Begin the day with a friendly voice
A companion unobtrusive.
What strikes me is the continuing change in what is termed "Classic rock" and "oldies". The Rush song addresses radio from the 1970s and 1980s.. I am writing this while listening to Spotify, a service which records your listening preferences and cuts out the chaff. In other words, I can listen to the "Classic Rock" sound of Rush without hearing the "Classic Rock" sound of Eddie Money and Journey. I don't want your two tickets to your City by the Bay. I'd rather listen to East Bay Ray.
I'll meditate on three parts of this song.
Part the First
Off on your way hit the open road
There is magic at your fingers
The Road Trip is one of the vital things that every person must do between the ages of 16 and 30. Of course, we do this now with MP3 and the occasional DVD playing in the built in players or satellite radio. All of which (except for the DVD; if you are not with kids, look out the window at the countryside) is fine, but it does not get at the heart of the road trip: the quest to find decent music after you have listened to that tape of the Spin Doctors for the 11th time and you can't find anything else but Tom Petty's Wildflowers and God Help You If You Actually Want To Listen To That. (That was 1992, kids!)
What will be the next song played on the radio? Back in my day playing next five artists, the top choices were always Zeppelin, Beatles, Stones, Foreigner and Journey. Or possibly Fleetwood Mac. If you got college radio, you could be safe picking The Smiths, REM and if you wanted to be cool The Replacements. Now, classic rock is Nirvana and Men at Work. The Stones are still rolling but need to be heavily pushed lest they fall into.............oldies. When I was a kid, Elvis (young, not sequined) was oldies, along with Chuck Berry and the Everly Brothers. In twenty years, Nirvana will be oldies and Chuck Berry will be largely forgotten.
One difficulty is that "Classic Rock" in the 1980s encompassed not simply the Titans (Stones, Beatles, The Who). It also included lesser known Invasion Bands (Dave Clark Five), Motown (The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, Martha and the Vandellas), One Hit Wonders (Lemon Pipers, the immortal Strawberry Alarm Clock), San Francisco bands (Jesus, some of these stations played MOBY GRAPE along with The Dead) and bands That Everyone Should be Made to Listen To (The Kinks, Big Brother and the Holding Company, The Mothers of Invention, The Supremes and Sly and the Family Stone). In other words, they may have played the same few songs from these bands, but there were more than 6 or 7 bands being played. There is a lot of music out there being forgotten; this is shameful.
Part the Seconde
Emotional feedback on timeless wavelengths
Bearing a gift beyond price, almost free
There was always something special to me about listening to the radio when I was a teenager (and younger, for that matter). It did give you emotional feedback; in a time period of very raw emotions, hearing something that featured hope/better times got me going. The opening of this song kicks ass; clear, resonant guitar, understated (for him) drums and Geddy's usual strong baseline. It all adds up to something that demands a listen.
I listened to everything I could get my hands on, and still like a lot of 1980s bands against my better judgment. I listened to a wide spectrum of things, but was lucky to have a way to listen to the older artists who influenced the people I listened to. When The Jam covered "David Watts", I knew it was a song by the Kinks. When Rush referenced words on the Studio Wall, I heard Sound of Silence. There are always connections within rock music. Hearing the connections was easier in the 1980s because there was soo much more selection. Now, it is simply the Classic 1980s and 1990s Buffet of about 8 items. If Eddie Money is the soft serve at the end of the hour of rock classics, then Journey is the steamed veggies, Nirvana is the met dish and if they serve breakfast at all there might be Whitney Dancing with Somebody. Which would be awesome, cause that song holds up.
The 1980s were quite an interesting decade for rock. Dinosaurs still roamed the earth while the small furry creatures that would take over the music scene in the 1990s ran to and fro. You could find something that you liked; don't like the format of this station? They may have a show that you do like, or the other station has better DJs that don't talk over the songs.
Part the Thirde
One likes to believe in the freedom of music
But glittering prizes and endless compromises
Shatter the illusion of integrity.
Who cares about prizes? My favorite band, Jethro Tull, is most known for Aqualung and for winning the Grammy for Best Heavy Metal Album in 1989. Sheesh. I admit it that I sort of liked Ian Anderson's mocking of Metallica at the time, but he knew that award was bull shit; he said that "we were nice people who had never won a grammy before so they gave us one."The problem is that everyone looked at the award as the coronation of Metallica as the best "metal band". Well, that's BS as well. ...And Justice for All was a good album, but Master of Puppets (1986) was better and Ride the Lightning (1984) was just as good. Anyone who had been listening to them knew how good they were.
Who won the best Rock Album grammy for 1987? Steve Winwood. Winwood is one of the best vocalists in rock history (listen to "Gimme Some Lovin" or "I'm a Man" by Spencer Davis and think how that English White Boy got that voice) but "Back in the High Life" sucks. Don't chase prizes.
To see Nirvana in Paris in February of 1994, it cost 150 Francs. The opening act? The Buzzcocks. Just let me say
HELL YES!
<cough> Anyway, in 1994 dollars, this is $30.14 and in 2014 dollars, this is $48.10 according to measuringworth.com. Want to go see The Scorpions and Queensryche at the SAP Arena on October 1 (actually, I mean, how....Jesus!). The cheap upper deck seats are between $38 and $46.
Still, that was out of my price range in 1994 and still, with parking and two people, the Scorpions show is over $100 bucks. No thanks. Weeknd at The Oracle next month is $50 for the cheap seats; Madonna is at $55. Granted, some of this is Ticketmaster's fault. But, still. At least it's cheaper to take your kids to see Miley Cyrus than it is to go see an NFL game. If you are a Niners fan, I am not sure which would be the bigger waste of money.
As far as compromises, there are many sages who could say it better than I can. I direct you to "Joe's Garage" or "Have a Cigar" or The Fugs getting kicked off of Capitol Records because of their song "Wet Dream". This was 1968; I don't think it was because it was a song about a wet dream, but because it was a song about the Homecoming Queen sitting on the narrators' face after the prom. Wonderful!
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