Raised on rock in Northeastern Wisconsin
I read books on rock and roll fairly frequently, but I usually opt for fact-based biographies rather than music criticism, simply because I don’t think any music critic’s opinion is any more valid than my own. What really sold me on this book, however, is that Hyden grew up about 20 miles from me, and he writes about listening to the same radio stations in Northeastern Wisconsin that I grew up listening too. This was back in the pre-digital days when one’s radio station wasn’t just a choice on the dial but also a source of pride and identity. You didn’t just listen to the music, you wore the T-shirt and the hat if you could. I recall that being particularly true of the classic rock/hard rock station WAPL (Apple 106!) out of Hyden’s hometown of Appleton. Hyden harkens back to a childhood when he didn’t just want to listen to these bands, he wanted to know everything about them. The DJs of WAPL were his evangelists, and Rolling Stone was his Bible. I could really identify with those experiences from my own youth.
In this book, Hyden reminds us that classic rock isn’t just a default choice for lazy listeners but rather a deliberate lifestyle choice for those who enjoy real electric guitars, indulgent improvisation, and vicarious hedonism. As the purveyors of that lifestyle now grow old and die, so does the music and the attitude that went along with it. Hyden tentatively defines the genre—where it started and where it ends, who’s in and who’s out, and why is classic rock so White? He celebrates all aspects of the classic-rock zeitgeist, from the admirable to the ridiculous. He pays homage to the romanticism of the road song (such as Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page,” the Allman Brothers’ “Midnight Rider,” and Jackson Browne’s “The Load-Out”), recounts his favorite rock biographies and live albums, and ponders his evolving listening relationship to artists such as Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. He also discusses the current state of classic rock, including the downward spiral from “supergroups” to “shrunkgroups”—bands cobbled together from whoever is left alive. Rather than pontificating like some high-and-mighty, holier-than-thou music critic with high-falutin philosophical opinions on “great music,” Hyden comes across as your friend at the bar who knows a little bit more about this topic than you do, inspiring thoughts such as, “Gee, that’s interesting. I never heard that story about Led Zeppelin.” This book is not a compendium of rock and roll trivia, however, but rather a thoughtful analysis of a subculture, and not in a pretentious, academic way.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book for most of its length. Towards the end, when Hyden starts to talk about ‘90s bands like Pearl Jam and Phish as classic rock, I began to lose interest a little (I’m 8 years older than Hyden). For the most part, however, I found his writing to be engaging, insightful, and fun to read. Some of that has to do with the similarity of our WAPL-influenced youths, but I think even without the Wisconsin connection I would have enjoyed Hyden’s entertaining take on classic rock.
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