Rock 'n' roll once had a reputation for being the genre run by the bad boys, the rebels and the outrageous partiers. But those glamorous days of drug overdoses, hotel room antics and front page scandals seem to have vanished. Whatever happened to sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll?
Back in the good old days, famous rockers showed us that music and illicit substances were one indivisible package. Eddie Van Halen's notorious alcohol and drug abuse put him in rehab and hampered the band's ability to tour. Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones, though now opposed to drug use, probably has enough substances left in his system to last him through the afterlife.
For talented rock musicians, substance abuse was the way to go in terms of premature death. Fatal overdoses pepper the annals of rock history: Janis Joplin on heroin; Elvis Presley on a combination of drugs; The Who drummer Keith Moon on medication meant to combat alcoholism; Jimi Hendrix on sleeping pills and Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham on alcohol, both by way of asphyxiation on vomit; and more recently, Sublime frontman Bradley Nowell on heroin.
I hear nothing about rocker bad behavior anymore. The media used to keep tabs on rock star raging; musicians couldn't make a move without the rest of the world knowing about it. Now, however, traces of their partying are harder to come by, and rock stars no longer dominate entertainment news. They've been usurped by pop stars and music divas. All the attention is on Lindsay Lohan's recent change of careers from actress-singer to crack whore and Amy Winehouse's talent as a human drug vacuum. What has become of the "party like a rock star" mentality? Recently, the actions of rock stars have depreciated the meaning of that line.
Have rock stars reformed and chosen to follow in Bono's footsteps by devoting all their energy to saving the world? Maybe the partying is just as prevalent and to the same degree of madness as that of yesteryear, but musicians have just learned to be more discreet about it. Maybe our culture has just become so used to it that we expect this kind of behavior from people of the rock persuasion, they no longer have to fight for their right to party and we don't need to report on it anymore. Either way, it's a shame. Living vicariously in the drunken, drug-fueled revelry of rock stars isn't fun if there's no drunken, drug-fueled revelry.
Drugs were more than just a traditional way to poison one's body and be featured as a front-page train wreck. Drugs had an important influence over the music. In the 1960s, psychedelic and acid rock were genres that obtained their name and inspiration from hallucinatory drugs. Musicians were not only using drugs like marijuana and LSD, but they were also trying to musically recreate their experience under those substances. They employed feedback and electronic effects to create a sound that reflected their drug trips. Furthermore, songs have been and still are being written specifically about drugs, from Jimi Hendrix's "Are You Experienced?" in the 1960s to Placebo's song "Special K" in the 21st century. Drugs have played an undeniable role in music, both contributing to and taking away from the music world.
Come on, rockers, get back in the game! I don't want to sound like I'm advocating alcohol and drug abuse (although the preceding sentence may indicate otherwise), mainly for fear of being sued by some association of straight-edge soccer moms. Yes, of course drugs are bad and alcoholism is allegedly an unhealthy addiction, but there are songs to be written and a reputation and tradition to uphold.
Divya is a staff writer for The Mirror. She overdoses on life.
