Posted on 08/11/2011 9:40:11 PM PDT by mnehring
Thanks, RockinRight.
I just pinged you on another thread about Jani Lane that Perdogg pinged me on.
Sad, sad news...
Oddly, the song I remember them most for was “Heaven”. I was a teenage girl, so it’s one of those songs that always gave me butterflies.
LOL.
Didn’t “hate” hair bands (except for Poison and Warrant) the latter because I preceived them as being perverted due to their hit Cherry pie video lol. The 3 groups you mentioned I didn’t even think of as Hair bands but yeah now that I picture them you’re right. I was thinking of the bands like Twisted Sister, Skid Row, Cinderella etc. I kinda liked a heavier rock like Metallica, AC/DC as opposed to them. But you’re right, the early ones weren’t bad at all. But I know some of the guys used to make fun of their girly hair and makeup and couldn’t take them seriously as performers because they looked funny:)
Perverted? Eeh, lighten up, rock and roll was never supposed to be church lady music!
But seriously, like most musical genres, they start out good and then fade out as the copycats come aboard. Motley Crue, Ratt, etc. were “hair bands” by today’s standards, but back then they were just metal. The way they dressed got them a lot of flak, but back then, it was definitely more acceptable for a guy to like the Crue or Dokken than Poison, Winger etc...the latter of which catered to a more female audience (I’m male BTW). Only when that music became “nostalgic” did it become more acceptable for a guy to listen to it.
Warrant, Poison, etc. were less serious bands, but still put on a good show of “fun” type music. Not as good as the earlier stuff as far as songwriting or musicianship, though.
Although I mentioned Motley Crue as the first commercially successful hair band (their first “real” album was released in 1981), what we know today as “hair metal” developed in the late 70s and early 80s from a convergence of 70s glam and hard rock (Kiss, Alice Cooper, Gary Glitter, Queen) and British Metal (Judas Priest, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Def Leppard). In fact, it may be more accurate to say that Kiss was the “original” hair band. By the release of “Lick It Up” in 1983 (without makeup), Kiss was changing their sound to be more like the very bands they themselves had inspired.
I like Metallica and AC/DC too by the way, but I’m pretty eclectic in my tastes.
I have Sirius Satellite Radio, and my presets range from 80s pop, to hard rock, to “Hair Nation” (self-explanatory) and even a country channel. About the only thing I don’t like is rap and hip hop, but even there, I can tolerate the older (80s) stuff like Run-DMC.
He said that the kind of music he really wanted to write was more like “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, itself a great song, but not as commercially viable, although it was also a hit.
He did eventually admit that he liked what Cherry Pie did for his success.
I know people from Akron (my hometown) who knew him personally, and most agree that he was a nice, but troubled, guy.
I can tell you’re a music lover and know quite a bit about it:) Ha, I know I need to lighten up lol and have come a long way but as a teen I had quite a few insecurities and all the hot video chicks didn’t help ease those any:) I couldn’t relate to guys singing about a girl’s butt but I could relate to the spiritual undertones in some of the heavier rock. For the last 10 years or so I find myself listening to talk radio a lot more than I listen to music, Nothing excites me in music anymore, or maybe I’m just old lol, but I remember it felt so good when we walked the neighborhood with our “boom boxes” blaring out Shout at the devil, Foolin’, Round & round and so on...Okay and I LOVED Cinderella’s “Nobody’s fool.” Saw them open for Bon Jovi. But I think it was the British glam rock like you said Bowie and Queen etc. and then Kiss melding that into hard rock that made it acceptable and even cool to do the hair/makeup. Like you, rap and hip hop is the only genre I don’t enjoy. Eh I can’t get into country either but there are some goodies here and there and it’s at least non-offensive to my ears.
Vacuous...perfect word for it. People make fun of the 80’s and say it was the worst decade for music but I think they’re way off...the 90’s sucked imo and today? What are the hits of today? Lady Gaga...I’ve heard some of her stuff at the office and a couple tunes might be good for dancing but it too lacks that something “fun” to it. The 80’s had some fun, upbeat and optimistic songs while a lot of the stuff now seems anxious and depressing. And why oh why are middle class and wealthy white kids into the hard core inner city driven rap noise?
My boys & I have been watching the Little League World Series playoffs this week and the announcers often tell of one of the young player's favorite band...and it's almost always a band from the 80's. (mostly heavy metal). My kids rarely listen to anything from the past 10 years.
I see a slight shift in many young teens turning to old western swing music and folk...especially on the music forums i frequent...it can be refreshing at times to see them post a thread asking about certain old singers and what is a good cd to buy...many young guys are really getting into country pickin’ on the guitar.
IMHO, music went on life support around 1988 and died around 2000.
I'll bet that name was a real conversation starter.
My 15 year old son is the same way. He loves ‘70s and ‘80s music. In his opinion, music today is made for four subgroups: girls and young women, minorities, gays and Columbine killer wanna-bes. Nothing for white boy athletes who do well in school.
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