Is Rock-n-Roll Dead? Urban Music Trends & My Reaction

[Ivan Seeking]

The funny thing about this question is that Rap, New-Age, Metal, or whatever, are all just variations of Rock to me. I consider Rock to be anything that my parents would not listen to. So this would include anything produced after about 1954.

Still, tonight on the Lehrer News Hour, on PBS, Clarence Page [not Jimmy] did a story about the death Rock. Concert and other sales are down, and the new thing is called Urban. The story's review was mixed but it did make Rock sound like a thing of the past.

Am I old?

 

[Moonbear]

Yes.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Hey, hey, my, my
Rock and Roll will never die

Now I think I'm gonna
start to cry
Hey, hey, my, my

 

[Moonbear]

Hey, hey, my, my
Rock and Roll will never die

Now I think I'm gonna
start to cry
Hey, hey, my, my

I wasn't answering the question about Rock 'n' Roll.

Rock 'n' Roll ain't going to die!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I wasn't answering the question about Rock 'n' Roll.

Now I know I'm gonna
start to cry
Hey, hey, my, my

 

[Moonbear]

Now I know I'm gonna
start to cry
Hey, hey, my, my

Sorry. :shy:

 

[Huckleberry]

The funny thing about this question is that Rap, New-Age, Metal, or whatever, are all just variations of Rock to me. I consider Rock to be anything that my parents would not listen to. So this would include anything produced after about 1954.

Still, tonight on the Lehrer News Hour, on PBS, Clarence Page [not Jimmy] did a story about the death Rock. Concert and other sales are down, and the new thing is called Urban. The story's review was mixed but it did make Rock sound like a thing of the past.

Am I old?

Well, we are atleast a generation apart and I would agree with you. I don't think your age is the most important factor here. What kind of music did your parents listen to?

Huck Mom

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Well, we are atleast a generation apart and I would agree with you. I don't think your age is the most important factor here. What kind of music did your parents listen to?

Huck Mom

I was joking a little bit but they were fans of the crooners, the Rat Pack et al, and even, gulp, Lawrence Welk; and even, gulp...gulp, polkas.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Sorry. :shy:

What were we talking about...? Hi, my name is Ivan, and I'm old.

 

[Moonbear]

I was joking a little bit but they were fans of the crooners, the Rat Pack et al, and even, gulp, Lawrence Welk; and even, gulp...gulp, polkas.

Hey, I learned to dance to Lawrence Welk! Well, okay, I learned to stand on my grandfather's toes while he danced to Lawrence Welk. And I still like polkas! I don't know how to properly dance a polka, but they sure were fun to jump around to in my grandparents' basement.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I don't want her you can have her she's too fat for me.

Now there's a law suit!

Okay, I have to admit that as a kid, I liked polkas as well. But I don't think I have ever admitted this in public.

 

[SOS2008]

Dear Ivan,

I must go my own way, but I hope you will remember the good times we had together,

Rock N Roll

There, there -- Rock is alive and well, just under new names such as alternative, etc. Rock use to be the blues, jazz, etc. It's just evolving, and sometimes it takes forms that don't last long (disco, punk) thank goodness, really. There WAS a generation gap with our parents (ooops, I'm old too! ) and the music they listened to. Our music WAS revolutionary. Don't let these kiddies try to make you think they've thought of something new...yet... In fact, many are retro listeners (Led Zepplin, etc.) and recently I purchased a CD called Tony C & The Truth -- Back to the roots of rock, baby.

 

[juvenal]

The top 40 radio station and the hip-hop/R&B station (at least the ones I listen to) in Los Angeles have a tremendous amount of overlap, so yes, popular music is pretty urban now. The only real rock song I've heard on top-40 radio recently is Green Day's Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Apart from that, Linkin Park's Numb, and Hoobastank's The Reason also made it onto popular radio, though it might be stretching it to call them rock.

I spent quite a few years not listening to very much rock, but now I found myself drawn back to it, mostly stuff from the 90's, probably because it captures my mood the best these days. The alternative rock station in LA, KROQ, does a pretty good job of playing 90's and 00's rock. None of the new stuff is amazingly good, though I do enjoy tracks from The Killers.

Is rock dead? I don't think so. I'm willing to bet there will be at least another great rock band, a la Nirvana, sometime in the future.

