Rock & Roll R.I.P?

[badfaith]

Yesterday on the news I saw that Pete Doherty was arrested yet again, and so was Amy Wineskank (curiously coincidental timing don't you think?)
- and my over-riding response was- "oh, I'd forgotten about them", followed by- "Who Cares?"

I wondered therefore, is Rock & Roll finally dead?

... I don't refer here to the music itself, but the "attitude".

Have we all grown out of it as a culture, those zany stories of incorrigable antics of self indulgent ego-maniacs desperate for attention?

If we were to read about people throwing T.Vs out of trashed hotel room windows today, would the first consideration be for how cool is that!... or sympathy for the poor hotelier and the beleaguered cleaning staff just trying to make a buck?

Could such stories about the Keith Moons, Led Zepps and the rest really command our attention in today's society, much less achieve the status of quasi-mythalogical folklore?

... I believe not. In Dickerty and Crackhouse's cases, you could argue there's no comparison the quality of their music- no substance to warrant our tolerance of their behaviour, but perhaps even those old rocker's deeds of daring- do wouldn't garner the place in our minds they now occupy had they conducted themselves as such in more recent times.
Oasis bought that ticket, and in my opinion, only ended up looking ridiculous, whereas "R&B" stars are only interested in engaging in such stupidity if it makes them some cash, not through any sort of rebellion, or sense of adventure so to speak.

.... which leads me to ask the questions,

Was the Rock & Roll attitude just a phase we had to go through as a result of other cultural factors (sexual Liberation etc. of the sixties), and was always therefore going to end anyway?

Does this reflect a degree of Maturity in society reached as whole, which eventually stopped believing in it or accepting it?

...and was it all just a load of crap in the first place, and we'd simply over valued the meaning of Rock culture, and placed too much importance on the words and deeds of a few screwed up people who were wrongly idolised based only on their ability to entertain us?

- let's face it, The Doors did some great music, but Jim Morrison was a prick, and while I have great admiration for the achievements of the Beatles, I can't imagine anything more tedious thatn spending half an hour in John Lennon's company.

So maybe Fuckerty and Whingewhore should shut the fuck up, and spend more of their time making music and less time failing to impress.

[Kiki]

While it's your opinion, you did make a huge jump from thinking "who cares" to wondering if Rock & Roll was dead.

The problem is the "attitude" of most new artists these days is so apathetic. While there are plenty of good albums being released, in terms of there attitude most stress how "indie" they are.

God forbid what would happen if a breakthrough band said "we only make music for money" (as a joke/provocation).

I personally think you have jumped to a conclusion to fast. I could be wrong though.

[Norman Bates]

[Freddie55]

Sex, drugs and rock 'n roll! It's still common everywhere you look. The drugs are different drugs but that's really all that's changed. There were more nice "indie type peaceniks" back in the day who weren't overdosing and smashing guitars than there were bad boys. Don't worry there are still lots of creative wastoids today willing to disintegrate in the spotlight for our pleasure. One big difference might be money. In the 70s, there were more top-of-the-heap bands that could afford to throw TVs out of windows and trash rooms. There's very few now! Another point of clarification. Drug use in the 70s has been exaggerated and glamorized by Hollywood. In my public high school I would estimate that 80% of the students were "straights" and 20% were "heads".

[sega3dmm]

Rock 'n roll ain't dead! It's just in a coma.

[maxxy]

The Rock N' Roll used to be about sticking it to the man. Now that generation is the man. LOL...now the "culture shock" is run by Eminem and Borat.
_________________
"I'm so ugly but that's OK cause so are you"

[badfaith]

[joannajewsom]

It's the hipsters. They ruin everything.

[40footwolf]

Still plenty of kids who want to grow up to be rock stars. It's just that now most of them don't expect to ever be playing stadiums.

[purple]

If only the internet was as widespread in the 70s: "is jazz dead?"

Obviously great jazz has survived, it's just not as popular and widespread as it was in the middle of last century. Obviously great rock 'n roll will continue, but we'll probably be seeing more and more electronic music, until something else becomes more popular (probably "post-music," and then everyone will realize how great MMM is...)