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January 1, 2010
Classic Rock Preview For 2010
I see a lot of stories around this time of year about what was. TV programs featuring the notable events of the previous 12 months are never in short supply after Christmas. Ditto for other media, such as newspapers and radio. It’s also pretty good fodder for bloggers, who have weighed in with their versions of what was important during 2009.
Instead of looking back, I’m going to look forward. Granted, looking back has its benefits, especially when we think about those things we wish we had not done. In those cases, we all hope we have learned from our mistakes.
The new year looks like it will be an interesting one for classic rock fans. A number of our old favorites will be going on tour or releasing a new album. There’s clearly a lot of demand out there for the music of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, and fortunately, many of the big names from those decades are still going strong.
Yes resumes their tour next month on the 4th at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord, NH. Still no Jon Anderson, but as long as he stays healthy, there may be a chance we’ll see him fronting the group again some day.
Although it has not been confirmed, the Rolling Stones are said to be preparing for a world tour sometime this year. We can thank Ron Wood’s ex-girlfriend Ekaterina Ivanova for leaking that little gem to her friends.
In April, Bad Company will reunite for a brief tour of the U.K. What’s a little unique about this reunion is that it will be made up of the original members. So many of the classic acts seem to have undergone significant line-up changes over the years, so it’s really kind of nice to see the real deal on stage for this one.
In May, Scorpions hit the road for a world tour of their own. They are also working on a new album, but have not revealed a release date that I am aware of.
The Faces appear set to reunite for a tour sometime this year, although it remains to be seen how many of the original members will be there. Other members of the group seem to have lost their patience waiting for a decision from Rod Stewart about the tour, and have decided to forge ahead without him. Stewart reportedly decided he would rather work on other projects. With Ron Wood presumably set to tour with the Stones, it’s not clear what his status is regarding the reunion.
That enduring trio from the Great White North may soon be dusting themselves off and getting back to work on a new album and tour. No confirmation on any plans yet, but Rush is rumored to be kicking around the idea of linking up and figuring out what kind of project they want to do.
Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart are working on a new album that is planned for release this summer. Word is that we’ll be hearing a lot more from Nancy on vocals for this new release.
No dates have been lined up yet, but Randy Bachman and Fred Turner are planning what will probably be the closest thing to a BTO tour we will ever see, although they will probably not be billing themselves as Bachman-Turner Overdrive for legal reasons. Seems Randy’s brother and former BTO drummer Rob, and former BTO guitarist Blair Thornton, have teamed up in an effort to ensure that the name is not used. They claim that Randy Bachman gave up any rights to it when he went solo in 1977. I guess that’s what you call “Takin’ Care of Business.”
With the future of Aerosmith hanging in the balance, it’s hard to predict which direction they will be headed in this year. The continuation of Aerosmith in its current form seems to be in the hands of frontman Steven Tyler, who has reportedly checked himself into rehab recently.
As time carries us further into the new year, we’re very likely to hear from more classic acts who have plans for new material, a tour, or perhaps both. As long as the fans are out there in sufficient numbers, a lot of these enduring groups seem quite happy to forge ahead and continue making music as long as the aging process will permit.
September 10, 2009
Musicians Divided Over Music Downloads
Not everyone is easing into the digital age without a fight. Downloading music has been going on for years, some of it legitimate (think iTunes), but the bulk of it most likely not. Between torrents, file sharing sites and peer-to-peer, networks, one can presume that just about any album or track you can think of can be located and downloaded for free on the internet.
Whether or not this is a good thing is something that seems to have carved out a sharp divide between music makers themselves. There are those like Metallica that are not cool with the idea of fans downloading their music for free. There are probably countless other big names who feel similarly, and they do have a point. Who wants to work for free? Yes, in this case, that may be a bit overstated, since we know that the guys from Metallica are probably not hurting for money. However, it is their music.
On the other hand, we have people like Nick Mason of Pink Floyd fame who believes that allowing fans to download music is a good thing for artists.
“The last thing we want to be doing is going to war with our fan base. File sharing means a new generation of fans for us. It’s a great thing to have another generation discovering your music and thinking you’re rather good. File sharing plays a part in that, because that generation don’t do it any other way,” Mason is quoted as saying.
