Rock `n` roll is ready to change again

HE SAYS

Is rock `n` roll alive and well, or on the verge of extinction?

The answer to that question depends largely on how you define "rock `n` roll."

For the better, not worse, rock is a constantly evolving mode of expression and entertainment that means many things to many people.

Alternately simple and sophisticated, it is also a music of perpetual assimilation and appropriation, innovation and repetition, rebellion and conformity. And it is in a constant state of remission and renewal.

Accordingly, rock has become a convenient, if sometimes misleading or meaningless catchall phrase. It`s used to describe the work of artists as disparate as Chuck Berry and Nine Inch Nails, Jimi Hendrix and the Sex Pistols, Nirvana and the Eagles, Heart and Rage Against the Machine. And witness the numerous rock hyphenates, ranging from folk-rock, blues-rock and jazz-rock to alternative-rock, country-rock and even raga-rock.

Rock has always been a hybrid; an amalgamation of idiomatic approaches that regularly mutates into new forms. Rock`s constant state of change and revision is as essential as the basic foundation those changes are built on. Like the sum of its varied parts, it is a mongrel music that has been impure - in the best possible sense - since its inception.

The majesty of rock, to invoke a Spinal Tap song title, has repeatedly grown - and diminished - ever since the music rose to prominence in the 1950s. Rock has died, or at least been pronounced dead, on numerous occasions. It has been reborn (figuratively, if not literally) just as often, as befits a music so cyclical and malleable in nature.

In 1971, a cover story in Time commemorated (almost giddily) the passing of rock, and celebrated its alleged successor: the James Taylor-led crop of earnest, introspective singer-songwriters whose music was gentle on your mind - or at least on the ears of Time`s fuddy-duddy editors.

Many young rock fans dismissed Time`s assertions. They surmised, correctly, that the magazine was reacting - in near-terror - to the increasing commercial dominance of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper and other loud, guitar-driven bands, whose galvanizing music annoyed and alarmed parents almost as much as Eminem, Marilyn Manson and Slipknot do today.

But rock, at least in its early days, was never intended for parental consumption or approval. It was a raw, passionate embodiment of youthful rebellion and heady freedom - or at least held such a promise - and a visceral means of self-discovery. And much of its appeal stemmed from how easily rock could shock, annoy and antagonize adults.

BACK OF THE AIRWAVE

Much like rap today, rock in the `50s exposed millions of impressionable white kids to a vibrant music and culture created and perpetuated by blacks. This proved so threatening that the music industry did its best to water down rock - hello, Frankie Avalon and Fabian - and to keep the races and radio airwaves segregated.

That`s precisely why Pat Boone reached the top of the charts with his insufferably smarmy versions of electrifying songs by Little Richard and Fats Domino. In turn, Richard and Domino were initially relegated to what was then known as "race-music" radio stations, along with Screamin` Jay Hawkins, Wynonie Harris, Roy Brown and other rock pioneers.

The earliest rock was manifested in the earthy rhythm-and-blues-fueled style heard on "Rocket `88," the seminal 1951 recording by the Ike Turner-led band the Kings of Rhythm (who recorded that classic song under the name Jackie Brenston & The Aces of Rhythm).

The aptly named "Rocket" combined elements of blues, gospel, boogie-woogie, country, jazz and the exuberant jump-blues style popularized by Louis Jordan (a style that many dance-happy pop fans in the late `90s mistakenly regarded as swing). While still largely unknown to most mainstream pop-music fans, "Rocket" was a pivotal recording that helped pave the way for the rock revolution that followed.

"My roots are totally in gospel and rhythm-and-blues, because to me that`s what rock `n` roll is: rhythm-and-blues, up-tempo," said Little Richard - a prime influence on the Beatles, Prince and scores more - in a 1993 San Diego Union-Tribune interview. "That`s all it is. I don`t see why they try to separate it or put a new title on it."

During Richard`s heyday more than 40 years ago, rock represented an overt act of defiance; a brazen challenge to the social mores of "polite" society." It was also fun, exciting and positively liberating.

At its best, rock remains that way today, even if its patented guitar-bass-and-drums foundation is now rivaled by computers, sequencers and hip-hop`s "two turntables and a microphone" template, which Beck celebrated on his 1996 hit, "Where It`s At."

