Rock and roll better not be dead, it still owes me money.

AS Frank Zappa said of jazz, rock isn't dead, it just smells funny

“Video killed the radio star” was also very prophetic, as well as descriptive

I saw Foo Fighters with Queens of the Stone Age, PJ Harvey and the Red Hot Chili Peppers at Slane in 2003. I was 16 or 17 and it was the gig of my generation. I went to see Foo Fighters for the first time since a couple of years ago. Dave Grohl proudly looked to the crowd and shouted “And they say rock is dead” at a high point in the gig. I panned around and couldn’t spot a single person under 30.. It’s pretty gut-wrenching realising the music of your youth is now Dad-rock

Rock has become classical music. Like the centuries old symphony music, it’s a genre many people still love and many groups will still perform well for generations into the future. Same goes for its influence and still emerging descendants; it’s a genre so broad and nebulous that it basically ate most of “music” for a generation. People in a hundred years will still listen to the Beatles or Enter Sandman, even groups covering the songs- just as you still hear people ‘covering’ Ode to Joy or Mozart. But like what we now call ‘classical’ music, the period of the greats- the big innovators, the superstar acts, the historic performances inspiring city wide riots- is over. Rock music may still have a Wagner or John Williams in its future, men who at least briefly revive its glory days in terms of innovation and popular interest even centuries after the 1960s. But it’ll never occupy the cultural center of gravity again, not outside of a Star Wars like fad. I’d say popular music is now in a state akin to the post WW2 years before Elvis and Holly. It’s clear the “old world” of music is dead, dying, or rapidly becoming terminally stale but no clear successor has emerged. Hopefully the next great thing can bring back a richer variety of instruments, sounds, and lyrics. Instruments beyond the guitar and bass, lyrics that aren’t just 3 special ed sentences repeated ad nauseam. The same computers that are damn near autogenerating the latest late stage rock, pop, or hip hop could also synthesize whole bands and orchestras worth of instruments playing in virtual spaces with novel acoustics, vocal ranges few human performers can reach or sustain, or other crazy unexpected things. Let’s see what a digital conductor could really do.

11. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame starts accepting anybody and everybody; pop stars, country artists, rappers etc.

Of course, back in the day, album gatefolds and joints were closely related, and not just in the way we experienced the artwork along with the music contained within the vinyl. Weed back then contained lots of seeds, and the inside of the gatefold, propped up at an angle, was an efficient device for separating out those pesky seeds.

I recorded albums in the early 90s, toured etc. This list resonates. And I would add: - The death of local scenes in the late 90s, mostly driven by radio stations getting bought by conglomerates - playlists lost the ability to support local bands, scenes, labels. - The UK music press turned rock v Britpop into a football match pool, dividing audiences, and basically ruining appreciation. My favorite acts from this time were roundly ignored by the music press, mainly Massive Attack et al, so were unscathed. - Grunge was almost the last gasp of bands rediscovering The Stooges and MC5. The problem with the grunge template is that the groove and boogie crushed a more interesting style of UK rock, such as Swervedriver. - the second wave of industry consolidation late-90s - death of the mid-sized indie label. It was a massacre, including big labels which had fostered some obscure talent on their riskier subsidiaries. All gone. - and the rest. LiveAid felt totally phony and hypocritical at the time. The best thing to come out of it was Chumbawumba's album "Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records".

I'm 60, and you're absolutely right. Hip-hop is not just a different "genre" to rock, it is a whole new way of approaching the creation of music, a whole new way of thinking about music using digital instruments and machines, and it all starts with the drum machines and MIDI synths of the 70s-80s, leading through disco and house directly to the soundcloud musicans of today. It is *technically,* *ontologically,* and *organizationally* different from rock, just as rock was different from big bands and barbershop quartets. Great essay.

