What has happened to Rock and Roll?

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Rock is Dead.

As much as it pains me to say, there is no such thing as rock and roll anymore.

Of the Top-10 radio stations in America, 3 are Classic Rock, 5 are talk/news radio, 1 is Top 40, and the other is Listener Formatted.

There is a good bit of information one can pull for this small-scale sampling:

-The Baby-Boom generation is alive and well in their 50's.
--They have maybe a handful of cd's, a vault of records in the attic and no clue how to work an MP3 player. Or a CD player for that matter. If you do, kudos. You're better off than my parents.
--The radio waves are dominated, still, by this generation. They experienced the rise of FM broadcasting and Album-Oriented Rock, and most still listen to AM radio.

-Gen Y, for the most part, doesn't care about the radio. They think AM radio is a static-filled emergency channel for governmental use.
--The majority have more cd's than they can count, and enough MP3's to make any member of the RIAA regurgitate their breakfast. It's been about me, I, and mine since the invention of the Walkman, and technology has held our hand the entire way. We want to listen to what we want to listen to when we want to listen to it.

But if you were to look at the Billboard Hot 100 you find contradictroy evidence.
1. Black Eyed Peas
2. Lady GaGa
3. Pitbull
4. Jeremih (that's not a typo. Jerem-ih, Jeremy?)
5. Jamie Foxx feat. T-Pain (of voice-modulation fame)
6. Beyonce
7. Keri Hilson feat. Kanye West and Ne-Yo
8. Kid Cudi (Cutie? Ah, how cute)
9. Sean Kingston
10. Lady GaGa

Now the Billboard Hot 100 compiles data from airplay, sales (digital and hard copies), ringtone sales and a handful of other things, BUT....
Who are these people? Beyonce is hot and talented, but....Will anybody remember these artists (cringe) 10 years from now? 5 years from now? TWO years???

Here's a look at the top selling albums of 1999;
1. Backstreet Boys - Millenium
2. Britney Spears - Baby One More Time
3. Shania Twain - Come on Over
4. 'N'Sync - Self Titled
5. Ricky Martin - 'I'm a Douche' Vol. 1.

Now lets look at the top selling albums of 1969;
1. Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
2. Original Cast - Hair
3. Blood/Sweat/Tears - Blood, Sweat and Tears
4. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bayou Country
5. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin

This is just a small sampling of the difference 30 years can make. Does anybody remember anything decent from the top list? Ok, Backstreet and Ricky Martin are gone for good, until VH1 does another friggin reality show. Shania Twain is semi-retired living happily in Canada with some very lucky person, and Justin Timberlake has actually done something with himself....No hate for JT.....but N'Sync is done, thank God.

And as for Britney.....well it's hard to say what happened to Britney. She definitely cracked under the pressure of the limelight (We're not in Kansas anymore!). She can sing, but she's no Christina. Britney exemplifies everything that is wrong with the music industry: It's always been about her image, not how well she can sing.

Now onto list 2. Most have no idea who Iron Butterfly is, but just creep down to #'s 4 & 5. Creedence Clearwater has nearly as many recognizable tunes as the Beatles. And Zeppelin is arguably one of the top 3 greatest rock bands of all-time. Point being; Your chances of hearing Zeppelin or Creedence on the radio today are much greater than hearing anything from List 1, and it's only been 10 years since they were on top of the music charts. It's been nearly 40 since Zeppelin 1 was the 5th best album of the year. Startling huh?

So what does all this mean?
We are all sliding down the wet slippery slope of music retardation. The good music that is out there won't ever escape the hometown bar, and nobody cares because its not good unless it can fit into any of these critera:
-Heard on any episode of of any show on MTV. (Just change it to 'TV' please)
-Showcased as the opening song for a prime-time soap opera like 'Grey's Anatomy'
-Seen as a text-for-free-download Ringtone on tv

Ahh, this topic is to heavy and I've gone on too long. Jet showed some promise, but I just can't explain it all. Here's to all the bands chugging away on the circuit, non-stop-touring, like all the big boys used to do. Cheers guys and girls.