The end of the Mayan calender is approaching, December 21, 2012. Do you have your water, canned goods and armaments stocked away? The real question is NOT whether mankind will survive, but rather, will the music of today be destroyed?
Some may think that today's music is the best thing since the invention of instant messaging, while others believe there is some kind of conspiracy against good old fashion rock 'n roll. I would fall into the latter of the two. Other than a few true rockinrollas, I am counting on Katy Perry to go down with the ashes. With little than dozens of "one hit wonders" that are popping up on the scene every week, it's only a matter of time before Justin Bieber will hit the, Peter Brady voice crack, that ended Hanson, 'Lil Bow Wow and list of other young pop singers that fell into the shadow of music.
Can there be light shed on bands like Kings of Leon, or Wolfmother? These guys are touring hard and are writing all of their own material. There is something to be said about a song that has true meaning behind it. You won't catch a true rockinrolla buying a song from the national archives, it comes from the heart and the experience of being on tour. That's why rock 'n roll has survived all these years.
It's good to know that when the end of the Mayan calendar reaches it's final day, rock 'n roll will still be there to guide you away from the fireballs of the apocalypse. You won't find Brittney Spears, or Lady Gaga slaying the zombies of the underground, and lord knows that Justin Bieber will be trying to find out how to log on to his Twitter account to tell his fans that he needs some electricity to blow dry his hair.
While this will take me some serious time to dwell on, I will be more help than most for your perfect playlist quest. I played in 27 different bars and pubs in Maryland for (180-200) nights a year for a decade, as a DJ. That about 2,ooo setlists I had to come up with that pleased the masses. never an easy job, but my crowd knew from the get go, I was not a country, top 40, pop (hip-hop), or rap player. That still leaves classic rock, heavy rock,what I call American rock (Bruce, Petty, Segar, etc) 80's alternative, 90's grunge, 60's and 70's motown and soul, along with reggae. The key is to never play one style or genre in large blocks. that's how you loose an audience. You do not play an REM, Cure,Radiohead,etc, in 20 minute blocks. People who hate these bands will forst get angry and then leave. but the same 3 songs peppered into maybe 2 hours(36 tunes) can work. One REM or Cure 12 songs, and the same haters will stay b/c they heard some stuff they love (I hoped) in between.
ReplyDeletemeant to say REM or Cure "every 12" songs...sorry!
ReplyDeletelooks like dumb-ass me, answered the wrong question in the wrong area.
ReplyDeleteInteresting question but it seems rhetorical.
ReplyDelete