On March 4, 2008 the stars aligned along Sunset Blvd. starting at around 11:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time as history was going to be made for a second year in a row. That day, at the legendary Whisky a Go Go on the famed Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, CA, press and, shortly after, bands started to file into the world-famous club where bands have made history since 1964. Once again The Whisky would help make music history by helping the promoters of last year’s ROCKLAHOMA FESTIVAL announce that it would be held for the second straight year in a row.
This festival’s 2nd year proves that the demand for music that was first coined Glam Rock in the 1980s was back in demand, and in the spotlight once again! Glam bands – also coined Hair Bands – were completely over-the-top with their big hair, massive amounts of makeup, and outrageous ways, and their music was “feel-good” then and is just as feel-good 20 years later. The lyrics are drenched with tales of sex, drugs and rock n’ roll.
The fact is that the ‘80s were all about how great life could feel and be. Money seemingly flowed everywhere, and people lived in a state of perpetual adolescence. MTV allowed music fans to see rock stars 24/7 as these new rock videos got heavy rotation, and the rockers themselves became household names and faces. Before MTV, only a select few bands enjoyed that kind of instant recognition. They had teenagers all over the country – and soon all over the world – copying their style and inspiring kids worldwide to create garage bands and cover bands to honor their new heroes. An entire generation took their cues from these bands, making the cultural ideals they saw in the videos their own.
For those who are now between the ages of 35-45 who lived for rock n’ roll of the ‘80s, the party never really ended, it just took a detour that we had to wait out in public while other genres of music came and went according to the times. In the privacy of our homes, raising our kids and working, those days never died. We kept them alive by living undercover in many ways.
Most of us changed our clothing, our hair and makeup, but not our ways of life. We still rocked it to our favorite Glam Bands, changing our collections from albums and tapes to CDs and MP3s. And we drenched our now-teenage and young adult children in the music we grew up with. Now, 20 years later, Rocklahoma is exactly what the true rocker boys and girls of the mid-‘80s to early ‘90s have been waiting for, and our children are along for the ride, with some playing the music in their own bands. We don’t have to hide anymore; we can come out and play again, in all our outrageous glory. As Eddie Trunk of VH1 and VH1 Classics said at the press conference, “This music can now, like all great rock, be considered classic rock!” It is now part of the fabric of our history, culture, and a lifestyle lived by millions – not just in the United States, but worldwide, where much of this music never lost its appeal.
Watching as the bands came up on stage at the press conference, not only were you taken to another place and time, but you could see in the demeanor of the musicians on stage how much they supported each other, held the others in great esteem, and built each other up. It was truly a love fest of great artists coming together to have a good time and to make sure that those in attendance have a great time.
So imagine what Rocklahoma itself will be like, with close to 80 bands playing over 4 days in July. This seems like a modern-day Woodstock! Up on the stage someone muttered those words as well, or maybe that’s something we all hoped we heard.
While onstage for his part of the press conference, Bret Michaels looked good, and was excited about his plans for Rocklahoma. He spoke of his plans: “I will be playing with my solo band, the B sides, my solo work, some covers, some great pyrotechnics, some storytelling, excitement!” He also went on to say he would call it “Rock My World Week,” meaning the fans and his CD, by having a pre- and post-party for those with special VIP passes for all days of Rocklahoma.
Not only was Bret’s kindness and down-to-earth approach comforting, but every single musician there carried the same vibe. Even with all their makeup on, and hair done just like the days of old, you felt as if you where a part of the family…the ROCK N’ ROLL family! They never seemed unattainable back in the day, and today they still have the feeling of availability they always have. That is something not many musicians offer. Those making the music today carry the same vibe, carrying on in the same tradition.
Today you can look at anyone’s music collection on CD or their iPod and instantly you can tell what generation they are from. Nothing in this world excites a true rocker more than to hear that bands like Warrant, LA Guns, Cinderella, Telsa, XYZ, and Bret Michaels are back to rock us, and bring out the wild child in all of us once again. When life wasn’t so politically correct, there was a stoner’s corner or at least a smoker’s corner in every school, and at least through most teenage high school years in the 1980s around the U.S. you would hear a teacher ask a student, “So did you roll or snort your lunch today?” without calling the cops if nothing was found.
We may have been kids but we got good grades, went to college and got our degrees, and the music we listened to was not to be used as a scapegoat whenever something went wrong in the world. Of course we all wore too much makeup. The girls’ skirts were way too short, something Terry Ilous of XYZ can be quoted on, asking about those mini-skirts coming back on several occasions. He asked an audience full of screaming fans back in January, “Where have all the really short, I mean SHORT skirts of the ‘80s gone? Are they going to come back?” Terry, the answer to that is, if the chick has got the legs, the skirts are getting shorter. Look for them in the summer and at Rocklahoma. The boys’ hair was too long, according to some parents. But hey, if you’ve got it, flaunt it. And some boys wore their hair longer than the girls, and even wore more eyeliner, unless they were preppy, and then if you where a rocker you didn’t want to talk to them anyway! But we followed our hearts and did not feel we had to be carbon copies of one another.
That trend is coming back again. Watch junior high and high school students walking home from school one day, and you’ll see the difference again: preppies, punk rockers, chic, the geeks and oh yeah THE ROCKERS! The music is viable once again, and kids as young as 11 are forming garage bands. They have been listening to their parents’ music collections since they were conceived, and their parents put their kind of music on the mommy’s belly. Our children are born to rock!
