"There Should Be A Mandatory Retirement Age Of 40 In Rock 'N' Roll" - Johnny Ramone

GuitarBizarre · 09-03-2011, 08:12 AM

Spoiler for pic:

NO.

Psy-Fi · 09-03-2011, 09:39 AM

I saw John Lee Hooker back in 1998 when he was 81 and he was fantastic!
I also saw Link Wray several times when he was in his 70's and he kicked ass!
B.B. King is still going strong at age 86 (I've seen him a few times over the years, also.)
Les Paul kept playing into his 90's and never lost his touch.
Little Richard is 79 and he's still got it! (I've seen him a couple of times in the past few years, as well.)
Dick Dale still has it at 74. (Seen him several times and looking forward to seeing him again on his current tour.)
Age has nothing to do with musical creativity in my opinion.
It is something within the individual. Some manage to get it and keep it, some get it and lose it, and some never quite have it to begin with.

**Janszoon** · 09-03-2011, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psy-Fi

I saw John Lee Hooker back in 1998 when he was 81 and he was fantastic!
I also saw Link Wray several times when he was in his 70's and he kicked ass!
B.B. King is still going strong at age 86 (I've seen him a few times over the years, also.)
Les Paul kept playing into his 90's and never lost his touch.
Little Richard is 79 and he's still got it! (I've seen him a couple of times in the past few years, as well.)
Age has nothing to do with musical creativity in my opinion.
It is something within the individual. Some manage to get it and keep it, some get it and lose it, and some never quite have it to begin with.

Exactly. Give me someone like Little Richard over some young cheeseball any day.

midnight rain · 09-03-2011, 12:32 PM

Could someone scale down GB's pic a bit? No one should be subjected Lemmy's wart that up close.

Anyways I think time has proven Johnny Ramone's quote wrong, though it may have more to do with changes in the music industry. With bands now releasing albums every 4 years or so instead of every year, I don't think their ideas grow stale as quickly anymore. Artists like the Flaming Lips come to mind, who are still as brilliant as ever.

Howard the Duck · 09-03-2011, 12:48 PM

i think rockers only really should retire when they die

Necromancer · 09-03-2011, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unknown Soldier

He should have shelved his hard rock ways a looooooooong time ago, he hasn`t done anything good (hard rock wise) since his Zeppelin days anyway.

I agree that none of his solo work was as popular or hard rock orientated as his days with Led Zeppelin, but I always liked some of his solo work as well.

I liked certain singles from his albums Pictures at Eleven, The Principle of Moments, Shaken 'n' Stirred. My overall favorite album by Plant, is 88's "Now and Zen" and the singles "Heaven Knows", "Tall Cool One", and "Ship of Fools". Along with a few other (less popular) singles from the album.

Robert Plants solo career doesn't seem to get very much respect here at MB for some odd reason.

Unknown Soldier · 09-03-2011, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necromancer

I agree that none of his solo work was as popular or hard rock orientated as his days with Led Zeppelin, but I always liked some of his solo work as well.

I liked certain singles from his albums Pictures at Eleven, The Principle of Moments, Shaken 'n' Stirred. My overall favorite album by Plant, is 88's "Now and Zen" and the singles "Heaven Knows", "Tall Cool One", and "Ship of Fools". Along with a few other (less popular) singles from the album.

Robert Plants solo career doesn't seem to get very much respect here at MB for some odd reason.

His early solo work the albums Pictures at Eleven and The Principal of Moments really just continued from where Presence left off (forgetting the terrible In Through the Out Door here) and that was routine hard rock with a few other influences thrown in. The next batch of albums starting with Shaken N Stirred and Now and Zen etc saw him move into a more pop direction and the results were not great

Things improved a bit with Manic Nirvana before his best ever solo effort with Fate of Nations.

The problem with Plant is that when he was with Zeppelin he was great (in fact one of the very greatest of all time) without Page, Jones and Bonham he was always a shadow of his former self, a lot of that I think is from the fact that his voice in essence wasn`t that great, sure his bluesy wail with Zeppelin is the stuff of legend and it fitted in with the Led Zeppelin songs to perfection. Take him out of the Zeppelin environment and it really lacks something, I`d say he needed Zeppelin more than they needed him.

Comparing him to his main rivals of the day Ian Gillan, Steven Tyler and Paul Rodgers I`d say all of those three had superior voices but Robert Plant was probably the best performer of the three and that is probably one of the most vital elements of any hard rock performer.

Howard the Duck · 09-03-2011, 01:49 PM

that album he did with Alison Krauss was pretty good, though

assuming y'all are into neo-country

Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra · 09-04-2011, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Il Duce

i think rockers only really should retire when they die

Actually, if I was a rockstar, I'd record a ton of stuff to be released past my death like Mark Twain.

**Janszoon** · 09-04-2011, 01:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra

Actually, if I was a rockstar, I'd record a ton of stuff to be released past my death like Mark Twain.

Mark Twain recorded a ton of rock music to be released after his death?

View Poll Results: do you agree with johnny?
I agree, these old guys need to know when to stop and hang it up	0	0%
Disagree, age is just a number. you don't stop being creative just because you're old	20	68.97%
Make a dramatic exit like overdosing or blowing your brains out. better to burn out than fade away	1	3.45%
I think an artist's late work is sometimes more interesting	4	13.79%
Overwhelming success can kill creativity so its better to bow out while you're still in your prime	0	0%
I reckon that an aging rapper is more embarrassing than an aging rockstar	4	13.79%
Voters: 29. You may not vote on this poll

09-03-2011, 09:39 AM	#12 (permalink)
Psy-Fi Aficionado of Fine Filth Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: You don't want to look in there. Posts: 6,898	I saw John Lee Hooker back in 1998 when he was 81 and he was fantastic! I also saw Link Wray several times when he was in his 70's and he kicked ass! B.B. King is still going strong at age 86 (I've seen him a few times over the years, also.) Les Paul kept playing into his 90's and never lost his touch. Little Richard is 79 and he's still got it! (I've seen him a couple of times in the past few years, as well.) Dick Dale still has it at 74. (Seen him several times and looking forward to seeing him again on his current tour.) Age has nothing to do with musical creativity in my opinion. It is something within the individual. Some manage to get it and keep it, some get it and lose it, and some never quite have it to begin with. Last edited by Psy-Fi; 09-03-2011 at 11:20 AM. Reason: Forgot to add Little Richard & Dick Dale. (I must be gettin' old!) :)

09-03-2011, 12:32 PM	#14 (permalink)
midnight rain Music Addict Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 1,711	Could someone scale down GB's pic a bit? No one should be subjected Lemmy's wart that up close. Anyways I think time has proven Johnny Ramone's quote wrong, though it may have more to do with changes in the music industry. With bands now releasing albums every 4 years or so instead of every year, I don't think their ideas grow stale as quickly anymore. Artists like the Flaming Lips come to mind, who are still as brilliant as ever.