This Game Rocks, Dude

(From the Janesville Messenger, 3-2-08)


The generation gap can be bridged...with a plastic guitar.

Because my usual behavior doesn’t often match my age, one might question whether a generation gap actually exists in my household between my two teenage children and me. Actually, the fact that I’m using the term “generation gap” may be all the proof that’s needed.

But my teenagers and I have found a way to connect...through music.

Finding musical common ground between generations is not always that easy to do. After all, the music of my parents’ era was Frank Sinatra and Glenn Miller. It’s hard to believe that in terms of years, we are now as far removed from the Kiss song “Rock And Roll All Nite” as that song was from “In The Mood.” A lot of the music of the 1970s and ‘80s simply doesn’t seem that old. Even the current musical flavor du jour, hip hop, came to the fore at that time and doesn’t sound much different today. (Just for the record, I didn’t care for it then, either.)

Still, it’s shocking to me that songs that were once considered loud or decadent or edgy are now being used for school pom pom routines and show choir performances. In fact, it was the show choir experience that started to put my kids and I on the same musical map.

But it was when we purchased the video game “Guitar Hero” that our musical worlds really collided.

For the uninitiated, “Guitar Hero” features a guitar-shaped controller that allows players to simulate the playing of rock music. It’s easier than actually playing a guitar but the concept is the same. Your left hand is on the frets – though in this case, it’s pushbuttons – and your right hand uses a strum bar to “play” the notes. Basically, as a song plays, you see the notes you are supposed to play scrolling toward you on the video screen. At the right time, you simultaneously press the correct buttons and the strum bar. When you’re done with the song, you get a score based on the percentage of notes you played correctly. This game has obviously struck a chord with the public, as sales have now topped the $1 billion mark.

Beside the fact that it gives a musical no-talent like myself the feeling of actually being able to play a song, the 73 songs included in the game represent each of the past four decades, a veritable rock music history lesson.

Some of the game-maker’s song choices are inspired. Among the selections are 40-year old chestnuts by The Rolling Stones, Alice Cooper, Santana and Cream. It has certainly helped my kids’ musical education. Prior to this, they were not the least bit familiar with The Who or ZZ Top.

But at the same time, the selections show how much music has changed in the last 30 years. When I was in high school, The Dead Kennedys were a hardcore punk band on the lunatic fringe of rock music. Radio stations wouldn’t touch them. But they are now considered acceptable for the most popular video game in the world. Likewise with The Sex Pistols. At the time, they were incredibly controversial and just one more reason why my parents thought the end of the world was near. Yet, my son and I now gleefully play along with their song advocating anarchy in the United Kingdom.

As they are being introduced to songs from my era, I am finally getting exposed to more recent songs I had never heard by groups like Weezer and The Strokes.

I like so much of what I’m hearing that I purchased a bunch of it. My co-workers are used to hearing music waft out of my office, but not from the likes of Tenacious D, singing/screaming about the virtues of heavy metal music.

Maybe people think I’m a silly old coot going through a second childhood. And maybe I am. But I’ve got to tell you...this game rocks, dude.