Testosterone Therapy: SATCHMO Waxes Nostalgic on 80's Glam Metal

SATCHMO · 12-13-2011, 03:24 AM

So the origin of this thread has come about from two main influences.

The first, and undoubtedly most important influence is that for the past 2 years music in general has become less and less of an important part of my life, and the degree to which I've found that truth to be unsettling has grown commensurately with my waning interest. Music has been an integral part of life for as long as I can remember. I spent 10 years working in the music industry in varying capacities and even though I quickly became disillusioned about the nature of the business, it didn't do anything to water down my passion for music itself. What did cause my interest to wane? Well, I have a few ideas, but my best theory is this:

I was a teenage metalhead.

And while such an confession seems hardly scandalous in the grand scheme of things, I certainly spent the latter half of my life treating it as if it were. It would be one thing if I was born a decade-- or even a few years later, when metal had evolved away from it's apex of kitsch, but through fate's hand I seem to have been born at just the perfect time for the advent of early 80's hair metal to coincide with the massive influx of testosterone that was causing tremendous upheaval to my body and mind. In my opinion, the world will never come up with a better soundtrack to the onset of male puberty than 80's glam metal. If a girl asked me what the experience was like, I'd put on Def Leppard's High n' Dry album and quietly leave the room. And while my taste in metal did evolve in complexity as the genre did as well, when the haze of puberty began to lift, my natural trajectory seemed to be one of moving away from this obviously ridiculous and confounded sub-genre of music that would go on to be so harshly lambasted by critics and cultural revisionists that for many, save for the most die hard fans, the music itself was relegated to a shoe box full of cassettes stashed away in the closet.

All of this, while true, was something that I rarely thought about until I recently read Chuck Klosterman's book Fargo Rock City, a memoir of his coming of age in rural North Dakota as a heavy metal fan in the 80's. While I didn't grow up in North Dakota, I did grow up in a very rural area of upstate New york, and everything about Klosterman's experience resonated with me in a way that no other non-fiction book, especially a memoir, ever has. I began to ask myself why I kept my musical past at such an arms length if this music was something that I genuinely appreciated. There are a multitude of answers to that question, but the quintessential truth is that I've been exploring all the diversity that the world of music has to offer. It's been a lot of fun and I plan on doing much more of it, but before I do, I feel like it's necessary to explore a little more of my roots, and that's what this journal is about.

Two points of interest:

Keep the genre splicing at a minimum. I use the terms metal and glam metal very loosely at times. Metal and electronica fans have one thing in common in that they are the most notorious in asserting that a given artist is, in fact, not this sub-genre, but that sub-genre. My answer to this? I don't care. I will definitely be including bands/artists in here that won't qualify as metal by many people's standards, or glam metal by most. Deal with it. The thread is about my life's experience as it regards music, not a Wikipedia entry.

I'll almost certainly at varying points be throwing some quotes from Fargo Rock City in here, as it would be almost unjust not to. It's too relevant to the topic of the thread. Yes, his book was an impetus for my journal, and if any similarities between the book and my journal entries exist, it's because huge similarities exist between Klosterman's account of his life experiences and my own life experiences.

So without further ado...

I'm going to bed.

Trollheart · 12-13-2011, 06:09 AM

Never be ashamed of the music you enjoyed as a kid, or an adult. Why should you? I was into metal with the likes of Maiden, Saxon, Motorhead, even Twisted Sister (!) and still listen to it today, even though my interests broadened out to include Tom Waits, Marillion, Nanci Griffith, Steve Earle, a lot of classical, some great ambient music, and a whole lot more. But I never hide the fact that I was a long-haired rocker once. No point that I can see in doing so.

Hell, I just yesterday posted a review of Neil Diamond's collection! How cringeworthy is that?

Remember the old adage: to thine own self be true.
Or my own version, if they don't like it, **** them!

Rock on, man!

GuitarBizarre · 12-13-2011, 07:49 AM

Which came from:

I think realistically I'm lucky to have grown out of my early teen years, where anything that wasn't what I was already listening to sucked, and conveniently stepped straight through to a fairly broad outlook. There was never really a point where I felt I didn't want to listen to the same stuff I did in the early days of my musical obsession, my tastes just grew linearly and encompassed more things.

jackhammer · 01-05-2012, 07:35 PM

As I have got older (and older) I have begun to realise that to ignore the music that formed you is folly.

Of course if you don't actually LIKE that certain type of music anymore then fine but listening back to music from my youth I can still listen to many bands from that time because even then they weren't always flavour of the month.

I am a metalhead too at the end of the day but I can look back and still love the music because even then as an idiotic 14 year old I hated many band's images, imagery and lyrics so I can reassure myself now that it isn't pure nostalgia but love for the actual music and for me, nothing can beat a good old guitar riff. That's where Blues came from musically and it is easily identifiable.

I am digressing a little so I will bring it back and say that Poison were awful but Dogs D'Amour were the best band not many have heard outside of the UK and anyway if it it wasn't for 80's Glam/Metal we wouldn't have Hot Tub Time Machine which is probably the best John Hughes comedy film not written by the man

Looking forward to this.

