Rock as It Nears 40: Running on Empty?

Ten years ago I came to the same conclusion as Hilburn’s article--rock was, indeed, running on empty. However, I got off my duff and began cruising the radio dial to see if it had changed coats and moved on, and by God--I found it!

Punk/alternative/new wave/college music or whatever-the-hell-you-want-to-call-it has single-handedly carried the rock flame through the ‘80s with all the imagination, guts, humor and passion of the original.

Oingo Boingo, Midnight Oil, the Cure, Depeche Mode, Morrisey, Billy Idol and U2, among others, have each created a body of work that rivals any of the so-called legends of rock, and, remarkably, they’ve done it, for the most part, without Top 40-format radio.

No, Robert, rock as a creative, exciting, fun, Mom-and-Dad-still-hate-it entity is not running on empty--it just put on a little eye shadow and moved up the dial to 106.7 (KROQ).

RICHARD J. TAFILAW

Van Nuys