The day the music died.

[WinterDeere]

Bernie Marsden guitarist for Whitesnake passed away yesterday.

I was the right age to be a big Whitesnake fan in my early teens. Like Winger and several other bands of this era, I think some of the guys in that band were much more talented than the hair metal upon which they made their daily bread would have you believe. We reached an unfortunate point in 1980's music, where trash was selling better than talent, and many of these guys had to lay aside their better skills to follow the paycheck.

 

[caver]

>> Like Winger and several other bands of this era, I think some of the guys in that band were much more talented than the hair metal upon which they made their daily bread would have you believe. <<

Exactly. Ironically I just saw Winger way down in Arkansas almost 2 weeks ago. I've listened to interviews of Kip and Reb Beach recently who said Beavis and Butthead killed their career at the time. The headlining band Queensryche has 2 original members. I left after 30 minutes of Queensryche because they kept playing new stuff. Many of these nostalgia bands now are nothing but glorified tribute bands. My old band in the late 80's used to play Slide it In and Here I go Again. I hated the later song but it was a big hit and got people on the dance floor.

 

[WinterDeere]

Exactly. Ironically I just saw Winger way down in Arkansas almost 2 weeks ago. I've listened to interviews of Kip and Reb Beach recently who said Beavis and Butthead killed their career at the time. The headlining band Queensryche has 2 original members. I left after 30 minutes of Queensryche because they kept playing new stuff. Many of these nostalgia bands now are nothing but glorified tribute bands. My old band in the late 80's used to play Slide it In and Here I go Again. I hated the later song but it was a big hit and got people on the dance floor.

I haven't kept up with any of those bands, got real heavy into Prog by the late 1980's and never really went back to metal. But speaking of Queensryche, I will say Promised Land was an absolute masterpiece of an album. I still go back to that one all these years later.

My interest in Winger was mostly centered on Rod Morgenstein, as I was a drummer, and knew of him before he joined up with Winger. Really an excellent drummer, like so many of those guys, too good to be playing hair metal for teenagers.

 

[tacticalturnip]

I'll tell you this, I'll be real sad when the fellows from Iron Maiden start dying off; particularly Bruce Dickinson.

 

[WinterDeere]

I've listened to interviews of Kip and Reb Beach recently who said Beavis and Butthead killed their career at the time.

I was thinking about this, ever since you posted it, but I think Kip and Reb are missing the point. Beavis and Butthead were just parroting the zeitgeist, not creating it. Hair metal was done, and then done again, and had devolved into mostly crap and too many ballads by 1991. When something new (Nirvana / grunge) came along, the masses were already primed and ready to jump off that 1980's metal hell train.

I was never a fan of grunge, unless you put early Smashing Pumpkins into that genre, but people were ready for something a little less fluff and a little more heart. I remember reading a Rolling Stone magazine interview ca.1993 (maybe Axel Rose?), where the 1980's metal interviewee put it perfectly. It went something like this: "Music will always go back to the garage. Every time things get too commercial and too over-produced, there will be a reset back to the garage, and that's what grunge is." The reason I associate it (in my mind) with GnR is that Appetite of Destruction, which was absolutely huge, was a bit of a little "back to the garage" reset right in the middle of the 1980's metal and pop scene, itself.

The shame of it is, through all of the hair metal crap, there were some really excellent metal bands. Eg. I always liked Metallica, and they seemed to continue with commercial success right through the grunge era, even after the posers (Poison, Warrent, Motley Crue) all died.

 

[spitter]

You know you're a wuss when you blame cartoons for ruining your career. Unless they held a gun to his head and said [wear this make up and sing like Oliva Newton John]

 

[WinterDeere]

Dire Straits guitarist Jack Sonni has died aged 68.

Known as “the other guitarist” during the iconic group’s Brothers in Arms era, his passing was announced by the band on X.

Bummer.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Dire Straits guitarist Jack Sonni has died aged 68.

Known as “the other guitarist” during the iconic group’s Brothers in Arms era, his passing was announced by the band on X.

Bummer.

Huge bummer, like Gordon Lightfoot's passing, this one hits me hard too. Love Dire Straights.

 

[workinonit]

We're getting old boys and girls.

 

[Wagtail]

Well, bugger... it's been announced that Jimmy buffet has passed away @ 76 yo.