Rock of Ages

I watched Rock of Ages the other night not really knowing what to expect. I figured it couldn't be too bad if Tom Cruise was in it. And it wasn't. I quite enjoyed the movie, largely because I loved the soundtrack.

I've always loved music. My Mom and Dad were involved in theatre when I was young and so I grew up listening to show tunes from classics like Carousel, Guys and Dolls and many others. I was in heaven when I got my first transtor radio when I was about 10, and discovered CHED (Edmonton) playing the songs of Beatles, Elvis, Rolling Stones and so on. I'd plug in the earphone (yes, only one) and listen when I went to bed. I went through a lot of batteries! Then came 45 RPM records with the little plastic insert that played on a record player. My first LP record was a K-Tel collection with songs like Crimson and Clover, Green Tambourine, Elenore and Cinnamon on it. Through the late 60's, the 70's and the 80's I collected a lot of records. Some of my particular favorites were live albums and so I looked forward to Don Kirshner's Rock Concert's on late night TV. Needless to say, I really loved the early days of Much Music and MTV. But once rap and hip hop took over I tuned out.

So how does all this relate to Rock of Ages? I think some of the best music videos ever made were from the rock hair bands of the mid to late 1980's. Not only were the songs good, but the videos were memorable as well. Rock of Ages is like a long music video with many of my favorite songs from that music video era - Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Night Ranger, Twister Sister and Kiss just to name a few. My stereo has pretty much been replaced by an iPod, but almost all the songs from the Rock of Ages soundtrack are on my iPod.

Check Rock of Ages out. You' ll like it. Tom Cruise even sings!