As someone who was born in 1966 and started listening to rock as a young child in ‘72 this video made me want to cry. To see the gradual deterioration of everything I came to love growing up this is such a reality check for me. It’s heartbreaking! I guess I really wanted to believe that rock ‘n’ roll would never die.😢

There’s a live Zappa recording where FZ talks to someone in the audience who’s wearing a ‘Disco Sucks’ shirt and he says, (paraphrased) “I have news for you: rock sucks too."

Our beloved anthems are now being fed back to us in insidious, banal muzak. Bloody 'ell, "Day in the Life," as light elevator music.

“Day after day I'm more confused but I look for the light through the pouring rain you know thats a game that I hate to lose i'm feeling the strain ain't it a shame Give me the beat boys and free my soul I wanna get lost in the rock and roll and drift away”

Turntable sales are still rising. But to me, the thing that kills off any musical creativity is the fact that back then we all had something the youth today don't have, leisure time. That's what allowed us to disappear for months at a time to delve into the creative. Today, things are so expensive that all anybody has time to do is work. And if they have a little extra time, they work some more. If they don't work, well, that is why there are so many homeless. That didn't exist back then when "rock" was popular. Technology sped life up to 100 mph and as a result, digital streaming took off and grew because it is a lazy form of music consumption and easier to produce. It's quick and convenient like a burger. Neither of which are any good for you or for creativity. What's dead, or going to be, is the human race as technology advances.

It’s not dead but it’s been in a coma since 1996.

Jesus Christ. I thought I was depressed *before* I watched this but I had no idea how far I could sink. This video should have a content warning.

I'm 65 years old and the band The Warning has reenergized my love of rock music. Three remarkably talented sisters from Monterrey Mexico.

Time is indeed slipping away. I was watching a young woman with a bong and a peace sign on her T-shirt live-stream on YT, and when I made a Grateful Dead joke in the chatbox, she wasn't sure who I was talking about.

There's a couple of differences between the music environment that we grew up in and the present environment that I think we need to explore more and that is that, back in the day, we were exposed mostly to the 15- 20 song in rotation on the radio at any given time, and the few albums that you could buy as a kid. Today kids and everyone, can access the whole of recorded music in the history of the world ,and from everywhere. I teach kids , and they're as likely to listen to something 50 years old ,as something made yesterday. Styles are all mixed up, and any sound can be made and find an audience. The problem is , almost nobody can make money off of recordings like they could decades ago.Love your video.

I'd possibly add the film ' This Is Spinal Tap' to the list! Once something has been parodied like that maybe it's more difficult to take it quite so seriously?

Telecommunications Act of 1996 was another death blow to mainstream music. Gotta fight uphill.

I am 74 years old, listened to prog and fusion all my adult life. When my 18 year ol grandson with girlfriend here listening to music by Pink Floyd, tell me have never heard of them, my inner being groans in shock and despair.😢

Great video....much food for thought..... I grew up listening to rock in the 60's and 70's.....After I discovered JazzRock it led me to become a jazz snob by the late 70’s. Apart from the odd band/artist I lost interest in rock, and felt it was tired... With the passing of the jazz giants, the tradition was passed onto the likes of Metheny, Scofield, Brecker etc.... As things stand for me now, both jazz and rock are museum pieces (as a living artform)...but we have the memories of live gigs we witnessed and a wealth of great recordings to listen to. I am still discovering new albums I missed first time around.....

Youre right andy: that's what life is for all of us: " its the final countdown"

I'm 54. Hardly play my large cd collection anymore. Prefer to play hi quality streaming (in the car especially and at work, home) but I still play my vinyl at home when time allows and is my preferred medium for new music purchases.

Led Zeppelin was rarely played on USA radio when they were around as a band. And when they finally started to play LZ all they played was Stairway To Heaven.

As a 27 year old progressive musician who loves Rock and jazz This video is special. Please keep talking about this topic.

When Rock draws influences from outside itself it is new and exciting, when it draws on itself it dies.

