Source:www.bransoncritic.org



Rock and Roll music has always been the subject of controversy.

I guess it has to do with the fact that it was the first music genre that was truly demonstrative, although still cloaked with a veil of euphemism, as opposed to the mildly suggestive music that preceded it.

For the most part modern music has always been about relationships, or more accurately, sex.

The seemingly polite song from 1959, "I Only Have Eyes For You," could easily have been titled, "I Have The Hots For You," but that would have been too direct in its day.

That song was considered Rock and Roll, but no one, save the most uptight Conservative, took issue with it.

It's said that good Rock and Roll music emanates from the crotch, and is just like sex, which involves rocking and rolling, if you're doing it right.

What do you think The Scorpions song, "Rock Me Like A Hurricane," is inferring?

For some reason though, ever since its inception many people have been opposed to the genre and wanted it banned. Some Southern legislators went as far as to attempt to have it banned by Congress!

I remember one retrogressive disc jockey, who broke records, while saying, "Rock and Roll must go." Sorry, I can't remember his name. Maybe one of my readers will refresh my memory.

Now we have Hip-hop, and its blatant vulgarities glamorizing violence. I don't get it, so perhaps I'm just getting old and out of fashion, but I don't think so. Glamorizing sex doesn't quite equate with condoning violence.

Anyway, some of the most successful rockers of all time, such as The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, shown above, and Paul McCartney, et al, are now senior citizens and people are debating whether or not they should hang up their six strings.

Why? No one suggests that a sculptor, or a painter, or a writer, who is getting on in years retire. As long as the product is still desirable and of high quality, and in the case of these aging rockers, it is, they should go on.

I say, if you can still do it, you're probably not too old for it, although my wife does take issue with me on that, once in a while.

I think Neil Young summed it up best when he said:

"It's better to burn out than fade away."

Rock on!