Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Hey all,

I am currently reading the new Stephen King book "Duma Key". I am about 3/4 of the way through the book and I think it's really good so far. The book takes place in Florida, and SK mentions that the protagonist listens to a classic rock station called ?The Bone? (It?s funny, cause we have a radio station here in the Bay Area called ?The Bone?). But I digress. The main character in the book has already mentioned "Welcome to the Jungle" as one of the songs he was listening to, and has also made reference to Axl Rose a couple of times..

I know King is a GNR fan and I think that it?s cool that he still remembers GNR and includes them in his writings. I have one question though. Since when has GNR become classic rock? I thought classic rock was Led Zeppelin and Lynyad Skynard (sp?). Is GNR really that old that they can be considered Classic Rock? What do you think?

Anyways, if you see the book at the book stores, pick it up. Like I said, it's a good read (So far).



 

I guess rock becomes classic as soon as a wider audience recognizes the artist and some time has passed....

Seems like 15 years is more than enough to make bands classic.






/jarmo

I supose that todays mainstream bands like my chemical romance, fallout boy etc are considered rock when infact they are simply emo, and well.... pop music. And since the dumbass posur emos dont want to be labeld emos they label themselves rockers (when infact they most likely dont listen to real rock like zeppelin) cause yano rockers are cool not that rockers label themselves rockers if yano what im sayin?
So basically because in this generation the term/genre of rock has been pissed all over real rock cant be described as rock anymore it has to be seperated and made 'classic rock'

Does that make sense?
By the way I was watching kerrang the other day and they had this chart top 100 rock artists OF ALL TIME, so youd imagine bands like zeppelin, aerosmith, guns, sabbath, metallica, beatles, the stones would all be in the top ten and contenders for no 1, MCR were no1 now isnt that just a fucking disgrace... How could a shitty emo band that has been 'big' for 3/4 yeras be better the the aforementioned bands??

Ha!  That's funny as hell.  My wife just finished the same book a couple days ago.  She read me the passage, and then the next since apparently Axl's mentioned twice on the same page.  Very cool.

btw, my wife hasn't been raving about his latest releases...and this book didn't change her opinion.  it wasn't bad, but she wasn't crazy about it.  

I guess AFD is over 20 years old?  If that's not classic, I don't know what is.   :peace:

GNR is widely played on the classic rock station here in NY.

I am reading Duma Key as well and noticed 2 Axl references so far!

Humm, I really enjoyed Lisey's Story and Duma Key (I'm about 3/4 through).  His writing is somewhat different now but I like that he doesn't always stick to outright horror and gore anymore.

Not to mention he's an Axl fan! :hihi:

The classic rock station in Boston considers music classic after only 5 years!!! So GNR is plenty classic I guess.

King always makes references to great artists. One of the things I always liked about him.
amyl

I always felt GnR had a classic rock sound even when their stuff was newly released

I know a few people who consider Gnr to be classic rock - I guess when you don't release an original studio album for 17 years, you can kinda get grouped with past artists

I was one of them till the day I heard the little song called Chinese democracy.

The term "classic rock" has nothing to do with how old a song is.

All it means is that a song is done in what is considered a "classic rock" style.

Even the motto of the classic rock radio station is:  "IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE OLD TO BE CLASSIC"

are bands like sex pistols considered as classic rock? or cure? u2?

the sex pistols are classic punk, if there is any such thing. 


i've never considered gnr classic rock, but then again, i never gave it any thought either.  they are played on our "classic" rock radio stations, not the new music one.

i think a band being called "classic" rock has a lot to do with the ages of the people listening to it.  to someone 18 or 20, gnr may seem classic, it's been around as long as they have or longer. 

while ago I read an interview with deep purple.  the deep purple guy (sorry I forgot the name) says  that once a band had a hit more than a decade ago, it's categorized as a classic band and property of classic stations that play only oldies. as a result although they keep releasing new albums their new songs rarely get aired.

Great book, finished reading it 2 days ago! Its great when in the end Bruce Willis is actually dead.... just kidding.

Stephen King is amazing, my favorite writer,  and like GNR, having been or being so popular unfortunatelly makes most people respect them less for being suposedly comercial

Anyway, i also thought the mentions were interesting and SK has mentioned Axl or GNR some other times. This might be my memory playing tricks on me, but i don?t think GNR is regarded as classic rock on the book. From what i could remember, he doesnt listen to it on Bone. I might be wrong though, ill have another look

Stephen King is definitely among my favorite living authors. I actually just read Firestarter two weeks ago, and have Salem's Lot near the top of my next books to read.

Another book that references GN'R several times is Elmore Leonard's Be Cool. About halfway through, that book keeps randomly bringing up GN'R on just about every other page. I wouldn't recommend it though, it's probably among the shittest books I've ever read.

Yeah I read "Duma Key" and I pointed it out in another topic about the mention of "Welcome To The Jungle" and Axl Rose,I thought it was cool.Where I live (in Missouri) we have a station that plays all classic rock and they play alot of GN'R and alot of the older bands,and even if a band releases a new single it would be consider classic rock because the band has been around for awhile. :smoking:

Shouldn't a surprise to anyone. He even referenced that when he writes, he closes the door and listens to heavy bands like Metallica and GNR in his book "On Writing."

Isn't it considered a classic at 20 years and an antique at 25?

yeah but it can't be new to be classic either.

It can be new and still be considered "classic rock".

Example:  Anything new U2 or Elton John releases, no matter how "pop," is instantly considered "classic rock"


A lot of youze are confusing the word "classic" with the term "classic rock".   

