Royalty free photo by mconnors

It was the 4^th of July weekend last week and I had a little time off. I was looking forward to what I call down time. Not answering the phone, taking emergencies and just laying low and staying cool. My choices for movies were things like Cars Two and I love these cartoons but was in the mood for a movie. Transformers, hmmm did I want to pay money for watching metal come to life? The Zoo Keeper, The Hangover Part II, Green Lantern, Bad Teacher, please, really? I am to pay a big price to see a man talk to animals or drunken men going on escapades? Desperate to get away, I settle for Water for Elephants at the cheap theater and it got me thinking…

Back once upon a time, there were movies that were classics or at least would be talked about for a long time. For me there was the standard classics that I loved to watch such as  Rebel  Without A Cause, To Kill A Mocking bird, Casablanca, It’s A Wonderful life, The Wizard of Oz, Street Car Named Desire, All About Eve, West Side Story, The Grapes of Wrath, To Kill a Mocking Bird, Psycho, Vertigo, you sort of get the picture. These were real movies, with real plots that did not depend on special effects but good actors and great writing.

Then there was what I call the classics of my time. These were the movies, not of my past but when I was a kid or young adult. These were the movies that I knew would end up being classics sooner or later.  These movies included Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, ET, Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shawshank Redemption, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Bonnie and Clyde, The Silence of the Lambs, Midnight Cowboy, The Graduate, A Clockwork Orange and the list can go on.

Now don’t get me wrong there have been some good movies in the past decade that have been wonderful and maybe even a few that could be classics, however, nothing that can move the imagination like the classics did. I doubt if we will ever see another Wizard of Oz or Casablanca. Maybe it was the times, maybe it was the actors, and maybe our intelligence back then required higher standards. We wanted to stimulate our own minds and not have special effects do it for us.  

I think time has really changed. Between computers and living in what I call the “Reality TV” age, our top new classics will be The Hangover, (which is the summer’s biggest money maker thus far) Jackass, Sucker Punch, Mars Needs a Mom,  Thor, and Bridesmaids.  I just don’t know if we have the ability to make movies with the passion that we did once upon a time ago. The movies that are out today that have the passion and direction to make them classics seems to be far and few. They are out there but we need to look hard, much harder than ever before.

Yes, I will still visit the movie theater here and there, when I want to hide out, but for the most part, I would rather save my money and wait for them to watch on my TV via streaming or renting. I am disappointed that for kids this summer, their choices are so limited. Cartoons, violence and downright stupidity are what we are offering them for summertime entertainment.

I am glad we have the opportunity to watch the classics right at our finger tips and that we have choices of viewing. I agree that sometimes we need a stupid pointless movie to let go of our day but watching hung-over men as a summer classic? Really?

I enjoy the older days when entertainment really meant something. I miss the days when we went to a movie and knew a classic was being born. So tell me, what movies do you call classic?

I was recently listening to an old band tape of mine when I was in my early twenties. It  always amazes me when I look back and listen to my old bands from thirty years ago. I have  days where it feels like it was just a few years ago, then days where I say it was a life  time ago. It never ceases to amazes me how quickly time goes but the songs remain the  same and it got me tthinking…

I’m not sure what makes a song a classic but there are many classic out there. These songs  are the ones where people actually raise their hands to the sky and recite the lyrics with passion as if it were an anthem. They are not what we would call our favorite songs, but simply the classics. So today I will attempt to look at what I thought were some of the classics in my time. I almost laugh at this because in music today we do not have classics, just lots of music.  Now mind you, I believe there were  lots of classics, so of course, I can only list a handful and would love for you all to chime in with yours.

 The first one on my list would be Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd.  This song gives you chills when you hear it. I was fortunate enough to hear it live years after the death of Ronnie Van Zant. The song is like a religion, it moves you to the core.

 Speaking of being moved to the core, Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin is definitely a classic. I remember learning this and then playing it live when I was in my early twenties and then I thought, how dare anyone try to do this song, it is such a classic. I have to say I have heard many people do this song and I love the attempts people make, but nothing will ever compare to Led Zeppelin.

 Jimi Hendrix All Along the Watchtower is a song icon (so is Purple Haze.) I am unsure what else to say about this song. I have favorite versions that include Dave Mathews who actually has a version that sends goose pimples down my spine. No matter who does it, this song is pure classic.

 Pink Floyd Money, or is it Comfortably Numb, or is it The Wall? No I think I will have to stick to Money, well maybe, wait, bottom line here is Pink Floyd really did put out several classics and at times it can be hard to determine which one was the greatest.

The Doors, Light My Fire is pure classic it was their signature song that was released on their first album and helped the Doors into stardom, though Jim Morrison made it clear how much he disliked the song, it is indeed a classic.

 Aerosmith Dream On is pure classic. I hear this song and I see a river of hands swaying in the air in large stadium. This song made us believe that it was okay to dream and to dream on as much as we could. It is one of those songs that when the song comes on the radio, you are transported back into those youthful days where I felt anything was possible.

Yet another classic rock song would have to be Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen. This tends to be an anthem song. People raise their hands and shout the lyrics. It’s such an anthem that politicians use it to convince us to vote for them but true rockers knew that Bruce just sang this from his heart and gifted us with this classic.

  I suppose that there could be columns written about song classics like Janis Joplin Piece Of My Heart, The Beatles (pick your classic), David Bowie, Space Oddity, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Proud Mary, Derek and the Dominos, Layla, Bob Dylan, Blowin in the Wind, Moody Blues Nights in White Satin, Deep Purple Smoke on the Water, Queen Bohemian Rhapsody and The Animals, The House of the Rising Sun. Actually as you know from this list, the list goes on and on….

 I know the list can go on, and no doubt I left things out…There are songs that gave birth to rock and roll and then there are songs that went on to become classics. What do you feel are the classics to you in rock?