The Death of Rock?

Jeff Jarvis writing about David Lee Roth's cameo Tuesday on the Howard Stern show:

Roth was trying to do radio. He spoke with an eerie formality — eerie for a rocker — sounding like an over-aged kid in a bar mitzvah suit trying to get a good check out of Aunt Sadie.

The former Van Halen frontman gets the keys to the show, or at least one set - there are co-hosts - in January, when the King of All Media jumps to Sirius Satellite Radio.

Or maybe he sounded like a pretentious, sober, and boring Crazy Cabbie. Or… I don't know what he was trying to sound like. But he didn't sound genuine. That's what makes Stern Stern.

Stern's local outlet, WYSP-FM here in Philadelphia, turns into "Free-FM," which owner Infinity called "a bold new FM format." It's a personality-infused talk hybrid that will air throughout the day. Several hosts will share Stern's shoes, a move recommended by ... The Daily Show's John Stewart.

K-Rock in New York City gets the same treatment, leading Gawker to ask 'Is Rock Dead?'

Without Stern, apparently, there's no more reason to live. Then again, some would argue K-Rock actually died sometime around 1995, when it overnight stopped playing the classic rock that got us through high school. We got over it.

One clue to Infinity's thinking -- other than the millions Sirius threw at Stern, who was tired of getting fined by the FCC for saying bad words -- is evident in the classic rock sea change written about on The Adventures of Mike, a local blog with a taste for English Football, the Philadelphia Eagles and vibrant bands such as My Morning Jacket and The New Pornographers.

Now, admittedly, I don't listen to much radio anymore, thanks to my iPod, but when I do, I'm much more likely to listen to the other rock station in Philly, 93.3 WMMR, or one of the public radio stations, 88.5 WXPN, or WHYY 91 FM.

While I haven't listened to WYSP in years, I do find it sad that rock stations are a dying breed. I suppose with the rise of satellite radio, it's all just a matter of time before FM goes the way of AM.

Jarvis, who writes the Buzzmachine blog, expands the obituary by linking a David Hinckley piece in the New York Daily News, one that quotes Little Steven Van Zandt, the E Street Bander and Soprano who hosts a syndicated show as well as a Sirius channel dedicated to old and new garage-band rock. Van Zandt told a Radio & Records convention this summer that radio has shortchanged rock for decades. Here's Hinckley:

"In a real sense, the last big [rock] band through the door was U2, 25 years ago," Van Zandt said. "When our generation stops touring, it's over. Rock 'n' roll is a living, breathing animal that needs to be fed. With new blood."

That new blood is out there, too, he said, but has too few outlets for exposure on broadcast radio. "Hip-hop and pop can be heard. New rock 'n' roll had nowhere to go. [Our show] has played more new bands in three years than anyone since the '60s."

Moreover, he said, new bands can be played right alongside the classics.

"Everybody told us you can't combine old with new. But of course you can. ... When you properly combine old and new, the old records give the new ones a sense of depth, of belonging to an eternal continuum, carrying the flag forward. The new ones give the old ones relevance, keep them vital."

Radio's rock mistake started, he said, with abandoning its '50s and '60s roots.

Not exactly the Ben formula.

At Philadelphia Will Do, Daniel McQuade notes Free-FM affords a Nixonian resurrection for oft-fired, oft-hired DJ Barsky, and the Philadelphia Weekly blogger gives the new format a classic Quaker City welcome:

This station is already a trainwreck, I've decided.

He did give it a couple hours. D-Mac also attempts to define what "edgy talk" is, that is, talked aimed at "hip youths from the Northeast who enjoy prank phone calls, fart jokes and still cry when they accidentally hit the old preset for Y-100 in their cars."

One of those Y-100 mourners - he writes McFly's Blog -  said today that he actually likes talk radio, "as long as it makes me laugh (Stern, Opie & Anthony), but did they have to take away one of 2 rock stations left in the Philadelphia area? Does Philly really need 5 rap stations? Couldn't the powers that be turn one of those rap stations into Free Talk FM? Where do people who like rock music go to now??"

It costs about 50 cents-a-day. Find it here or here.

Well, I've never cared for "rock radio" because, honestly, how often each day do I need to hear The Stones, Zeppelin, Foghat, Skynyrd, and The Doors (with pretend nods that The Police and oldish U2 are "rock" to keep a certain segment tuned in)? Tired of corporate rock'n'roll, try college radio, that's what I listen to when in the car.

Stern is boring and uninspired most days; maybe on satellite he'll become entertaining, but I doubt it.

I love Little Steven, but am wondering yet again if the whole "rock is dead" viewpoint is just more Boomer tunnel vision. 
Rock music is alive and well, but people who care about it know better than to look for it on the radio anymore -- except perhaps on WXPN, of course, and the handful of real "college" radio stations you can get in the Philly area. (Rowan U has a halfway decent one.)
I wrote about that "BenFM" station a few months back on my my site. It was apparent, about five minutes after the format change, that people will quickly see through the calculated randomness. Still, though, it's cool to hear "One Night in Bangkok" occasionally. I think.
From what I read yesterday, 'YSP will continue playing actual MUSIC throughout the day -- on its web site. And that pretty much says it all, no?

I made my decision months ago with XM. No commercials, many channels to surf thru. I can actually listen to MUSIC!! And at home there are the music channels thru Direct TV. So I can listen to music 24 hours a day commercial free. Why listen to AM/FM unless you like talk?

I agree with CM regarding local programming.'XPN,(in spite of over playing the AAA top 10 of the moment during the day)'RTI,'HYY and the college signals are the only thing on the dial I can bear.I guess we should be thankful for that much.WYSP/WMMR have been dung for years,I mean how much Ozzy can you listen to?Stern's self absorbed whining is tiresome celebrity obsessed talk radio,not music.Its all about whatever crap he advertises so who cares?In terms of classic rock radio,Genralissimo Francesco Franco is still dead.In the future I believe everything will be specifically programmed satellite radio.

The MMR morning show is celebrity obsessed talk radio, too. All they care about is celebrities and video games.  

There isn't a commerical rock radio station worth a damn that I've heard.  In the seventies, it was album-oriented rock where you heard just about the entire album when it came out.  Now, you'd think that rock bands only put out singles during their long careers, given that such is all we ever hear on MMR and YSP.

Meanwhile, if I listen to satellite radio, I hear a true AOR songlist.  Along with bluegrass and crossover and acoustic and good blues and all kinds of other stuff.

The sooner commerical radio goes belly-up, the better.

And see, I agree with everything you say until that last statement, db. At the heart of it, commercial radio is FREE to anyone who wants to listen to it. So I want it to survive and thrive -- but mostly, to not suck so bad.