I think we’re tending to overthink everything these days, for me it’s all about emotion and experience… I’m in my mid 60s now, I grew up listening to the Beatles, Stones etc… saw Zep, Floyd and Bowie during the 70s… enjoyed Disco and later the Rave scene…and all things in-between… Last year I could be found in the mosh pits of various gigs by acts like IDLES, Goat Girl, Alt-J, Florence & the Machine, Otoboke Beaver… alongside older acts like L7, Bikini Kill, Kraftwerk and Depeche Mode… rock didn’t seem dead to me… just the opposite…

not forgetting tasteless music executives GREED! 🕉🥷

I enjoy watching your channel, but I wish you wouldn't assume we did something just because you did it. I never downloaded music just because you and other people did it. I'm 60 years old and learn new music information from your channel. Your interpretation of American music through the eyes of an Englishman is very interesting. Thank you, Andy.

ginger baker said, we started heavy metal basically, and that's when it went bad....

god did i hate disco but compared to hiphop rap it's like a breath of fresh air

Great list Andy but the corpse was rotting well before this. The first nail was the death of '60s optimism and the hippy dream after Altamont; the Manson murders; Vietnam; political assassinations; Nixon; the death of Jimi, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin etc. The Woodstock festival lost a ton of money but the movie made the organisers millionaires. The corporations soon realised the potential and made their move. Another nail was the glam rock fashion of the early '70s. This was followed by AOR and 'yacht rock' a few years later. Look at any edition of TOTP from 1976 and you'll see what I mean. There were also two albums that killed rock through mega commercial sales: Hotel California, and Rumours. There was also a movie called Star Wars that changed youth culture. So it was over before its idiot bastard son, punk came along and danced all over its grave. RIP.

Wayne Kramer last week. one guy who wouldn't anytime soon, turn his back on rock bands. and Andy is here to remind me that it's not so much the music of rock only, it's the people who are still serious about making music in a rock band, that are dying. long live Wayne Kramer. (in what he created).

Yes I agree with your summary of what killed Rock, one other factor was Punk Rock and the intense dislike of old aging hippies playing in huge arenas, this was the beginning of the end, oddly enough one band produced what many consider to be the best Punk Rock song without all the hype of the Pistols and that was 'New Rose' by the Damned, this short lived band, considered to be Punk were technically reflective of Rock, they could actually play, without resorting to three chords The success of Punk came from a new generation with different values who invented a new fashion and outlook on life alien to Emerson Lake and Palmer, Yes and a generation of others, that was the' first nail in the coffin' for Rock

Great video Andy. One thing you didn’t discuss was generational change. The drift in preference in music. I was born in 1954, I recall during the 60s and 70s having no interest in the music my parents and grandparents were interested in. Actually, that’s not entirely true, I really loved the music of Al Jolson, George Cohan, Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald. But it was always old music, music of a bygone era. But consider 50 years back from 1966 (when I was 12) took me back to 1916. 50 years back from now takes me back to 1974, so larger gap from now to 1966 than from 1966 to 1916. Another point, maybe this only relates to Australia, during the 1980s all these environmental laws. Health and Safety laws that reduced the number of people you could cram into a pub for a gig and the need to create fire exits that are expensive to retro fit. Noise abatement laws that allowed those who lived near pubs to close down the venues due to noise and behaviour of patrons during and after gigs. Introduction of random breath tests for alcohol for car drivers so the consumption of alcohol dropped at pub gigs. And finally, the introduction of legislation that gave poker machines ( slot machines) licences to pubs. All that killed the Australian Pub rock scene here in Australia. Finally, there are still great bands performing interesting music in the Rock genre but they fail to get airplay except on niche stations. Here in Australia, some community radio stations and the ABC ‘youth stations’ Double J, Triple J and Unearthed.

