"Hope I die before I get old"

[Rambuchan]

There was a time when our rock stars lived by these sentiments, and we, the adoring public, quietly shared them. Well, more or less. Life was about getting as high as possible, breaking on through to the other side, throwing tvs out of hotel windows, getting laid - everywhere, burning guitars on stage, throwing up on your fans, sticking it to the man, f***ing the system and, if death came early, rock on! It could be a blast.

But today? Rock stars and other music idols typically have the rock credentials of your average mortgage advisor. Life is about endorsements, perfume and clothing lines, reunion cash-ins, tabloid dodging, retiring to a vineyard in the south of France and going to Wimbledon. The most rock and roll they get is...holding aging rock star gigs against trade injustice and going to the G8 summit.

Sure, there are some exceptions today. But their recklessness is generally on the blander side and we, the adoring public, generally come over a bit mummsy when we hear of a shop lifting episode, a binge on the marching powder, or a bit too much booze the night before a gig.

What has happened to them? What has happened to us? And why?

 

[RedRalph]

Cobain died. Liam Gallagher became (more of) an arse. Jack White did a tune for Coke.

Them days is gone my friend. Shame in a way, but seeing as the closest things we have are Winehouse abd Doherty maybe its for the best.

 

[Erik Mesoy]

The world population grew too large.

 

[Bartleby]

Oh, what happened to you,
Whatever happened to me,
What became of the people we used to be?
Tomorrow's almost over,
Today went by so fast,
The only thing to look forward to is the past

 

[downtown]

I think the AIDS scare in the 1980s might have had something to do with it

 

[Brighteye]

The market is now for spoilt early/pre teens rather than independent teens spending their own pocket money.
So instead of going for rebellion you aim at the parents to an extent too. That means being a 'nice' person rather than fighting the system.

 

[bhsup]

Bah, to hell with that. I've never wanted to die young. I want to live a long, long life and die peacefully in bed in my 80s or 90s. I've never understood the fascination with the "burning brightly but briefly" malarky.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

The rock stars realized that their choice really was between dying and getting old, and took the easy way.

 

[Arwon]

David Byrne has aged pretty gracefully, but then he has always been something of an oddball genius like that.

 

[Godwynn]

If I had all that cash I sure as hell would want to live!

 

[Kozmos]

I try to do my part, rocking out as much as I can with my friends. We still live normally more or less, but when weekends come all bets are off. Grab a tetrapak wine in one hand, redheaded woman in the other, guitar on the back and find the nearest public park to host our raiding party.

 

[Yoda Power]

There's also the increasing commercialization (sp?). Record companies demand more off their artists now than ever before. If you're wild and miss a few gig's, the company sue's your arse off, so the wild bands doesn't make it in the end.

Just a theory though.

 

[WerBackIII]

Most of the punk bands don't exist anymore, and those who exist never said something like that. They just play and go on. Like Stones.

The death of so many rockers is not something to stop this. Most likely the rock is being tried to be killed by a bunch of Afro-Americans, pretending to play "Rap", and a group of so-called beautiful girls like Pussycat dolls.

And when you say "Rock" today, nobody thinks of AC/DC, Led Zeppelin or Doors. Instead they see Marylin Manson, The Killers and such.

But don't worry, Rock'n'Roll is not dead! It will return!

IT WILL SURVIVE!

 

[Yoda Power]

Most of the punk bands don't exist anymore, and those who exist never said something like that. They just play and go on. Like Stones.

The death of so many rockers is not something to stop this. Most likely the rock is being tried to be killed by a bunch of Afro-Americans, pretending to play "Rap", and a group of so-called beautiful girls like Pussycat dolls.

And when you say "Rock" today, nobody thinks of AC/DC, Led Zeppelin or Doors. Instead they see Marylin Manson, The Killers and such.

But don't worry, Rock'n'Roll is not dead! It will return!

IT WILL SURVIVE!

Bah, what kind of statement is that!

Pussycat Dolls and rappers are a threat to rock? Ofcause they aren't, pop music existed twenty years ago too, and those bands you mentioned there peaked around the same time disco was around.

The fact is that rock is in great shape, a lot of good music is still being produced.

 

[Rambuchan]

There's also the increasing commercialization (sp?). Record companies demand more off their artists now than ever before. If you're wild and miss a few gig's, the company sue's your arse off, so the wild bands doesn't make it in the end.

Just a theory though.

There's a lot of sense and truth in that.

 

[El_Machinae]

We might be suffering from survivorship bias. We only notice the older stars who're surviving, because they're surviving. There are huge numbers of stars who burn out, hard. We just don't notice.

 

[Yoda Power]

We might be suffering from survivorship bias. We only notice the older stars who're surviving, because they're surviving. There are huge numbers of stars who burn out, hard. We just don't notice.

There's a lot of truth and sense in that too.

 

[Taliesin]

Rock has been commercial from the beginning-- do you think Universal Records was in the business of fighting the system? It's just that, now that rock and roll is the only musical establishment most people have ever known, there's no need to even pretend to say anything by it. Where Mick Jagger had to shrewdly manage his image as a rebel, today's stars can afford to be much more cool and postmodern about the whole thing.

If you want integrity, go back to the blues-- I think any authenticity rock achieves basically derives from its roots in the blues.

 

[Martacus]

David Byrne has aged pretty gracefully, but then he has always been something of an oddball genius like that.

Same as he ever was, I guess. Unless he's just letting the days go by.

 

[RedRalph]

Same as he ever was, I guess. Unless he's just letting the days go by.

you are scum