Rock and Roll is Dead

My last post was about the financial crisis, and my next one, which I've already begun to work on, is about death, so excuse me if I just write something totally frivolous and self indulgent this time out.

As I was making my way back from Pittsburgh on Saturday night, rolling down I-78 into Jersey, I was finally able to pick up the New York stations on the radio.  Pennsylvania is never ending, with long stretches of farmland where the radio stations get to be few and far between.  And with out a CD player in my ride, let alone an iPod jack, I'm at the mercy of the airwaves (I know, I'm such a poor baby).  As I came into range WAXQ was in the midst of one of  those count downs that radio stations do over holiday weekends, in this case it was the top 1040 classic rock songs of all time, as voted by the listeners.  Stations have been doing these countdowns for at least thirty years now, and while the list gets shuffled a bit in the middle, the number one song is always the same; Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven."  Sunday night I was driving back from a wake service when the count down was coming to its suspense free end.  Even the DJ sounded board and almost disgusted when he announced El Numero Uno.  Do I really have to say that STH was once again the top song on the list?  I was hoping beyond hope that some people would have the originality pick some song other than "Stairway," but I hoped in vain.  I mean, it's not even the best Zeppelin song ("When the Levee Breaks"), let alone best rock song of all time (a tie between "Long Tall Sally" by Little Richard and Chuck Berry's "Little Queenie"). UGHH!!!

Of course these lists are meaningless, and the fun is arguing over it, but when the results are so predictable, why bother doing them at all?  Is anyone still listening?  It's like the list for best film. "Citizen Kane" always wins, and while I agree with the result in that case, it's almost like people vote for it because they think they have to.  It's like they think that they're committing a mortal sin if they vote differently.  

I've always been a fan of what has become known as classic rock, but I've grown tired of it.  I hate to admit it, but the Post is right: it's time to forget the past and start paying attention to now a bit.  While I'd never forget the Beatles, as Glenn Gaslin suggests in his op-ed piece, I'm continuing my journey into newer music.  There was a great station I picked up in Pittsburgh (and then promptly forgot the call letters and frequency, though it was in the 92-93 range).  I had heard none of the songs before, nor knew any of the bands and it was a bit refreshing.  A lot of what I heard was pretty interesting stuff; alternative, power pop, roots music, it was all over the place .  WXRT in Chicago does a good mix of old and new, with some Blues thrown in to stay close to their Windy City roots.  They, like many stations, do a "Breakfast with the Beatles" show on Sunday morning, but throw in a lot of covers to keep it from getting stale.  RXP here in New York is good, but even they've begun to get a little predictable.

So, while I may be at that age where I'm too old to Rock and Roll and too young to die, as Jethro Tull would say, I continue the journey to find new music.  I'll never forget the past, I'm just taking a vacation from it for a while.