September 8, 2008: RAWK!

Now Spinning: Ted Nugent. Rawk is my label for most of the hard rock music I listened to before The Who came along and served me notice. Strange, now that I think about it, but really what happened was I wallowed around in a lot of lame rock music before I heard something that was musically similar but consistently unlame. To be specific, while I was listening to Aerosmith, Blue Oyster Cult, Black Sabbath, Foghat, Journey, Styx, Foreigner, Ted Nugent, Montrose, Van Halen, Head East, Kansas, and Rush--and enjoying it all, for the most part--I gradually began to realize these guys were mostly just aping the bluesy-metal-prog-rock stylings of bands like Led Zeppelin, Cream, Jimi Hendrix Experience, and, yes, The Who. The latter crystalized it for me. See, growing up in Spokane, it was easy to think that Rawk was the only kind of hard rock out there--Rawk bands were about the only kinds of groups that played the Spokane Coliseum (unaffectionately known as the "Boone Street Barn") and it was the stuff the FM stations played in support of the upcoming shows. (Could there be a more perfect example of how media and big business work together to structure and contain a market?) I knew about these other bands, vaguely, and knew, of course, the music of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, but guided as I was by the radio and what I heard at parties and on my older brother's stereo, I just assumed Rawk was the shit. If I can credit anyone for moving my taste away from Rawk, I guess it has to be, cringe, Led Zeppelin. Today, when I listen to them, I find a lot that is overblown (I saw the phrase "sugarlined bombast" once in a Time article, which sums up my current feelings about them quite well), but I have to say, they were so obvious the major influence on the Rawk bands, and they Rawked so much better than any of their descendants, that I soon figured, "Why go for the cheap knock-offs?" Then I realized that a near-contemporary of Led Zeppelin was also a major inspiration for Rawk: The Who. Physically, they reminded me of LZ and Rawk bands--stand alone singer with long curly blond hair, wild-ass lead guitarist, sentinel bassist, drummer from another planet; and sonically they were in the same Shea Stadium--roaring lead vocals, massive amounts of guitar distortion, and loud as can be--but something was quite different about them. As I began to explore their music, I discovered real artistry: lyrics that were well-crafted and interesting; melodies, arrangements, progressions, and instrumentation that were very often subtle and complex; and, above all, an approach to music that bespoke deep intelligence. All that and they RAWKED! My new appreciation of The Who coincided with the tragedy in Cincinnatti--where 11 fans were killed in a stampeding rush for good seats--and with that, The Who was thrust into the spotlight in many ways that they wouldn't have been otherwise. They made the cover of Time, and they were talked about in news broadcasts and in the papers for weeks after the tragedy. I couldn't get away from them even if I'd wanted to. Before long I was hooked, and album after album confirmed for me that they were the greatest rock 'n' roll band on the planet. From then on, I rarely looked back at Rawk. All the Reo-Journeywagon albums got traded for The Who and other kindred bands, and off I went into a world of British blues-rock, American hippie music, and even Chicago and Delta blues music (but that's a whole other story...). Little did I know that even then it was a late hour for the classic rockers--punk and new wave (currents I was only dimly aware of) were already forcing those dinsoaur cars onto the side of the road.

So here I am in 2008, some 30 years after I first saw him in concert, buying a cheap, $5 collection of songs by a man who is the absolute embodiment of Rawk. Why? Well, he's not the first. I've also picked up, here and there, albums by Van Halen, Aerosmith, LZ, Montrose, and others. Again, why? Nostalgia, I guess. I also have loaded into the I-Pod ABBA, the Bee Gees, Neil Diamond, and more 70's disco than you can shake your booty at. Lame? I suppose. But sometimes I just want to hear that stuff. It takes me back to a dimmer day and reminds me of a former long-haired, bell-bottomed, polyester-shirted self--and that's, somehow, enjoyable and comforting. So when the opening riff of "Cat Scratch Fever" comes on, it's fall of 1978 again, and I'm in the back of my brother's car, drinking a Schlitz, and on my way to a kegger at Valley Chapel Road...

So, in the spirit of Rawk, and with Rawk in my mind, on my lips, and in my heart, here are my five greatest Rawk songs that not only Rawketh Mightily but exemplify the genre with the most Rawkadocious Perfectitude: (1) "Stranglehold," Ted Nugent. (2) "Toys in the Attic," Aerosmith. (3) "Running with the Devil," Van Halen. (4) "Bad Motor Scooter," Montrose. (5) "Paranoid," Black Sabbath.

RAWWWKKK ON!
JBF