Rock Evolution

The Beastie Boys

When founding member Adam Yauch from the Beastie Boys died the other day, I can't say I could come up with the titles of more than one or two of their songs, yet they were huge to alt rock and hip hop audiences in recent decades.   Being in radio, I try to keep up with new music (and pop culture in general) but it's easier for Baby Boomers like yours truly to recall entire albums released back when we were 18 or 21. That was when we had more time to take in a change in music that contrasted so sharply with that of our parents.   This Baby Boomer is reluctant to give up the music and memories of my youth even as it gradually fades from mainstream commercial media, but I refuse to believe that nothing of any quality or significance has come out since 1974.  To me, that would be a big surrender to the aging process.   Back in the day, most of the music our parents didn't understand fell under the general category of "rock".    Rock has evolved to become more of a niche as opposed to that all-encompassing genre I grew up with and remember so well.   For all the attempts to categorize - "ghettoize" if you will - rock n' roll and rhythm n' blues have been intertwined from the start and so much since then has been variations on a theme.   I may not latch onto as many new songs now, it still bugs parents and to quote Billy Joel, "It's Still Rock n' Roll to Me."