Classic Rock (with a dash of Heavy Metal)

What makes rock classic?  Why is rock from a certain era considered classic?

I tell you my opinion...
Because it's good.

Folks, there is a reason why the majority of music radio stations feature some sort of a "Classic Rock" format (this statement is purely based in opinion and not research - to me, it seems like they are the majority).  It's just simply GOOD MUSIC that stands the test of time.

When I listen to one of the four West Michigan Classic Rock stations I have programmed in my car stereo, I hear approximately one 1990s song for about every 50-100 1980s song.  Even songs from the 1970s, get more airplay.  Is it simply because they are older, and therefore, "more classic?"  No.  They are just better music.

The 1970s really saw the music industry take shape, in my opinion, thanks to a concept known as Artist Development.  Most bands in the seventies went through a lengthy period of "paying their dues," by playing clubs and simply working on songwriting, before every being allowed to go into the studio to work on a full length album.  Listen to almost any band from the seventies and you'll hear well executed music from talented and SCHOOLED musicians.  Oh, and no Auto-Tune.

By the time the eighties came around the record labels had the classic rock sound down to a science.  Back then it was called many things.  Formulaic.  Corporate Rock.  Faceless.  In other words, generally it was not critically acclaimed.  However, bands like Jouney, Kansas, Styx, Boston, Foriegner and REO Speedwagon sold out 20,000 seat arenas night after night, all across the country, and around the world.  Little did they know, they were creating a genre of music that would go on to stand the test of time far longer than the majority of other styles of Contemporary Commercial Music.

A couple years ago, on a 14 hour drive, my family and I heard Journey's Don't Stop Believin' nearly once an hour by bouncing from station to station as we rolled through different broadcast markets.  Later that year, it was announced that the song was the most downloaded song in the history of music downloads.  I thought it was so cool that a song that was on the radio when I was in the 8th grade was actually MORE POPULAR two years ago, when my daughter Kacee was in the 8th grade, than it was when it was originally released.  The song peaked at only #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981.  I'd say, it's definitely been a "bigger hit," in the past five years than any #9 single.

In the latter half of the 1980s, things got a bit out of control, unfortunately. The sub-genre of rock known as Heavy Metal became very popular, thanks to many videos receiving heavy rotation on MTV.
As a result, Heavy Metal became a few things it wasn't prepared to become:
1. Extremely popular worldwide
2. Overexposed
3. WAY too overdone and over the top

As a result of #1, businessmen rushed in to make a quick buck by signing hundreds of bands that fit the mold.  "If you had a drummer with two bass drums and a singer that sang high, you got a record contract."
                 -Frankie Banali (drummer for Quiet Riot)

The above caused #2 to happen, while we were all enjoying the party.

#3 happened because, as a result of #2, bands felt the need to outdo each other in aspects such as... um...
HAIR, for one.  Lights.  Amplifiers.  Stage shows.  Pyrotechnics.  Budgets for videos, etc. And more Hair.

All of this lead to the crash and burn that the harder edged rock from the late 80s suffered as a result of bands like Guns and Roses, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains.  Gone, was the big hair.  Gone, was the makeup.  Gone, were the Marshall stacks and banks upon banks of pretty chrome stage lights.  BOO!

And, those bands completely disappeared for about fifteen years.  They were laughed at.  Considered a joke of the music world.  Meanwhile, guys who played de-tuned guitars where you could play an entire chord by holding down ONE FINGER across four strings, were dominating the airwaves and selling out those same 20,000 seat arenas.  The musicians of the world were aghast!  How could this be?  They didn't even sing high (or well, for that matter).  They had no harmony vocals.  Their guitarists didn't even play solos!!!  This was the rock that was popular???  It just didn't seem plausible.

Today, and for about the last eight years (thankfully), many of the 1980s bands, as well as some from the 1970s have reunited and are enjoying success as the quality live acts that they were, and still are today.  Some are even playing those same 20,000 seat arenas again!

As an aging rocker myself, every time I hear a concert advertisement on the radio for Def Leppard, Journey, Styx, Loverboy, Motley Crue, Pat Benatar or REO Speedwagon, I can't help but feel good for them.  I also feel vindicated in a way, as you may have guessed.  This was a style of music that I fell in love with in the late 1970s when I discovered Journey when I was in the sixth grade.  It makes me feel good to know that "my music" is a style that has stood the test of time.  I would also like to call out Mr. Aris Hampers on this one.  In 1995 Paris Blue participated in the Hometown Rock Search at the Orbit Room (then, Club Eastbrook) in Grand Rapids.  We made an eleventh hour decision and decided to play our 12 minute Journey medley instead of a couple originals because we felt it showed our strengths:  Our musicianship and our three-part harmony vocals.  Well, that decision didn't fare well with the judges (especially in the category of originality).  In a discussion with Aris (the local legendary DJ who hosted the event) after the show I asked him if he thought "my music" would ever come back into style.  He said he didn't think it would.  Well, I believe he was wrong with that prediction.  Classic Rock is alive and well today.

Now... If the fans would only "allow"' those bands to record new material...