real rock n roll

Though not one of their more famous tunes White Lion's All You Need Is Rock 'n' Roll is a favorite of mine. Vito Bratta is such a bad ass and this is a great showcase for him.


But something that's overlooked is that the tune starts by the band members playing (as if just for kicks) Gene Vincent's Be-Bop-A-Lula. The point here is the connection, one often not made. 80s glam-cock-rock/metal, whatever you wanna call it, is REAL ROCK N ROLL! No, it's not the Velvet Underground, no matter what you might've been taught in art school. It's real rock 'n' roll because it, as a genre, is concerned with what 50s rock (indisputably REAL rock and roll) concerned itself with, viz. guitar playing, having a good time, getting laid, getting your heart broke. And 80s guitarists could, well, actually play their instrument -- a feat that died in the 90s -- and they could play the blues, or at least were cognizant of the fact that the blues was a huge contributing factor to making rock and roll.