I would like to thank not only our local station that prides itself on playing "classic Rock", but all those other stations that seem to be using the same service.  I have a collection of vinyl that covers much of the period that I was a teenager and a few years beyond.  The songs I don't have seem to be the ones these stations play over and over and over...     The reason I did not buy these records is I did not like them when they were first out (and I still don't like them).  Everyone is entitled to their own opinion (and mine is that many songs they play are not classic,and some are not even rock), but wouldn't it be nice if this service would play a variety to introduce more songs and artists to those who did not grow up in this period, and stop playing the same tired songs day after day?  My theory is that those who choose this very limited selection 1) probably did not grow up during the hayday of rock and 2) are not very knowledgeable about music. 

    The D. J. Alan Freed began using the term "rock and roll" just previous to my birth and since he died in 1965, he ceases to be an authority for whether or not any song done after 1965 is considered rock and roll.  Those of us that grew up listening to this music would probably agree that the term "rock " is used a bit too freely today.   For those younger, check out this music - if you truly like rock, you will be amazed at the explosion of groups and great songs from this period (the fifties and particularly the sixties).  As a teenager (admittedly just after Freed's death), it seemed new songs were coming out each day and rock was getting progressively "heavier".  I thought Ian Anderson's expressive breathiness as he played the flute in Jethro Tull was just a further step in the evolution of rock and roll.  But then alas for me, somehow simplistic and often out of tune songs seem to start a backlash against the complexity I loved in rock.  This is the time I feel that rock, if not died, then at least partially retired.  In the suceeding decades, songs and groups I liked were (and are) few and far between, whether or not one considers them rock. 

     I used to say that rock was concerned with the beat and the notes; the words did not matter - if you were more concerned with the words, get a poetry book.  I guess I still feel this way for the most part.  Christiam music is an exception in that the music can take me to one level (physical and/or mental?) , but the words add so much more (making it a spiritual experience).  I presently listen to Rhapsody and such non-rock artists as Al Jolson, Jim Nabors, and Dean Martin.  Part of me feels a need to apologize and explain that it is the beauty of their interpretation of their songs I enjoy, but I still listen to Led Zepplin, Meatloaf, and Lynard Skynard.  And oh, still my favorite is the Temptations' "I Can't Get Next to You", no it's Vanilla Fudge's version of "You Keep Me Hangin" On", final vote - Joe Cocker's interpretation of "The Letter".