I’m going to try to tell the complete history of rock music in 90 seconds. Ready? Here we go.
Rock ’n’ roll begins in the ’50s, when R&B and several other genres merge, thanks to Elvis, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard. There’s a lull when Elvis goes into the army, but it is soon filled by the Beach Boys and songs about California, followed almost immediately by the Beatles and the British Invasion.
Then come Dylan, the hippies, and drugs, leading to everything from an explosion in garage bands to groups that make music so complex they might as well have been classical musicians.
The ’70s see album sales explode and the domination of FM rock radio. Recording studios and techniques become more sophisticated, and rock follows. Meanwhile, punk comes along as a potent reactionary force where everything is ripped up and everyone starts again.
Punk evolves into new wave in all its flavours, including those powered by synthesizers. Hair metal takes over for most of the ’80s before flaming out and being replaced by grunge and all the alt-rock of the ’90s, while Britain has a great time with Madchester and Britpop. That, too, gets tired after a while, but is reborn under the guise of indie rock in the late ’90s and into the 2000s.
Then streaming comes along and blows up all the cycles of music, introducing an unaccountable number of approaches and sounds.
So, in summary: early rock ’n’ roll, surf rock, British rock, garage bands, psychedelic rock, metal, soft rock, country rock, proto-punk, pre-punk, punk rock, plus prog rock, power pop, corporate rock, new wave, alternative, indie, grunge, industrial, goth rock, Madchester, Britpop, rap-rock, and the indie rock revival.
That was 83 seconds. I’ve got to work on that. One thing I didn’t mention is something known as “post-rock.” That is—well, that’s weird. The name implies that something comes after rock, but rock is still with us. So how can there be an “after” when there’s still a “now?”
Let’s see if we can deconstruct things. This is part one of an attempt to define the slippery term known as “post-rock.”
Songs heard on this show:
- Velvet Underground, Venus in Furs
- Can, I Want More
- David Bowie, Art Decade
- Public Image Ltd., Death Disco
- Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Burning Rubber
- Talk Talk, Life’s What You Make It
- Stereolab, Wow and Flutter
- Tortoisem The Taut and Tame
- Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Storm
We have a playlist from Eric Wilhite.
The Ongoing History Music can be heard on these stations. Don’t forget that there’s a podcast version, too, in case you miss any episodes. Get them for free wherever you get your podcasts.
- 102.1 The Edge/Toronto – Sunday night at 7pm
- Q107/Toronto – Sunday night at 9pm
- Live 88-5/Ottawa – Saturdays at 9am and Sundays at 6pm.
- 107.5 Dave-FM/Kitchener – Sunday nights at 11pm
- FM96/London – Sunday nights at 8pm
- Power 97/Winnipeg – Sunday nights at 10am and 10pm
- 107-3 The Edge/Calgary – Sundays at 10am and 10pm
- Sonic 102.9/Edmonton – Sunday at 8am and 8pm
- The Zone/Victoria – Sunday at 8am and 9pm
- The Fox/Vancouver – Sundays at 10anm and 10pm
- The Goat Network/Interior BC
- Surge 105/Halifax – Sunday at 7pm
- WAPS/WKTL The Summit/Arkon, Canton, Cleveland, Youngstown – Mon-Fri at 9pm
Don’t forget about my other podcast, Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry. If you love true crime with your music, you’ll love this. Get Uncharted wherever you get your podcasts.
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