Good retrospective. I might add -- rock began as an inadvertent side effect of the fact that big bands were out, more clubs were having music (instead of just dance halls) and smaller bands needed to be fuller. In other words, louder. Enter the electric guitar. Once guitarists started pushing the volume they realized that the amps would distort, which sounded even better! After a short while, there were so many people playing guitar that Leo Fender figured that a fretted electric bass could be played by guitar players resulting in more customers. Of course, the electric bass was also louder and more "solid" than an upright, and before long a music that basically started as an imitation of jump blues became something more raucous. And powerful. And the kids loved it.

Enjoying this rock series very much Andy. I think the phenomenon is wider, and you can miss the woods for the trees. Many genres of music seem stuck in a bit of a cul-de-sac, and even the ones that are still commercial like hip-hop feel like they're struggling for exciting new ideas. Outside of music, cinema lives completely on old recycled stories and characters. In visual art, when people are engaged at all, they're much more interested in the Renaissance or impressionism than anything made after Picasso and Matisse died. Or poetry - how many living poets could most people even name? Etc. etc.

The song 'Control' by Puddle of Mud, killed rock. At that point people began looking for other alternatives.

Love your videos by the way. Keep them coming. Cheers from Canada.

Just watched a Rick Beato video,Rock and country music are the two music genres that have got bigger over the last couple of years.

This was an interesting explanation of "the death of rock and roll."

Everything has a expiration date. Here today, gone tomorrow.

Rock and Roll is not at all dead, it just packed up and moved to Japan where incredibly gifted musicians there have picked up the mantle of Rock in all its glory. They produce new amazing songs with the heart and soul of Rock's true forebearers. There are many great bands in Japan, but my favorite is the powerful five member, all female group called Band-maid. Check out their instrumental MV "From Now On" to see their impressive musical chops or see their incredible official live video "Domination" to see how a real Rock band can still blow away an audience. There are many others, of course, but if you want genuine hard Rock, one has to look outside of the dull American soundscape to the great artists playing abroad. Peace.

What I liked about vinyl was the sleeves where everyone was listed (and large enough to be read - it encouraged more purchases - my jazz listening started with Keith Jarret with Gary Burton and I ended up buying many ECMs by chasing down the artists from one record to the next.

Re your end comments about only having time to listen to music in the car. I get it, but I actually make time to sit and listen to music, usually vinyl on my turntable. In the morning getting ready is a great time and then almost every evening (at least on weekdays) I sit and listen to at least a side of an album. I put the phone away, turn off the computer, lock out all distractions and sit and listen to music just like I did when I was a teenager in my room. This is time well spent my friends.

Fascinating, Andy - you've really got me thinking with all this... ☝️😎

I thought I understood something about this subject, but it seems I'd actually only just scratched the surface, and was blown away by your triumphantly thorough and precise post-mortem of Rock. I feel privileged to have heard it, yet find I'm a little depressed now, too. Ten deep stabs is too much for any art form to take!

You might be overlooking one or two things, Andy. They're obvious, I know. Firstly, there will always be families where children and teens hear music that their fathers love and take a liking to it themselves, and that becomes a lifelong love for them and they can pass it on to their own children at a later time. Secondly - and this applied to me - you can suddenly come across a band later in life that grabs you by the throat and opens up a whole new 'can of worms'. Bands like Return To Forever, Weather report and the Mahavishnu Orchestra fall into that category.. I wish I had come across them much, much, earlier. By the way, I still love putting a disc in my CD player, turning the lights off, sitting still and listening in the dark. As I have a great sound system, it's magic.

I just discovered your channel about a month ago, and I have to say your channel is the best music channel I've listened too. I don't agree with some opinions about certain bands, but you are so relatable.

I remember they said that rock and roll died when The Big Bopper and Buddy Holly died in a plane crash in 1959

A concise and pretty brilliant history of rock 'n' roll

Hello Andy. My first comment on your channel that I recently discovered. I mainly agree with you in this video. I'm 55 and explored several genres of music until the first half of the 90's time when I realized that rock music was nearly dead. Now I only listen to music from the 70's, the genres you talk about here, prog, jazz, fusion even if my first loves of music during my teens are in the eighties. A special bravo for your drumming in IQ ! (sorry for my french english)

Thanks for explaining what happened to the music/culture/zeitgeist of the 60s and 70s in which I came of age. Once I began a family and career, I tuned out the pop scene, only to find myself utterly bewildered when I again had the time and energy to pay attention a few decades later. God how thankful I am to have been young and crazy during the brief shining Age of Aquarius, when that was the only way to be.

