Classic Rock My Foot
May 18th, 2009
I hope I’m not dating myself too much with today’s comic… since my roomate who is a few years younger than me has no idea who ZZ Top is…
I mean, I’m not so old that I was listening to Top in their heyday, but I spent more time in High School listening to the “Classic Rock” stations, where I fostered a deep love for ZZ Top, Led Zeppelin, and that whole era of blues-based rock awesomeness.
What’s really throwing me for a loop now, is the stuff that was actually popular, the stuff that was new at that time, is now what is being played on the Classic Rock stations.
Nothing depresses me more than when I hear Nirvana being called “Classic Rock” and being thought of as “old school.” What is happening to me?
May 18th, 2009 at 3:47 am
Consider this:
When you were young, Nirvana was new and ZZ top was old.
Now you are less young, Nirvana is old, and ZZ Top is ancient.
It’s like “baroque” being included in “classical” when “classical” denotes a whole style of music to itself. The lines have been fuzzed.
Fear the day the likes of Fallout Boy make it onto a “classic rock” station. Though that’ll probably be in about 7 years – not too long, alas.
Seriously though, ZZ Top is awesome.
May 18th, 2009 at 7:18 am
This is totally true, although it fills me with great fear that one day I’ll turn on ‘Classic Rock,” expecting to get Zeppelin, and instead get Creed. *shiver*
May 18th, 2009 at 7:33 am
Mike, you’re a wise man. Not only for appreciating “The Top” but also for understanding and hating that Nirvana is sometimes called classic rock. Especially when that was the whole appeal of Nirvana. They were different than everything that had come up to that point. That’s why they were considered the fathers of grunge, or alternative, depending on which radio station you were listening to. Calling them classic rock is musical heresy in my book.
May 18th, 2009 at 8:39 am
I can see calling Nirvana “classic” like, 20 years from now, maybe… but this just seems too soon… and you’re totally right. The whole point was that they changed the face of mainstream American music almost overnight. One day the radio was all Van Halen and Pat Benetar, the next day it was Nirvana and STP, etc.
May 18th, 2009 at 9:18 am
There will be kids graduating from high school in the next couple weeks that will have no personal memory or recognition of artists like Freddy Mercury or Kurt Cobain. They only know their work because of infuence from older siblings, parents, or oldies stations.
Remember inside of every person over the age of 40 is a young kid looking in the mirror and asking “When the hell did this happen?”
May 18th, 2009 at 9:42 am
You’re right, and it’s kindof depressing, but that is the way of things, I suppose.
I was laughing hard yesterday because I heard a promo on a radio station claiming they were “always something new to listen to,” and then they immediately played a Bush song that was about 15 years old. While reveling in the irony, I realized how old that song was, and how old I must have been to remember when that song came out and everything that was going on in my life at that time… man, I’m getting old!
May 18th, 2009 at 11:28 am
I agree that Nirvana will be called “classic” but it’s seems to me that “classic alternative” or “classic grunge” is probably a little more fitting. What do I know; everything about anything cool – music, fashion, etc. – I forgot as soon as I turned 30.