Marilyn Manson faces charges, not for being silly and past his sell-by date, but for rubbing his balls on the head of a security guard. Just another star in the dope show.
But please don’t place me in the same category as John Strausbaugh. Unplug the Oldies- for good reeks of cashing in. Saying that once you pass a certain age, you can’t rock is total bullshit. What a narrow idea of what rock is. Fuck that. Some artists do the best work of their careers as they age, tempered with greater sophistication and free of the sophmoric idea that rock is revolution. When journalists scream “get out of the way, geezers” it’s just supporting the lie, easily swallowed by young people, that there is nothing important except YOU. Last I heard, Link Wray was still up there rocking with the best of them.
A review of Strausbaugh’s book pleads: “Rock ‘Til You Drop is rather more than a glorious rant directed at those who survived the sex and drugs to milk a new generation while still claiming to be hip and radical.” If his story in the Guardian is any example— bullshit. There is rock & sham-rock made by people of every age group; to draw a dividing line based on age is a thinly disguised way of feeding the youth audience precisely what they want to hear.
