Riki Rachtmann, Eddie Trunk bemoan the appellation "hair metal", portrayal of lack of substance in new documentary...

[laughedatbytime]

 

https://x.com/RikiRachtman/status/1803869983472001126

 

Trunk:

Again with the “hair metal”.. let’s define an entire era of rock music by what people’s haircuts were like … ridiculous. But hope the doc is good 

 

Rachtmann:' 

Sometimes I feel like we are the only 2 that feel this way. I owned the Cathouse the epicenter of this scene & not one band EVER called them selves Hairmetal  Every doc I’ve seen makes us look like idiots with no substance at all

 

Do they have a point?

Edited June 21, 2024 by laughedatbytime

[BastillePark]

Yes they do. There was more to some of the music than the Aqua-netted hair. 

[treeduck]

Eddie Trunk is like the Chris Farley of heavy metal rock journos.

[Entre_Perpetuo]

Most genre labels are stupid to some degree. Hair metal works as a term for me because most all of the bands in question were following the lineage of glam, but with their new big 80s hairstyles. Obviously it was about the music more than the fashion, but the fashion was an important visual cue for the music, and the hair was a really easy identifier of the fashion.

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

1 hour ago, laughedatbytime said:

Trunk:  Again with the “hair metal”.. let’s define an entire era of rock music by what people’s haircuts were like … ridiculous. But hope the doc is good 

 

Rachtmann:  Sometimes I feel like we are the only 2 that feel this way. I owned the Cathouse the epicenter of this scene & not one band EVER called them selves Hairmetal  Every doc I’ve seen makes us look like idiots with no substance at all

 

Do they have a point?

 

They have a little bit of a point, but they're clearly bitter that the music scene that they were a big part of back in the day is now the butt of jokes. Riki Rachtmann -- a hair metal name to be sure -- said something very telling there: "Sometimes I feel like we are the only 2 that feel this way." Well, it's you guys, the members of those bands, and the teenage girls who went to those concerts and wore the same flammable hairdos and spandex and black lace as the guys in those bands --  and who now drive their minivans to soccer practice.

 

Some popular musical trends turn into enduring genres, like Rock and Roll and Hip Hop, while some like Doo Wop, Nu Metal and Grunge have an impact but burn out after a few years. Whether enduring or fleeting, they all get a name, and Hair Metal is pretty much right on the money as far as describing the look and the sound of that genre.

 

Somewhere, Kurt Cobain is saying, "You're welcome."

[laughedatbytime]

31 minutes ago, 1-0-0-1-0-0-1 said:

 

They have a little bit of a point, but they're clearly bitter that the music scene that they were a big part of back in the day is now the butt of jokes. Riki Rachtmann -- a hair metal name to be sure -- said something very telling there: "Sometimes I feel like we are the only 2 that feel this way." Well, it's you guys, the members of those bands, and the teenage girls who went to those concerts and wore the same flammable hairdos and spandex and black lace as the guys in those bands --  and who now drive their minivans to soccer practice.

 

Some popular musical trends turn into enduring genres, like Rock and Roll and Hip Hop, while some like Doo Wop, Nu Metal and Grunge have an impact but burn out after a few years. Whether enduring or fleeting, they all get a name, and Hair Metal is pretty much right on the money as far as describing the look and the sound of that genre.

 

Somewhere, Kurt Cobain is saying, "You're welcome."

I think it's fascinating that Rachtmann actually mentioned his ownership of the Cat house in the sentence before bemoaning not being substantive.  Talk about undermining your own argument.

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

53 minutes ago, laughedatbytime said:

I think it's fascinating that Rachtmann actually mentioned his ownership of the Cat house in the sentence before bemoaning not being substantive.  Talk about undermining your own argument.

 

He also said, "Not one band EVER called themselves Hairmetal."  Well, when a new genre of music comes along, who names it? I'm guessing not the bands themselves. And once a name comes along and it sticks, how long before the bands identify with it?

 

Unfortunately for those bands Glam Metal didn't stick, but Hair Metal did -- and let's face it, it stuck for a reason -- and I don't blame any of those musicians for not proudly waving that banner. That name is as light and fluffy as the "metal" music they played -- and the hairdos they sported.

[laughedatbytime]

24 minutes ago, 1-0-0-1-0-0-1 said:

 

He also said, "Not one band EVER called themselves Hairmetal."  Well, when a new genre of music comes along, who names it? I'm guessing not the bands themselves. And once a name comes along and it sticks, how long before the bands identify with it?

 

Unfortunately for those bands Glam Metal didn't stick, but Hair Metal did -- and let's face it, it stuck for a reason -- and I don't blame any of those musicians for not proudly waving that banner. That name is as light and fluffy as the "metal" music they played -- and the hairdos they sported.

FYI, Dee Snider has passed the 1000 show mark on his syndicated series...known as the "House of Hair".

[laughedatbytime]

To be fair, some of these bands had more than substance.. they had substances...and most of those spent at least some time on hookers' asses.

[Rick N. Backer]

Bret Michaels is a hairpiece metal performer.

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

17 minutes ago, Rick N. Backer said:

Bret Michaels is a hairpiece metal performer.

