(0841) Been a bit frenetic this morning … redacting on UHC-WP and it’s still barely dinted … plus closing off the OoL live blog … plus gathering for here, so a bit late back. (0951)

 

10. Moo corner

9. Muppet watch

8. The adulteration of our foodstuffs

7. How Gen X ruined rock music … or was it them?

As mentioned a couple of times before … to say, for example, that “Boomer” music was Doors, Who, Hendrix, Floyd et al is to get the chronology wrong.

Let’s take a mid Boomer, 1955 say … he/she is mid-teenage at the time of Woodstock but his/her own music only starts appearing in the early to mid 70s.

So let’s just take, oh I don’t know … Hendrix (1942) and Joplin (1943) … maybe John Fogerty (1945). None of those were Boomers, they were war generation, Boomer in toddlerhood.

So who starts talking Nirvana or Pearl Jam? Certainly not mid Boomers … they listened to Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin, Floyd. It has to be Gen X, maybe a few cusp late Boomers. Difference (usually) … most Gen X are tech savvy, naturally … Boomers had to learn new skills.

Right, I’m going look at this Nirvana bunch … lead singer some guy called Cobain apparently (1967) … yep, straight Gen X music. Mid Gen X start seriously listening around 1982/3 to 1990, that is … during the Millennial era.

All right … the question on Quora was, “Why is rock music disappearing?” One answer was:

“A simple answer. Nirvana and Pearl Jam, both great bands, took the “cool” out of rock. Prior to them, being a rock star was about being rich, getting girls and living the lifestyle. Nirvana was anti that. Hair metal got old. Nirvana rebelled against it.

If you were 15 in 1995, what looked like more fun: being a rapper all blinged up, with videos of you with the ladies, surrounded by cool rides and a mansion OR wearing an old sweater, looking at your shoes when performing and bemoaning life?

Add to that the fact that one could be a rapper with a mixer and Dr Seuss lyrics vs having to learn an instrument, write songs and create something.

Today, 90% of pop and country songs are written by 20 people in each genre. To make money all you need to find a pretty face with a decent voice, hand them the lyrics and hit record. Other than the metal artists, today’s music is manufactured.

For the record labels, the investment is cheap and if something doesn’t hit, they simply move on to the next wannabe pop/country star. Why invest time and money in a rock band that may not hit or may take some time to build an audience?

We have also lost the regular RnR artists. There are no Tom Pettys anymore. Metal is strong, especially in Europe, but for many people it’s a bit harsh. Until we get a young Guns n Roses or AC/DC, bands which appeal to fans of multiple genres of music, rock will be a side note.

Having said all that, there are some young rock n rollers out there. The Warning , Yungblud etc are starting to get some traction.

Edit: I am not saying that “image” is important (though it plays a role), but merely saying to a young person, rappers took the “cool” away from rock.

Also, grunge/alternative didn’t “take away my bands”. I listen to ALL rock from The Kinks to Metallica, from the Stones to The Warning, from Fleetwood Mac to Stone Sour, I like it all.

The biggest issue today is the lack of new artists in rock. Are there some? Yes. If you think of the “biggest” rock artists out there: Metallica, Slipknot, Volbeat, Avenged Sevenfold etc., all of them are at least 40+ years old.

Edit 2: Many have taken offense and commentted that there are ways to find music or that their version of rock is out there. True. I understand that you can find music through various outlets, specifically the internet or streaming services. By disappearing, I was referring to the fact that pop/country is on the radio on multiple stations, while rock may be on one or two in your market. I also understand that zillions of people don’t listen to the radio.

If you have to “find” music, it is not “mainstream” or at minimum, less popular than other genres.”

JH: Yep, that’s a straight Gen X opinion. Imho, it died late 70s, even 1980 with ska (Madness) or New Order.

6. IYE corner, some items possibly repeated

a. Those missing scientists. From theLeahfiles:

“You all asked me to look into the missing/deceased scientists. The correlations are pretty crazy. Working on the network map, but here is what I have so far:….”

|https://substack.com/@theleahfiles/note/c-253858244

b. “ Augustus Doricko’s Rainmaker uses cloud seeding tech to bring rain where it’s needed. In the process, he’s been swept up in a storm of controversy involving accusations that he’s playing God, an agent of the deep state, and worse.…”

|https://web.archive.org/web/20260507162408/https://www.fastcompany.com/91448561/this-is-the-hardest-startup-in-america

c. About time someone brought this to the fore again.

“ The God-King’s Shadow
What two German scholars documented about the Dalai Lama, the Kalachakra, and the men he never stopped meeting with — and why almost no one in the English-speaking world has ever heard of it”

|https://courtenayturner.substack.com/p/the-god-kings-shadow

(DL is or was a good friend of Charlie Three. Here’s the original which I slogged through many moons ago.

|http://www.trimondi.de/SDLE/Contents.htm )

JH housekeeping note:

IYE’s output in HQ comments have been playing havoc for days, since his format changed … when I try to copy and paste, it grabs the private data too and posts both together on the post page. There are two solutions, other than asking him to change the format, look after the punctuation, whatever. Don’t want that he changes that …

Either I do as I have done and insert the “|”, which does fix it … or I don’t repost and just signpost. Once I’ve archived IYE’s postings at UHC-WP (currently underway), I’ll get back here and explore what was causing the issue.