Also - even if no new music of any sort were produced starting today, I would still not have enough time during the rest of my life to fully listen to and enjoy what has already been produced.

 

[Evo]

I don't want her you can have her she's too fat for me.

Now there's a law suit!

I remember that!

Okay, I have to admit that as a kid, I liked polkas as well. But I don't think I have ever admitted this in public.

Nothing gets your toe to tapping more than an accordian.

My grandmother always watched Lawrence Welk. The younger generation has really missed out.

 

[Huckleberry]

When I think of what groups would epitomize the heart of rock and roll (Hewey Luis?) groups/artists like Huey Luis, Pink Floyd, Jimmy Hendrix, Rolling Stones, Deep Purple, and maybe some Steve Miller, Bob Seger, Jefferson Starship (wait.. not Jefferson Starship), and hell, why not Bob Marley, Jim Croce, Grateful Dead, Joe Cocker, Jimmy Buffet (yay parrot heads)

The first karaoke song I ever sang was Frosty the Snowman. It was October at the time and someone put me up to it. But the second one was Margaritaville. It's a perverse pleasure I admit.

There are dozens that I've left out, but those are the ones that immediately come to my mind. Many of them were around before I was even born. I don't recall my parents listening to them. I'm not sure how I cam to be interested in these artists. It's a mystery.

What was the question?
Huck Mom

 

[Evo]

I spent quite a few years not listening to very much rock, but now I found myself drawn back to it, mostly stuff from the 90's, probably because it captures my mood the best these days. The alternative rock station in LA, KROQ, does a pretty good job of playing 90's and 00's rock. None of the new stuff is amazingly good, though I do enjoy tracks from The Killers.

He's referring to music from the 90's as old.

Hi, my name is Evo, and I'm older than Ivan.

 

[Huckleberry]

Hey, I learned to dance to Lawrence Welk! Well, okay, I learned to stand on my grandfather's toes while he danced to Lawrence Welk. And I still like polkas! I don't know how to properly dance a polka, but they sure were fun to jump around to in my grandparents' basement.

Is there a way to properly dance a polka?

 

[Moonbear]

He's referring to music from the 90's as old.

That even makes me old! I still remember my dismay when the radio stations started calling 80's music "oldies."

 

[Moonbear]

Is there a way to properly dance a polka?

There is...you jump up and down in circles...or something like that.

Seriously, there is, but I don't know how to do it.

 

[Evo]

That even makes me old! I still remember my dismay when the radio stations started calling 80's music "oldies."

Just what are they going to call music between 2000 & 2010? You've got the 50's 60's, 70's, etc... Or even 2011 & 2012? the 0's & the ten's just isn't catchy.

 

[Moonbear]

Just what are they going to call music between 2000 & 2010? You've got the 50's 60's, 70's, etc... Or even 2011 & 2012? the 0's & the ten's just isn't catchy.

Meh, it's all the same as the stuff they've been playing since the 90s anyway. They better start working on some new sounds. I'll be sorely disappointed if I have kids and they're still listening to music I like. You can't deprive me of my god-given right to shout at teenage children, "Turn down that racket!"

I guess they could call it "music from the turn of the millenium." That's catchier than 0s and 10s.

 

[gnome]

Holy crap! Two pages of lamentations about the demise of Rock 'n Roll, and not one mention of the doowop era?

It seems not even you "old" folks remember the music I grew up with.

 

[hypnagogue]

I don't think rock can be proclaimed dead just because it's no longer the dominant style that gets played on all the radio stations. I mean, that might even be a good sign-- I really can't recall listening to any 'popular' radio station that wasn't mostly garbage. I think there are a number of good rock artists out nowadays, though most of them are to varying degrees 'underground' kind of bands, I guess.

 

[Mariko]

Well my Parents were hippies and I really love the rock n roll their generation represented, but like all things rock has evolved. I not only love that old rock but I love the harder stuff of my generation and in a sense no rock will never die but be there for future generations to explore and enjoy. I think sometimes its a bit harder to accept new music and its rare i see someone my fathers age rocking out to like Metallica or TOOL yet you will see many of the younger generation listening to older stuff like Floyd Hendrix ect so is it possible that its the older generation that needs to open their mind some?

 

[Evo]

I don't think rock can be proclaimed dead just because it's no longer the dominant style that gets played on all the radio stations. I mean, that might even be a good sign-- I really can't recall listening to any 'popular' radio station that wasn't mostly garbage. I think there are a number of good rock artists out nowadays, though most of them are to varying degrees 'underground' kind of bands, I guess.

