Real Rock.

When I think of the phrase “real rock” images of Bad Company, Stevie Ray Vaughn and The Rolling Stones come to mind. I think of the good old days of rock and roll that I can scarcely remember, but have a vivid mental picture of. The days when guys trotted up on outdoor stages to play for the benefit of undulating audiences who loved them above and beyond all sense of passion.

So when one of my local radio stations claims to be “Real Rock ” I expect to hear some honest to god, real rock and roll.

Unforunately, on more than one occassion, I’ve been denied.

The first time I paid attention to what they played after they said the phrase, I caught wind of a sound that was so distinctly Def Leppard that you couldn’t avoid it if the spandex and ripped jeans were a million miles away. It wasn’t even *good* Def Leppard. It was quite possibly the worst Def Leppard song to ever get airplay. F-f-foolin? Well you’re certainly not f-f-foolin’ me.

The second time, there was hope. I heard Ozzy. I don’t care what you say, Ozzy is real rock. At least… he is if you forget about that really bad period in the 80’s when he sang with Lita Ford and hosted Friday Night Videos with Dr. Ruth. The choice was the hideous “Shot in the Dark”, quite possibly the worst song Ozzy has ever loaned his talent to.

I finally gave up on the radio station’s promise of “real rock” today when the liner was followed by Great White’s “House of Broken Love”. While it does have a really cool guitar solo at the front, it’s 80’s hair rock at its core. It fails to pass the real rock test.

I’ve got a better shot of finding some real rock on my j-pop infested mp3 player.