...And Music Of the Past.

I've just finished reading the book "I'm With The Band", the pretty infamous story of Pamela Des Barres.

Yes, the book is primarily about her sexual exploits with many famous rock stars of the 1960's & 70's. But, another thing that jumped out at me, whilst reading the book, was a realisation that we just don't seem to have rock stars, or even music like that these days.

If i name some of the bands, or artists, mentioned in the book you might see what i mean:
The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, Led Zeppelin, Rod Stewart & The Faces, The Byrds, Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa etc etc.

With the possible exception of Frank Zappa, who i know is still widely respected in musical circles, all of those bands listed are still listened to, revered & very much appreciated today. Possibly even more so than they were back then. In fact i still listen to all of them regularly myself.

Many of those artists are also considered a huge influence on modern day music & i certainly wouldn't argue with that.

So, i suppose that hat i'm getting at is, does the music of today stand up to the music of those heady years & also, will we still be playing the music of today in 30 years time?

Unfortunately, on both counts, i'd have to say a big fat NO. Well, ok, there may be a few exceptions, but not very many. I'm wracking my brains here...

I fully realise that at least a part of what i feel is influenced by the fact that i was born in 1958 & grew up listening to that same music. That always makes a difference to the way you feel about certain music & artists. The music of your youth will always have a huge influence of your future listening experience. That's only natural.

But, i really don't see many bands around these days who stand up to those of the past.
Are there really any big influential bands around now. Or, are they all just copycats of the past?
Maybe we've just run out of ideas & it's now a case of "it's all been done before"

When something supposedly "new" does come along, it often harks back to the past. And even then, the few original bands that do try a new angle are followed by many substandard hangers on.
I know that it has always been this way, even back in the 60's & 70's. But, the quality of the copycats just seemed better & more original back then.

The only really "new" music that has come along in the past 30 years, in my humble opinion anyway, has been electronic music & hip hip/rap. And i suppose the only reason that has happened is because, for the most part, the technology just wasn't available any earlier to actually help produce that type of music?

It could, of course, just be a case of the way that music is produced & sold now?
Maybe experimentation is frowned upon by record comapanies? Whereas, back in those early days it was positively encouraged. (This is a topic i may well cover in a future blog, or vlog post)
Or, maybe, the problem is far deeper than that?

There is still some very good music being made right now. But, i'm not sure that much of it will ever be considered to be "great" music.

Only time will tell, i guess?

Hastings Pier & the BBC

Yesterday i attended a protest march to Save Hastings Pier.

The pier in Hastings has been in a state of neglect for a few years now. This is partly due to absentee owners. Because of this, approx 3 years ago the pier was closed, with immediate effect, due to its unstable state. It has been closed to vistors ever since.
It's in such a bad state of repair that there are notices posted advising people not to walk under it!

Hastings Pier was designed by Eugenius Birch. a famous Victorian pier builder & opened in 1872. He also designed the West Pier at Brighton, also in East Sussex. Ironically, the West Pier has also fallen into disrepair. It has since suffered a bad fire & is now in two parts & derelict.

Whilst at the protest march, i got talking to Natalie Graham a reporter for the BBC. You may have seen her on BBC South East Today. She was there to report on the march.

I asked her whether they were going to report anything about the musical history of Hastings Pier & all the great acts that have played there. Throughout the 1960's, '70's, 80's & even the 90's Hastings Pier played host to many great bands. These include Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd (with Syd Barrett), Genesis, Rolling Stones, The Who, Sex Pistols etc etc. You name a band, especially a British band & there's a pretty good chance that they played there.
I just happened to be wearing a t.shirt commemorating Jimi Hendrix's gig on the pier in October 1967 at the time.

She said that they didn't have time to put that side of the story into a brief news item. But, they would be very interested in doing a proper report on the pier's musical history. This need not be confined to just the rock music angle. But, also the raves that were held in the 80's & anything else musical for that matter.
Personally, i'd like any report to concentrate on the rock music angle. But, that is not set in stone.

So, this is where you come in.
I have done some research into the musical history of the pier in the past. But, as Natalie rightly pointed out. Just reeling off the names of the acts who have played there would not work very well on TV.

What we need is film footage, or photo's of bands/acts playing on Hastings Pier.
Do you have any? Or, do you know anyone who has?

If you do, please get in touch with me.
You can email me at andymoose44@hotmail.com

I'd love to get this story broadcast, as there is a very rich musical history to Hastings Pier & it would be great to see that recoginsed. It's all part of the heritage of Hastings Pier after all.
Whether the pier itself is saved & i hope it is. This is an aspect that should not be overlooked.
I hope you all agree.

So, please spread the word & let's see if we can get the rock n roll history of Hastings Pier onto the BBC. Thanks.

By the way. here's a link to a video i made for YouTube of the Save Hastings Pier protest march:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o465nmxWN9o