Reflecting a moment on that statement, it seems that those who favor the downloaders have a point as well. I have observed the kind of scenario that Mason eludes to myself, and Pink Floyd, ironically, is actually the group in question! A young relative I saw recently was wearing a Pink Floyd T-shirt, which naturally aroused my curiosity.
When asked about the shirt, he told me that he had downloaded some Pink Floyd music from the internet from a file-sharing site and realized “how cool” their music is. As far as I know the Pink Floyd T-shirt was purchased from a legitimate retailer, which I presume cuts the blokes from the band in on some of the action. Does is net as much as the sale of an album? I don’t know, but it was probably a sale that would have never been made at all if the young man had not downloaded some of their music.
Pink Floyd is no longer together as a group, as we all know. However, if they were, and they happened to be performing in the area, do I think there is a chance that this young fellow would be there? Absolutely. He considers their music revolutionary, and can’t say enough about it.
As for the future of free music downloads, it appears things may be heating up a bit on this front in the U.K. There is a new law being proposed there that would terminate internet service for those that are caught downloading music without paying for it. This is the issue that prompted the comments from Nick Mason and others who share his view on the subject like Ed O’Brien from Radiohead and Dave Rowntree of Blur.
It’s not too difficult to understand the opposition some artists harbor regarding the sharing of their music, especially those that grew up during a time when buying your music was the only way to get it. Sure, lots of people carted their cassette recorders to friends’ houses to make “bootleg” copies of albums for their own use, but there was a lot more time and work involved in that process when compared to clicking a mouse button a few times.
For now, there seems to be no way to stop file sharing. With many file-sharing sites located in other countries, it can be difficult for authorities to shut them down. It appears that lawmakers in the U.K. are considering the alternative approach of shutting down the downloaders. Whether or not measures like that are beneficial to artists will likely be the subject of debate for the foreseeable future.
The Times has more on this subject.
August 13, 2008
Classic Rock Lags Behind In Digital Download Era
Seems like there’s one corporation or another tracking just about every consumer-oriented event you can imagine these days, and downloads of digital music are no exception.
I was surprised to discover that the latest statistics on digital music downloads did not reflect all that favorably on classic rock. Well known stat trackers Nielsen/SoundScan have discovered that only 10 songs on the Top 200 downloaded songs were from the 70’s, 80’s or 90’s.
Personally, it’s hard for me to think of music from the 90’s as “classic,” unless it is a product of a classic group that was still making new music during that decade. When I see a 1996 Buick pass me on the street, I don’t think 
“classic” but when I spot a 1983 Pontiac Firebird or a or a 1982 Chevy Monte Carlo (one of which provided me with great service for a good number of years!), I am much more inclined to think “classic.” I’ll refrain from talking about “Classic Coke,” since that’s a whole other story.
Getting back to music, which might be a good idea at this point, the lackluster popularity of classic tracks among the Top 200 downloads is perplexing to me for a number of reasons. After all, classic rock seems to be experiencing a resurgence in popularity in recent years. When I see high school kids sporting Led Zeppelin T-shirts and I can find three or four classic rock radio stations on the FM dial, I know that classic rock is far from dead.
That inspires the question: Why aren’t people downloading as much classic rock as its popularity might suggest?
Allow me to indulge in a little unscientific speculation. Perhaps classic rock fans, particularly the younger ones, who may be more likely to download music, have simply borrowed their parents’ old CDs and “ripped” the tracks from them to put on their iPods and PCs. That’s one way to bring Led Zeppelin along when kids head out to wherever it is they head out to these days.
Then again, some of the most successful classic rock acts are still making new music, so why wouldn’t some of those tracks make it on the Top 200?
I suppose I could speculate about this for a few more paragraphs, but maybe I should just be glad that classic rock is still alive and well, which is evidenced by the fact that groups like Rush, Van Halen and Springsteen can still rock in front of sold out venues populated by enthusiastic fans, which by the way, include a good number of younger fans who were not even around when these bands hit their stride.
Among the classic songs that did manage to secure a slot on the Top 200 were Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing,” Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama.” There are of course, seven more that were considered “classic,” and if you’d like to see the entire list check it out on Yahoo! Music.
