For many classic rock bands, it’s better to keep touring
than burn out or fade away.
Third-year philosophy student Greg Katz has seen many classic
rockers in the past couple of years, including Paul McCartney,
Simon and Garfunkel, and Crosby, Stills and Nash. But for Katz,
it’s not about keeping up with the latest trends.
“Every year I end up buying albums from completely
different periods of time, because it’s not just about being
relevant and current,” Katz said. “It doesn’t
depend on the time period ““ if it’s good, I’m
going to want to listen to it.”
Indeed, Katz is not alone in taking an interest in older artists
and their music both past and present. Recently, many high-profile
tours of older musicians have gone through the Los Angeles area and
around the country, including those of McCartney and Simon and
Garfunkel and, more recently, the Rolling Stones and U2. For fans
such as Katz, however, the reasons for liking music by veteran
artists can be quite varied.
“I actually feel that guitar solos are annoying and
self-indulgent and should be excised from all music, and I’ve
found that I have a passionate hatred for a great many old
things,” Katz said, laughing. “With all that being
said, there are transcendent qualities to some music. If
“˜Exile on Main Street’ came out today it’d be
just as awesome, because it doesn’t depend on the time period
in which it came out.”
Second-year neuroscience student Donald Noble, who has seen U2
multiple times this year, agrees that bands are better able to stay
relevant and connect with people if they’re not bound by a
specific time period.
“In U2, there’s something that speaks to people
across generations,” Noble said. “Their songs
aren’t just about things that were important in the
’80s, but instead themes that just about everyone thinks
about, such as love.”
Fourth-year history student Justin Baker, on the other hand, was
drawn to classic rock for entirely different reasons. Baker began
to listen to classic rock in high school, crediting “Stairway
to Heaven” as the song that got him interested in older
music.
“I went through all of my parents’ records one night
and it sort of hit me that my parents’ generation of music
can never be reproduced,” Baker said.
He conceded that everyone will have differing tastes, but he
feels many college-age people prefer classic rock in a nostalgic
sense, longing for a time long past because today’s music
isn’t as good as it was back then.
“When you’re younger, you really get into a stage of
independence with music where you think to yourself, “˜Well,
I’m going to listen to what I want,’ and shy away from
older music,” Baker said. “Then as you get older, your
mind opens up more to it, partly because music today just
isn’t as good.”
Another benefit of taking an interest in classic rock for these
fans has been an increased communication and ability to relate to
their parents and that generation.
“My dad and I both listen to a lot of music … but we
have different perspectives on the world,” said Katz, who
went to a Rolling Stones concert on Saturday with his father.
“For instance, he likes the Beach Boys because their music is
about surfing, girls and having fun, but I like their music because
of the psychology of a musical genius who can’t successfully
coexist with other people.”
Baker agrees listening to the same music as one’s parents
can be beneficial in building communication and understanding.
After having lunch with his mom one day, they were driving home and
The Doors’ “Spanish Caravan” started playing in
his car stereo. His mom told him she would have put the song on
immediately had she known it was in the CD player.
“Even at this age, where I want to be more independent,
(listening to the same music) really helped me to get closer to my
parents,” Baker said.
Regardless of the reasons for listening to classic music,
however, the one thing that itranscends above all else is quality,
which Katz believes is sometimes forgotten in the face of context
and era.
“You hear so much about people saying, for instance,
Nirvana is an important band because they killed ’80’s
hair metal,” Katz said. “And that’s not true
““ they’re important because they’re
awesome.”