Rock's rich tapestry (a phrase coined by some clever dick journo at Britain's New Musical Express in the early '80s) comes in many colors. I grew up listening to oldies (as in pre-'70s rock n roll and pop) on the radio, became a Beatlemaniac as an adolescent, transitioned to punk in the late '70s, and lent an ear to hip hop in the '80s. To my ears, all of these bore a relationship to and descended from rock 'n' roll (which, as you note, is quite different from the dinosaur bands that would peddle 'rock' or 'AOR rock').
These terms are all malleable and (as you also note) genre is fluid (as is gender - whoops, wrong Substack). But without the development of rock 'n' roll (itself the bastard child of country and rhythm and blues) many of these subgenres ('alternative', punk, indie, metal, etc) would either never have come into existence or would sound very, very different.
In sum, it's still rock 'n' roll to me (except for Billy Joel, he's straight up pop).
It's amazing to me how completely different rock n' roll sounds from rock. The British Invasion was the obvious dividing line. The difference between Buddy Holly and the Stones is like the difference between black-and-white and color television.
Interesting post. I think the hypothetical question about IP-mining a music legend is probably going to become less hypothetical in the near future. It's only a matter of time before some unscrupulous executor of a musician's estate will okay the production Deep Fake, AI-produced "new" music.
One that that really jumped out at me about the youGov poll was the breakdown of classical music fans. More folks 29-44 chose classical music than 45+ - not bad for a genre that constantly is characterized as endangered.
Excellent analysis. Rock in some form dominated longer than most genres, while there were genres. Now everything is blended into subgenres. I guess you could say if it 51% resembles a "classic" genre is can fall into the parent genre. That's about as good as it gets these days.
I distinctly remember radio nearly killing rock in the 70s when the rock stations all switched to disco. I assume you left that out of your analysis because of the short duration. But it must have contributed to the decline.
I’m thinking that Rock was aspirational, but now we’re identificational, in part because rock gave us too little to aspire to? Thanks for the great post!
If extreme metal is rock--and of fucking course it is--then rock is still annoying perps and shocking the cloistered. The fact that I personally don't give a shit if thirty other so-called genres K this or J that are more popular doesn't mean much.
But the fact is that rock has always kind of preferred it if you listen to something else--unless you're a true believer, in which case, it says welcome aboard.
Punk's part of it, and metal, and rockabilly, and prog and postrock. And many other fragmented subgenres. I mean, obviously there are bands who purposely set out to be huge, but most bands just want to communicate with the ones who get it.
When I was in high school in the 1980s, it was kind of unthinkable that anybody would listen to anything other than rock. For me, it died with the rise of grunge, Cobain's angry attitude rubbed me the wrong way. I departed for country which was entering a 90s golden age courtesy of artists like Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson and Randy Travis. It's nice to see the graphs confirm my recollection of how that went down. It's interesting to me that pre-1990 virtually no one listened to country.
I don’t think it’s not that no one listened to country, it’s that it wasn’t competing on the charts. I’d bet most people had a country artist or two that they listened to while also being into the Beatles.
And your Cobain comment makes me smile. I was born in the 80’s and don’t enjoy hair metal and synth bands. Nirvana was what gave rock life for me. To each their own!
I always thought the death of rock, and without access to any data, could be dated to the opening of The Rock N Roll Hall of Fame.
"Punk rock died when the first kid said "Punk's not dead, punk's not dead" - Silver Jews
Rock's rich tapestry (a phrase coined by some clever dick journo at Britain's New Musical Express in the early '80s) comes in many colors. I grew up listening to oldies (as in pre-'70s rock n roll and pop) on the radio, became a Beatlemaniac as an adolescent, transitioned to punk in the late '70s, and lent an ear to hip hop in the '80s. To my ears, all of these bore a relationship to and descended from rock 'n' roll (which, as you note, is quite different from the dinosaur bands that would peddle 'rock' or 'AOR rock').
These terms are all malleable and (as you also note) genre is fluid (as is gender - whoops, wrong Substack). But without the development of rock 'n' roll (itself the bastard child of country and rhythm and blues) many of these subgenres ('alternative', punk, indie, metal, etc) would either never have come into existence or would sound very, very different.
In sum, it's still rock 'n' roll to me (except for Billy Joel, he's straight up pop).
It's amazing to me how completely different rock n' roll sounds from rock. The British Invasion was the obvious dividing line. The difference between Buddy Holly and the Stones is like the difference between black-and-white and color television.
Interesting post. I think the hypothetical question about IP-mining a music legend is probably going to become less hypothetical in the near future. It's only a matter of time before some unscrupulous executor of a musician's estate will okay the production Deep Fake, AI-produced "new" music.
One that that really jumped out at me about the youGov poll was the breakdown of classical music fans. More folks 29-44 chose classical music than 45+ - not bad for a genre that constantly is characterized as endangered.
Excellent analysis. Rock in some form dominated longer than most genres, while there were genres. Now everything is blended into subgenres. I guess you could say if it 51% resembles a "classic" genre is can fall into the parent genre. That's about as good as it gets these days.
This fucking rules
I distinctly remember radio nearly killing rock in the 70s when the rock stations all switched to disco. I assume you left that out of your analysis because of the short duration. But it must have contributed to the decline.
I’m thinking that Rock was aspirational, but now we’re identificational, in part because rock gave us too little to aspire to? Thanks for the great post!
I reject the premise.
If extreme metal is rock--and of fucking course it is--then rock is still annoying perps and shocking the cloistered. The fact that I personally don't give a shit if thirty other so-called genres K this or J that are more popular doesn't mean much.
But the fact is that rock has always kind of preferred it if you listen to something else--unless you're a true believer, in which case, it says welcome aboard.
Are you conflating rock and punk? Rock has always cloyed, bent over backwards, killed themselves for our attention.
Punk's part of it, and metal, and rockabilly, and prog and postrock. And many other fragmented subgenres. I mean, obviously there are bands who purposely set out to be huge, but most bands just want to communicate with the ones who get it.
Fair enough. Point conceded!
Loved You're Cordially Invited Too. Started to watch and got totally sucked in. Great fun.
When I was in high school in the 1980s, it was kind of unthinkable that anybody would listen to anything other than rock. For me, it died with the rise of grunge, Cobain's angry attitude rubbed me the wrong way. I departed for country which was entering a 90s golden age courtesy of artists like Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson and Randy Travis. It's nice to see the graphs confirm my recollection of how that went down. It's interesting to me that pre-1990 virtually no one listened to country.
I don’t think it’s not that no one listened to country, it’s that it wasn’t competing on the charts. I’d bet most people had a country artist or two that they listened to while also being into the Beatles.
And your Cobain comment makes me smile. I was born in the 80’s and don’t enjoy hair metal and synth bands. Nirvana was what gave rock life for me. To each their own!
May I contend rock died when Alice Cooper released his New Wave classic Flush The Fashion on April 28. 1980, with the harrowing track Aspirin Damage.