Old dudes and rock

See, here's a dilemma - rock music is for the young. Rock is an art form wherein as one ages one's powers wane, for the most part. In classical music, painting, writing, etc, this is not necessarily the case; indeed, even in dance, a ballet person can continue to choreograph long after they are too wrecked to dance themselves and can then sit on the edge of the stage, slumped over a cane, going "No! No! No!" at the young, lithe drug-addled Uzbekis making such a mess of all their hard work.

But rock - one gets to a certain age and it just looks pathetic.

So, then I came across a record by someone/thing called the Red Button. I listened to it knowing nothing about them other than that Jack Rabid liked them. And, wow! Talk about sixties AM radio hits that never were! Amazing.

I dutifully wiki'd them to see what they were about and it was these two guys, both of whom are LA music pro types, one of whom had even written hits for Taylor Dayne (!).

My dilemma is that I cannot enjoy the record as much now, knowing that it was these two guys who did this (and more power to them - it's a great record) and not some skinny young 23 year old wunderkinds who sprang Athena-like from the Zeus-head of some Fayetteville, AR, record shop counter (for instance).

Aren't I, then, being ageist? That these guys made such a great record should be applauded, not scoffed at just because, I dunno, they probably played one show for a record release party with studio-hack buddies forming the balance of the band and their friends all came out, the girls all Lana Clarkson-types (god bless her) and guys who look like Robert Fripp saying, "Man, you guys are the best thing I've heard since The SHOES!" etc. All the hackneyed old guy shit...that's not their fault!

I had the same reaction when I found out that that Army Navy record was not an organic "new" band but rather some old guys "givin' it a try", all hootenanny style (Pete Thomas from the Attractions plays drums!).

That the Red Button LP is also some sort of touchstone for dorks who rave about Outrageous Cherry and Myracle Brah and other such pop-fan convention standard bearers also just makes me sad.

I dunno, I'm a conflicted mess. Gonna go lay down...