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6.29.2006

On Being Put Out to Pasture

Old Rockers. Get it?
Any day now, I’ll be sitting in a nursing home writing this weblog, listening to old 60s tunes while my Boomer buds and I wait for the nurse to bring the drug cart around. At least that’s what some people envision for me and other rockers who dare to keep performing our songs...



Personally, I get a kick out of seeing 66 year-old Ringo Starr still playing the hell out of his drum kit, or 63 year-old Paul McCartney still wailing out “Long Tall Sally”. It inspires me to stay young-at-heart regardless of how old my body is. How is Mick Jagger keeping young musicians out of the business? Seems to me, there’s a surplus of nameless, faceless belly-button girls and head-wagging guitarists out there. If they don’t have the staying power of the older rockers, how is that Jagger’s or McCartney’s fault?

Besides, how about a little respect? We created Rock and Roll after all. Perhaps when these younger music fans are the old farts they’ll see things differently, but right now all I’m seeing is ageism and bigotry.