 

So was David Lee Roth. Which raises the question: Would we have had hair metal if Van Halen hadn't turned the rock scene on it's head in the late '70s, with Eddie doing likewise with the guitar scene?

[Principled Man]

33 minutes ago, 1-0-0-1-0-0-1 said:

So was David Lee Roth. Which raises the question: Would we have had hair metal if Van Halen hadn't turned the rock scene on it's head in the late '70s, with Eddie doing likewise with the guitar scene?

 

NO.   

 

Rock & Roll is 5% innovation and 95% imitation.   

[invisible airwave]

Still had more credibility on metal for MTV than Adam Curry.  Bon Jovi was more of the latter's style.

[invisible airwave]

3 hours ago, treeduck said:

Eddie Trunk is like the Chris Farley of heavy metal rock journos.

If he's Chris, I'd hate to know who the Adam Sandler or Rob Schneider is. Chris was actually quite funny unlike the Walmart bin quality crap of Happy Madison lately.

Edited June 21, 2024 by invisible airwave

[treeduck]

6 minutes ago, invisible airwave said:

If he's Chris, I'd hate to know who the Adam Sandler is. 

[BastillePark]

Even Ozzy got on the bandwagon for a while. 

[goose]

The Scorpions lost me after Blackout due the Hair image and sound

[Entre_Perpetuo]

12 hours ago, 1-0-0-1-0-0-1 said:

 

So was David Lee Roth. Which raises the question: Would we have had hair metal if Van Halen hadn't turned the rock scene on it's head in the late '70s, with Eddie doing likewise with the guitar scene?

Nope. VH are the reason all those bands found their sound and found success, and ironically few of them ever came close to VH’s awesomeness. You could pit them against Led Zeppelin and expect it not to be a complete blowout. Can’t say the same for Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, or probably even Def Leppard.

[Turbine Freight]

The early to mid 80s was a golden era for rock music. That's the truth. Hair metal is a pejorative term used to unfairly denigrate it.

 

If you were there, you know.

[JohnRogers]

Other than JohnRogers is there any one less serious about music criticism than Eddie Trunk??? 

[JohnRogers]

22 hours ago, 1-0-0-1-0-0-1 said:

Riki Rachtmann -- a hair metal name to be sure -- said something very telling there: "Sometimes I feel like we are the only 2 that feel this way." Well, it's you guys, the members of those bands, and the teenage girls who went to those concerts and wore the same flammable hairdos and spandex and black lace as the guys in those bands --  and who now drive their minivans to soccer practice.

 

Some popular musical trends turn into enduring genres, like Rock and Roll and Hip Hop, while some like Doo Wop, Nu Metal and Grunge have an impact but burn out after a few years. Whether enduring or fleeting, they all get a name, and Hair Metal is pretty much right on the money as far as describing the look and the sound of that genre.

 

Somewhere, Kurt Cobain is saying, "You're welcome."

Hey man, I was never a teenage girl. 

Edited June 21, 2024 by JohnRogers
Spalling error

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

22 hours ago, 1-0-0-1-0-0-1 said:

 

They have a little bit of a point, but they're clearly bitter that the music scene that they were a big part of back in the day is now the butt of jokes. Riki Rachtmann -- a hair metal name to be sure -- said something very telling there: "Sometimes I feel like we are the only 2 that feel this way." Well, it's you guys, the members of those bands, and the teenage girls who went to those concerts and wore the same flammable hairdos and spandex and black lace as the guys in those bands --  and who now drive their minivans to soccer practice.

 

Some popular musical trends turn into enduring genres, like Rock and Roll and Hip Hop, while some like Doo Wop, Nu Metal and Grunge have an impact but burn out after a few years. Whether enduring or fleeting, they all get a name, and Hair Metal is pretty much right on the money as far as describing the look and the sound of that genre.

 

Somewhere, Kurt Cobain is saying, "You're welcome."

 

2 minutes ago, JohnRogers said:

Hey man, I was never a teenage girl. 

 

Surely you have photos. Polaroids? C'mon man, represent.

[Turbine Freight]

10 minutes ago, JohnRogers said:

Other than JohnRogers is there any one less serious about music criticism than Eddie Trunk??? 

 

 

The entire subforum of SOCN?

[treeduck]

23 hours ago, laughedatbytime said:

 

https://x.com/RikiRachtman/status/1803869983472001126

 

Trunk:

Again with the “hair metal”.. let’s define an entire era of rock music by what people’s haircuts were like … ridiculous. But hope the doc is good 

 

Rachtmann:' 

Sometimes I feel like we are the only 2 that feel this way. I owned the Cathouse the epicenter of this scene & not one band EVER called them selves Hairmetal  Every doc I’ve seen makes us look like idiots with no substance at all

 

Do they have a point?

Is the one on the left the mother-in-law?

[bluefox4000]

they have a point.  there was greatr music in that era BUT come on as the decade wore on the look got more and rediculous and that's what your average joe is gonna remember.  Hair metal was it's own worst enemy.

 

Mick

Edited June 22, 2024 by bluefox4000