As a music lover this is a question that I ask myself on an increasingly frequent basis. Music tends to be categorized not just by genre but by decade. When you talk Rock, you hear people extol the virtues of the 60’s, the 70’s, and to a lesser extent the 80’s (just my view).
I recently had the opportunity to review Deadlines And Commitments by Trace Hacquard. The title is deceptive, the book is not about work, but about the state of Rock today. Trace asks the very salient question Is rock dead?
After interviewing Trace I was even more fired up on the subject. I walked away from the interview with even more questions than I had going in.
I thought some more about the concept, is rock dead?
Here is what I came up with, and I might well be wrong. Many of the great rock bands are still performing, but they are getting old. One of these days they are going to hang up their stage act perminently. Gone will be the 70’s forever. Who will take their place? Can you name a single rock band from the last 20 years that can fill a stadium like Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis or The Rolling Stones can?
I am playing the part of the Grinch on this Christmas special, I do believe rock is dead. It will be up to my panel to persuade me I am wrong. And I do have an awesome panel.
Trace Hacquard spent three months in the summer of 2006 chasing down the best rock in the US.
Billy James is the owner of GlassOnyon PR, a company that specializes in Rock promotion.
Armando Aldazabar, a very successful author and music producer.
Randy Pratt, the bassist for The Lizards, and a man that knows much about the state of Rock.
This is going to be one don’t miss program. Don’t worry, it is not going to be all doom and gloom, we will be looking for those new up and coming bands that represent the future.
To tune in, point your browser to www.blogtalkradio.com at 2pm Eastern on Satyrday Dec/12 you will see the link on the front page.
Simon Barrett
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2 users commented in " BNN Radio: Is Rock Dead? "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackAs time moves on and our 60’s & 70’s rockers pass on, there will be no better venue than Heaven for the best music of all time.
Simon, I too have wondered about the “state of Rock” and whether the rock we know is gone forever. My son and nephew listen to “Death Metal” which to mean sounds more like someone with a severe cold trying to scream or a satanic ritual of some kind (not that the lyrics are satanic). Then there is rap, pop (which never seems to change) and the classic Jazz, Blues and Classical music which too seems to remain the same. Only the rock we know has seemed to disappear. As you stated the great rock bands are aging, as are we, and disappearing for what might be forever. While old rock favorites may be sung by garage bands worldwide, NEW rock bands don’t seem to be forming or at least are not making it into mainstream music mediums. Is our rock our parents’ big band music? Regrettably the answer probably is yes….at least as WE know rock. Present and future generations will mold “rock” into their own perception of what it should be for their day. So OUR rock may be dead but “rock” will live on in one form or another….we may just not recognize it (or understand it! LOL
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