During the press conference there was some joking around; Chip of Enuf Z Nuff said, “Scientists are now flying into L.A. to check the effects of cocaine use on a person’s brain.” While cocaine use has not really been the drug of choice for many years, in just one comment he did sum up a time period where anything and everything went without any thought to future repercussions, which were not even considered. Though he meant that in lightness, it is true for many. We lived fast, partied a bit hard, and took almost anything offered to us. The thing I have noticed is that this generation has been pounded and taught a bit better not to go that far, so maybe they will be a bit smarter this time around. Nothing can never really be counted out though; each generation has its “thing.”
This movement back to feel-good rock has been making a slow comeback for the last 4-7 years. Between the great reality shows that have featured Ozzy and his clan, Gene Simmons and his “Family Jewels.” And of course there’s Bret’s “Rock of Love,” which seems to be on everyone’s must-see-TV list, because the girls’ antics are entertaining, and Bret just soaks it in, be it in pleasure, confusion or pure shock. It’s great. The momentum has been moving since “The Osbournes” first aired and showed the world that rock stars are human too. The simple fact is, they all make you feel good, they all make you want to get up and party, or slide up and down a strippers’ pole. They feature 3 of the biggest figures of rock n’ roll that hit in various time eras when rock made people feel like they could go out and just make the world their stage, with their actions, attitude, and by being whoever they wanted to be on any given night. They all have kept the good times going through some very rough years in the last decade.
The other fact is the music itself. It allows you to get lost in it. There are so many new bands following in the footsteps of these great classic bands that there is a great chance that this feel-good, lyrically driven music that the audience can relate to can make a comeback to a new generation and to the true fans of the ‘80s sex-drenched lyrics of rock n’ roll! Just know that almost everything from music, to fashion, to mundane things like what we want to eat tends to run in cycles. With that being said, the trends are showing and proving that there is a progression back toward everything ‘80s; we are seeing it in our music, clothing, and for many us is, in our attitudes, in how we live and what we do. We just have more technology. Times are a bit rough now; that time period was very comforting. The trend will stick around for quite a few years, and what has become classic is here to stay! Americans want to escape, and feel-good Rock N’ Roll is the perfect escape.
The fact is that you could be anyone you wanted to be at any given point back then. From the heaviest of these bands whose singers have some great thrash voices, to bands like Extreme to nurse your broken heart. For so many Warrant’s song “Cherry Pie” does not conjure up going into their parents’ kitchen to have a piece of pie, but rather going after a piece of Cherry (for those who get it, the song is classic, for those who don’t, you’re either too young or too old), and in just listening to the first few bars you have an instant smile. Which is what rock is supposed to do, raise you up, make you feel, and make you wanna get up and party and dance. That is what Rocklahoma will do. It is exciting to see all these bands onstage playing together, since most of them have never been on the same bill before. It’s historical, and proves that the world is craving something that most of the general public thought had been brushed under the carpet for good when it went away over 18 years ago.
Sam McCaslin who owns Retrospect Records and primarily reissues albums that were made during this time period, or works with new artists making these great kinds of fun arena type rock N’ roll CDs, will have about 25 of his bands playing on Stage 3. The music is just incredible. Having spent several days listening to these bands, it is exciting to know that they are all just as talented as any other band playing up there on the main stage. You get good rock and the same vibe with the big hair and makeup as you would from any other band. Having listened to Bad Candy who is so hot, they are playing 2 nights! Then there’s Valor, and Warryor who are Good Ol’ Texas Boys who kick ass, Defcon, and Ron Keel – who is known throughout the music industry for his immense talent and work ethic. Sam has so many great rockin’ bands it is impossible to list them all, but as with all bands that are born of this style of rock, they know how to make you feel good, make you want to party, and no matter what your age, bring out sides of you that you may have thought were long gone.
Tri-Label Group, who had Lance King at the press conference as their spokesperson, announced that they will be on Stage 2 and will be bringing about 15 bands as of the press conference. These bands will have a harder edge and a great sound. Again, having gone and listened to several of the bands, Stage 2 will be bringing plenty of excitement as well. They will have Dirty Penny, a charismatic band that has given great life to All Access Magazine events in the past; the band Gypsy Pistoleros brings a Spanish twist to Glam Rock; Asphalt Valentine; and Lipstick Magazine, which is one of the few bands fronted by a female vocalist who can rock it just as hard as any male-fronted band!
Not only is there a rising rebirth to this music here, but this form of rock n’ roll never lost its popularity throughout most of Europe or Asia, where they have always liked their entertainment to be fun and easy to party to. While other forms of music overran the United States in the 1990s and until a few short years ago, in the United States, ‘80s music has been creeping back into the consciences of our society. Younger bands are thriving in clubs all over the country, on satellite radio, internet radio and college radio stations. While many of these bands may not be signing with major labels at this time, they are doing great with smaller independent labels who have no desire to control these bands creativity. In fact, while onstage at the press conference, Tracii Guns of LA Guns had mentioned how the major labels had changed over the years. Here’s hoping that the music industry, for the sake of all genres of music, realizes how musicians and the public hold music dearly to their hearts, and that the industry finds a system that can bring music back to its glory days.
