‘It’s never been easier to play; it’s never been harder to win…’
It’s a cliche to say that rock ‘n’ roll is dead, but honestly, it’s also true. While in the past this would have been old man shouts at clouds territory, now? It’s a truth that can’t be denied. Here is a list of every artist to headline Glastonbury in the last five years that could be described as a rock ‘n’ roll artist: Muse (first album released 1999), Coldplay (2000), Radiohead (1993), Foo Fighters (1995), The Killers (2004), The Cure (1979) and Sir Paul McCartney (1963). These are not bands or artists in their prime. Far from it. And this is a new phenomenon. As recently as the 1990s, Glastonbury was headlined by Primal Scream, Blur, Pulp, Skunk Anansie, Manic Street Preachers, Ash and Oasis. All bands that were at the height of their powers. This is just one festival, of course, but it is also indicative of a wider trend. Rock ‘n’ roll really is dead, and David Hepworth has written the obituary…
Uncommon People: The Rise and Fall of the Rock Stars sees music journalist David Hepworth charting the origins of rock ‘n’ roll starting with Little Richard in 1955 and going through chronologically to the tragic suicide of Kurt Cobain in 1994. For every year in between, Hepworth picks a significant event from rock ‘n’ roll history and weaves it into a larger narrative about the genesis and subsequent destruction of a moribund artform. To pick a few years and chapters at random we have the death of Buddy Holly in 1959, Hendrix’s arrival in London in 1966, the decline of Led Zeppelin in 1979 and on and on until Nirvana. What is striking, is that the unique social conditions that enabled the rise of the rock stars is well and truly over. As Hepworth rightly points out, if anyone acted now how Robert Plant or David Bowie behaved in the 1970s, they would never find time to record any music as they would be spending all of their time either committing transgressions or writing po-faced apologies for said transgressions to placate the baying mob that is social media. So what’s left?
The key to Uncommon People, is that we shouldn’t mourn the music, while the concept of the rock star is dead, all the wonderful music produced in the era of rock ‘n’ roll lives on, and will continue to live on, probably forever. Who knows, there might be a rock ‘n’ roll renaissance some time in the future, but honestly? Don’t bet on it. Instead, let us return to the The Beatles and the Stones, to the Beach Boys and to Bob Dylan, to all of the wonderful artists that have touched us (emotionally or physically) over the years. The music never dies.