I agree, rock isn't dead, it's evolving. I love the new bands and music that my kids listen to, it's great. I can't see my self trapped into a certain "style" of rock, I have found things I've liked with each new wave. I currently listen to "underground" and alternative" which is so funny because that's what we called it in the 60's and early 70's.

I cannot listen to "Pop" music. Watching a show like American Idol would probably make me want to puncture my eardrums.

 

[Kerrie]

I think there are a number of good rock artists out nowadays, though most of them are to varying degrees 'underground' kind of bands, I guess.

Most definitely! Mars Volta is currently one of my favorite underground rock bands with a sounds of Led Zeppelin, Rush and Yes. Someone mentioned Tool in here, definitely a legendary band in the making. U2 is a band that has been rockin' for over 20 years now, and has been able to progress with the times. It seems today that the music market is saturated with so many bands/musicians, it's easy for those who are talented to get lost in the wave. It also seems that music goes through its "stages" of being good, mediocre, and just plain bad. Music in 1987 was absolutely horrible (I'm talkin' of the hair bands), but then in 1995 there seemed to be some sort of awakening in music that caught my attention.

Truly good music that rocks just becomes classic rock, stuff you never grow tired of and always appreciate

 

[gnome]

Well my Parents were hippies and I really love the rock n roll their generation represented, but like all things rock has evolved. I not only love that old rock but I love the harder stuff of my generation and in a sense no rock will never die but be there for future generations to explore and enjoy. I think sometimes its a bit harder to accept new music and its rare i see someone my fathers age rocking out to like Metallica or TOOL yet you will see many of the younger generation listening to older stuff like Floyd Hendrix ect so is it possible that its the older generation that needs to open their mind some?

Well, I started out listening to the likes of Dion & the Belmonts and The Kingston Trio. These days I'm more likely to be listening to Metallica (S&M is THE BEST) or J.S. Bach (heard of him?), or Korn, or Aghora, or Cold Play (you kids probably think they're "oldies" too, right?) so I think my mind is pretty open when it comes to music.

But look at Billboard or the Grammys & it's all about Usher, 50 cent, Alicia Keys. That seems to be where all the attention is these days, except when the emphasis is on nostalgia. Hip-hop, rap & that whiney stuff they call R&B.

R&B! R&B used to mean Chuck Berry or Jerry Lee Lewis.

 

[hypnagogue]

I just got introduced to The Mars Volta the other day-- interesting band, the lead singer sounds like the prototypical modern rock singer to me, but the instrumentation is very intricate and, in some places, downright weird (in a good way!).

There are some modern rock bands that seem to have fallen out of the spotlight after being 'big' in the mid-to-late 90s, but still go on making excellent music: Radiohead, Sonic Youth, Beck, and Weezer come to mind. A couple have even had huge commercial success in recent years, like U2 and Coldplay. Some others have risen from obscurity to occupy fringe portions of the public consciousness, like The White Stripes, The Strokes, The Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse, Kings of Leon, Franz Ferdinand, and Interpol. And there's always the outstanding ones that stay under the radar for whatever reason; some I like from this group include Blonde Redhead, My Morning Jacket, The Comas, The Beta Band, The Black Heart Procession, Muse, Calla, and Elbow.

Rock is dead? Hardly!

 

[Moonbear]

R&B! R&B used to mean Chuck Berry or Jerry Lee Lewis.

Oh, I love that. Chuck Berry is great!

 

[Astronuc]

Jerry Lee Lewis was definitely NOT R&B - try rockabilly. Chuck Berry did some hard blues, not R&B, but he is definitely one of the pioneers in Rock and Roll.

R&B

Evolving out of jump blues in the late '40s, R&B laid the groundwork for rock & roll. R&B kept the tempo and the drive of jump blues, but its instrumentation was sparer and the emphasis was on the song, not improvisation. It was blues chord changes played with an insistent backbeat. During the '50s, R&B was dominated by vocalists like Ray Charles and Ruth Brown, as well as vocal groups like the Drifters and the Coasters. Eventually, R&B metamorphosed into soul, which was funkier and looser than the pile-driving rhythms of R&B.

and the Motown sound.

The 60's and 70's were peak for great rock, and since then the field has thinned out.