His lead character in "Bag Of Bones" listens to Welcome To The Jungle, too.

He also called Axl an asshole in one of his books.

That would be desperation, if im not mistaken

Don't confuse a character with the author

I read desperation ages ago  I wasn't aware of the reference.  :-[


or the classic rock station you referred to is? :P

I don't usually like scary stories, but I just ordered a copy of DUMA KEY on Amazon.  :smoking:

automobiles, yes, music, no

You do realize he is a writer of fiction and that he may just be writing about what may fit into the story at the time, not his personal opinion.

King uses a lot of musical references in his books, I also believe he and his wife owned a radio station where they live for a time.  Not sure if they still do.

As for being new and being considered Classic Rock, it's entirely possible.

Being considered a classic is a reference to how long the band has been around not what date they released a particular album.

Frankly, I think it's an honor.  To be a classic you have withstood the test of time.

Yup, just started reading Duma Key. Pretty cool that SK likes GN'R.

My impression is that it's double edged for a band that keeps moving on.

Actually, no.

Bands that are played on the current rock stations are ones that GNR wouldn't want to be lumped in with anyway.

Much better to have them played back to back with the likes of the Stones and Zeppelin than say ummm, Nickelback or some other newer band, don't you think?

I'm not sure how it is in other places but here in NY they are played on both stations, 92.3 which is the regular rock station and also on Q104.3 which is the classic rock station.  I don't care much for newer rock bands myself so I am glad to hear them with the classics.

How do you know? I don't think GNR hates bands like white stripes, radiohead, foo fighters and tool.

Besides the White Stripes, who are actually really good....no band you mentioned there is "new."

But you are right, I don't know for sure who they would want to be lumped with.

Frankly, the fact that they still get constant airplay, no matter what the station is, is cool with me.

are they classic bands?

It doesnt mean he likes GNR.
There aren't many authors who enjoy describing and detailing various pop culture aspects  as much as King does.
King's Characters don't "listen to radio while having a drink"; they "listen to K-Billy's super sounds of seventies which is playing Bon Dylan's All Along The Watchtower (live version, circa 1979) while enjoying Coca Cola Zero limited edition from Fiskars' glass."
It's sometimes almost like reading Ellis' American Psycho actually:D

Eh, now you just want to argue semantics with me.

Not to mention we are way off topic.

One would think you would be happy that GNR gets play on the radio no matter what station it may be on?
 ;)

 :beer:

Couldn't have said this better but he does reference classic rock mostly in his books so you would tend to believe this is the genre he has dearest to his own heart.  I haven't read any books of his where he references say....Britney Spears.....yet! ;D

In Duma Key he talks about Axl screaming out "Welcome to the Jungle" and you get a specific impression from that moreso than him just saying he flipped on the radio.

Yeah,  you are propably right.
Specially more or less legendary singer songwriters from rock/country rock (< - is that even a genre:o) always end up getting referred to.
I wonder how many books he has written that don't mention a Bob Dylan Song :)

the ones who have read the Dark Tower series know that theres a lot of guns and a lot of roses involved in the story... Interesting that the series started long before GNR, and always had guns (as the main character is a Gunslinger) from the start, but if im not mistaken, the rose only came into the story in the second or third book, which would be either 87 or 91. Wonder if King's choice for a rose had any connection with GNR's popularity at the time. Probably not, but still interesting    :P

I think I have. I read quite a few s k books but I wasn't noticing. :-[


I rarely listen to the radio to be honest.

Not that long way off topic if you read the opening post.

Judging from the deep purple guy's comments I referred to in my earlier post, it's double edged for a band that evolves. the sectionalism of stations is not helping new releases from classic bands because it restrains other stations from playing them. 

But like video killed the radio star and internet kills the video star, in this age of transition, things must be changing. The time is getting riper for Chinese democracy

Now that is something we can agree on!


True!  The cover of the last book of the series:

(http://i29.tinypic.com/35an0g5.jpg)

I hope u didnt order "Duma Key" just cause it mentions Axl twice.

It is a good read.


Not the normal Horror type of book, It starts very very very very very very very slow *still very interesting but definitely not one of the more action packed King novels.

I want my first tattoo to be a gun and rose...that way if I ever stop liking GNR, God forbid, as long as I still like the Dark Tower series I won't regret it.
That'd be the perfect definition of a rabid fan base, then. :hihi:

I think Ian Rankin mentioned Guns N' Roses in one of his books.  Rankin is great for describing what music and drinks his characters are listening to/ drinking - as well as generally being a great author.

That's what I'm gonna do Friday.

I must admit that I did. I only went to see MILLION DOLLAR BABY because she had a dog named Axel, and I ended up loving it!

King uses his characters to express his own views, especially in his recent work. Anyone who knows King's work knows this.

Does he really think Axl is an asshole? Who knows, but its very clear he is a big GNR fan.

Its nice to see the sharing of commom passions such as GNR and SK, or SK's Dark Tower for that matter...
Thanks for the cover, Bandita!

40 Tuesdays, I had a similar idea to yours, even though i dont think ill ever get sick of GNR hehehe but i akesd a friend of mine to draw something with the rose and the gun on a coffin (because of the big coffin hunters tattoo) cuz it would be a reference both to GNR and the Dark Tower... God, i hope DT is made into a TV Series or a movie... and they could use SCOM instead of Hey Jude, to make it a bit fresher and have the big ol' GNR song in it hehehe

I heard the series was optioned to J.J. Abrams for an astounding....$19. But I'm not sure what ever became of those rumors.

http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1574452/story.jhtml