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If Rock and Roll Is Dead, and Poetry Is The New Rock and Roll....

Today's Guardian mentions a study that shows that only 3 of the top 100 singles this year were in the rock and roll category.  Hip hop and Dance and Pop are the new kings.  Most rock stars are in their 50s, 60s or older, and few young Turks are on the way up with anything like the same levels of support or fanbase of their elders.  One commentator suggests rock and roll is as dead as Jazz.  What does this mean for performance poetry in the UK, which saw itself as a new kind of "rock and roll"?  Clearly, rap is, as David Brent noted in one episode of The Office, "the new Wordsworth", but where does that leave contemporary mainstream poetry?  It seems hard enough to imagine ever being as popular as Elvis Costello, let alone hearing his genre is going the way of the Dodo too... or is that Dido?
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Poetry Pleases! said…
Dear Todd

I remember reading the Poetry Review's 'New Generation Poets' of 1994. The overarching theme was that 'poetry is the new rock and roll'. It never really happened and, in fact, sales of contemporary poetry declined sharply soon afterwards. I have noticed however that all of the poets featured have gone on to fame if not fortune as a direct result of their inclusion.

Best wishes from Simon
Thu Jan 13, 12:01:00 pm 2011
Alan Baker said…
Sounds like Rock and Roll is the new poetry...
Fri Jan 14, 01:15:00 pm 2011
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