Smells Like Teen Spirit

Have you noticed there are people out there who try to put simple labels on complex ideas? I suppose it makes it easier for knowing who is with you and who is against you. But does sorting by opposites like black versus white, conservative versus liberal, reality versus Bill O'Reilly, really give you the full story? I don't think so. So rather than write about something boring like politics, how about we discuss something important, like what is rock and roll?

I'm preparing for my trip to Seattle tonight, which means creating some new playlists for my iPod. I could listen to Radio Free Europe again and again, but instead I try to put some newly added, or rarely played, songs on easy to find playlists so I can have a little variety. Part of the organization process for me includes grouping similar artists in one category. iTunes tries to do this for you, but today I decided I don't agree with their groupings.

Sometime it's easy. For example, I have Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, and George Jones in Country. That's simple, right? Well what about Johnny Cash? Many people call him country, but is he? Man in Black should surely go over in Folk (we'll get to that) with Phil Ochs and Woody. How about Johnny singing a U2 song? Doesn't that go in Rock? Johnny Cash is famous for his one finger salute to the Country Music establishment for their support, and he was right. Those guys are all hat, no banjo.

Rock has many categories. Alternative (to what?), Indie, Pop, Surf, Garage, Jangle, and Folk come to mind first. Folk rock. Remember what happened when Bob Dylan first came out with an electric guitar? He was booed. Bob Dylan singing Like a Rolling Stone was booed by his "fans". He grew, they didn't. I'm guilty of being stuck in the past as well. I like the early REM jangle albums. I like the next phase of their records as well, with more guitar and Stipe's vocals more articulate. I don't like where they are now though. It sounds too much like they're tuning up, not playing a song.

Even my buddy Neil Young has a record now I don't like much, Living With War. For a guy like Neil, with a huge history of great music, to come out with an album like this is just not right. It sounds like he smoked a fatty and threw the album together in an evening. The lyrics are simplistic, the music lame. Where is Crazy Horse? Oh wait, maybe he wasn't smoking up and that's the problem. Get Dre on the phone, change the channel Beavis, this one sucks.

Betsy had a good idea for grouping rock music:

Rock: Neil Young, ELO, Beatles (really anything an old guy like yourself would enjoy)

Alternative: REM, Teenage Fanclub, Sonic Youth, B52s, Beck -- alternative radio friendly

Indie: Elliot Smith, Belle & Sebastian, the Shins, Beat Happening, Loud Family -- maybe you saw it on 120 Minutes one time.

Here's my proposal. Bands with Rickenbackers and Vox tube amps can come to the front of the line. But I like Molly Hatchet too, so Les Pauls are OK if the amp is cranked to ten. Oh, and acoustic guitars are OK, because we need Neil Young and Elliot Smith. But where are we going to put The Cowboy Junkies, The Flaming Lips, and freaky Jack White? Without one of those Harry Potter sorting hats this labeling thing isn't going to be easy. Maybe I'll just take the labels off and judge the bands on their music.