By Brandon Wallwork

History Of Classic Rock

• Swing Music Turned into Jazz which soon then evolved into Rock and Roll, which lead on to many inspiring things which helped the development of Classic Rock

• Classic Rock, so what makes a song classic? Well, for starters, it should be an older song. Nineties onwards rock tunes cannot be associated with Classic Rock. Generally, 70's, maybe a few 80's and 60's can qualify for the esteemed title of “Classic Rock.“

• Classic Rock begins with artists that still occupy radio time today, most of whom still generate huge crowds and pack large venues. AC/DC, The Who, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and all of these artists are included in the Classic Rock genre.

History Of Classic Rock

• The Doors with Jim Morrison leading the pack came onto the scene in the late 60's, featuring dark themes e.g. Riders on the Storm, along with cryptic song lyrics. Cementing them into the roots of rock and roll history was Jim Morrison's untimely death.

• Revolver, the Beatles' thirteenth album released in America. This was a huge turning point for The Beatles as it represented styles from their original, earlier works as well as experimental styles for their latter works. Revolver is often hailed as one of the best albums in classic rock history.

• The Beatles are one of the most well known Classic Rock Bands of all time.

History Of Classic Rock

• The Rolling Stones, with Mick Jagger still in the mix today, has given the world a bevy of classic rock songs. The album, Sticky Fingers, in particular, was released at a time when the band was experimenting and still struggling to sculpt its identity.

History Of Classic Rock

• Television today typically have one or two classic rock songs playing. Whether they are starting a television series or used for a commercial, advertisers know that nostalgia sells, especially for the middle-aged demographic. The Who has released a number of (now) classic rock songs and one of them starts the program CSI, making it even more popular than ever.

History Of Classic Rock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBNbq_jzwqM

Small Documentary About the History of Classic Rock:

Sub Genres of Classic Rock

• As Sub Genres started to develop, the original name of Rock came to an end, sub genres became popular like:

• Hard Rock – AC/DC, Kiss, The Ramones, Led Zeppelin

• Acid Rock

• Satanic Rock – Ozzy Osborne, Black Sabbath

• Glam Rock

• Pop Rock

The 70’s

• Brought many Guitar Solos lasting from 1 to 20 minutes.

• The Song Remain the Same, in this movie Jimmy Page lead out his famous solo Stairway to Heaven.

• The Beatles broke up, lead to much sadness in the world of Classic Rock.

Later Years

• Punk Rock and New Wave became popular, singing from the soul disappeared and singing for money grew.

• In the late 70’s, early 80’s Classic Rock became less popular.

• Madonna, and most Boy Bands took the spotlight away from Classic Rock

Why Classic Rock became less popular

• Most new artists were talking the spotlight.

• The Birth of the MP3

• New Technology which helped make a song sound better which took away the fact that someone could actually sing or play a instrument,

Magazines which cover Classic Rock

• Sadly today, very few magazines cover the Classic Rock Genre with the odd acceptation of Kerrang who typically cover all sorts of rock genre from punk rock to rock and roll.

• They usually contain a range of features such as interviews with the artists competitions information on Tours and Live Gigs.

Media that covers Classic Rock

• As Classic Rock isn't as popular as it was in the 60’s you would think that fewer people would talk and involve Classic Rock in their lives however that is not the case as Classic rock still lives on today, Documentaries are constantly being broadcasted show the history of a Classic Rock Artist such as ‘Jimi Hendrix The True Story’. There are some radio stations that cover classic rock ‘Planet Rock’ which covers a range of Rock Music. Many websites cover Classic Rock, which shows that a newer audience is beginning to bring back Classic Rock.

The Future

• So far Classic Rock has left Sub Genres such as Punk Rock and even Metal taking the Spotlight of what's left of Rock however a new audience has developed including myself, which has begun to realise what true music is.

• A new audience is growing which love the old Classic Rock songs, which could lead to the possibility of classic rock coming back!