A World Without Rock 'n' Roll

Hey readers,

This year has seen the loss of some incredibly influential artists. With the passing of legendary glam rock God David Bowie to the death of the fifth Beatle, George Martin, rock 'n' roll is losing some of its greatest contributors. These legends made great music and even more importantly, contributed to a great musical genre: rock 'n' roll. 

I tried to imagine what our lives would be like without the artists who had recently passed away. Without Maurice White, the kalimba would have never been incorporated into mainstream music. The counter-culture of psychedelic rock maybe would have not taken off as it did with Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane. The recently deceased artists have all been such key figures in the development of rock 'n' roll that a world without them would put a gaping hole in the world of the beloved genre. 

So what would a world without rock 'n' roll look like? Would Seattle be the grunge mecca it is today? Would a pair of red lips sticking out their tongue mean nothing more than exhibiting child-like behavior? What about skin-tight leather pants, would they have ever come into style?

Imagine a world without rock 'n' roll.

Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven' wouldn't be the go-to song to master on guitar. Beatlemania would be the name of an annual insect convention; a rolling stone would simply be just that: a mineral matter in motion. Chains, studs and spikes would remain as key features on a bicycle and Elvis impersonators wouldn't roam the Vegas strip.

The world's musical exposure would probably be extremely limited without the influence of rock 'n' roll music. Several genres would have become non-existent as well as thousands of artists. More importantly, socially culturally and politically society would have probably remained stagnant as rock 'n' roll inspired multiple cultural movements, instilled new mindsets within people and ultimately, changed the world.

Without rock 'n' roll, segregation would be alive and thriving. The mindsets of people might still be in separate but equal mode. Without rock 'n' roll, the fifties would have never seen the merging of blacks and whites on the dance floor. Ralph Bass, a producer during the time, would have never said, “You know it was a revolution. Music did it. We did as much with our music as the civil rights acts and all of the marches, for breaking the race thing down.” 

Without rock 'n' roll, 'make love not war' would not exist. American youth during the height of the Vietnam War wouldn't turn to rock 'n' roll music to demonstrate their anti-establishment and anti-war sentiments. Woodstock would remain an unheard of dairy farm in upstate New York and those feel good psychedelic vibes would be nowhere to be found.

Without rock 'n' roll, individuality would be frowned upon. We would miss out on an entire decade of bad haircuts. Heavy metal band t-shirts wouldn't exist and the dark eye make-up look would only be the result of a lack of sleep. Parents wouldn't have to worry about social rebellion youth culture; grandparents wouldn't have to fear their grandchildren listening to the devils music. Coming-of-age would be that much more difficult without Ziggy Stardust or the goth, emo and punk subcultures.

Without rock 'n' roll, kids would never endure the pain of blisters on their hands from practicing Animals As Leaders song 'CAFO'. Fender would just be the name of a car part and well, 'fingering' would solely have one purpose. Musicians would never break their instruments on stage during a performance. Without rock 'n' roll, there would be no reason to bust out the air guitar. 

John Lennon wanted us to imagine a lot of things but I doubt the lack of rock 'n' roll was one of those. Because a world without rock 'n' roll is simply impossible to imagine. In one way or another, each individual has been directly or indirectly affected by this movement. Whether your the biggest Hendrix fan around or if you only listen to Mozart but in your beloved jean jacket, ya know the one with the patches on the back, rock 'n' roll has found a way into your life.

So long live rock 'n' roll and long live playing it fucking loud.