If You Could Be a Famous Rock Star in Any Era, Which Would It Be?
Monday, June 18, 2012 at 9:35AM
I'm hardly cut out to be a famous rock star. But if I could go back to any point in time to be involved in rock'n'roll as a performer, I'd choose to be a drummer in Peter Gabriel's band anytime between 1977 and 1993. That would be cool
MSNBC floats sort of the same question. Even though Rock of Ages is a box office flop, they're asking which 80s tribe you'd belong to? Would you be a hair metaller? An alt-rock kid? A hip hop b-boy?
If you believe the movie “Rock of Ages,” the 1980s were all about big hair, trashy pop metal, and rock’n’roll excess. It wasn’t all like that, of course. Some of the most socially-conscious music came out of that time period -- as anyone who saw a U2 or Bruce Springsteen concert can tell you.
But what we remember the Reagan Decade for was its excesses and it’s this era that “Rock of Ages” sought to capture in both its current movie form and its original Broadway “jukebox musical” presentation.
But enough time has passed for those of us who came of age then that we can now say: Enough with trying to pretend all we liked were the “quality” artists. Enough with the posing, to use an old ’80s word. Enough with pretending all that we slapped on the old turntable were platters by critically-approved artists like Billy Bragg, Husker Du, and the Replacements. Yeah, I liked them too, but that’s not all I liked. And my guess is that if you were a pop fan then, that’s not all you liked either.
Reader Comments (3)
Some great bands released their seminal works in the '80's.... Bruce--Born in the USA, U2--The Joshua Tree and Unforgettable Fire, the Cars--Heartbeat City, The Clash--London Calling and Combat Rock, the Police--Synchronicity, Van Halen--1984, and maybe the biggest album ever, Michael Jackson--Thriller.
Not saying these are the best albums ever, or the biggest, but these are all great artists, and these were arguably the records they were best known for.
late 80/early 90s alternative scene
I'd choose to be a drummer in Peter Gabriel's band anytime between 1977 and 1993. That would be cool