Did time just pass it by, was rap the new Beatles, or did something CONSPIRE to kill rock and roll.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, maybe we weren’t aware of the factors, but maybe colliding forces eviscerated rock’s power.<\/p>\n
Actually, rock was on the skids until MTV.\u00c2\u00a0 What MTV did was allow the non-mainstream to click.\u00c2\u00a0 Rock radio LITERALLY wouldn’t play "Tainted Love" and "Don’t You Want Me".\u00c2\u00a0 Never mind Haircut 100, T’Pau and a bunch of new wave\/romantic English acts.\u00c2\u00a0 You see, they didn’t get the memo in the U.K.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe it became about fashion, but underprivileged kids still saw rock stardom as a way out.\u00c2\u00a0 And with limited radio play on the continent, their labels made videos, which MTV played.<\/p>\n
And then the mainstream acts kicked in.\u00c2\u00a0 Eddie Money became a video star.\u00c2\u00a0 And then black acts too.\u00c2\u00a0 Actually, the mid-eighties were the first time white and black music coexisted on the same outlet in almost TWO DECADES!\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, after the death of Top Forty radio, white music was on rock stations on FM, in a format which came to be known as AOR.\u00c2\u00a0 And black music gravitated to Quiet Storm stations, and R&B stations.\u00c2\u00a0 Suddenly, the average white man was being exposed to soulful music again.\u00c2\u00a0 And he LIKED IT!<\/p>\n
And what did rock, the classical white music, respond with?\u00c2\u00a0 HAIR BANDS!<\/p>\n
Hair bands and corporate rock both contributed to the death of rock.\u00c2\u00a0 Suddenly, boiled down to its crass essence, after a sale surge, nobody wanted this music anymore.\u00c2\u00a0 Vapid corporate rock opened the door for mindless disco.\u00c2\u00a0 And hair bands opened the door for…Mariah Carey.<\/p>\n
The labels always hated rock music.\u00c2\u00a0 Well, Clive Davis always hated rock music.\u00c2\u00a0 And, his emulator, Charles Koppelman, he worshipped at the altar of Barbra Streisand, not Jethro Tull, who he suddenly was in charge of.\u00c2\u00a0 And, Donnie Ienner used to work for Clive.\u00c2\u00a0 And Mo and Lenny lost their jobs.<\/p>\n
Oh, there was a last hurrah.\u00c2\u00a0 Grunge.\u00c2\u00a0 Kurt Cobain.<\/p>\n
But then it was done.\u00c2\u00a0 Rock was gone and forgotten.<\/p>\n
There was no room for it on MTV.\u00c2\u00a0 Because you had to sell your soul for airplay.\u00c2\u00a0 The end came when actors played the roles of Blues Traveler in their big hit video.\u00c2\u00a0 Suddenly, a video couldn’t be a band playing, but had to be a MINI-MOVIE!<\/p>\n
Which nobody did better than rap acts.\u00c2\u00a0 Rap was the OPPOSITE of rock.\u00c2\u00a0 Not a live medium, but a VIDEO medium.\u00c2\u00a0 A DANCE medium.<\/p>\n
And many old rock fans hated rap.\u00c2\u00a0 Begging even for the almost atonal riffs of AC\/DC.\u00c2\u00a0 And, with MTV airing less music than ever before, the old rock fans tuned out.<\/p>\n
Yes, the old rock fans GAVE UP!<\/p>\n
They went to see their favorite dinosaurs in concert, but they no longer listened to a radio which played the same old classic rock tracks or music that they couldn’t fathom, like the aforementioned hip-hop.\u00c2\u00a0 And those rock acts that still existed, they got even FURTHER out there.\u00c2\u00a0 Their sound was almost as grating as that of the rap acts.<\/p>\n
But then came the boy bands.\u00c2\u00a0 And the old rock fans’ KIDS started buying CDs.\u00c2\u00a0 Of acts their parents hated.<\/p>\n
And then the whole thing imploded.<\/p>\n
Who do we blame?<\/p>\n
Maybe Bono.\u00c2\u00a0 Who got rid of every element of rock stardom he ever had in order to stay relevant.\u00c2\u00a0 Instead of QUESTIONING authority, he threw in with it.<\/p>\n
And the Stones and McCartney became positively mercenary.<\/p>\n
And the new acts would do whatever the label told them to.<\/p>\n
And the audience no longer cared.<\/p>\n
So now, there’s still a need for a track.\u00c2\u00a0 Whether it be by Kelly Clarkson, Mariah Carey or Fat Joe.\u00c2\u00a0 But nobody in the mainstream is ubiquitous, and nobody is rock.<\/p>\n
We have the Strokes.\u00c2\u00a0 Which would make Ray Davies roll over in his grave if only he were dead.<\/p>\n
