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The sequel to our action-filled thriller, where we looked at why people can't stand this particular era and time...
To get into the mood, you should also try reading: So why do people hate everything about the 1980's rock? Could it be that everything from fashion to music to art came with a "larger than life" attitude? Well... yeah... you could say that's basically it!!! Take a look at all the stuff from the 80's and you'll notice that it was all: BIG, flashy, outrageous, and most of all... filfthy, stinking, RICH. The economy was rather healthy, people had more money (I'm merely talking about the "western" culture and population here), and people could still, quite easily, find work at the same moment they came out of school.
All this obviously rubbed off on the music and let's face it, no one can stand a rich, distant, cousin at the family reunion. The 80's is exactly that very rich, spoiled, cousin, with too much money and fame on their hands. Superficial and over-the-top? Absolutely, and hey, real musicians don't need or want a big arena rock tour and extravaganza b.s. Real musicians are quite happy living in a box and sharing a room and bathtube with the band and their entire drug addicted family. Real musicians prefer to stay "underground" and doesn't want or need the best producer money could buy or a great sounding record. In fact, real rock musicians would rather play infront of 12 of their best friends than an audience of + 30.000. Yeah, right...
In the 80's... you could still get signed to a bunch of different, damn close to "major" record labels. You had a bunch of people out there looking for the next "big thing", and there was still a rather big competition in finding the next "big thing". Then came the early 90's and the really "majors" (Sony & Warner), begun the awful buy up of everything and everybody, something which they've only continued to do ever since. No wonder all the record sales have gone straight to hell ever since and people are buying less and less CD's. Sure, it's way too easy to blame all this upon people downloading music from the web, but that's far from the entire truth, since it all started long before the whole phenomenon of downloading. Like *any* business out there, you need a strong competition and different sources to choose and pick your material from. You can't really expect a couple of "fat cats" with world domination to actually come up with the goodies. The world wide web has on the other hand managed to unite people in their struggle for real rock and both musicians and record labels are finding their fanbase again.
So let me tell you what all this 80's hatred comes down to..... JEALOUSY!!! The unbelievable amount of rock musicians that could actually record several albums (not merely just: one chance, one album, and then you're outta' here), do major tours, and spend one helluva lotta' $$$ on production and promotion, tend to stab the poor and bitter hardrock musician of today like a dagger in the heart. They're having major issues and various problems coping with their situation, and can't for the world figure out how the hell acts such as Poison, Def Leppard, Winger, Journey, Dio, Asia, etc, could have all that fame and money to spend.
Then what about the 80's musician that always tend to bash their own past and heydays? Well, what can I tell you? Spineless creatures will always pop up and complain about the best days of their lives. It's actually quite funny to see how they never seem to complain about the cars, houses, and all the other goodies that came along with fame. For example, this rather famous hardrock guitarist decided to burn up all his vinyls, merch, and various band material from the 80's. Too bad he never torched the house and cars as well... you know, if he *really* wanted to get rid of all his 80's past and fortune. No need to longer accept the check with the 80's royalties that you receive every 6th month or so for that matter. Hell... give it all back to the fans instead... since they made you rich and famous in the first place. Hell, no one would even care about you today, if you didn't have all that success back in the days.
There's a major difference between "moving on" and basically naming all your fans "idiots"... merely because they still enjoy listening to the "80's" stuff. Could drugs and booze have anything to do with their constant need of hiding their awful past? Nope, no excuse! Keith Richards fell down a palm tree the other week... you don't hear him bashing the old days [and if he did, you could never understand him anyhow, since he's either too drunk or high 99% of his awake time ;-)]. Drugs and booze made The Stones popular, The Beatles were constantly high during their heydays, and Grateful Dead!!!??? I rest my case. OK, it's not all fair to compare legends such as The Beatles & Stones with the average 80's rock band. But I'm confident you get my point anyhow... You should at least look back to your musical heydays with pride and also with a humble attitude towards all the fans you once had (no matter which particular era of music you should happen to originally appear in).
In fact, I don't believe I've ever witnessed such a bunch of cry-babies as the 80's musicians. So what if the average artsy-fartsy journalist has decided to trash your past? you should at least have the guts to stand up for your music and not bend over like a poor little victim in the hands of 70's rock idol Gary Glitter. Hey, the bastard has been caught and convicted twice with kiddies, at the same time I'd like to ask: why do record stores still have his CD's at sale??? Why do radio still play his songs???
Any wiseguy will obviously try and remind me here that: our friends in the east didn't have any real freedom in the 80's, the commies had 'em all in a tight rope. True, words such as The Cold War, The Berlin Wall, The Culture Club and Boy George are all thankfully long gone [;-)]. But c'mon... this is merely a lame little article about 80's music and the poor state of rock music as of today. You wanna get all political and waaaay serious? Well, then you should definitely try and find a better place to hang out. And honestly, take a look at the state of Russia today and ask the poor, common, person over there, if he/she wouldn't rather go back to the 80's ;-)
This is turning out to be a poor sequel anyhow..... I belive it's time to end it all with a shout-out to the people... DON'T MESS WITH MY... whatever... (lame, lame, lame).
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