After watching Stadium Rock on VH1 Classic, I'm rather glad I have never witnessed a concert held in an arena. I was in my 30's when groups began drawing big enough crowds that required that much space. I didn't go to Woodstock 99 because I don't like to have that many people around me and a Stadium Rock concert, while shorter would be the same idea. The New York State Fair would be the closest arena to me and it isn't that large, and I've only attended one concert there, because large crowds tend to make me claustrophobic. It isn't a pleasant experience, and I get more out of listening to the music than I do seeing the performance.

The 80's was a time when music was a big money maker. Record sales were at their peak and the bands had developed such a following that they needed an arena to perform in. I would have categorized Led Zeppelin as a Metal Group, however they apparently were considered Hard Rock along with groups like Kiss, Queen, The Police, Dire Straits, Bruce Springsteen and U2. Interviews with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of Kiss explained why they used the makeup and clothing to "sell" their songs. Paul Stanley used the phrase "making the experience larger than life". Gene Simmons said "a billion dollars later and critics can kiss my ass". Was stadium music all that great? I'd say the answer was yes. How many people went around singing "I wanna rock and roll all night, and party every day"? In how many sports arenas did we hear "We will, we will rock you", or "We are the Champions"? The 80's were all about excess anyway, why not in music?

Those were the days of singers like Freddie Mercury, who is arguably the greatest Rock and Roll frontman in Rock history. He was, at least, the most arrogant. Of Sting, who could write a song that seemed to mean one thing when it actually meant something else. "Every Breath You Take" is an excellent example of that. Of Bono, who believes that we need to take more responsibility for our treatment of other humans and of our environment. Even Bruce Springsteen, who preferred to play in smaller venues was bitten by the stadium bug. After releasing "Dancing In The Dark" he had to use stadiums as a performance venues because nothing else would hold the crowds he drew. Most of the performers interviewed said that performing in the stadiums became addicting. It was a rush of love like the wind or a wave that they could actually feel.

By the 90's record sales had dropped off and those who still performed in the stadiums had to use bigger and more expensive equipment to draw crowds. The crowds still came, but the internet and it's "free" music downloads meant that fans no longer had to buy the record. Without the record sales the groups had to front the money for these performances without the help of their record companies. Since they had to recoup their expenses, ticket prices started rising. Too much money spent on tickets, the availability of drugs and alcohol at these concerts and in some cases dissapointing performances contributed to rioting on the part of the crowds.

Freddie Mercury died of Aids, Kiss removed their makeup and bombed. U2 and Bono can still draw record crowds at Wembley arena for Live Aid, but even there the anger can erupt. Stadium Rock went up in smoke and flames when the crowds turned ugly. In Seattle, a new breed of Rock Music was being born. We were entering the Sixth Age of Rock.

The Playlist includes samples of all of the 7 ages, I cheated and peaked at the BBC site that had the information on it.

The Birth of "The Black Album", Click Here

Last nights program was about Heavy Metal. Again I have to say that this documentary was created for the BBC so much of what it teaches me is slanted towards British groups. Groups featured were; Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osborne, Motley Crue and Metallica. Interviews with individual band members sometimes provided the names of other Metal Groups, but the focus of the hour was on the groups mentioned. Quite a large portion of the show featured Metallica.

The boys of Black Sabbath were foundry workers and they were trying to reproduce the sound of the machinery in the forge with their instruments. The program showed a large piece of white hot metal being shaped in a forge and listening to the noise it made I could hear how heavily rhythmic it was. Interesting that a style of music would find it's genesis in a foundry. They added Ozzy Osborne to the group because he was endearing, goofy and his voice worked with the sound they were trying to achieve. Ozzy, at the time, was a class clown. Possibly not quite all there, it's hard to decide how much is showmanship and how much is just goofy Ozzy. It was Ozzy who came up with the idea of making their music scary. People paid good money to go to the theater to be frightened. Why not create the same emotion with their music? Ozzy was let go because of his cocaine and alcohol addiction and every member of the band was heartbroken by that. He was out of control.

If the sound of Metal originated with Black Sabbath, the "Look" of metal originated with Judas Priest. Their lead singer was still in the closet, but he frequented fetish shops and enjoyed the look of S&M apparel. He introduced the members of the group to metal studded cuffs, collars and vests and "metal" mania was born. Looking back on the times I can't understand why Metal would be so vilified by the older generation. Judas Priest became the victim of a lawsuit alleging that their music contained subliminal messages exhorting adolescents to commit suicide. Someone lost touch with reality and somehow I don't think it was the makers of the music in this particular case. The charges were found by the court to be without merit and all charges were dropped.

The American "Metal" scene was split between "Hair Metal" played by bands like Motley Crue, Ratt and Poison, and the "Thrash Metal" of Metallica. Looking at the total picture of American Metal of the 80's, I am assuming that Motley Crue presented a more "commercial" money making version of metal than Metallica did in the beginning. As far as I could see, Metallica didn't resort to the "Look" of metal, they didn't wear the leather and studs. They let the sound they created speak for itself. Unfortunately for them the "Girls Girls Girls" preferred the look of Motley Crue. Scott Ian from Anthrax was shown saying that the girls looked at bandmembers from Metallica and Anthrax and said "They're ugly".

