Why is it that bands aren't as political reactionary anymore as in the sixties and seventies. Also, why is it that since the late 80s no new (big) music styles have surfaced and also why is it that

i do, and?

@Mark, what do I miss? Care to elaborate?

OK now start listening to techno...

OK now stop.

Pretty trippy, huh?

awesome

Keith Richards raised the profile of a campaign against hospital cuts today by joining protesters in a march through Chichester.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/graphics/2007/10/27/nstone.jpg

I think that's fucking awesome, local causes are where it's at

revolt in the 60s was enjoyable, babyboomers could convince themselves that smoking dope or sleeping around was some kind of revolutionary act against the straight-laced establishment. maybe it was at the time, to a degree.

of course, now they are the establishment. most of the things they thought were rebellious were accepted and sanctioned by the 80s. (hippies becoming yuppies)

being anti-establishment is too much like hard work now, you've got to watch what you buy, watch how you treat and what you think about other people, you've got to understand complex political and economic theories...

it's not enough to light up a fat one and sneer at the "squares" anymore.

In fact, being pro-establishment today means you have roughly the same opionions that were anti-establishment in 1968. And I have never seen the point in rebellion for rebellion's own cause.

Today, however, people like Bono, Sting or Peter Gabriel may get a lot of shit from expressing the same opinions that would make whoever expressed the same opionions in 1968 look like a rebel and thus a hero.

this is complete and utter bullshit. since 2001 and the invasion of Iraq there have been scads of politically motivated releases: the mekons-oooh!; Springsteen-devils and dust AND the rising; Arcade Fire-neon bible; i know Neil Young and James McMurtry fit on this list; and i can't think of any more off the top of my head, but they're there

doesn't add up to an entire youth culture against "the man".

my nan's against the invasion of iraq, ffs.

I was kind of hoping for some riffs on the Keith Richards photo but anyway....this seems to be a recurrent argument, which the New Musical Express summarised/satirised as a reductio ad absurdum with:

"Us Teds slashed cinema seats in the 50s, so that you punks would have the freedom to walk down the Kings Road in yur safety pins and bondage trousers".

doesn't add up to an entire youth culture against "the man".

Wasn't there an entire youth culture against Vietnam in the late 60s as well? Or an entire youth culture against Thatcher in the UK in the 80s?`

Today, however, people like Bono, Sting or Peter Gabriel may get a lot of shit from expressing the same opinions that would make whoever expressed the same opionions in 1968 look like a rebel and thus a hero.

I think there is a difference between say, Bono's "REVOLUTION VIA CORPORATIONS" red campaign bullshit and what was happening in the 60s.

cable

it's not enough to light up a fat one and sneer at the "squares" anymore.

still works for me

then you're one of them.

In the 60s programmes they show here on UK tv, there always seems to be a big difference between the US and the UK:

US - Background tensions: getting drafted, vietnam war, race issues

UK - Background tensions: restricted supply of bananas during WW2 rationing, England looks a bit grey and clapped out (so what's new?)

As a result, the US music scene genuinely seems more wild and revolutionary [MC5, Grateful Dead], whilst here in the UK the Rolling Stones enjoyed the opportunities offered through the shifting class structure to hang out and hold court with various Guinnesses, Ogilvies etc. and become part of the new aristocracy.

Keef just thinks it's a parade in support of his canonization.

Yeah, even though it must be a coincidence, it seems kinda funny with him holding a sign that says "Let's support St. Richards".

Twenty years after his death, his flesh still has not decayed. There's the beatitude. He'll be the patron of African-American influence on white music.

Bono, Sting, and Peter Gabriel: spokesmen for the rebellious youth of today