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Location: New South Wales, Australia | Just heard Stairway to Heaven on the radio for the 69 000 000th time and was wondering, if it was released today, would it still be a hit, or would the power chords and pop marketing of today relegate it to the "not really what we're looking for" pile. The same goes for any of those songs that are regarded as "classic rock." |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | I am sure that alot of what is considered Classic Rock would not make the cut today.
Also, most of what they play on 'Classic Rock' radio in the USA is formulaic and market-tested.
In this format, you name a band and I can tell you which song they will play... exclusively.
If you've got a spare hour and seventeen minutes, watch Before The Music Dies... |
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Location: Wichita, KS | I agree with OMA. I think a lot of Classic Rock tunes that were considered cutting edge in the 1960s and 70s would be considered crap today. Some members will take exception to this comment, but I think a lot of Beatles tunes would fit into that category. We love them today because they were so innovative in their time. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | I think Stairway To Heaven would be considered by todays youth in the same way we considered our parents 35-year old hits when we were young. To my Dads dismay I just couldn't relate to Chattanooga Cho-Cho and I doubt any youth of today would relate to Stairway. They'd say it's fuddy-duddy power chord muck by a bunch of tripping hippies. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | I resemble that remark!
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Location: Vernon CT | I understand why you all say "no",BUT, Why are so many kids listening to "Classic Rock" today.
Why are alot of then walking around in Pink Floyd, Lynard Skynard, The Who, and yes even Beatle t-shirts? My own son listens to "Heavy Metal" & Alt Rock but still enjoys Some of the Classic Rock we listen to. No, not all but enough to make me think a lot of kids today may do the same. |
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Posts: 489
| Originally posted by Dale Lutes:
I think a lot of Classic Rock tunes that were considered cutting edge in the 1960s and 70s would be considered crap today. They why are they still playing them? Go to YouTube and look for acoustic covers of "Wonderful Tonight" and see how many twenty-somethings pop up. Is it because it's a simple song, or is it because it's a good song? In either case, why did they listen to it in the first place? |
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Location: Parrish, FL | My son, a college Sophomore, listens to almost exclusively to my pretty extensive music library which covers the period of the late 60's through early 90's pretty well.
He keeps me on my toes by asking trivia like, artist name, album date, name of song. etc. I'm able to answer correctly most of the time, but not nearly as accurately as a few years ago.
Blues |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | My point is not that the music isn't Great.
My point is the Corpo-Rat structure is not out there looking for Good Musicians...
They are looking for a Marketable Quantity.
When FM radio took-off in the 70's, alot of the stations that I listened to were not getting rich.
The best music was on College Radio which made No Money.
Top forty Radio was designed to cut down the middle.
They were hoping that you would listen to the crappy songs while waiting to hear your favorite.
That formula is still used today.
The 'Classic Rock' stations now play tried-n-true tunes that Decades have proved that people like.
Even the 'Alternative' stations play formula music.
Most of the Great Old Artists that knew and loved would not make it today...
Jethro Tull... with a Flute?! Janis? a common-looking chick with a raspy voice? Joe Cocker? Bob Dylan? Neil Young? (Who writes an album to his Car?) Pink Floyd? Echoes is 16:30 minutes Long! Do you hear the Dave Matthews Band on K-Rock? (Maybe You do, but I have to get them on Pandora off of the computer) Cat Stevens? Harry Chapin? Lynyrd Skynyrd? Bonnie Raitt? George Benson? Alice Cooper? Yes? Emerson Lake & Palmer?...
Metal, Goth, and Punk have their niche, but I don't get them on any Portland radio stations.
(But I can listen to Mark & Bryan on three different stations if I ever wanted to torture myself in the morning)
Even Real Country Music doesn't get played on Corpo-Rat country radio!
I hear more 'cutting edge' music on NPR! |
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Posts: 489
| I understand, OMA, but it's always been about what will sell, going all the way back to the days when what was being sold was sheet music. The music business is more about business than music. That's just the way it is, the way it's been and I don't see any change in that on the horizon. No sense getting upset about it. Listen to and play the music that pleases you. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | by Losov:
I understand, OMA,.. No sense getting upset about it. Listen to and play the music that pleases you. I really appreciate my Windows Media Player! :D
Plus, the nice thing about computers is that once I here somebody Good on NPR/PBS (or get reminded of someone that I forgot) I can go find their website and listen to my heart's content. |
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Location: Utah | Originally posted by Old Man Arthur:
My point is the Corpo-Rat structure is not out there looking for Good Musicians...
They are looking for a Marketable Quantity.
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Most of the Great Old Artists that knew and loved would not make it today...