The metal bands of the 1980's whether they were British or American truly lived the sex, drugs and Rock and Roll lifestyle. Their excesses were legendary. It wasn't just Ozzy that threw themselves into the endless party scene. Metallica acquired the nickname "Alcoholica" from their fans and they were and are proud of that. They admit to leaving clubs at 7am and jumping on the cars of people driving to work. They admit to firing guns off in their hotel rooms. They also said they had to get rid of one of their members because he was out of control, and would be causing them problems if they didn't do it. For me, jumping on peoples cars and firing guns off in hotel room would be causing too much trouble, but that's just me.

 

Punk!! Click Here

Ohhhh myyyyy, I don't know where to start with this one. Punk rock, it's not for me. I was never that dissillusioned, alienated nor angry enough at life to be a fan of Punk Rock. The Ramones, Television, Patti Smith, The Clash and The Sex Pistols, all punk, all groups that I never liked. In theory, they all felt that Rock had become too slick, too overblown and they wanted to get back to the roots of Rock. The roots of Rock can be found in Blues...not hate, not anger, not disgust.

Punk originated in the dirty cities of New York and London. At the time, 1974, New York was on the verge of bankruptcy and still reeling from the Knapp Commissions findings of widespread police corruption. London was fairing little better. The streets of both cities were inhabited by drug dealers, crime was high and politics were dirtier than usual. I imagine that if one lived in either of those two cities it would be difficult if not impossible not to feel alienated from society. However, I was still listening to the Stones, the Beatles, John Lennon, The Who, Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor and Carly Simon to name a few. Not Punk Rock...not for me.

My rock idols were dying from drug overdoses. My idols were partying with groupies, not taunting women in the audience into punching them in the nose and then splashing the blood back onto their fans. My rock idols didn't smash bottles and slash themselves to keep the blood flowing. My rock idols didn't knife the ones they loved to death during a drug binge the way Sid Vicious allegedly did.

As far as Punk Rock goes, there is a part of me, the logical part, that sees the merit in the music. Then there is the "make love not war" emotional part of me that can't understand how anyone could listen to it. Even a member of The Clash stated in an interview, during which he was asked about the change in direction the Clash took, that "You can't listen to it all the time, it screws up your mind".

Why they called it the Blank Generation is beyond me. There was nothing Blank about Punk Rock.

Click Here For "The Birth" of Pink Floyd

 

Art Rock is rock music that is avant garde or progressive in it's nature. Usually accompanied by light shows or stage shows that were elaborate. Think Ziggy Stardust. Included in the program last night were Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Roxy Music, Genesis and Velvet Underground. Other Art Rock bands, not included in the program would be the Moody Blues, King Crimson and Procol Harum. There is a decidedly British slant to this program because it was filmed for the BBC, and not for VH1. It's being shown on VH1 Classic TV channel and you can watch excerpts of the program by going to VH1.com and clicking on "The 7 Ages of Rock in it's TV lineup, or by clicking the link I provide in the post. It will take you to a video excerpt that I've chosen and the other video excerpts from the same Age are on the right.

The strange genius Syd Barrett, who could make even the simple parts of life so terribly frightening was actually the beginning of Art Rock. Unfortunately for Syd, he became a household name and he didn't want to be one. His use of psychedelic drugs to get him through the day probably masked an underlying mental health problem that eventually caused him to be asked to leave the band. He was replaced by David Gilmour and they went on to an even greater success. Syd shaved his head, resumed the use of his real first name and quietly lived his life until his death this past year. Only once did he return to visit the band he was so instrumental in founding. He appeared as a session spectator, head shaved, he had grown fat, and he stood in the back brushing his teeth and jumping up and down. He was there a while before anyone knew who he was. His presence reduced Roger Waters to tears.

The bands chief song writer became Roger Waters. As they grew more successful, Roger began to resent and then hate the massive crowds that came to their concerts. So, he wrote Another Brick In The Wall. The tour actually only built the wall 4 times because of it's expense. Brick by brick a wall was built separating the band from it's audience. Before the last brick was set in place the audience could watch one member sing "Goodbye Cruel World" through the window created by the building of the wall. At the end of that song the last brick would be set in place. The song "Comfortably Numb" would be performed by David Gilmour from the top of the wall and then the wall would be knocked out.

According to last night's program next up will be Punk Rock not Stadium Rock. Since Stadium Rock also includes the more elaborate stage and light shows, I'm not sure why a return to the simpler styles of Rock would be next, but I don't produce the program, I'm just sitting in front of the TV every night at 9pm until it's over with.

The "Cream" Rises

 

Last night I started watching "The 7 Ages of Rock" on VH1 Classics. They're dividing it up into genres and showing 7 segments of it. Last night it started with Blues Rock. Tonight will be Art Rock then Stadium Rock, Metal Rock, Punk Rock, American Alternative Rock and Indie Rock. Last nights segment dealt with the Stones, Dylan, Yardbirds, Cream and the Who. It was interesting because it's telling the story behind how certain signature sounds happened, or how certain  songs got started. I checked it out at VH1.com and found videos for each section. There are 7 videos for the first hour.

I linked to one which is the segment on Cream, and how "Sunshine of Your Love" was born. Not too long after I joined blogstream, Scratch from Echoes From the Tomb did a post about finding a Cream CD that he had to have. He's a Clapton fan. At the time, I remembered the name and couldn't remember which songs they did. Was Cream a favorite of mine? Not exactly. There were other bands I preferred. As an older adult, and thanks to Scratch, I revisited Cream some time ago, after his post. Did I find that I was a major fan? Well, not of everything, but I love "Sunshine of Your Love". Too bad they don't play the entire song. It was fun learning how that song got created. I wonder if this program will cover Procol Harum? They've all ready done the Stones, so I'll just have to watch it all to see what happens.