So I just watched this pair of videos from the 90s of Nirvana at the MTV VMAs in 93 and 94, and something that likes to hit me a lot hit me again. Where the hell are all the rock stars today? I mean, you can go back to any other decade since the 1950s and pick out names...not BAND names, but the names of people in those bands. And there's plenty of them. And then zip to the 2000s and now beyond. Who do we really have? How many of them were in a band they started in the 90s?
As far as I know, there aren't many. I mean, you could count Jack White because he didn't have a hit until 2001. But really then, who is there that we can quote for their lyrics and point out for their zany antics that were bound to make news the next day? I can't really think of anyone off of the top of my head. So what happened to the idea of the "rock star"?
I have a few theories as to what broke down this concept of a "rock star." It's funny because back in the day, these were people you looked up to and respected and wished you could be. Being them well would pay you in dividends. The girls wet their knickers when they got within a certain distance of these people. Maybe it was all the drugs that made these people seem more awesome than they actually were, but whatever it was, they made lives. Anyone who saw a big show back then would probably be very quick to tell you the exact date of it, with the likelihood of you being able to recognize it much higher than someone who saw someone a little more recently. Maybe it's just that the nostalgia glasses haven't come out yet.
Whatever the reason, the atmosphere is different today, and I love to think about why that is. My biggest idea is that things are being brought down to a much more personal level. Everything is a little more "human," yknow, and at some point in their career, a rock musician is going to come to terms with his/her tender side and show themselves as more vulnerable. When you can get so close to these people, it makes them much more like you, instead of the demigod they look like.
Of course, this isn't a past vs present editorial without talking about the internet, which serves as a major avenue to a rock star's life. If something interesting happens, not only will you know about it within the hour, you'll be able to know about it from 20 different angles within the next day. It's not like a while ago, where things had to get to you by way of other people. The reason so many awesome stories existed was because everyone wanted to have something to tell their friends. It's still the same today really...except the stories have all gone stale. See, people actually had to use their words to tell people about something they saw. Now, they can just show it to you with their cell phone or youtube. They're probably only doing it to be popular too, as having a bunch of views on Youtube has it's perks. This takes away that great effect where you tell a person one thing and when you ask the 12th guy about the same thing the story's a lot different. I wasn't there so I'm not completely sure...but I'd be willing to bet that a few stories got exaggerated pretty well by this method...but as there's no video to prove the stories wrong, they're legend today.
The great part about that is that there are stories that did catch media attention and that band members themselves have referred to. Those public events only served to strengthen the mythos. You wouldn't dare show your wang in public. Apparently, today's artists wouldn't either. I'm not even sure many of them go shirtless. Meanwhile, in the late 1980s the Red Hot Chili Peppers went on stage in two pairs of socks...between all four of them. I'm not saying that to be memorable you have to go through some nude rite of passage. I'm saying it's weird how both censored and exposed things today are.
Most of today's stories come from movie...err...even that's not correct. A lot of the people who become pop culture legends aren't necessarily doing anything with themselves, and when they do, it's only because they want to look legitimate again. May I read your mind? Are the names "Lindsay Lohan" or "Charlie Sheen" or "Britney Spears" coming to your head now? That makes sense, because apparently a good way to get noticed is to completely wreck yourself for a while. If you're Keith Richards though, it doesn't make a damn bit of difference. You've been doing it since no one gave a rat's ass what you smoked or how you shockingly did your hair or talking about a girl you...made love with. A lot of people probably remember him for who he is because it was kind of who they were...only they couldn't play guitar quite as well. Today people are right there not-doing-things right along with their rock star counterparts. I mean, I guess you drink to gear up for a show but...that's just Tuesday, isn't it?
So overexposure, underexposure, wondering what's left to be sacred...it's all part of this weird lack of demigods today. I refuse to accept the notion that things "were just better back then" or "well all of today's bands suck and don't know what real rock is" because that's not true. Rock and Roll and all of its devices were made by the people of the generation. Like I said, people relate to Hendrix and Morrison because they prepared for shows the same way the musicians did: getting high, so before you go counthering with "it was actually all the record labels/promotion's fault," remember that people also bought the records. Waay back in the 60s, I'm fairly certain that it at least took a longer amount of time to bootleg something than it does today. I'm pretty sure there was less need to pirate when there was really only one way to get the music for your own use. But this is all sort of another story.
It truly does say something about a generation. Here in the 00s, we're finally different. Our parents and so on did something that we now do not do in as big a capacity. Things have changed. The torch has been passed and the future of music is now in the hands of the people. It's a cliche message for sure, but it's kind of true. Look at our climate today. Music is something that is very, very divided. There's pop, rock, rap, country, indie...and they ALL have a fairly devoted niche (with divisions in each). We're all about labels today, whereas I feel like "back then" it was just...music. Nowadays it's mentioning a band's name and having the other person say "well I really don't care for them," or (infamously with me) "well they're older stuff was good."
The climate is somewhat hateful as far as I see it. People can't be rock stars because someone is going to vocally hate the living shit out of it. You know who's doing it right today? Lady Gaga. (Yeah, she's not a rock musician). She's a rock star. She has notoriety. She's got loyal followers that see her as otherworldly- because that's how she presents herself. You can pick her out in a crowd. Yeah, people hate her and she's going to have trouble making it into the proverbial league of legends because of how goddamn opinionate we all are in today's world, but dammit, she's made a name for herself. If you ask me (and Cat is going to rape my throat for this) that rock star act she puts on is better than the music she puts out. I think this is totally another story, you know, the balance between theatricality and musicianship, but I enjoy her deconstruction of the whole rock star persona. She's like a parody of this thing that everyone thinks she is, and that's what's Fridge Brilliant about it all. Still, she's also kind of the proof that the ideas of old are dead. She has to pull out some weird stuff to get the stories built up around her, and creating her mythos was, I'm guessing, no easy task.
So as long as people cling to their opinions, or the opinion of the population, there won't really be any rock stars. They really were a period peace; an establisment that existed for a good thirty years before people somehow became cynical and started searching for a different way to look at this whole music thing. This isn't the last (though I make no promises whatsoever) I'm going to say on this topic. I'm always interested in what happened to the names. Why did the demigod Rock Star disappear? I think it's kind of a complex thing to work out, but I know that in the end the big picture will focus on the people. Look at indie. Indie is what's getting the five star ratings right now. In indie music, everything is very subtle and largely subdued. It isn't a place for rambunctiousness or loudness. Sure you will find names, but you won't HEAR them. That's what makes it.
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