Why do I continue to allow Rolling Stone to be delivered to my house? It pisses me off every time it arrives in my mailbox, and yet I read it. Is it because I want to look at the latest photo of Beyonce and Jay Z hanging out at some douchebag club in New York? Is it because I want to see which record company has purchased the best review of the issue? (Call me cynical, but I'll bet that new Nine Inch Nails might not be 4 star. It's probably pretty hard for Trent Reznor to conjure up enough personal pain in his little tears factory so Interscope can move enough units to justify his budget. I haven't heard it, so if I'm wrong feel free to corrrect me.)
The reason I must read it is so I can enjoy the irritation of reading how the Baby Boomers changed everything in the 1960s, and we stopped a war, and blah blah blah. Have you seen the 4oth Aniversary issue currently on newstands? It's something else. Rolling Stone interviews key players from the late 60s, and asks self serving questions about how important the magazine used to be and how monumental the Baby Boom generation continues to be. Example: Mick Jagger is asked "Would you agree that babyboom children after the war precipitated a significant generational break?". And here's the pitch...It's a 80 mph fastball up and over the middle of the plate! "Mick, could you take a moment to reassure everyone in the Baby Boom generation that protesting the Vietnam War, taking drugs, and having sex for a 2-3 year span while they were in their early twenties more than makes up for the fact that later on this same generation squandered all of our natural resources, and lived off the fat of the land for the next 35-40 years?"
Shut up already! Rolling Stone and the Baby Boom generation as a whole are like that guy you went to high school with that still wears his letterman jacket and says "Do you remember that party at Stiffler's house after prom? Man, that was great...". Yes, it was. But it was also 38 years ago. Got any new stories? I've heard that one about ten thousand times.
I have a subscription to Rolling Stone too...I agree with everything you said. Same as it ever was.
ReplyDelete