Today, the same kids who embraced rock in the 1950s, `60s and `70s are parents and grandparents. While many have retained their passion for the music, if not its sometimes wild-and-crazy lifestyle, they now find themselves recoiling from much of the music embraced by their children and grandchildren, just as their children and grandchildren will probably one day recoil from the music of their offspring.

In this way, rock is reborn every time some kid realizes how quickly he or she can irritate mom, dad or the neighbors simply by cranking up the home stereo to 11. (I still marvel at how a simple comment from my oh-so-sly mother got me to stop playing the incendiary debut album by the hard-rocking MC5. "That has a really good beat, dear," she said, as the Detroit band preached its sex, drugs and revolution-in-the-streets manifesto to my eager, preteen ears. "Could you turn it up?")

Likewise, rock is reborn every time some kid first picks up an instrument, a turntable, a computer, or a you-name-it, and feels the resulting rush of raw power and infinite possibilities waiting to be explored.

Rock isn`t dead, it`s just changing its sound and shape again. And with the advent of a new era of neo-conservatism and the nation`s anticipated economic downturn, it shouldn`t be long before the music that transformed several previous generations regenerates itself as a potentially revolutionary force.

It won`t be a moment too soon.

SHE SAYS

Don`t let pap and nostalgia depress you

By Karla Peterson

Copley News Service

Rock isn`t dead, but as the guitar-powered hot rod rolls into its sixth decade, ghosts are riding shotgun.

Chief among the flashback co-pilots are the members of the Beatles, whose new greatest-hits collection - a batch of No. 1 singles titled "1" - has sold more than 5 million copies in the United States since its release last November. It stayed at the top of the Billboard albums charts for more than six consecutive weeks, sharing the Top 10 with Britney Spears, NSYNC and Limp Bizkit.

Thirty-one years after their breakup, John, Paul, George and Ringo can still provide relief for record companies and refreshment for music fans thirsty for quality. But they aren`t the only nostalgia peddlers in town.

Spears` "Oops! I Did It Again" album features her breathy revamp of the Rolling Stones` "(I Can`t Get No) Satisfaction." Christina Aguilera`s 2000 tour included her blaring rendition of "All Right Now," Free`s he-man hit from 1970; and little Aaron Carter is making preteens squeal with his cover of "I Want Candy," a 1965 hit for the Strangeloves and a 1982 new-wave staple by Bow Wow Wow.

While teen-pop stars are shameless recyclers, rock stars are sneakier. Before Creed shows, Led Zeppelin`s greatest hits pound out of the mammoth speakers. During Creed shows, singer Scott Stapp and the band settle for channeling Pearl Jam. Kid Rock samples Fleetwood Mac, Limp Bizkit apes the Beastie Boys and Bon Jovi is back on the charts with new hair and the same old sound.

Thanks to such brash upstarts as OutKast and Nelly, hip-hop still sounds fresh, and praiseworthy albums from Jill Scott, Erykah Badu and D`Angelo are spearheading a welcome soul revival. But rock `n` roll hasn`t been so lucky. Between the ghosts of legends past, the pretenders who sound like someone else and faceless hit-makers (3 Doors Down, Verticle Horizon) who sound like no one in particular, you might think that if rock isn`t dead, it has lapsed into a convincing coma.

If history repeats itself, however, better days are ahead.

In the least three decades, musical lulls dominated by nostalgia and disposable new music have been followed by bursts of creative energy that rejuvenated rock `n` roll. Things may look bad now, but if the pattern holds, they`re about to look better. Rock `n` roll isn`t dead, it is just resting up for the revolution.

All the signs are there. In 1976 and `77, the singles charts featured a frightening crew of teen-popsters (the Bay City Rollers, Shaun Cassidy, Andy Gibb) and bland soft-rockers (Leo Sayer, Chicago). Music fans were also gripped by Beatles nostalgia. Capitol Records released four mega-selling Beatles collections in 1976-77, and - six years after breaking up - the Beatles had a Top 10 hit with the 1976 re-release of "Got to Get You Into My Life."

