Thirty-five years after Don McLean’s lamentation in his magnum opus that “something touched [him] deep inside/the day the music died,” it is time to reexamine his idea of the demise of American music.

One cannot encapsulate the death of music into one day -- the deaths of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens (although they were all phenomenal musicians).  However, music is dying before our eyes. After the infamous 1959 plane crash claimed the lives of these three performers, rock music had a renaissance in the 1960s and 1970s leading to timeless classics that revolutionized rock and roll.

However, since this “Golden Age”, music has steadily declined, and the future looks rather bleak. As each musician from the era passes away, music takes a severe, irrecoverable blow; no one is replacing the greats in talent, showmanship, or legendary status.

As a disciple of the “most rock that was recorded in the 1960s and 1970s was amazing” music philosophy, I see only a few good things in modern rock music.  I try to distance myself from it and indulge in classic music that still conveys a powerful message, years after its release.

A few weeks ago, I went to see The Who perform at the Wachovia Center. I’ll admit I was a bit skeptical (after all, half of the original band is six feet under), but the concert turned out to be amazing. These old, worn-down, balding, and beer-bellied guys can still play a damn good rock show.

Their command over the audience was unbelievable; during every major song one could sense the enthusiasm and excitement in the air. During the famous anthem of “Baba O’Riley,” 20,000 people sang in unison with Pete Townshend the famous verse: “Don’t cry, don’t raise your eye; it’s only teenage wasteland.”  Many of the older fans seemed to grow younger with each passing song, almost as if they were returning to their teenage years through the music.

Then Roger Daltry and Pete Townshend stole the show, with microphone swinging and windmill-guitar-playing antics. These guys are pretty old, but the vigor with which they played, sung, and jumped around the stage was truly an amazing sight. I expect to see even greater talent in a few weeks, when Eric Clapton will play to a sold-out crowd. A major selling point for these shows is nostalgia; people come to see legends and quickly realize that these legends are just as amazing as they were in their “prime.”

An instructive encounter with modern rock occurred at the concert. A “band” a group who produced tremendously annoying and primitive noise) named “Peeping Tom” opened for The Who. They might well have been the single biggest atrocity that I have ever witnessed.

This “Linkin Park alternative”/death metal/rap hybrid played about six songs, all involving basically the same drum patterns and guitar riff. Urging fans to “wave your f*cking finger in the air” the lead singer sang the meaningful and melodious lyrics of “Now roll it up and smoke it again/ now light me up and snort it again/ now fix me up and shoot in again/I can’t believe I did it again”. At least when the Beatles encouraged drug usage, they did so creatively, like in “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.”

Check out Peeping Tom’s  Myspace. It will give you a good laugh. Amazingly, these guys have 22,000 friends – most of whom are probably fans. Whoever let them open for The Who should be shot. Many older fans brought kids to this concert, and this is what they saw from the get-go. After about six songs the booing became too overwhelming, and “Peeping Tom” was basically forced to resign the stage.

Since many musicians of the 1960s era are dead today because of  drugs and other unfortunate lifestyle choices, I often have to resort to DVDs and recordings to “see” concerts; of course, the infectious crowd energy isn’t there, but the quality of the music and the passion of the performers most definitely are. 

The virtuosity of these musicians compared to the pop radio rock today is laughable. Most bands today build songs around a catchy lyric or a popular sequence of power chords. The rest of the song, put simply, is garbage. Difficult guitar solos become rarer, and bass solos are basically nonexistent. Drum lines are simple at best. Bands seem more concerned with image than talent, and are preoccupied with wearing eye shadow, singing in a sickeningly high and whiny voice, and wearing tight jeans. Gone are the intricate musical displays, and poetic lyrics with meaning deeper than “Oh-my-God-my-life-is-the-worst/my-girlfriend-cheated-on-me/I-might-as-well-kill-myself”refrains.

Lead singers often take an active stance on politics, urging a liberal mentality, when they often know little more about politics than the thirteen-year-olds whom they try to indoctrinate. Are they trying to become modern-age Bob Dylans or Joan Baezs or Janis Joplins? Possibly. Unfortunately, they’re not too well-read, and they do not even find creative ways to express viewpoints. However, rock bands will only produce what their fans demand of them, and if “emotional” upper middle class white boys and girls will “rebel against the man” by dressing against the status quo and condemning the government, so be it.

I suppose the most fundamental questions one can ask are, “Will anyone remember these ephemeral songs and bands 25, 50 years from now? Will their current fans care? Will anybody care?” Music is a business governed by money instead of talent and passion. Unfortunately, “Peeping Tom” is not an isolated example in modern music.

For now, classic rock fans can still see some of their musical heroes perform live. The same musicians who wrote amazing lyrics 30 years ago perform their songs today with the same skill and emotion. However, as time moves on, age will invariably take its toll. Before too long, all that will remain of our beloved classic rock musicians will be videos and recordings, not to be replaced by anyone in our generation.

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