Jethro Tull... with a Flute?! Janis? a common-looking chick with a raspy voice? Joe Cocker? Bob Dylan? Neil Young? (Who writes an album to his Car?) Pink Floyd? Echoes is 16:30 minutes Long! Do you hear the Dave Matthews Band on K-Rock? (Maybe You do, but I have to get them on Pandora off of the computer) Cat Stevens? Harry Chapin? Lynyrd Skynyrd? Bonnie Raitt? George Benson? Alice Cooper? Yes? Emerson Lake & Palmer?... I think that the music biz has always been a business to the record companies and radio stations. They want what is marketable. In the old days, musicians were the last to be paid when they made a record, yet the record companies and all their suits made a very nice profit. Radio stations just want higher ratings to get higher advertising rates.
Today, well, it isn't any different. Except that the digital age has freed the musician from the slavery of the record deal.
Around here, we have lots and lots of musicians who fall right into your list of those who wouldn't make it today. The difference is that they are independent.
They record in their own homes or in small indie studios. They burn their own CDs and do their own artwork. They sell their CDs online through CDBaby, and they sell digital downloads on all kinds of websites from iTunes to MySpace to Amazon. They sell their own merch at shows, from CDs to t-shirts to posters. The internet makes it possible for them to buy custom printed posters and clothing for cheap prices, which they can then collect the full profit on when they sell it from their own websites.
Radio station play is a different animal. The big studios still seem to have a lock on getting airtime on the commercial radio stations. But more and more big name artists are going indie with their records after they build enough of a name to command a radio audience.
Indie is where you'll find a lot of great artists playing shows and working the bars/restaurants. The era of needing the big recording contract is over, so I predict we'll see more of the interesting artists finding a way to break into the mainstream radio.
Note that the soundtracks for movies and tv shows are utilizing a lot of indie music these days. The only bastion of commercial pop crap seems to be radio and American Idle. |
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Point is, if THOSE classic rock musicians were putting out their music today instead of back-in-the-day they'd be doing it whether you listened or NOT!
Same as then. |
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Location: Chesapeake, VA | I grew up with classic rock... well, it wasn't classic then. So much variety. I gravitated to stuff like ELP, Pink Floyd, Yes, the Who's rock operas, Allman Bros, Jeff Beck...
My local classic rock station plays a wide variety, but man... it's the same old stuff over and over again. I have a rule - when I hear an Elton John, Billy Joel, or Steve Miller song, I change to the jazz station. Then when I hear R&B vocals on the "jazz" station, it's time to change back to classic rock. Ummpphh.
We have a great PBS station here. Every night there's a show called "Out of the Box -http://www.whro.org/home/publicradio/whrv/localprogramming/outbox/ - Paul Shugrue plays new stuff. I listen to it most every night to get a flavor of what's out there. The latest CD purchases I got include Among the Oak and Ash, Death Cab for Cutie, and the Young Dubliners.
It's good to diversify. Most other radio play stuff, IMO, I don't like. |
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Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | You Bettcha it was-is-will be!
Some examples:
1970: Williamsburg Virginia, Traffic at William and Mary Univ. Hall...my best firend and I snuck in and got to to the third row...great fun...
1974, California Jam: Keith Emerson spinning around w/his grand piano during ELP's set...awesome!
1975, Feline Fields, Phoenix AZ: The all day (9am till 3am) ZZ Top World Wide Texas Tour: Johnny Winter, REO Speedwagon, Aerosmith, and others w/that lil ol band from Texas playing 4 hours w/three encores...
1976, Norfolk VA, Fleetwood Mac Rumors Tour w/Kenny Loggins opening...The Mac was outstanding...one of the best concerts I have ever seen...
(PAUSE FOR A FEW YEARS WHILE I WAS ON THE ROAD '76 - '83: 24-7-365)
1985, Hampton Coliseum: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Born in the USA tour...4+ hours...the Boss was incredible!
(back on the road: '87 thru '89 and '91 thru '93: 24-7-365)
1990: Nashville TN, Starwood Amphitheatre, Eric Clapton...nuff said! Simply the best!
and many others in between and since...
Rock and Roll is here to stay: it has outlasted disco, ditty bop, rap and is still going strong...new blood needs to come on and it is: Orianthi Panagaris, John Mayer, Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi, Tal Wilkenfeld, and others are excellent...
Lots of good memories and lots to listen too still...I for one am glad of that... |
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| Whatever longevity classic rock might have can be attributed to it's prior status but that stuff would never gain a foothold in today's market. Timing is everything. |
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| Originally posted by lakehaus:
I change to the jazz station.
We have a great PBS station here.
Then you're familiar with Jae Sinnett. Yeah, he is a pompous, self absorbed ass, but he does know his jazz and he plays some really good stuff. WHRV also runs the syndicated "Blues Before Sunrise" out of Chicago. I used to listen to it driving home from gigs on the weekends. Good listening and quite an education. |
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"classic rock" -- still a hit today?