But beneath the Top 40`s shiny surface, the pioneers of punk were mounting a challenge that would open a new noisy chapter in the history of rock `n` roll.

THE POWER OF PUNK

One month after a U.S. promoter offered the Beatles $30 million to reunite for one concert, the four Ramones recorded their 1976 debut album on a $6,400 budget. A few weeks after the Beatles` "Love Songs" collection broke the 500,000 sales mark, the Sex Pistols` 1977 debut, "Never Mind the Bullocks - Here`s the Sex Pistols," entered the U.K. album charts at No. 1. In the fall of 1977, as Debby Boone`s "You Light Up My Life" was amid a 10-week run at the top of Billboard`s singles` charts, Elvis Costello and the Talking Heads were touring America to support their groundbreaking debut albums.

In the `70s, it was punk that jolted rock `n` roll out of its pretty funk. In the `80s, it was college-radio rock. Between 1980 and `82, Capitol Records released three Beatles collections, and the group had a Top 40 hit with "The Beatles` Movie Medley." Record buyers were snapping up Pink Floyd`s "The Wall," Hall and Oates` "Private Eyes" and Christopher Cross` self-titled debut. But critics and adventurous fans were buzzing about breakthrough debut albums by future rock gods U2 and R.E.M., surprise radio hits from Devo and the B-52`s, and wake-up calls from cult faves the Replacements, Husker Du and X.

The `90s rock renaissance did not begin with a Beatles` resurrection, though the 1990 release of the Led Zeppelin boxed set helped fill the nostalgia quota nicely. Instead, it burst out of an extended musical drought that included the Great Teen-Pop Glut of the Late `80s (featuring Tiffany, Debbie Gibson and New Kids on the Block) and the Hair Band Invasion of `87, which saw Motley Crue, Poison, Whitesnake and Def Leppard spend the next three years racking up hit singles and platinum albums.

The Spandex hit the fan in 1991. At the beginning of the year, Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer topped Billboard`s album charts. By the end of the year, Nirvana had released the million-selling "Nevermind," Pearl Jam made its debut with "Ten," Smashing Pumpkins and Pavement released their debut discs and Metallica`s furious self-titled album entered the U.S. album charts at No. 1. Big hair was out, flannel shirts were in, and grunge had given rock `n` roll a new lease on life.

So here we are in 2001, with a new collection of Beatles oldies in the Top 10, teen-pop bands selling like hotcakes, and Top 40 radio featuring big, bland ballads by Faith Hill, Creed, NSYNC and Britney Spears. History is repeating itself in Dolby sound, which means a rock overthrow should be right around the corner.

Like any bubble, the teen-pop craze is bound to burst, and judging by the enthusiastic response to the tame likes of matchbox twenty, Doors Down and Creed, guitar-rock could be just the thing to fill the vacuum.

Last year`s highly anticipated releases from U2 and Radiohead didn`t shove the pop kids aside, but U2`s "All That You Can`t Leave Behind" has already outsold the band`s 1997 "Pop" album, and Radiohead`s adventurous "Kid A" received enough critical acclaim to give future rock artists reasons to stay weird and hopeful.

There are no obvious candidates for Rock Savior of 2001, but some intriguing possibilities are dancing on the horizon. On the heavy end of the spectrum, you`ve got Queens of the Stone Age and A Perfect Circle, who make surprisingly graceful head-banging music that won`t rot your brain. From the wilds of El Paso, Texas, comes At the Drive-In, whose sinus-clearing blend of punk, melody and lunacy has supporters mentioning them in the same reverent breath as Nirvana, Fugazi and Rage Against the Machine.

Recovering teen-pop fans could fuel an Emocore revolution, finding solace in the sweet, Angst-fueled swirl of Get Up Kids, Jets to Brazil and Jimmy Eat World. And for those in the mood for soothing melodies and moony vulnerability, a wave of melancholy English rockers - Travis, Coldplay and Badly Drawn Boy - could be just the cool compress the doctor ordered.

History has set the stage for a rock `n` roll revival. All we need now is the guitar-slingers who will lead the parade. Come out, come out, whoever you are. Time is on your side.

(c) Copley News Service

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Author: George Varga