I'm from 96, still can't let go of rock music (alt-rock) and i'm still composing rock music. I made 22 tracks, mostly alternative rock. it's on spotify etc

Saw the Who in about 1979 in London ( "Who are you" tour I think). Kenny Jones on drums replacing the recently deceased Keith Moon (aged 32). Said to my fellow 16 year old mate at the end of a pretty dull gig "wish we'd seen them when they were young and good".

Enjoying your broad perspective sir. Broader than I had expected tbh. Have subscribed and liked. Good work

A video that's over an hour long and leaves me looking forward to future videos promising to go into more detail. Well done.

Most people our age have realized that for years .There hasn't been much worth listening to for decades now.

Excellent show Andy, I really enjoyed your analysis.

Another reason (10) for me to browse the thrift stores scrounging out old albums. Give me the great vinyl of yesterday, scratches and all.

Cheers Andy, great video. Gave me a good laugh too.

"American Idol" aka Simon Cowell and all his associated spin-offs completely shifted the focus back to only vocals. I foresaw that coming during Season 1 when Kelly Clarkson was battling Justin Guarini for supremacy.

Rock might be long dead, but the segment of the music gear industry marketing guitars and gadgets to rock guitarists sure is alive and kicking. Never has there been so many choices in guitar gear, at all price points, and targeted at all eras and styles of rock music. I guess I find this sort of ironic.

Very well researched, KNOWN, and stated. Thank you.

SCHOOL DAYS!!! Probably my favourite jazz-rock album. Another fascinating and funny video, cheers!

You were so close ... Carbonite.

Some of it died for me when a couple of decades back I saw an interview with four quite young boys who were proudly talking about how they loved rock and had started a rock band. After a while they got up to perform, and all four of them grabbed a microphone and started singing to a backing track. Oh, a boyband, right on.

I was excited for this as a sequel to the live aid video. Well put together

Yay, rock is dead. Long live Polka! The international music of the world.

1. Disco 2. Drum machines & sequencing 3. MTV 4. Live Aid - Rock is the new "Establishment" 5. "Grunge" - the death knell 6. Digital recording & production techniques 7. Napster vs. the physical product 8. Britney Spears 9. Downloading, then Streaming 10. Rock's audience is dying off

Thank you for giving context and order to all my random thoughts. I feel almost cleansed now you have made sense of it all. 👍🏻

Subscribed today. Great channel with some interesting and thought provoking topics. Cheers from a 55 year old Canadian guitarist.

Well done, you've presented a lot of hard truths, Andy.

Rock Music ain't dead..........it's just resting.

Thanks andy, food for thought.

As one of those old guys you mentioned, around the mid-80s I realized that rock appeared to be dead. All of the other genres appeared to have nudged it off to the side as younger people seemed to be content with what I called "crap". Fast forward to today and I'm finally listening for the first time to some of the bands who were very popular in the 80s/90s/00s. I'm finding that some of them had some worthwhile songs, so shame on me for putting a blanket over all of them and walking away. Suffice it to say that I never downloaded anything that I didn't pay for. What really brought me back was, as crazy as it sounds--covid. Being stuck at home I discovered KZfaq. I discovered people there doing reactions to music they'd never heard of by taking requests. I discovered bands like The Warning, who got discovered ten years ago doing a cover of Metallica's Enter Sandman as kids in their basement. They're getting ready to release their fourth album and the youngest just turned 19. It's good quality hard rock with influences from the same time period that I poo-pooed. So, I admit that I was wrong, and that the nails may be resting on the lid of rock's coffin, but they have yet to be driven in.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is killing Rock and Roll. It is smothering and crushing the heart and soul of rock and roll. The RRHOF celebrates the very things rock and roll rebels against.

