Roger Daltrey: Rock is dead but rap lives on

[zravkapt]

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ro...trey-hv205nbhk

I'm gonna go get some popcorn ready...

[Adm.Kirk]

He knew it was coming too. In the film The Kids Are Alright he is interviewed saying rock has no future and it never did. Rather prophetic, I think. What he means is that rock in longer a powerful, relevant cultural force. Rock will always be here but it is done as a cultural force. I think rap is very much headed that way as well. They have hit a creative wall. There is no where else for it to go. They've done the thugs and the ho's and political stuff. They've tried to sing and learn an instrument. Now rappers are trying the free route with mixtapes instead of proper albums. Rap is quickly nearing the end of its road as well.

Bill

[zravkapt]

FWIW I can't read the whole article but it was linked to here:

http://pitchfork.com/news/69362-the-...-that-matters/

[Zeuhlmate]

Its a sad fact.

[Jerjo]

I agree, Rap has hit a wall regarding cultural influence and stylistic development. To a certain extent, dance pop like Beyonce and Taylor Swift et. al, does seem to have some cultural sway over a certain age group. But I think the days of music being a cultural force is gone. It's just background now for so many.

[Nijinsky Hind]

He knew it was coming too. In the film The Kids Are Alright he is interviewed saying rock has no future and it never did. Rather prophetic, I think. What he means is that rock in longer a powerful, relevant cultural force. Rock will always be here but it is done as a cultural force. I think rap is very much headed that way as well. They have hit a creative wall. There is no where else for it to go. They've done the thugs and the ho's and political stuff. They've tried to sing and learn an instrument. Now rappers are trying the free route with mixtapes instead of proper albums. Rap is quickly nearing the end of its road as well.

Bill

Just when it seems there is nowhere else to go, something new comes along. I'm thinking it wont be long now. Yeah, theres a wall, but new sounds and ideas will get over it. Something tells me it will much more melodic, sweeping, and more beautiful than anything rock ever had to offer but not necessarily agitation free. So I agree rock is on the rocks, but like the old man who keeps playing his benny goodman records we will go on with what we know and love. Another thing to take into consideration is that our fading western culture may have nothing more to offer musically. The next big thing may be from a faraway place and marketed to the last fat wallets in the west. But you just never know.

[Luckie]

Here's the full piece from behind the paywall:

One of rock’s veterans has claimed that the gig is over: only rappers have anything to say now.

Roger Daltrey, 72, the singer with the groundbreaking British band the Who, said he was saddened that rock had “reached a dead end”.

In an interview with The Times Magazine, conducted as the band played the Desert Trip “festival to end all festivals” in California, Daltrey suggested that because of his band’s innate aggression they still had a tang of danger.

The singer was known in his younger days for using his fists. He once punched his guitarist Pete Townshend so hard that he claimed it had made him go bald. But those days are over.

“The sadness for me is that rock has reached a dead end . . . the only people saying things that matter are the rappers and most pop is meaningless and forgettable,” he said. “You watch these people and you can’t remember a bloody thing.”

The Who were an incendiary presence on the music scene in the 1960s and 1970s, being ranked alongside the Rolling Stones for their extravagances and creativity. Like many of their contemporaries, the band has been on the verge of breaking up on many occasions. Despite the deaths of two original members, Keith Moon and John Entwistle, Daltrey and Townshend have continued to tour for several lucrative pay days.

Daltrey’s recall of modern bands was hazy at best because his hearing had gone, he said. Townshend and he were “both as deaf as posts” and he said the body “starts to creak after the age of 65”.

As he prepared to fly from the Coachella desert festival to a Mexico City concert, Daltrey said: “I’ve got three and a half hours on a plane to get to a polluted city where everyone smokes and it’s a singer’s nightmare.”

Townshend, who led a more debauched lifestyle than his singer, dismissed Daltrey as being a “drama queen” over concerns about his voice. “Singers are like that,” the guitarist said.

Townshend revealed that he was now so boring that he had had to be cajoled into every single concert for decades.

He said his high point came at the Day on the Green concert in California in 1976. “Since then it seems we’ve been stuck in a cycle. Day on the Green happened 40 years ago yesterday. At Desert Trip we played the same set.”

Each act at the festival was paid at least £5 million. Daltrey said: “If Desert Trip works, it will be fabulous. If not, it’s Help the Aged.”

[Digital_Man]

He knew it was coming too. In the film The Kids Are Alright he is interviewed saying rock has no future and it never did. Rather prophetic, I think. What he means is that rock in longer a powerful, relevant cultural force. Rock will always be here but it is done as a cultural force. I think rap is very much headed that way as well. They have hit a creative wall. There is no where else for it to go. They've done the thugs and the ho's and political stuff. They've tried to sing and learn an instrument. Now rappers are trying the free route with mixtapes instead of proper albums. Rap is quickly nearing the end of its road as well.

