« Ginger Says – Happy new year! | Home | Ginger Says – It’s impossible to predict how things are going to go with The Wildhearts, but this time we mean it »
Ginger Says – Rock ‘n’ Roll, kids – remember the name. And don’t forget where you heard it first
By Ginger | January 22, 2002
“It’s not whether you get knocked down, but whether you get up” – Vince Lombardi
Happy new year – the year that will see ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ become a hip term to use amongst the young movers and shakers of the media and entertainment business. The old guard are out and the new blood are in, and you just know that they want something new, but with an authentic twist of integrity to compliment the aftertaste that nu metal left.
It takes an awful long time to rid the world of the beauty of loud guitars, especially when a new ‘axe-based’ trend has recently come and gone. The NWOBHM (or to anyone too young to remember, ‘the nuwobuhum’) begat the 80s glam / metal craze, which begat grunge. Grunge (or to anyone too young to remember, ‘those miserable bastards from Seattle’) begat nu metal. And nu metal will surely be reborn in a sexier, sleeker, more manufacturable style than its predecessor. It stands to reason… well, as much as this business can be relied upon to use the method of reason.
Look around you at advertisements over the next few months. In magazines and on the streets, you’ll see a distinct change in the way that rock will be portrayed. Figure-hugging fashions will replace the post hip-hop style of last year’s look. Long hair will feature more prominently than the previous ‘morning the wrong way’ cut. Leather ‘biker-style’ jackets will be favoured above any other iconic statement of intent. Imagine a young Lemmy crossed with Nikki Sixx, add a dash of White Zombie-era Rob Zombie and you’re getting warm. There will be no more moaning about having it hard when you were young – that will be mandatory in today’s tougher youth. It will mean that you mean to party. Smile. Fuck. And play hard…and I mean hard.
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL, kids… remember the name. And don’t forget where you heard it first.
And if I’m right it looks like I’ll be in fashion. Ha ha… that would be great – this old mug staring out at you from the pages of the rock mags once again. Oh the irony; the faces on the pissed off doubting factions. Good job I didn’t get my hair cut, huh? Dunno about you, but to me short hair definitely does not rock. Boy bands have short hair. As do television characters and politicians. Short hair does not piss anyone off. My mother always wanted me to cut my hair. She hated long hair. Hated the Ramones, too. And KISS. I wonder if it was the hair or the volume, or if both go hand in hand.
“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him” – David Brinkley
Y’see, it’s all about your attitude. And I’m not talking about name-calling and spitting on the pavement, I’m talking about your outlook, patience, consistency and pride. It’s about not believing that it’s enough to say ‘fuck them’, when ‘FUCK THEM’ will do. And it’s not about believing that bold statements amount to the same value as bold actions. It’s about getting it hard and making it look easy; doing more than the guy next to you.
“Always do more than is required of you” – General George S. Patton
“Well done is better than well said” – Benjamin Franklin
Everyone’s time comes. Whether it’s as a youth or an elder statesman, it’s only a matter of having something people want. Saying something worth hearing. Working hard enough to inspire. Fitting a need. And people’s needs are usually easily satisfied so there’s also the matter of not taking yourself too seriously. Staying cool. Doing better. And seriously pissing people off with the fact that they just won’t ever do what you do. They could, of course, but they won’t. It’s easier that way. It takes less effort. And in the short run it’s simpler, if less impressive, to talk someone else’s efforts down. Simple suits the simpleton. The world to these people is a difficult place, the mouth being so geometrically close to the nose that the shit some people talk ensures that their world always smells of shit.
The new rock ‘n’ roller will be too busy to pull down anyone else’s efforts. The new rock ‘n’ roller will work hard, rock hard and play hard. And, of course, party hard. It’s all down to being cool. ‘Cool’ is the new ‘geek’. And what would you rather be?
“Progress is not created by contented people” – F. Tyger
Get out there and have it this year. This looks set to be the coolest, toughest, most satisfying year of them all. Let’s face it, last year fucking sucked. This year, that could never be the case. It just couldn’t be. We will not allow it.
To the real, the able, the tough, the restless, the disillusioned, the dissatisfied and the brave… and for those about to rock ‘n’ roll…. WE SALUTE YOU.
And anyone else out there? You might want to sit this one out.
God speed…
Ginger
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.