European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 28, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Entertainment Rock s creative Edge is a thing of the past by David Bauder the associated press Rock n Roll the raucous musical style that revolutionized pop music and produced such groundbreaking artists As Chuck Berry the beatles the rolling stones and led Zeppelin died today of old age. A descendent of blues and country and known by its nickname it a Rock it inspired youngsters from Little Richard to Prince. Rock had been living in a nursing Home for the last several years of its life hooked to a synthesizer and drum machine. The heart of Rock n Roll is still beating Quot Singer Huey Lewis claimed during the mid 1980s. That heart eventually gave out. Of. We re Only teasing. Rock n Roll in t dead. A is it a. A a billboard the music Industry s Bible suggests that it is at least wheezing. It s been More than a year a and still counting a since a Rock group s record topped the All important billboard album Chart. For a few weeks earlier this year Only australian heavy Metal band acc managed to fight its Way through the rappers dance divas and teen faves to land a record in the up Chart s top 10. And there were no rockers among this year s grammy nominees for the three top prizes record album and song of the year. The last time Rock Roll took such a Chart Holiday the Competition was Andy Williams and Johnny Mathis not my Hammer and Vanilla ice. To be fair Rock s drought can partly be explained by the Lack of activity by its reigning superstars. Guns n roses next album is expected to shoot to the top of the charts. Same with u2, and maybe . All took 1990  Quot but that s too easy. If Rock was still King u2 and guns n roses would have been replaced at the top by rockers not rappers. Maybe Mitch Miller was right. Maybe this Rock thing was a passing fad. Quot i Don t think you re Ever going to see Rock n Roll disappear said . Considine music critic for the Baltimore Sun who also writes for musician and rolling Stone. Quot but in terms of it being the creative Edge of popular music i think that Day is Long  rap has inherited the innovation Mantle from Rock in both the charts and clubs. Think of the trends Over the past few years spearheaded by hip hop sampling House music new Jack swing gangster rap explicit rap break dancing a boys and Fly girls. Think of the trends spearheaded by Rock Over the past few years. Keep thinking. Still without Rock rap and its hybrids never would have evolved. In Rock a band that received Only marginal critical respect in its heyday a led Zeppelin a has been raised to the level of deity its recent boxed set treated like spun Gold. That s simply through the sheer repetition of their music on the radio and the slavish imitation of hundreds of heavy Metal bands in their Wake. In rap a band that led the critical pack Only a couple of years ago a run dec a is forgotten. Stay away for a couple of months and the pack rushes by you. Rock s farm team dried up As the 80s Drew to a close. Blame radio for then Ost part. Rock radio stations concentrate on Husic made famous during the 60s and 70s, begrudgingly letting new songs on Only if they sound like something old. The alternative or College music scene is in a worse slump than the mainstream rockers. Consequently top 40 radio has turned elsewhere. And the sounds bubbling up from the Street Are the rhythms and rhymes of rap. It s not As if pop radio immediately embraced rap a Hammer was the first rapper to top the charts a but now it s done so with a vengeance. Pop artists whose careers depend on staying on top of trends May not rap but they certainly mine the style for rhythmic ideas. Madonna and Janet Jackson Are but two examples. Music television which All but ignored Black artists at its inception is now filled with rappers and dance artists. Rockers Are harder to find. One exception is Aero Smith whose career was revived by a collaboration with run dec. A it s not that Rock has no More Success stories. The travelling wilbury and one of its members Tom Petty Are coming off big hits. Bonnie Raitt was the Belle of last year s grammy. The Black crowds have a Platinum debut album. But notice anything All of these artists Are staunchly backward thinking in their music calculate Day evoking their own favorite musical moments in time. And that time is not the 1990s. Worse yet the generation that once vowed never to Trust anyone Over 30 is beginning to sound suspiciously like its parents. Sampling the creating of new music from old sounds pop a singles 1. Coming out of the dark Gloria Estefan 2. One More try to Timmy t. 3. This House a Tracie Spencer a 4. Hold you tight Tara Kemp 5. In be been thinking about you Londo beat 6. Someday a Mariah Carey 7. You re in love Wilson Phillips 8. Sadness part 1 Enigma 9 get Here a Oleta Adams 10. Signs Tesla. A top albums .1. Mariah Carey Mariah Carey. 2. Gonna make you sweat a amp a music factory 3. The soul cages sting ,. 4. Wilson Phillips a Wilson Phillips 5. Shake your Money maker Black crowds 6. To the extreme Vanilla ice 7. Into the Light Gloria Estelan 8. Heart shaped world Chris Isaak 9. In a your baby tonight a Whitney Houston 10. Please Hammer done to Hurt Mem . Hammer country a singles 1. Loving Blind Clint Black 2. Two of a kind. Working on a full House Garth Brooks a a 3. Id love you All Over again Alan Jackson 4.1 could t see you leavin a Conway Twitty 5. In a that kind of girl Patty Loveless 6. Heroes and friends Randy Travis 7.1 got you a Shenandoah 8. True love Don Williams 9. Down Home Alabama v. 10. Men a forester Sisters. Jazz a albums 1. You wont forget me Shirley Horn 2. Alone with three giants Marcus Roberts 3. Alive a Chick Corea 4. We Are in love Harry Connick or. 5. A lonesome thing Frank Morgan 6. Roots revisited Maceo Parker 7. Why not a Houston person 8. Rhythm stick a various artists 9. Post motown Bop Bobby Watson 10. Dropping things Betty Carter a compiled by billboard. ,. A a ,. A a a a. A a a. A file the travelling wilbury from left the late Roy Orbison Jeff Lynne Bob Dylan Tom Petty and George Harrison and Bonnie Raitt below Are among Rock s few current successes. They succeed by looking Back in time not Forward. Is roundly ridiculed by rockers. The turtles and Van a Halen Are among bands that have filed lawsuits against the use of their music in rap. Even James Brown perhaps the single most revered artist by today s rappers has grumbled about the sounds of today. It s Crossroads time for Rock s Hierarchy and it will be interesting to see who can Appeal to a younger generation. U2 Sonly recording in 1990, a remake of Cole Porter s Quot night and Day Quot was a Moody dance track As far removed from Rock As anything they be Ever done. Perhaps it signals a new direction. Rock s Best Hopes for survival lie with artists who incorporate rap s ideas without feeling threatened. Faith no More spin Magazine s Choice for Best Rock band of 1990, is a melange of heavy Metal and rap. Sinead o Connor uses Public enemy members to bring rhythmic ideas to her Stark songs and her hit single Quot nothing compares 2 a Quot was written by Prince. Folksinger Suzanne Vega was at first surprised then delighted. When a hip hop dance track made her song Quot Tom s diner Quot a hit. A. Quot the people that grew up with Rock n Roll Are going to keep listening to Rock n Roll but it s going to become in the future what big band music was in the 60s and 70s,&Quot Considine said. Quot it was around it was something that people recognized but it was not something that spoke to  10 stripes Magazine March 28, 1991