July 6, 2011
Yesterday we posted a story about how John Gehron was quoted in the Chicago Tribune saying Rock "is not the dominant sound that it was in the '60s and '70s, when rock really was the sound of a generation." That prompted quite a few e-mails to our inbox from both sides of the aisle. Those who believe alternative rock has eclipsed Bob Seger and Bruce Springsteen believe a fork should be stuck in "the old fart format." And, those who believe The Moody Blues and The Doobies will live on forever. So, is it time to put the Led Zeppelin, Ted Nugent format to sleep for good? We went to the music expert himself, Lee Abrams to give us the definitive answer on the future of the rock format. As always Lee leaves it all out on the field.
by Lee Abrams
Is the Rock format dead? Well, maybe. But who cares? It'll never go away. Is jazz dead? Nope, even though we are well beyond the "Jazz Age." What will keep rock alive for the foreseeable future is the fact that historically, people form their lifelong musical game plan between the ages of 16 and 20. Before 16, one often goes with the popular flow, based on fashion, what's cool that moment, or whatever, but come 16, you become an expert. When I was that age, there were fistfights over who was better, Cream or the Rascals. Who's a faster guitarist, Clapton or Beck? Everyone is an expert who is protective of their personal musical vision.
There were people in their 30s or 40s who in 1969 were convinced that Hendrix was a fad, that the Hendrix fans would soon find their way out of the drug-induced Hendrix state, come to their senses, and grow up. It never happened. Guys like Hendrix were the soundtrack for that era of 16- to 20-year-olds, and now, in '11, Hendrix is still revered with the same passion as in '69. Talk to someone around 50 years old and ask them what music they like. If they like AC, then I assure you that when they were between 16 and 20, they were into the Carpenters and Bread more than Zeppelin or Tull. People don't turn 25 and all of a sudden say, "Oh, I'm an adult now. I guess I like adult contemporary."
This 16-20 thing ain't new. Talk to a 90-year-old and they'll tell you that Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey were the greatest ever. The big bands were their Led Zeppelin. Talk to someone who was 16-20 in the '80s and it might be Metallica, or in the '90s, Nirvana. The point is that the music that people love between 16-20, the musical formative years, is what they like for life. The period of 1965-75 was an interesting era musically. The fuel was there. Drug revolution, sexual revolution, chaos in the streets, Vietnam, moon landings, and a true revolution in musical technology, with the advent of 16-track recording, sound modification through effects (fuzz tones and beyond), synths, and an arms race in amplifier wattage.
All of this happening over a relatively short period of time contributed to an intense period of adventure that propelled music for 30-plus years. At some point this movement ran out of steam. There will most certainly be another period of this explosive musical growth, and in fact it may be happening now, though probably in its developmental "underground" stages, and likely inspired by the past with a sonic foot in the future. As with previous periods of musical change, it'll likely be met with fierce resistance from the old guard. One thing that's happened during this era is that people tend to be discovering traditional artists like Johnny Cash, Bob Marley, or Ray Charles. I find many people have a built-in desire to be challenged musically, and if it's not happening with current music, they go back to other eras and sounds to find that challenge.
As long as there are rock artists making memorable and powerful music for today's 16-20s, rock will survive as a forward-looking medium. You can say that for any genre, but the point with rock is that terrestrial rock radio is possibly dead in terms of being culturally iconic, but rock music is really in the hands of the artists. If they stop delivering to the days' 16-20s, then indeed rock will rest in peace, with powerful memories and a vacant future.
That's not a bad thing. Every music form has its day, and in 50 years there may be books (or whatever the medium is then) in which people joyfully remember the " Rock Age." I just hope that inventive music stays around and that there are always places to hear it!
DISCO DEMOLITION: I had the luxury of being the ringleader/consultant at the WLUP/Chicago of 1979. What made that station go to a 7.3 from daggers 12+ was its positioning as an industrial-strength Chicago-style ROCK station in an era where a lot of guitar-fueled Chicago guys were looking for an army to join. Loop was that army. New Wave and disco were happening, and personally I appreciated both styles -- maybe more than the latest from Nugent and Cheap Trick. But I was playing with a sizable investment from owner Cecil Heftel, and we needed to deliver a large, passionate audience of fans for him, so the station adapted a "Rock or Die" plan.
The idea was to be completely focused on 1979 ROCK. Everything about it. Oozing, sweaty, festival-seating rock in every moment. I brought in Steve Dahl, who, oddly enough, was working at WLS-FM -- the disco station! Met Steve in Detroit at the old W-4 -- Stern was brought in to replace Steve after he reinvented the morning show there. Steve was actually the first whacked rock radio morning guy, though Sonny Fox & Bob Leonard at WYSP in Philly were the first true "funny morning team" on FM. Those guys were out there. Sonny used to do his show from his bedroom, which was filled with characters, TV monitors for news, and hangers-on. Only in the 1970s could this happen. Sonny is now PD of XM Comedy Channels. Anyhow, Dahl immediately GOT the rock thing. Started blowing up disco records on his show. This was symbolic of the Loop's commitment to the rock mission.
It was all very military in strategy, as disco was looked upon as the enemy, and Loop was the army that would liberate Chicago from this menace. Rock listeners viewed this with the same fervor as Europeans looked at the liberation of their countries by the American GIs in WW2. Some viewed this as a "book burning, but c'mon! It was radio theater at its best. It was all tongue-in-cheek. Eventually a deal was put together with the floundering White Sox to hold Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park. The rest is history.
The aftershock of that night was incredible, complete with point-counterpoint interviews on TV with baseball experts, with Dahl pointing out that the Sox hadn't gotten that many people into Comiskey Park since 1959 -- and that the forfeit to the Tigers had no impact on their fight for last place. Interesting times. A RADIO STATION was headline news. WLUP in that era qualifies as one of the greatest moments in broadcast history. They were unbeatable -- until eventually they beat themselves through visionless management (they fired Dahl because he was "difficult") and a renegade internal situation that is still the blueprint for how NOT to handle runaway egos. But for a fleeting year or so, WLUP, the Loop, defined the idea of turning listeners into fans.
WHAT IS THE NEW ROCK 'N' ROLL? News and information. The new number one "song" is a news story. Drudge is the new playlist. The Bin Laden capture moved culture far beyond what a hit song can do. Facebook is in 2011 what Elvis was in 1956. Rock music tends to look back. Information is NOW, and is what drives the A.D.D. cultural addictions. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? More opportunity than any era in history. A historic media crossroads that is far more exciting than it is depressing.
Add a Comment Send This Story To A Friend
