This is JUST FOR FUN! 
Please, no "It's all subjective and these threads are pointless" replies.
I was pondering how I, personally, tend to pigeonhole rock and pop music. It's a continuum, of course, and I'm also the last person who should be doing this, since I do believe in the "there are only two kinds of music: good and bad" bit.
But, JUST FOR FUN, I came up with these criteria. To be "rock" music, it has to contain 3 out of 4 of them:
A) Guitars and drums are present, and sometimes piano and/or saxophone. Roots (however distant) in the blues/country fusion which created rock 'n' roll. Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley, Fats Domino.
B) "Organic" construction-- the members need to have come together naturally (schoolmates (U2), or colleagues on the scene (Cream)) and not have been assembled by the music biz machine (Monkees).
C) A do-it-yourself ethic-- the band members write the material, the level of performance is "raw and untrained", and originality is a goal.
D) An anti-authority attitude, and usually some youthful angst and anger. "Music made by young people FOR young people." Parents are repulsed.
The Rolling Stones, Queen, the Clash, Black Sabbath, Radiohead, R.E.M., Foo Fighters, Bruce Springsteen and the Beach Boys obviously have A, B, C, and D (to give a few examples).
Steely Dan has a polished level of execution, but I'd say that they have all of the rest. I think the sarcasm of their lyrics gives them D.
Yes, King Crimson and Rush don't have D, there is very little of the blues/country roots thing, and their level of execution is polished, but they have the rest, including loud guitars and drums, and fierce originality. Rock music.
The Beatles have (had) A, B, C and D. If you think their early days lacked D, you didn't see them juxtaposed on TV and radio against someone like Robert Goulet in a tuxedo singing a Broadway tune. A stark contrast. Parents were horrified by the hair and by the "blaring" guitars and "pounding" drums. Where are Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme with their Cole Porter medley??
Elton John and Billy Joel? They could have been Tin Pan Alley writers, so to me they are on the brink of pop. But since they do write, and because they contain ever-so-slight vestiges of Little Richard and Elvis, they JUST make it into rock for me.
OK, maybe some of you will have FUN with this FUN little thread, which is intended to be FUN!
(Hopefully, I won't be sorry... 
)
Please, no "It's all subjective and these threads are pointless" replies.
I was pondering how I, personally, tend to pigeonhole rock and pop music. It's a continuum, of course, and I'm also the last person who should be doing this, since I do believe in the "there are only two kinds of music: good and bad" bit.
But, JUST FOR FUN, I came up with these criteria. To be "rock" music, it has to contain 3 out of 4 of them:
A) Guitars and drums are present, and sometimes piano and/or saxophone. Roots (however distant) in the blues/country fusion which created rock 'n' roll. Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley, Fats Domino.
B) "Organic" construction-- the members need to have come together naturally (schoolmates (U2), or colleagues on the scene (Cream)) and not have been assembled by the music biz machine (Monkees).
C) A do-it-yourself ethic-- the band members write the material, the level of performance is "raw and untrained", and originality is a goal.
D) An anti-authority attitude, and usually some youthful angst and anger. "Music made by young people FOR young people." Parents are repulsed.
The Rolling Stones, Queen, the Clash, Black Sabbath, Radiohead, R.E.M., Foo Fighters, Bruce Springsteen and the Beach Boys obviously have A, B, C, and D (to give a few examples).
Steely Dan has a polished level of execution, but I'd say that they have all of the rest. I think the sarcasm of their lyrics gives them D.
Yes, King Crimson and Rush don't have D, there is very little of the blues/country roots thing, and their level of execution is polished, but they have the rest, including loud guitars and drums, and fierce originality. Rock music.
The Beatles have (had) A, B, C and D. If you think their early days lacked D, you didn't see them juxtaposed on TV and radio against someone like Robert Goulet in a tuxedo singing a Broadway tune. A stark contrast. Parents were horrified by the hair and by the "blaring" guitars and "pounding" drums. Where are Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme with their Cole Porter medley??
Elton John and Billy Joel? They could have been Tin Pan Alley writers, so to me they are on the brink of pop. But since they do write, and because they contain ever-so-slight vestiges of Little Richard and Elvis, they JUST make it into rock for me.
OK, maybe some of you will have FUN with this FUN little thread, which is intended to be FUN!
(Hopefully, I won't be sorry... )
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