Bill

So what's in store for the future then? Techno music with lyrics and vocals?

I kind of agree. Everytime I hear someone blasting music out of their car it always seems like it's rap/hip hop and not rock or even metal. Then again I live in a rather urban area.

Personally, I think rock will always have a fanbase. If you want to see what's popular all you have to do is listen to the top forty or look at the pop music charts. If you see more rap or r&b in there than rock you know that's what more people want to hear.

[davis]

The Doors were a little earlier to the funeral, in Feb 69. But Jim mentioned in an interview at the time that he'd been saying that for years.

[spellbound]

He said his high point came at the Day on the Green concert in California in 1976. “Since then it seems we’ve been stuck in a cycle. Day on the Green happened 40 years ago yesterday. At Desert Trip we played the same set.”

That Day on the Green concert in 1976 was the second and last time I saw The Who in concert. I'm glad I got to see them at peaks in their career. The first time was the Quadrophenia tour in 1973. One of the best bands of all time. "Rock is dead, they say. Long live rock!"

While I understand the anger in rap, I don't care for the delivery. I'm old-fashioned in that I prefer talent on musical instruments. You can only go so far reading poetry to today's audience whose attention span is minuscule. But it seems likely that rock's heyday, too, has passed.

I don't know what's next, but I don't think Mr. Ranger is going to like it, Yogi.

[klothos]

apparently, his idea of pop is a very small box with Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus on the cover...............also, the guy is obviously still benchmarking music by what Corporate labels are releasing to the mainstream media and masses.....all one has to do is log-on to any service that provides independent music by independent artists to know that EVERYTHING is still breathing in some form or another (with an endless amount of choices)........

[spellbound]

I think Mr. Daltrey knows very well what is happening in today's music scene. I think what he is saying is not that rock music no longer exists, but that it doesn't matter as much as it once did, if at all. And judging from what he has said in the recent past, a lot of it is the fault of the record companies, whose business plan never really worked and can't work now. They shot themselves in the foot, and we are waiting to see what happens next.

[klothos]

I think Mr. Daltrey knows very well what is happening in today's music scene. I think what he is saying is not that rock music no longer exists, but that it doesn't matter as much as it once did, if at all.

With everyones mileage varying (of course), I still go back to what I say here on PE: The 60s and 70s were the "dot com" era of rock - it was mostly virgin territory and a lot of fresh open area for artists to establish a claim and say something that hadn't been said before....I think its easy for a guy that had come up through that golden "dot com" era and be somewhat disdainfully biased to current trends, especially someone like Daltry who was a pinnacle in it, and not realize the actual logistics of it...In a way its (possibly) kind of humbling for Daltry: perhaps he really doesn't get just how special his time and place were

[Svetonio]

Each act at the festival was paid at least £5 million.

Rock is dead [I would say that Rock is ghettoized today] but Rock aristocracy was paid more than ever.
At Woodstock festival 1969, The Who were paid $6,250 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodstock#Artist_earnings

[spellbound]

With everyones mileage varying (of course), I still go back to what I say here on PE: The 60s and 70s were the "dot com" era of rock - it was mostly virgin territory and a lot of fresh open area for artists to establish a claim and say something that hadn't been said before....I think its easy for a guy that had come up through that golden "dot com" era and be somewhat disdainfully biased to current trends, especially someone like Daltry who was a pinnacle in it, and not realize the actual logistics of it...In a way its (possibly) kind of humbling for Daltry: perhaps he really doesn't get just how special his time and place were

What you say is quite likely true. I am younger than Daltrey by only a decade, so I carry the same bias. I was buying the records he was making. The '60s and '70s were good while they lasted. Things have changed. And it is difficult not to be biased.

[Yodelgoat]

I never gave a shat about the "cultural movement" of rock. so, does Daltrey think there will not be any more great rock music? - If so, I think he is wrong. More than anything, I think perhaps he has outgrown Rock. Thank goodness at 72...

Any way. I'm going out to my studio to prove him wrong...

Where is that culture today?

[Svetonio]

I never gave a shat about the "cultural movement" of rock. so, does Daltrey think there will not be any more great rock music? - If so, I think he is wrong. More than anything, I think perhaps he has outgrown Rock. Thank goodness at 72...

Any way. I'm going out to my studio to prove him wrong...

Where is that culture today?

Both Rog and Pete often say mutually contradictory statements.
I'm old and I remember very well when he said at the end of the 70s that he thought that Rock is dead, but The Stranglers appeared on the scene in the last moment - Pete said the same but for The Clash. In the 80s, he said that rock never was better, and that "the 70s were boring years". In the early 90s, he repeated the same as he was declared in the late 70s but with Franz Ferdinand in that role of the saviors of rock. In 00s, around the time of Endless Wire release, he said that The Who is a current band again. Maybe now he should just to click on "Rock" tag at Bandcamp.

