Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Well... this aint a political chat site, so I have "no comment".

All 'chat' is political, Kent...but I agree, sometimes no comment is the right one.
Just for the sake of chatting, though...who do you think owns Rock-n-Roll now?

Perhaps to take it even further Dane, who owns the media?

Bingo! About six people, give or take...

>>>All 'chat' is political

eh?... Maybe in the broadest sense, but not in my definition of the word. I was referring to presidential politics / social issues / world events... that kind of ****. That is not what a Ricenbacker chat site is for and I'd imagine that anyone getting into that area would get slapped on the pee-pee by some web master.

>>>who do you think owns Rock-n-Roll now?

huh.... never really thought about it and I guess there is no simple answer. I guess my answer would be that nobody really "owns" it. I suppose an argument can be made that in order to get a cd out there you have to bend over and take it up the bum from the big record companies and therefore they exert tremendous control.... and I wouldn't argue the point since I dont know all that much about the ins and outs of the music biz.

But on a very micro level, as an active weekend warrior rock'n'roller I go out there and play rock'n'roll all the time. I dont feel that anyone but me "owns" what I do.

Fortunately Peter McCormack runs this site and not Rupert Murdock, which results in less "pee-pee slapping" for all concerned...
I'm glad you feel there's no simple answer to the Rock-n-Roll question...running out of simple answers is the birth of true politics. Deciding not to keep 'bending over and taking it' ought to be the birth of true Rock-n-Roll...
This is a more institutionally violent and careless time than any I've lived through since the sixties, and it's hard for me to keep silent about it. On the most micro level of all, some weekend warriors are coming home in a box, or worse. Believe me, some of them are starting to feel that they no longer "own" what they're being required to do...

(Ok, Peter...slap away, if you must...)

>>>and it's hard for me to keep silent about it.

yes, I sense that is true. My sense it that you're itching to start a discussion about Bush or the war or stuff like that. There are hundreds of political argue sites out there for you to flame on if you must. Believe me, I've been there done that more than you know. Certailnly the music industry itself is fair game on this site and I'd be interested in hearing comments about that since (as I said) I dont know all that much about it.

But when all is said and done, this is Rickenbacker/guitar-related site and as such I think its great. And while I've spent more time on political flame sites than I care to admit, the LACK of flame wars on this site is one of the thigs I (for one) like about it. Lets keep it that way.

Fair enough, man...it's hard for me to keep things compartmentalized at times, but I'll work on it...

I think we all gotta watch out with the 'fiddling while Rome burns', though...believe me, if I were into 'flaming' something (which I'm most emphatically not), it wouldn't be in cyberspace...

Meanwhile, to paraphrase FZ, Rock-n-Roll isn't dead, it just smells funny...

>>Rock-n-Roll isn't dead, it just smells funny...

ha... hadn't heard that one. But the great thing about R&R is that everytime someone tries to put it in a box it bursts out in some other flavor or color. The first of those boxes was in the early 60's when R&R was seen as a little too racey (and a little too Negro). It was then when we got the prepackaged milktoast rock fakers like Paul Anka (and others). But rock and roll was like a huge octapus... something was going to slither out somewhere. And so we had (and still have) Motown, West Coast Surf, Rockabilly, Soul, etc all doing their thing despite what the record company and TV execs thought "the kids should have".

Then the Beatles hit and the rest is history.

...and history is important. Before long someone may have to explain to a new generation that "Rock-n-Roll" was a musical form before it was a setting on an M-16.

(ooh!...sorry, man...)

{yawn}

The suits own rock n roll and have for a long time, every time something new comes along the suits figure out a way to make money from it and ultimately ruin it.
I've talked to club owners who have complained about Ascap coming in for their money. I think the whole music business sucks, always have, including club owners, managers and record Co. execs and all the other hacks and hangers on that go with that whole scene. I play because I love it number 1, number 2 I make a few bucks, but that's a far as I am willing to go. I play with people who were or were close to being famous and got chewed up and spitten out, where are they now? Playing in the same dumps I am.
Bush? I don't think we have to ***** about him anymore, it's become too obvious lately, all houses of cards come tumbling down sooner or later.

Thank you, Bob, I agree 100%. If we can agree about that, how about my contention that 'the suits' own everything: God, Sex, Drugs, Rock-n-Roll, The Food Chain, etc. How'd things get this way, and how do they stay this way?

Incidentally, 'the suits' love it when politics bores us, which is one clue to the answer....

If you look around the world and throughout history, musicians and other artists function as the 'canaries in the coal mine' for their societies...it ain't good if the canaries become able to tolerate poisonous gas.

There's more to music than fingerings and knob settings. Just ask that Bob Dylan guy...

Dane... it must be frustrating for you to have all the answers and yet society just doesn't seem to want to listen. Hmmmm... how can that be?

There was a point in time when I too had all the answers. But that was many years ago and I've since learned that I was mistaken.

Nobody's claiming to "have all the answers", least of all Dane. I appreciate his wisdom and sardonic wit, and yours, too, Kent. The three of us are all of the same generation, have vastly differing life experiences and geographic preferences, yet we all share this Forum and contribute regularly.

My take on Dane is that frustration is something he doesn't seem to have a lot of, and humor and depth he has in spades.

Anybody who seriously thinks he himself has all the answers hasn't asked enough questions. We three are beyond that.