new thread
Do you recall when most rock musicians used to have hair at least shoulder length? sometimes even mid-back or longer.
when I see four guys on stage with short haircuts that are "corporate business friendly" it really ruins it for me even if the music sounds decent.
I am so sick of seeing short haired musicians and am tempted to boycott any band that is made up of mostly short haired members!
growing up I always associated long hair with rnr, but something happened that changed all of that because you now don't see many bands in the U.S. with long hair as much as you used to.
European bands seem to have a higher proliferation of longer haired bands than here. perhaps I should just boycott American music and listen to European music.
how do you guys feel about it or does it not matter much to you?
I really know that you guys don't like listening to anti corporate diatribes, but here's the uncomfortable truth that you guys are all more than familiar with: you can't buy time. Long hair takes time to grow, often over the course of five years or more.
On the other hand, corporations want profit here and now. If they want to popularize a long(er) style, then if people (sheeple) want to adopt it, they're gonna have to wait at least four months to get any amount of hair in order to get that type of style, assuming that guys don't obsessively go to the barbershop. Women, on the other hand, won't have their hair pointed out if it's waist length -- you can get extensions, but it's just not going to be the same.
With music, it's a lot easier to go and popularize a less technical/demanding style, or at least just pay professional musicians for the backing track. Talent, on the other hand, is a lot more difficult to raise up cheaply and as such is frowned upon.
With all due respect Matt,
Rock and Roll was never about compromising with corporations aka "The Man", but it was a music with youthful enthusiasm and energy and about free expression and standing up to oppressive and authoritarian systems.
Rock and Roll is about living life the way it should be.
at least that is the way I always saw it, but perhaps to others it is just music that sounds a certain way.
I think Long Hair as far as Men goes is still associated with being a bit of an outcast, someone who dares to challenge orthodoxy and to me that is what Rock and Roll is all about!
Rock and Roll is about freedom and Long Hair is about freedom so they both go together.
seeing four dudes with short haircuts playing Rock and Roll looks out of place to me.
For all the lyrics and sentiments to the contrary it should be
noted that rock music first and foremost was about selling lots
of records and making lots of money for the record companies
and the musical acts.
For all the songs about "no possessions" and such these same
recording acts would be the first to sue you if you stole their
music (i.e. downloaded it.)
"Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world"
Share their music find out how fast you're on the end of
a lawsuit.
He didn't believe any of that b.s. he sang about in "Imagine".
many of these others like Bono, the "Boss", and numerous others are so fake. they claim they're for this and that,fighting "the system", poverty, and "making things right", but it's all promo to sell more and more CD's and concert tickets, but the real rock and roll comes from those who are in the process of wanting to make it, those who you may not even be aware of yet who may have just released their debut album, not muliti-millionaire rock stars.
haven't you guys ever noticed how a bands best work was usually during their early years and their later stuff generally sucks?
I think once a band becomes that wealthy it doesn't seem like rock and roll anymore.
I stopped listening to U2 over 25 years ago.
as for "The Boss", I never cared for him to begin with. he's always sucked as far as I'm concerned.
go check out a new local band in your town or city even if you never heard of them just for the hell of it.
forget the thing about hair and music. it was a rant, but I would definitely like to see more long haired musicians again!
To be fair though by the time John Lennon died there was no
online file sharing.
That came many years after his death. Of course his reords were
not free.
Not necessarily. Varies by the group.
On the other hand I love Bruce Springsteen.
when I wsa in college I brought alot of those local bands in
for concerts/mixers.
Probably won't happen now with the advent of music videos and tv.
I would support great rock music whether the people involved have
long hair or short hair. (both men and women)
This from a long haired rock music fan who couldn't carry a tune with a handle on it.
(if you've seen American Idol you'll know why i don't sing or
play an instrument.)
Believe it or not there are some good rock acts out there with short hair. I don't hold the short hair against them.
After all it's their hair, they can wear it the way they want.
Does his Short Hair Change the Fact that he is Awesome on Guitar?
from the band Wintersun FTR
Quit complaining. Some people have short hair, some have long hair. That's the way it is and always will be. Theres no need for you to be concerned about how long the band members' hair is.
Yes, I like going to a show and seeing long hair myself.. But if you're going to not like a band because their hair isn't long enough instead of paying attention to the feeling, the music, and the lyrics; well then you, sir, are the one who is in it for the image and you have no right to complain about them doing the same.
As for the "lennon, bono, and springsteen are hypocrites" post: I didn't know that you knew each one of them personally enough to know why they got into music and why they donate their money. Really it's incredible that you're that close to big names in music like that.
And thirdly, yes, a lot of bands put out their best work in the early years and then sort of fade in quality. However, not all bands do that and just because a band is famous and has made a lot of money doesn't mean that they aren't going to be as good. That's just a ludicrous statement to begin with. Correlation, not causation.
It sounds to me like there's some bitterness from someone in a band that never went anywhere, to be honest. But I could be wrong.
Back to the original point of this post, though. Don't accuse the bands or anyone else of being about their image over te music if you're going to sit there and do the same thing. Quit acting like you're 5.
...end rant.
(/|\), <3 , and :)
~jarvis~
I AGREE 100 PERCENT! I went to the new movie "ROCK OF AGES"
Last night, and one of the long haired rockers in the movie joins a boy band at at the urging of his "manager", and cuts his hair short. To sum it up, he was booed off stage, and the girls thought he was a dork. Great movie, Alec Baldwin is a long haired owner of a Rock and Roll club, and Tom Cruise is a long haired rocker. I am not sure, but it looks like trends may indicate a return to long hair for the mainstream society.
It doesn't matter to me. I grew up listening to the radio; I didn't know what ANY musicians or bands looked like unless I saw an album in the store (I didn't have money to buy them myself). I had my favorite bands just like anyone else. Later we got cable and I got to see some of the bands on TV. There really wasn't much relationship between what the artists looked like and which one's music I liked.