Tributes

We could have lived this dance forever

Posted on by brucehhackett

Since its inception two years ago, this blog has centered on the artists, albums and music of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, and the issues and topics that affected them.  In 2016, as we watched many in tmte1oda0otcxndy5nda3nzu3hat generation of rockers approach and surpass age 70, we suddenly saw an inordinate number of them passing away, and I found myself writing nearly a dozen obituaries/tributes.

Perhaps it’s fitting that the final rock star death of last year was the youngest.  George Michael, who passed away Christmas Day at 53, became a star in 1984 at only 21, and made a significant impact on rock music, particularly on fans born in the 1965-1980 period.  So he wasn’t really from my era, and I was only a marginal fan…  But there’s no question he is deserving of one more obituary tribute here on “Hack’s Back Pages.” Read More

Who knows who cares for me, c’est la vie

Posted on by brucehhackett

It was the fall of 1970 when my favorite radio station started playing a beautifully spooky song about some sort of brave knight who had “white horses and ladies by the score, all dressed in satin and waiting by the door.”

maxresdefault-8Most people went nuts for the mind-blowing ending, which featured the then-new Moog synthesizer swooping all over the place.  But me, I was mesmerized by the singer, whose precise British voice reminded me of John Lennon in his “White  Album” period.

The song was “Lucky Man,” and the band was a new British progressive rock trio who — in the tradition of American folkies Crosby, Stills and Nash — wenhqdefault-2t by their last names as well:  Emerson, Lake & Palmer.  And that rich voice that so appealed to me belonged to the group’s bassist/guitarist Greg Lake, who last week became yet another in a long line of rock music heroes to pass away in 2016.

Back in March, we received the sad, then shocking news that keyboard maestro Keith Emerson had died of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head.  Now Lake is gone at age 69 after a four-year battle with cancer.  Drummer Carl Palmer, the last surviving member, must be looking over his shoulder these days. Read More