful rebellion. /Carl Spackler
It doesnt mean rock is dead.

well, i think i've found "my" answer. I don't wanna agree, but it is true. "Kids will always gravitate to music that their "elders" disdain". Your entire post rings true for me.
I have two myself, 17 and 12, and I'm told how old my music is. I'm told how old it is, get with the times.
My enjoyment comes from my questions they can't answer.
Tune of Today they like:
Who is playing guitar ?
A: dunno
oh, Who is on drums?
A: dunno
how about keyboards ?
A: dunno
is there any musical instrument playing that you know is playing ?
A: don't care
I bought a guitar at 2 years ago, and still having great difficulty with Beatles tunes from 1964. It is so much harder than it looks. When you try to learn and play what you like, i think it gives you a greater understanding. If it be Guitar, Drums, keyboards, Bass, Violin, Piano,.....
Ok, so rock seems dead, and thats to bad. The youth of today listens today, and forgets tomorrow, cause none of them even trying to emulate the music they hold dear. I see it as a Newspaper today. Listen, enjoy, and toss aside. Who plays xx for Eminem ?
Music in all in all, should take some talent. And rock had so so much talent.

 

[DVDvision]

As long as Elvis is alive, rock'n'roll will never die.