We’ve got Oasis, which hasn’t cut a decent record in a decade.<\/p>\n
We’ve got Pete Doherty, but his arrest record is better than his music.<\/p>\n
We’ve got people PLAYING rock stars, but we’ve GOT no rock stars.<\/p>\n
A rock star is someone whose music is SO good, he can get away with anything shy of murder.<\/p>\n
Like Led Zeppelin.<\/p>\n
Or Sly Stone.<\/p>\n
There was a heat.<\/p>\n
But it’s not the early eighties anymore.\u00c2\u00a0 The audience has given up.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re not waiting for the next big thing.\u00c2\u00a0 They don’t believe there IS a next big thing.<\/p>\n
It’s not only music.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s movies too.\u00c2\u00a0 Everything’s been dumbed down, commercialized, HOMOGENIZED, to the point where nobody’s even paying attention anymore.<\/p>\n
To rectify the situation we need somewhere where people are paying attention.\u00c2\u00a0 And it ain’t NEVER going to be MTV, no music television whatsoever.\u00c2\u00a0 And no terrestrial radio.\u00c2\u00a0 FM blew up because the owners considered their stations an afterthought, they didn’t give a shit WHAT was on them, because nobody was listening.\u00c2\u00a0 And it’s not the Internet, not MySpace, because those are inert.\u00c2\u00a0 We need some heroin, that we can mainline, fed to us by living, breathing, human beings.<\/p>\n
Could be satellite radio.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what I’m betting on.\u00c2\u00a0 Certainly XM, which is not massaged AT ALL!\u00c2\u00a0 Where you get the feeling renegades are running the channels.\u00c2\u00a0 Where passionate, sixties-style deejays rule.<\/p>\n
But what music are they going to play?<\/p>\n
We’ve got to REDEFINE what a rock star is.<\/p>\n
He’s no longer someone on "Cribs".\u00c2\u00a0 No longer someone at a fashion show.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s an ICONOCLAST!\u00c2\u00a0 Who’s never seen partying at the latest Hollywood joint.\u00c2\u00a0 HE’S the party.\u00c2\u00a0 Wherever HE is, it’s happening.\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, he doesn’t need the publicity, people can FIND HIM!\u00c2\u00a0 They’re tracking him all over the Net.<\/p>\n
And what does his music sound like?<\/p>\n
It’s going to be straight ahead.\u00c2\u00a0 Verse chorus bridge.\u00c2\u00a0 Like the Backstreet Boys’ best material, but with a BACKBONE!\u00c2\u00a0 It’s going to be what the act is SAYING as opposed to what he looks like, or the sound of the loop.<\/p>\n
Word is going to spread of these new acts.\u00c2\u00a0 SLOWLY!<\/p>\n
They’re not going to cover them in the "New York Times" until the last minute.\u00c2\u00a0 People are going to FEEL the heat.\u00c2\u00a0 And be drawn to the flame.\u00c2\u00a0 And the act won’t play stadiums, but small halls.\u00c2\u00a0 You won’t be able to get in.\u00c2\u00a0 And you’ll tell all your friends about him.\u00c2\u00a0 Because he won’t be on TV, or in the tabloids.<\/p>\n
Everybody’s doing it wrong.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re looking at the marketplace and trying to shoehorn "talent" into it.\u00c2\u00a0 FIRST you find the talent.\u00c2\u00a0 And you just nurture that talent.\u00c2\u00a0 And wait for the people to come to IT!\u00c2\u00a0 Because if you’re good, you can’t keep people AWAY!<\/p>\n
Everything said above is anathema to those in charge.\u00c2\u00a0 Because these aren’t their rules, their systems.\u00c2\u00a0 But their game has turned everybody off.\u00c2\u00a0 They said rock and roll would never die, but its caretakers have dug a grave and are piling on dirt.\u00c2\u00a0 We need a resurrection.\u00c2\u00a0 We need people to care.\u00c2\u00a0 We need people to pay attention.\u00c2\u00a0 And it doesn’t start with distribution, but ACTS!\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, the material is important, but a hit song is not a hit song is not a hit song.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s about EMOTION, FEELING!\u00c2\u00a0 Something no song doctor can add.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, anybody can sing, even Paris Hilton, but not everybody can sell what’s inside, not everybody can project an inside people are INTERESTED IN!<\/p>\n
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