2024 Rock & Roll HOF screechfest

The one time I’ve ever seen Alice Cooper perform was intermission at a Preds game … with Vince Gill!

 

I interviewed Alice Cooper on video after he played a round where I work. Absolutely delightful guy, and he hit a helluva approach into 18 from sand and wire grass. Broke 80 if I remember right, and caddies thought he was lovely. That video did well on social. People ate it up.

 

A ranking of the 2024 nominees.

Foreigner checks in dead last.

Let's rank the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees (msn.com)

 

I loathe Foreigner, Journey, Boston and Kansas with the heat of 1,000 suns. My musical DNA - which begins and ends with daily exposure to Paul Weller, New Order and REM - is a direct result of my hatred of all the crap rock those one-name bands from the 80s spewed out.
That said, it’s hard to ague that Foreigner can’t be considered as “good” by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame measurements, considering their epic levels of success as measured by ticket sales and especially radio play both then and now.
Mind you, they are not good to me.

 

But that's never really been the measurement of "good" the hall uses. It's been a largely artistic measure.

 

A college friend who made fun of me incessantly for my Foreigner fandom used to work at MSN.com. Somehow I blame him for this.

 

Cold blooded.

 

I have the same background. I hated what was on Classic Rock (I think Boston Ma. had one of the first). I couldn't understand why my classmates were listening to bands from 25 years ago while I was going to 18+ shows on Saturday.

What are the bands that kids today would have the same reaction to? Bands like Creed and Nickelback are obviously terrible, but Boston and Foreigner had some talent, if poorly directed.

How do kids listen to 25 year old music and what do they think of it?

 

Songs that are 25 years old this year and possibly being listened to by teenagers into classic rock include Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy," Buckcherry's "Lit Up" and Blink-182's "What's My Age Again?"

God. Damnit.

 

My oldest, 15, listens to everything from the Rolling Stones to whatever isn't Taylor Swift today. Zep, Rush (yes!), tons of grunge. Something called Cage the Elephant, which is pretty good, and others on today's radar.

Kids today listen to music, but they don't consume it like those of us in Gen X did. They don't have to tape shit off the radio, they don't buy albums or CDs. I think it's fine how they view music, but most of them will never know the joy of finding a really good B side song on an album. They'll never hear about a "maiden with wrought-iron soul."

 

Geez, is this ever the truth. We were on a trip recently where our 11-year-old daughter commandeered the Apple Music. She kept requesting Taylor Swift songs and deciding two seconds in she didn't want to hear that one. I went on a rant about how we listened to whole albums and found great songs that we otherwise wouldn't have discovered. She was annoyed and didn't care.

Another great thing about actually buying music was you OWNED it...doubly so when you bought a dud. That $12 or $15 you*** spent on the Lord Tracy tape whose only good song was the lead single was earned washing dishes or delivering papers or stocking shelves. It stung, but it was also a good cautionary tale.

***that's me, I'm the only person in America to have bought a Lord Tracy tape

 

Had a fun realization this weekend.

There was a music festival in town. The Red Hot Chili Peppers headlined on Saturday. A group of co-workers went and they all posted the same group photo of themselves on social media.

I have seen the Chili Peppers six or seven times... and the most recent time was before any of these co-workers were born. (New Year's Eve, 1989, I believe.)