[GuitarGeek]

<<
Townshend revealed that he was now so boring that he had had to be cajoled into every single concert for decades.>>

Makes me think of the bit in The Kids Are Alright, where Pete is asked to contrast where he was circa 1977 to "The desperate young man" he was in 1964. He sort of sarcastically says, "Well, I'm a desperate old fart now", then after waiting a beat pointedly adds, "but not boring!" So does tha tmean he's now a "desperate, boring old fart" now, or what? Or maybe he's no longer desperate? (shrug)

[JJ88]

I agree, Rap has hit a wall regarding cultural influence and stylistic development. To a certain extent, dance pop like Beyonce and Taylor Swift et. al, does seem to have some cultural sway over a certain age group. But I think the days of music being a cultural force is gone. It's just background now for so many.

Yeah, where's the 'rappers' in the chart now? It's the 'producer pop' (take your pick), stadium acts (Kings Of Leon, Coldplay, OneRepublic etc.) and 'worthy' singer-songwriter types hogging it (Adele, Ed Sheeran), as far as I can see. Take this week's UK album chart, it's a fairly typical one:

http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/

I too believe rock is on the way out (too many bands offering up the same shit for too long, and the public got bored) and my own taste is firmly for music of the 50s/60s/70s, but these reactionary attitudes are typical of a certain age really...see also Keith Richards. In fact I remember seeing a Top Of The Pops episode that Daltrey co-presented which saw similar views, and that was from 1980!

[Jay.Dee]

Roger is so 00s...

[Supersonic Scientist]

...... But I think the days of music being a cultural force is gone. It's just background now for so many.

This +1


Country = Same chord progressions/different face (what I call "the flavor of the month syndrome") - Useless

Jazz (including Bop and anything that is improvisational in its core) = All but 99% dead - Sad state of affairs

Blues = Same chord progressions/almost zero presence on the music scene - Blues painted itself into a corner. with a limited chord progression formula, there's not too much you can do with it. (Although, we all know that ZEPPLIN pushed the Blues formula into what became Hard Rock, etc.)

Modern Pop (I know, a wide category) = pre-fabbed, studio (laboratory) created, using samples, auto-tune, loops w/different Pop-Tart-slut singer?? placed on top. also (what I call "the flavor of the month syndrome") - Product of the dumbing down of America

Rock = I gave up on straight Rock in the '80's so I'm totally uninformed.

[klothos]

Blues = Same chord progressions/almost zero presence on the music scene - Blues painted itself into a corner. with a limited chord progression formula, there's not too much you can do with it. (Although, we all know that ZEPPLIN pushed the Blues formula into what became Hard Rock, etc.)

Blues made the stagnant transition from being innovative to being imitative.......it goes nowhere because of cloning someone from the past which is a complete antitheses of what its supposed to be about: telling your woes for today....Way to go, rich lawyers/doctors/white colla professionals, for collecting guitars and ruining it by forming the Blues Nazi Imitation Squad (dress code: Rolex holding a PRS or a Hat with a vintage Strat )

[Facelift]

It's definitely true that rock is dead, whereas hip-hop is still thriving. Of course, Rock had a 20+ year head start. Hip hop will no doubt reach its own dead-end eventually, but right now it's got much more creativity than anything rock is doing.

[NeonKnight]

Daltrey’s recall of modern bands was hazy at best because his hearing had gone, he said. Townshend and he were “both as deaf as posts” and he said the body “starts to creak after the age of 65”.

So the two deaf guys can with all confidence proclaim that "rock is dead" while also declaring "the only people saying things that matter are the rappers."

I want to be a deaf, dumb and blind kid too so I can stop listening to all this meaningless rock music that matters so little. Then and only then will I be able to fully concentrate and become the meanest pinball player on the planet.

(But I will also have extra meaning and will matter the most.)

[klothos]

It's definitely true that rock is dead, whereas hip-hop is still thriving. Of course, Rock had a 20+ year head start. Hip hop will no doubt reach its own dead-end eventually, but right now it's got much more creativity than anything rock is doing.

So the two deaf guys can with all confidence proclaim that "rock is dead" while also declaring "the only people saying things that matter are the rappers."

Rap is the modern blues....I dont have any doubt that if Robert Johnson was born 70 years later, he wouldn't have played a guitar and sang about the shitty world around him but had a microphone and looping tools and rapped about the shitty world around him..........

Also, in case any of you guys haven't noticed (including Daltry), rap has hit an overall brickwall just like all the other forms of modern music in recent times: its just not as pronounced because a tiny smattering of some of the most very innovative rap artists (examples: Kendrick, Macklemore, Q-Tip, Wax, etc) have also appeared in the last few years that stand up head and shoulders above the forty-year-old pack - something the other genres lack to keep their torches bright.