Classic Rock......

[milod]

I don't think there's a split between some of the sweet stuff and the acrid stuff.

 

The music of the U.S. "Civil War" era of the 1860s up through roughly the 1890s when recordings began to explode into popular culture was simply "music" and people had sheet music and played what tripped their trigger.

 

It did have some commonalities, however, to a generalized "rock" concept in terms of following dance styles and speaking in the voice of the day with a tune that was memorable and a potential for arrangements most anyone could play. Small town bands all over the country were playing "pop" music in park bandstands. And "popular" often meant what folks liked. "When you and I were young, Maggie" was a biggie for years; ditto "Grandfather's Clock," etc. Those changed in arrangements, but remained staples in pop music culture for roughly a century.

 

To me the major difference is the electric guitar - even for groups that are heavy on acoustic guitar and/or keyboards - and backbeat rhythm.

 

So... no, I'd say that "rock" may simply have replaced "pop" as the current term, but I'd say that mainstream rock ain't going to a much different audience than Sinatra and Jo Stafford found in the early, pre-rock 1950s.

 

I'd almost add a "teen rock" section in this except ... I think as music distribution has become such a different creature from "the olden days," I think even the teen audience is a lot more discriminating in variations of style and will listen to radio stations that emphasize styles and groups they prefer even if those styles and groups might be "old." The one-time "teen market" ain't quite what it used to was, even though there is a degree of differentiation.