Howdy Otterites! Francis here again.
I recently saw a resurfacing of an older article about the great Gene Simmons of KISS. I’ve always been an huge admirer of Gene, Paul and the boys. They’ve managed to take a band and a brand and keep them both relevant for almost fifty years now, an amazing feat for an industry that prides itself on always moving forward towards the “next new thing”.
Which is what Gene was speaking about.
About a year ago, in March 2021, Gene doubled down on a statement he made back in 2014 that rock and roll is truly dead and has been for some time. Of course, lots of folks our age lost their minds when he said that – both times – but the Great One himself is one of the wisest and shrewdest businessmen on the planet. He was very specific in his claims in that the business model that propelled rock and roll to its greatness is no more and the music form has essentially perished as a result:
“The point is, yeah, rock is dead because if we play the game from 1958 until 1988, which is 30 years, you had Elvis, The Beatles, The Stones, Pink Floyd, and on and on and on,” began Simmons. “And you can go to the heavy part of it, which is Metallica, Maiden, if you want to put KISS in there, that’s fine. AC/DC, on and on and on. Even U2, Prince, Bowie, Eagles. And then you get to disco stuff, and Madonna, and that stuff, and Motown, of course. And then from 1988 until today, who’s the new Beatles?”
Interview with Spencer Kaufman, Consequence Sound, March 9, 2021
His statement got me to thinking – he might be right. As to why that is, well that may be a longer discussion, but after the Eighties, what happened? Sure there are exceptions like Nirvana and Alanis Morrisette and later Beyonce and a few others, but really, where did popular music go? Is what was once known as “rock and roll” even a relevant term anymore with regards to new music?
For example – can anyone tell me KISS’s last hit? Last new album? How about the Eagles? Journey? Fleetwood Mac? Name your favorite rock and roll band here. Many of these powerhouses still tour to sold out shows across the world, but they’re all playing the stuff we knew and loved.
Ol’ Gene I think is right. Technology killed rock and roll, and it was Darwinism on display at its finest. Once anyone could make their own music and put it out there, nothing was special anymore. The channels for music were suddenly infinite and free, but the promotional methods were all still susceptible to the human attention span, which was and is shortening down to nothing. Radio was once the only way to promote and it has become darn near irrelevant now. This is both good and bad of course. Everything is small now but that also means everyone can play. There are no more new albums hitting the radio airwaves now and making history. (I still remember when Journey’s Escape came out in 1981 and was first played on our local radio station, fresh out of the package. All the sudden, all the local radio station’s play lists were upended, and that’s just one example.)
And yet . . .
Country music has seemed to have adapted just fine to this new business model. New stars with new songs populate the country firmament constantly, with the old first and second generation acts mostly fading into the land of fond memories. (Hank Williams Jr. is still touring – Entertainer of the Year for 1989 – but he’s a bit of an outlier.) Now it’s all Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan and many other new names and acts with new releases all the time. Also Rap and Hip Hop seem to be putting out new music constantly with new stars rising and falling every other day. Why has rock and roll suffered?
Well, the question I think deserves some scrutiny. I don’t have an answer but perhaps Martin and Robert could weigh in here.
Maybe Gene and I are wrong? God knows there seems to be no limit to the demand for the old rock and roll icons when they tour, demanding $300+ a ticket (and that’s the cheap seats) and still selling out stadiums.
Are these great acts simply ghosts of our nostalgia that will exit the stage as our generation does in thirty or so years? Is rock and roll due to be a curious footnote in music history like the Big Band era? Is this the generational moment that turns us all into people yelling “Hey you kids, get off my lawn!”? (Martin claims he’s already there and has been for years, by the way.)
God save us from such a catastrophe … but it may be the truth.
Anyway, the wash the terrible taste from our mouths, here’s the great one and Paul Stanley with their original bandmates of Ace Frehley and Peter Kris from 1979 in full makeup singing my personal favorite from their vast repertoire:
