May 26, 1977
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"Crosby, Stills, and Nash in
concert at the Tower Theatre,"
I heard on the radio, as I drove
home the other day. I had to
smile. Could the spirit that
capped off the restless yet
dogmatic sixties be regener
ated? Reunited, would those
three men with their magic
voices and soaring counterpoint
evoke the life-drama of
Woodstock, or would they
recall a sentimental if not
nostalgic glimpse of this
generation's past? Possibly
they could make us see what
we, as well as the new legions
of Kiss and Aerosmith fans,
have lost, as we approach the
end of the sevemties.
My mind wandered back to
the music on the radio. I knew
immediately the song being
played, the classic oldie "Roll
Over Beethoven," but could not
place the artist of this version.
"What strange synthesizer
technique they use," was my
first reaction to the persistent
noise running through the
song's two-odd minutes. "Must
have something to do with
Eno," I thought, until it
occurred to me I was listening
to the Beatles.
I then realized that foreign,
unfamiliar sound was actually
thousands upon thousands of
hysterical teenage voices
screaming in unison. The music
was rendered almost inaudible
at parts, but then maybe it was
not the music that mattered
—the disc jockey broke into my
thoughts by announcing that
"Roll Over Beethoven" was a
selection from the "new"
Beatles album, recorded at
concerts during American tours
in '64 and '65.
Thousands of kids--thou
sands of females who would
never act that way in public,
and equal numbers of jealous
males who tried to act
disgusted, but were possessed
by temptations to scream
along--all came to those few
concerts to welcome the four
lads from Liverpool. Yesterday
seems so far away.
By Gregory Hall
There never again was a infant record companies. and
group we welcomed as we did a bolster to the GNP. Rock n'
the Beatles. It seems we never Roll manifested itself as an
could forgive the Monkees for untapped commercial commod
being manufactured proto- ity. and resulting exploitation
types. No mass-identity could breed consumerism like a
be found in the bad-boy image
of the Rolling Stones, although
they helped relieve suppressed
youthful fantasies. Today, the
Stones linger as modern
archetypes of the aging rock n'
roller, and today's teens are
weened on Frampton and the
Bay City Rollers. Frampton,
before his recent "discovery,"
had been around and been
ignored for years. Compared to
the Beatles, the Bay City
Rollers command the young
audience's hysterical response,
but have absolutely nothing to
justify that response. No talent,
nothing original-just glossy
predigested and animated pop.
For those having lived
through Beatlemania and
Woodstock, a rock concert
today is a rather strange
experience. Average concert
audiences are passive and
merely courteous-a song is
played, the mass applauds
politely with assorted catcalls
and whistles. On stage,
occasional audience participa
tion and response is calculated
by the performer, and usually
happens on schedule. Concerts
may be passed off as one form
of apathetic escapism breed by
the seventies: the concert-goer
pays admission, gets high, and
departs humming a favorite
tune. Gone is the spontaneity:
the excitement is manufac
tured, and travels from city to
city, year after year. Supply
and demand runs a vicious
cycle, said Aldous Huxley of his
Brave New World.
Mainstream rock music has
degenerated into something as
calculable as a mathematical
formula--the equation as it has
evolved could not have been
foreseen by a young, naive
Lennon and McCartney. Ambi
tious people envisioned dollar
signs, saw that set equation as
providing an absolute answer
to financial problems of the
entertainment industry, of
won't gi
gross w
C.C. Reader
cancer. The product of four
English kids who had captured
the public spirit could easily be
converted into big business.
Massive talent hunts en
sued, contracts were drawn,
and the industry swelled and
prospered from insatiable de
mand. Thousands of guitar
playing commodities were
given their chance in the
spotlight.; but by comparison
only a handful remained more
than a few years. At the
beginning of this decade, the
Beatles folded under the
pressure of their myth and
their monster. Kids growing up
in the seventies will never fully
comprehend the cultural phe
nomenon, the excitement, or
what happened to it.
The Beatles At The
Hollywood Bowl is not an album
of music as much as it is an
historical document. Rock has
become malignant, an artifi
cially-induced need to be
fulfilled, a product of adver
tising and promotion. Music is
such an important factor in a
young person's lifestyle that no
one even bothered to complain
much when record companies
recently began demanding a
dollar more for each sure-hit
album released--if the consumer
wants the product bad enough,
they will pay however much it
costs. Again, the evils of supply
and demand.
We no longer have one
chance in a lifetime to see our
favorite performers, as was the
case in the mid-sixties. Rock is
ever-present and saturates the
market...it has become an
anesthetic. "Yesterday, all my
troubles seemed so far away,"
the Beatles sang to us; but
today, no matter where we
turn, our trouble surrounds and
confronts us. Maybe we no
longer can scream out loud,
maybe the seventies have
conditioned us, or maybe there
just is no reason to scream.
s one
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. - Father Richardson for
Counseling Vendorville
11:00 a.m. - Brown Bag Lunch - Returning Women -
W-136
12:15 p.m. - Simulated "Capitol Press Conference"
with guest speaker and Prof. Heindel's classes -
Auditorium and 216
May 28 - May 30
Raft and Camping Trip to the Cheat River - Outdoor
Club
Holiday - No Classes
June 1
12:00 noon - Meeting - Maranatha Bible Club
8:00 p.m. - Meeting - SGA - Rm. 216
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. - Father Richardson for
Counseling - Vendorville
11:00 a.m. - Brown Bag Lunch - Returning Women -
Rm. W-138
Hot loin
May 26
May 30
June 2
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