Without a doubt, hard rock has fallen on hard times, and you can in fact see the evidence in Hard Rock Cafes, and the Hard Rock Hotel in New York which was right across from my hotel in New York earlier this month. Just a tour of the memorabilia in this hotel tells some of the story. For example, here is Bob Dylan’s original and first guitar when he was playing in the folk clubs in NY in the 60s. It’s a 1949 Martin made in NY, before they moved to Nazareth Pa.
Or look at some of the rest of the artifacts and pictures, for example here is Mr. INX himself behind the cash register.
Even L.L. Cool J’s old rap jacket looks ancient.
You get my drift. Here are a few other shots. I decided since it kept raining, I would get me a colorful hat…..
Do you remember collecting some pins from the different Hard Rock Cafes all over the world? Well one reason why Rock is on the decline is many of its best selling major acts are ancient— for instance the Rolling Stones…
Although there are still some excellent rock acts with younger artists in them (think Coldplay, Rival Sons, Vertical Horizon), only Coldplay of the 90s famous can fill arenas still. And the even younger acts have to tour endlessly to make any money. Hard Rock has to rely on Classic Rock channels on Sirius Satellite radio to keep hope alive. In short the rock of the 60s through the 80s is between a rock and a hard place. And it’s sad to see… frankly. And some of the best acts these days are Cover Bands like the Lexington Lab Band, or Child’s Anthem, or from down under in Adelaide The Hindley Street Country Club.
Cue Don Mclean’s classic American Pie and we can all sing along to ‘the day the music died….’
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