Tribal Rock

As a teenage fan of rock music back in the late 1970's and early 80's, I made every effort to shield my male parental unit from my audio enjoyment. The father figure made it clear that he didn't want to hear my "jungle music", as he put it, in the house. That was when I decided to make full use of the family set of headphones (or ear-goggles, as one Jimi Hendrix once dubbed them) whenever the man of the house was in the.... um, house. That was fine by me most of the time, since the 'phones also blocked out anything else my elders had to say within range of my adolescent ears. By the way, my mother was relatively open-minded about such things, being a bit of a musician herself. 

But who was I kidding? Not all music was meant for sedentary, reticent headphone listening. Sure, the music of Pink Floyd, Yes, and others of the progressive rock genre was perfect for focused private study. The multitude of layers of instruments, vocals, and audio effects was better digested and appreciated privately, with the sound up close and personal. And classical and jazz often worked in the same way. Probably some other genres, and even songs within genres you wouldn't normally expect. In truth, pretty much all music can be enjoyed on headphones, but come on, there are definitely styles of music that translate better with the walls rattling and some form of bodily agitation. You know, like blasting Black Sabbath or Ted Nugent, and jumping on the bed or careening off the family room couch to land on the glass coffee table. Like that.

The 80's - the decade of decadence... these guys

had something to do with that

Heavy rock... like hard rock and heavy metal... definitely fit that description for me. As soon as I heard the door slam and the car start up, I loaded a record or tape into the sound system. And up went the volume. Paradise Skies by Max Webster! 2112 Overture by Rush! Everybody Wants Some by Van Halen! Ain't That a Shame (live) by Cheap Trick!

But occasionally I'd get so caught up in the volume and perfecting my air guitar technique that I would not notice that the car was back in the driveway. I might hear the creaky old side door (too tight in its door jam) open and then the heavy footfalls on the staircase. My subterranean lair often bought me a few extra seconds to scramble to turn down the decibel level, but there were occasions when I was either too slow or I simply missed the tell-tale noises of said parent entering the house. 

Sometimes my door would swing open mid-song and The Master would simply glare at me, mute, but transmitting hostile thought-waves across the room to me. I believe I have seen that same look in the eyes of many horror film serial killers since then. Other times, I'd get a half angry, half derisive remark... the most succinct and memorable being, "Turn down that damned jungle music!" To this day, when my brother and I reminisce about the "good ol' days", we inevitably bring up that line. It was so indelibly linked to our partnership in surviving the Overlord's reign of terror and oppression. 

But that jungle music was MY jungle music. It was most fitting when the dad-man reiterated that command as I was blasting Van Halen's "Everybody Wants Some" on the family room stereo. If you don't know the song, give it a listen and you'll understand. There are actually sections of the song that resemble tribal drumming, courtesy of sticks-man Alex Van Halen. 

I can't blame the old man too much for his lack of interest in my generation's music. This has been going on for a long time. Did it start in the 50's? Elvis and other early rock'n'rollers created music that was too brash and bold for the parents of their target audience. Rock was considered deviant and was blamed for, or at least associated with, drug and alcohol use, promiscuity, gangs, and crime. And the devil! This sentiment carried on right into the 1980's. Not so much nowadays, though far-right wing and religious groups may still hold those views. 

Evil? In those outfits?

Hey, even the Beatles had their opposition back in the day. Record burnings, anyone? Extremist groups identified what they thought were satanic references in Beatles songs. The Who were hedonistic gods to their followers. Led Zeppelin, known for cryptic lyrics, were charged with spreading evil thoughts among the youth of the 70's. Same with poor Kiss and Rush, just innocent little bands with active imaginations, the former infantile and the latter intellectual. Go figure. And then there were the PMRC (look it up) hearings in the 80's, all aimed at rock and pop music, deeming it evil and unhealthy for young people. Right.

Why, Prince and Cindy Lauper were lumped right in with W.A.S.P., Motley Crue, Twisted Sister, and Judas Priest on the PMRC's "Filthy Fifteen" list of songs considered the most objectionable of all time. Right.

It's all just entertainment, and it seems ever since "popular" music (pop , for short... which at least for a while encompassed everything that was aimed at youth - rock, metal, rap, etc) became a thing, parents were concerned, even scared, about how this phenomenon would harm poor Johnnie or Janie. Right.

But today we know better, right? It's only in recent decades that parents began to enjoy the same music as their kids. "Pop culture prophets" (credit to Rush for that) aimed at a broader demographic and drew in more than just one generation. My young daughter and I shared musical interests in the 1990's: from 60's pop to 70's rock, and 80's new wave to 90's dance pop. And nowadays, we still share an enthusiasm for The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, and even modern artists like Deadmau5 and Band of Horses. 

So let's not send hostile messages to our kids just because they like a certain type of music - which we don't like. They'll figure out in time that maybe that music wasn't really so great or full of life-altering meaning. But sometimes kids'll surprise you and they'll latch onto something of quality, of real artistic value. That might be Black Sabbath, or Rush, or Nirvana, or HEALTH (who I just discovered today and am listening to now... absolutely mind-bending).