Laura Near-o. I learn alot from you. Love your channel. I saw Led Zeppelin in Summer 1969 at a multi-band concert. They were the last band and, after four songs, the promoter shut down the concert to avoid Union overtime pay. The audience grumbled but no riot. (The other bands were Jethro Tull, Johnny Winter and Buddy Guy)

Very very interesting and touching. Thank you.

I love it Andy

Rock died because youth rebellion died. Kids today don't even want to learn how to drive. They have no interest in rebellion and freedom - quite the opposite. They want rigid uniformity. They want safe spaces. They don't want to rock. Heavy metal is the same - except it just became a bunch of weird occult themes and mindless screaming. It's horrible.

It is true that Death is a theme that kind of runs through this channel, and it is good to acknowledge Him. I can and do listen to contemporary, shadowless k-pop girl groups for days on end, hoping He'll go away, but so far it hasn't worked. Nowhere to run.

Good vid. I completely agree.

Always excellent Andy. Cheers from down under.

That was entirely fascinating.

The MTV phenomenon is very pertinent indeed. In the mid-70's in Australia, the ABC (public TV and radio network) introduced an hour long TV Pop/Rock program called 'Countdown'. It replaced a 15 minute daily Rock program called 'GTK'. Whereas GTK was counter-cultural, Countdown was very mainstream. I first saw Gabriel-era Genesis on GTK as a child. Countdown lasted from late 1974 to 1987. It was like MTV in that it broadcast very commercial music and rarely gave anything radical a look in. It also portrayed music in a cutesy, formulaic fashion. As a kid, I hated how "square" this show was but had no televisual alternative.

Great video as usual Andy! 42:11 My first copy of Van Halen Fair Warning was a cassette I recorded off of the radio which I played a thousand times -- the station would play full albums on Sunday nights -- I went to the record store and looked at the vinyl copy to see what the song titles were but they were in a different order from the real track listing and I was quite confused at first

This is a very intelligent discussion. Well done.

The Rock and Roll HOF is a misnomer. I dislike the fact that it is an umbrella for every style of music. It should be called THE MUSIC HALL OF FAME with specific honors for each genre and subgenre. Too many non-rock music acts are getting recognized as great rock and rollers whilst great rock bands are over looked and left out.

Author/rock critic Steven Hyden covered this topic extensively in his book "Twilight of the Gods", which I recommend. But the bottom line is this: public taste is what it is and you can't expect the general public to adore the classic rock aesthetic forever.

Another hour's worth of entertainment with thoughts of death. Love it.😂😂

😂 you’re like an old Wild West preacher,spreading the gospel of music! Love it!

Right. As soon as the vampires notice the numbers ticking up on a band they do derivatives or straight copies which tends to overshadow the original form. This isn't exactly news.

John Bonham as Ozymandias. I love it.

I will always come to youtube to listen to music from the 60s-80s

For your number 3 point, MTV and the rise of cuteness, I'm surprised that you didn't mention the first video played on MTV was Video killed the radio star, which sums up your point quite nicely ! Well rock music certainly isn't dead in my garage, my band came over last Sunday, with real guitars and bass and amps, and I bashed away on a giant Rush style drumset, and recorded us on my 1980's Yamaha 4-trak cassette tape recorder, cuz I don't know how to do it on a computer. I'm only about 30 years behind the technology !

Maybe you should go and checkout the fastest rising up and coming Rock band out of Mexico called The Warning and then come back and say Rock is Dead, they were invited to last years MTV awards to perform and they weren't even nominated for any awards the only band or music act to do so, they are only just arriving on the verge of breaking out and yet already have young bands and musicians covering there material and inspiring the younger generation to the Genre

At least you ended the list on a high note.