Rock is dying with its heroes
U2-WHO? MILLENNIALS CLUELESS AS LEGENDS OF ‘REAL MUSIC’ FALL TO THE GRIM REAPER
Music reminds us of our own mortality, as well as raising the dead.
Browsing the internet with Iggy Pop and Kate Pierson singing Candy in the background was a great way to while away some time and look for an anniversary break. There were two things that scared the living daylights out of me. Firstly, the prices that resorts and lodges think that they can charge and secondly, the fact that Iggy Pop is 74 – the same age my grandfather was two decades ago. He fought in World War II.
Iggy Pop, the godfather of punk, is grandpa age.
The thought set off a string of connected notions, the scariest of them all, that rock and roll might die with its heroes.
There really is nobody to replace them. The days of the supergroup are long gone, and the grim reaper will soon enough be around with his fly swatter to flatten what remains of music’s legends.
ZZ Top’s Dusty Hill died in the middle of last year. He was 72, yet it felt like yesterday when the band electrified a packed Standard Bank Arena on tour in South Africa.
I still have the poster the band signed for me. Now, it’s worth more than gold, it’s a piece of memorabilia I will treasure forever. At least I will remember the band and their awesome riffs.
Charlie Watts, Rolling Stones drummer, also joined the choir invisible last year. Watts was 80. Bandmates Mick Jagger and Keith Richards clock in at 78.
It’s not just that rock stars are dying: they’ve being doing that for years. Except this time, it’s old age.
And we’re not passing on the music, like our parents shared the Beatles, the Stones and Led Zeppelin with us.
I tried an experiment, picking U2 and INXS, and asked a few millennials whether they had heard of the artists or any of the music. It was U2-who? And ummm, INXS, no I can’t say I have ever heard of them – was it a movie?
At least about one in 10 knew who Bono was.
But the next generation of music lovers has already relegated Michael Hutchens and the makers of Devil Inside to obscurity.
And here was me thinking rappers and hip-hop artists were more disposable than pop, and that everyone would be asking, “Kanye who?” in a decade.
Bono is 61, The Edge 60, Dave Matthews 55, Ozzy Osbourne 73, Paul Young 66 and Sir Bob Geldof 70. Meatloaf died this year at 74.
Guns N Roses singer Axl Rose has hit oupa age at 60 with guitarist Slash only four years behind him. The Beatles have become the Fab Two.
Music can remind you as much of your own mortality as it can raise the dead and get them on the dance floor.
It was then that I drew a line in the sand, deciding that in my own little way, I will keep good music’s eternal sunshine spotlighted, somehow.
My sons, aged two and four, are being educated in rock. They can occasionally hum to a Beatles song, already love U2 and the Stones, and ask to listen to “daddy’s music” in the car.
It’s a good start, and as they get older, I am going to make sure they appreciate “real music”. Music that had its genesis on vinyl, and eternal life on streaming.