The New York Times’ Sunday Magazine recently published a brilliant essay from author/humorist/columnist Chuck Klosterman. It is well worth your time. (If you don’t get to it today, save it for a weekend read on your deck with a cold one and something appropriate playing in the background.)
“Which Rock Star Will Historians of the Future Remember?”
It’s a great “think piece” about rock n’ roll (think about that for a minute), asking readers to consider who truly represent this incredible musical genre, given the many icons we have to choose from over decades of great music. Klosterman considers the obvious iconic choices: the Beatles, Dylan, Elvis, the Stones.
And fittingly, John Lennon makes his key pronouncement at the end of the article:
“If you tried to give rock n’ roll another name, you might call it ____________.”
We often discuss the idea of the music’s longevity and appeal with programmers, sales managers, and advertisers, especially among younger demos. The music seems to be everywhere these days, from ads for national brands to motion picture and TV soundtracks. As the Classic Rock format continues to thrive more than 30 years after we figured out how to put it on the radio, questions about the music’s mortality and lasting power abound.
The bands themselves have waxed philosophical about this question with emphatic statements like “Long live rock” and “Rock n’ roll will never die.” Lou Reed recognized the healing powers of the music with his famous quote, “Her life was saved by rock n’ roll.”
It is clear the decades after most of this music was released – Rock, Classic Rock, or whatever it’s called – it will most definitely be heard, enjoyed, appreciated, and debated by people 100 years from now in the same way that Beethoven, Bach, and Tchaikovsky are today. Klosterman talks about how a college professor of the future will lecture about a genre that dominated the second half of the last century. And importantly, who will symbolize the face of the music?
“It’s only rock n’ roll” is a phrase that comes to mind, because what other genre of music heard today on the radio is even worthy of this level of discussion and debate? And that speaks volumes about the staying power and outsized value and enjoyment this music brings millions of people around North America…and the world.
Yes, this question about who is the ONE who most represents what Rock n’ Roll is all about would make a good morning show/Facebook bit, but the article is so much more. As someone who got through college writing essays about social, political, and cultural aspects of rock n’ roll, I was especially delighted to read Chuck Klosterman’s musings and analysis.
Who is the face of the music?
He thought it through, and somewhere, Marty McFly is nodding enthusiastically.
Rock n’ roll never forgets.
Click below for an old, grungy video that exudes the spirit of the music and provides a clue to the answer to “the question.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdkVsnZk2MI
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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