12-13-2011, 03:24 AM	#1 (permalink)
SATCHMO Al Dente Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 4,708	Testosterone Therapy: SATCHMO Waxes Nostalgic on 80's Glam Metal So the origin of this thread has come about from two main influences. The first, and undoubtedly most important influence is that for the past 2 years music in general has become less and less of an important part of my life, and the degree to which I've found that truth to be unsettling has grown commensurately with my waning interest. Music has been an integral part of life for as long as I can remember. I spent 10 years working in the music industry in varying capacities and even though I quickly became disillusioned about the nature of the business, it didn't do anything to water down my passion for music itself. What did cause my interest to wane? Well, I have a few ideas, but my best theory is this: I was a teenage metalhead. And while such an confession seems hardly scandalous in the grand scheme of things, I certainly spent the latter half of my life treating it as if it were. It would be one thing if I was born a decade-- or even a few years later, when metal had evolved away from it's apex of kitsch, but through fate's hand I seem to have been born at just the perfect time for the advent of early 80's hair metal to coincide with the massive influx of testosterone that was causing tremendous upheaval to my body and mind. In my opinion, the world will never come up with a better soundtrack to the onset of male puberty than 80's glam metal. If a girl asked me what the experience was like, I'd put on Def Leppard's High n' Dry album and quietly leave the room. And while my taste in metal did evolve in complexity as the genre did as well, when the haze of puberty began to lift, my natural trajectory seemed to be one of moving away from this obviously ridiculous and confounded sub-genre of music that would go on to be so harshly lambasted by critics and cultural revisionists that for many, save for the most die hard fans, the music itself was relegated to a shoe box full of cassettes stashed away in the closet. All of this, while true, was something that I rarely thought about until I recently read Chuck Klosterman's book Fargo Rock City, a memoir of his coming of age in rural North Dakota as a heavy metal fan in the 80's. While I didn't grow up in North Dakota, I did grow up in a very rural area of upstate New york, and everything about Klosterman's experience resonated with me in a way that no other non-fiction book, especially a memoir, ever has. I began to ask myself why I kept my musical past at such an arms length if this music was something that I genuinely appreciated. There are a multitude of answers to that question, but the quintessential truth is that I've been exploring all the diversity that the world of music has to offer. It's been a lot of fun and I plan on doing much more of it, but before I do, I feel like it's necessary to explore a little more of my roots, and that's what this journal is about. Two points of interest: Keep the genre splicing at a minimum. I use the terms metal and glam metal very loosely at times. Metal and electronica fans have one thing in common in that they are the most notorious in asserting that a given artist is, in fact, not this sub-genre, but that sub-genre. My answer to this? I don't care. I will definitely be including bands/artists in here that won't qualify as metal by many people's standards, or glam metal by most. Deal with it. The thread is about my life's experience as it regards music, not a Wikipedia entry. I'll almost certainly at varying points be throwing some quotes from Fargo Rock City in here, as it would be almost unjust not to. It's too relevant to the topic of the thread. Yes, his book was an impetus for my journal, and if any similarities between the book and my journal entries exist, it's because huge similarities exist between Klosterman's account of his life experiences and my own life experiences. So without further ado... I'm going to bed.

12-13-2011, 06:09 AM	#2 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Never be ashamed of the music you enjoyed as a kid, or an adult. Why should you? I was into metal with the likes of Maiden, Saxon, Motorhead, even Twisted Sister (!) and still listen to it today, even though my interests broadened out to include Tom Waits, Marillion, Nanci Griffith, Steve Earle, a lot of classical, some great ambient music, and a whole lot more. But I never hide the fact that I was a long-haired rocker once. No point that I can see in doing so. Hell, I just yesterday posted a review of Neil Diamond's collection! How cringeworthy is that? Remember the old adage: to thine own self be true. Or my own version, if they don't like it, **** them! Rock on, man! __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

01-05-2012, 07:35 PM	#4 (permalink)
jackhammer Ba and Be. Join Date: May 2007 Location: This Is England Posts: 17,331	As I have got older (and older) I have begun to realise that to ignore the music that formed you is folly. Of course if you don't actually LIKE that certain type of music anymore then fine but listening back to music from my youth I can still listen to many bands from that time because even then they weren't always flavour of the month. I am a metalhead too at the end of the day but I can look back and still love the music because even then as an idiotic 14 year old I hated many band's images, imagery and lyrics so I can reassure myself now that it isn't pure nostalgia but love for the actual music and for me, nothing can beat a good old guitar riff. That's where Blues came from musically and it is easily identifiable. I am digressing a little so I will bring it back and say that Poison were awful but Dogs D'Amour were the best band not many have heard outside of the UK and anyway if it it wasn't for 80's Glam/Metal we wouldn't have Hot Tub Time Machine which is probably the best John Hughes comedy film not written by the man Looking forward to this. __________________ It be my music and film collection. “A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.”