Philosophy
I was flipping around the radio channel and when I got to the classic rock station, they were playing some late 90s hair band and it immediately made me think "hey, that's not classic rock." But then I started thinking about the referent of that vague term. Oldies is fairly well-defined -- from doo-wop up to but not including the Beatles. After oldies is classic rock which then would be Beatles and Stones up to...?
It could be like "oldies" a definite transition. Punk and grunge were reactions to the corporatized nature of rock and roll that came out of the baby boom generation, so we could draw the line at anything released post-Sex Pistols. But a new album by Tom Petty, Van Morrison, or Bruce Springsteen still seems to be classic rock even though it is contemporary. We could say, anyone who started making music before the Pistols.
It could be a portable line like the way we determine when a car is an antique. Any rock older than 25 years is deemed classic. In this way, we constantly accumulate music in the category. The problem here seems to be that it would mean that there would be no identifiable essential properties that makes something classic rock. Would They Might Be Giants or XTC be classic rock? Would we then include punk? That doesn't seem right either.
So, what do we mean by classic rock and how do we determine what belongs in and what belongs out of the category?
- Roots Of Nerd Rock
There are a set of bands that are comprised of and have music aimed at nerds. Go to see Moxy Fruvous, They Might Be Giants, or Weezer and you'll be comfortably in the company of nerds galore. How far back does this movement go? Who are the founding...
- The Feast Of Saint Weird
My Fellow Comedists, This weekend we celebrate the 50th birthday of Weird Al Yankovic. I remember listening to a call-in interview show where a listener asked him if "Weird Al Yankovic" was his real name. Without missing a beat he responded that no "Weird...
- Non-transitive Dice To Blow Your Mind
When it comes to games of chance, there's usually a fairly easy way to win: cheat. Of course, if you get caught, the price you pay might be your knee-caps... Another way is to be up to date on your probability theory, play a game of non-transitive...
- Ivy Schulman Cuts The Rug In The 1956 Film "rock, Rock, Rock"
Ivy Schulman sings Rock Pretty Baby backed by Cirino Colacrai and the Bowties. Things were simpler back then. This is the original 45rpm release... And here is a clip from Rock, Rock, Rock [1956] featuring six year old rocker Ivy Schulman... Cirino...
- “genesis Rock”
Almost 40 years ago this day [July 30th, 19171] Apollo 15 landed on the Moon. And one of the items brought back to Earth was the so-called “Genesis Rock” which after analysis was dated to be 4.5 billion years old making it almost as old as the solar...
Philosophy
What Is Classic Rock?
I was flipping around the radio channel and when I got to the classic rock station, they were playing some late 90s hair band and it immediately made me think "hey, that's not classic rock." But then I started thinking about the referent of that vague term. Oldies is fairly well-defined -- from doo-wop up to but not including the Beatles. After oldies is classic rock which then would be Beatles and Stones up to...?
It could be like "oldies" a definite transition. Punk and grunge were reactions to the corporatized nature of rock and roll that came out of the baby boom generation, so we could draw the line at anything released post-Sex Pistols. But a new album by Tom Petty, Van Morrison, or Bruce Springsteen still seems to be classic rock even though it is contemporary. We could say, anyone who started making music before the Pistols.
It could be a portable line like the way we determine when a car is an antique. Any rock older than 25 years is deemed classic. In this way, we constantly accumulate music in the category. The problem here seems to be that it would mean that there would be no identifiable essential properties that makes something classic rock. Would They Might Be Giants or XTC be classic rock? Would we then include punk? That doesn't seem right either.
So, what do we mean by classic rock and how do we determine what belongs in and what belongs out of the category?
- Roots Of Nerd Rock
There are a set of bands that are comprised of and have music aimed at nerds. Go to see Moxy Fruvous, They Might Be Giants, or Weezer and you'll be comfortably in the company of nerds galore. How far back does this movement go? Who are the founding...
- The Feast Of Saint Weird
My Fellow Comedists, This weekend we celebrate the 50th birthday of Weird Al Yankovic. I remember listening to a call-in interview show where a listener asked him if "Weird Al Yankovic" was his real name. Without missing a beat he responded that no "Weird...
- Non-transitive Dice To Blow Your Mind
When it comes to games of chance, there's usually a fairly easy way to win: cheat. Of course, if you get caught, the price you pay might be your knee-caps... Another way is to be up to date on your probability theory, play a game of non-transitive...
- Ivy Schulman Cuts The Rug In The 1956 Film "rock, Rock, Rock"
Ivy Schulman sings Rock Pretty Baby backed by Cirino Colacrai and the Bowties. Things were simpler back then. This is the original 45rpm release... And here is a clip from Rock, Rock, Rock [1956] featuring six year old rocker Ivy Schulman... Cirino...
- “genesis Rock”
Almost 40 years ago this day [July 30th, 19171] Apollo 15 landed on the Moon. And one of the items brought back to Earth was the so-called “Genesis Rock” which after analysis was dated to be 4.5 billion years old making it almost as old as the solar...