Comments on Savage vs. Rock

in my many years of playing records in public, the only patron in a club to ever ask me to turn it down is Dan Savage. re-bar, a few years ago. it was a rock set. i laughed. i still think it's funny.

and, 30 years?! i remember that summer day that elvis crapped out. jesus josh, thanks for making me feel old.

So.. flummoxed by Dan's lack of interest in rock music because of it's cultural impact and his smarts, while two paragraphs above you profess to have no interest in Elvis Presley. That makes sense.

Dumb. So what the hell do you listen to Dan?

@2,
I'm interested in rock, just not Elvis in particular. There is lots of rock besides Elvis.

I'm a fan of Elvis not so much for his music, as for the food he ate. Peanut-butter/Banana sandwiches and milkshakes...Fuuuuuuuck.

How I chose to honor Elvis' deathday: I went in for work (espresso, etc etc) and steamed milk with vanilla and creme de banana syrup, and mixed it with Skippy Peanut Butter.

Rock music covers such a wide spectrum of music that it makes me curious to know if it is just s specific type of rock or ALL of rock..

It´s non of my business but I´m dying to know what kind of music he likes? It would just be fun to know.
Pleeeeaaase tell us : )

100 comments by noon, I predict!

(I think that's a really funny line, understanding that the comment was meant to be sarcastic and provocative, which most people commenting here will ignore, of course.)

As for Elvis, while I did recently start getting into his early stuff and the late 60s stuff, it's a really sad story overall, not counting the 70s believe it or not, which still kinda resonates with today's times.

Basically, Elvis got all fucked up after he joined the army. That's where he started doing junk, and then became a highly profitable puppet for Colonel Parker. Aside from the '68 Comeback Special era material, there's been a lot of great Elvis music in a mostly crappy career, almost all of which was spent making crappy movies.

Anyone here seen "It Happened At The World's Fair", which was the one Elvis-in-Seattle movie? I really want to see this.

oh, and Dan Savage only listens to dubstep -- but, you know, just good dubstep. Not that factory-line dubstep shit.

Hmm ... Dan hates black music?

Is he racist?

I don't think Dan listens to music.

Would black people even *want* rock music back now, in its current state?

It happened at the world's fair was so fun to watch! I was surprised it afforded such a nice look at this city in the 1960s... I'd assumed it was mostly shot on a studio backlot somewhere far away.

Dan listens to showtunes, people.

I'm sure he's not the only person who doesn't like rock and roll, though. I don't, for instance. But I'm not a good example, since I spent all of high school and most of college listening to nothing but opera. All the years before that were spent on r&b, rap, soundtracks, and the occasional Chopin polonaise.

David@12 for the win!

Laurel@13: Awesome. I was hoping it was shot on location like other Elvis movies. That was the only good thing to come out of Elvis movies. Yeah, crappy recycled plot, mostly crappy songs, very crappy acting, but EXCELLENT cinematography -- at least for its genre and time.

And despite my comment marathon here, regarding my prediction of 100 comments... doh.

Negative, negative, negative. Hate, hate, hate.

Nick, I love Opera. I don´t think there are very many people who like it anymore or that is just the idea I get anyway. If I mention it to people they just look at me weird. I studied it for a few years but it is a lot of hard work and I don´t have time anymore.
I know a lot of people who do not care for rock.

I guess that explains the "stellar" music coverage in the Stranger since Dan became editor. The stranger built its entire publication on the back of the music community and now it just sits on its laurels. Perhaps it is time for Dan to take a job at Slate and let the Stranger get back to supporting music.

My prediction is that Dan's son ends up being into rock big time. The perfect rebellion!

The Stranger has NEVER had good music coverage, going back to 1992 when I first picked it up. If anything, it's better now. Everett True was about the only thing they've ever had going -- that and the rare Mike Nipper record review (thank you, Nipper, for getting Free Design).

Elvis was nothing more than an upper-tier Dean Martin impersonator with a smart manager. And Dan is about 85% right about rock, especially rock that calls itself "rock".

The Providence, RI band Honeybunch used to ask after their first song, "oh, is it too loud?" and then turn it down even further. Kudos.

Kind of a low-blow Josh. Do I smell a rivalry brewing in the Stranger's office?

I think you just have to be suspicious about the taste level of someone who flatly states that they don't like a particular genre of music. In my experience, everyone I've ever heard give the blanket statement "I don't like country/hip-hop/show tunes/etc." has turned out to be pretty rigid, unimaginative and low-brow. Music is gift and there's beauty, truth and joy in all of it.

Also, I'm having a hard time believing it's 30 years since Elvis died. I'm not a fan, but I vividly remember sitting in the back of the station wagon when the news came over the radio. My mom pulled the car over to the side of the road and bawled. I knew he must've been someone important.

I think you just have to be suspicious about the taste level of someone who flatly states that they don't like a particular genre of music. In my experience, everyone I've ever heard give the blanket statement "I don't like country/hip-hop/show tunes/etc." has turned out to be pretty rigid, unimaginative and low-brow. Music is gift and there's beauty, truth and joy in all of it.

Also, I'm having a hard time believing it's 30 years since Elvis died. I'm not a fan, but I vividly remember sitting in the back of the station wagon when the news came over the radio. My mom pulled the car over to the side of the road and bawled. I knew he must've been someone important.

@20 Read The Commitment. Dan's son loves Black Sabbath, so he's getting his fill.

I MISSED seeing Elvis...had the chance in '76, but as I was but a wee lad, my folks made the choice NOT to go. I regret not throwing a massive fit. oh well, I still have a pile of newspapers from day he died.

I love Elvis, and I still regularly play my Elvis RCA 45s & EPs. LOUDLY!

silly silly people! dan hates rock because it's all about straight people fucking! it's hetero hetero hetero hetero hetero! show tunes are written by gay men FOR gay men. got it?

good.

stupid generalization!