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JJGarsch
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 7:52 pm Posts: 136
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First use of "classic rock"?
Around the middle of chapter 9 of I Will Fear No Evil, while still recovering from surgery, Eunice is relaxing to some music: "For an hour and more she listened to a tape of evergreens, from classic rock she had never grown used to clear back to folk music popular before Johann Schmidt was born."
It seemed to me when I came across this passage that perhaps no one had ever used the term "classic rock" before then, at least in print.
Was Heinlein the first to imagine that there'd be such a thing as classic rock?
Opinions? Facts? Both are welcome.
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Sun Jan 13, 2013 10:29 am |
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JamesGifford
PITA Bred
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:17 pm Posts: 2402 Location: The Quiet Earth
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Re: First use of "classic rock"?
That's a good catch, and ca. 1970 I'd bet there are very, very few prior examples of the phrase. I think Heinlein might have been "making strange" and been completely blindsided by reality.
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Sun Jan 13, 2013 1:54 pm |
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PeterScott
Heinlein Nexus
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:10 am Posts: 2236 Location: Pacific NorthWest
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Re: First use of "classic rock"?
That is a good catch. I did not hear "classic rock" on the airwaves until the early nineties.
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Sun Jan 13, 2013 4:01 pm |
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sakeneko
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:22 am Posts: 603 Location: Reno, NV
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Re: First use of "classic rock"?
What Peter said. I think I first heard the term in the early '90s as well. I never listened to much rock, so I wasn't paying attention, but that sounds right.
_________________ Catherine Jefferson <ctiydspmrz@ergosphere.net> Home Page: http://www.ergosphere.net
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Sun Jan 13, 2013 6:46 pm |
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beamjockey
Centennial Attendee
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:46 am Posts: 545 Location: Aurora, IL, USA, Terra
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Re: First use of "classic rock"?
_________________ Bill Higgins bill.higgins@gt.org http://beamjockey.livejournal.com
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Sun Jan 13, 2013 9:40 pm |
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BillMullins
Joined: Thu Aug 21, 2008 12:40 pm Posts: 545
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Re: First use of "classic rock"?
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Sun Jan 13, 2013 10:52 pm |
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JJGarsch
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 7:52 pm Posts: 136
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Re: First use of "classic rock"?
Thanks for the research. Several of these instances do seem to use classic rock in the sense used in the novel - i.e., as a genre. Perhaps Heinlein was the first to use the term in fiction?
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Mon Jan 14, 2013 9:47 am |
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PeterScott
Heinlein Nexus
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:10 am Posts: 2236 Location: Pacific NorthWest
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Re: First use of "classic rock"?
To be fair, the same ngrams chart shows that the usage increased dramatically starting 1988.
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Tue Jan 15, 2013 9:02 pm |
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jeepojiii
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 12:42 pm Posts: 128 Location: Northern VA
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Re: First use of "classic rock"?
I first heard/started using "classic rock" when I was just entering my 20s at the start of the Brit "invasion." [I turned 21 just in time for the 1964 elections].
[How little we knew how deeply those Brit rockers we were denigrating were steeped in '50s rock and roll as well as blues, jazz, etc. Sigh. How did I survive my 20s?!?!?!]
_________________ OJ III
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Wed Jan 16, 2013 1:47 pm |
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JackKelly
NitroForum Oldster
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 7:57 am Posts: 669 Location: DC Metro
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Re: First use of "classic rock"?
I'm betting Heinlein was more a fan of "classic ragtime." That's very cool that you picked up on the "classic rock" reference in IWFNE. As with many things in Heinlein's writings, he seemed eerily ahead of his time - particularly on cultural issues.
_________________ "Being right too soon is socially unacceptable." - Heinlein, Expanded Universe
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Wed Jan 30, 2013 11:42 am |
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