A broken system and fragile bands: When Gene Simmons thought The Beatles were “babies”
Gene Simmons is arguably one of the most opinionated people in music, and as seems to be the case whenever somebody in music is opinionated, he has a lot of terrible takes. His attitude towards different artists, towards himself and towards genres that he isn’t involved in are, to put it lightly, garbage. That being said, despite the fact that many people disagree with a lot of what he says, we can’t help but keep reading those opinions.
One of his bizarre takes is on rap music and how much he can’t stand it. He has never been shy about discussing how much he hates it as a genre and once said in an interview, “I’m looking forward to the death of rap.” Seems harsh, but when one of your biggest hits is a devotion to rock ‘n’ roll as a genre, you can’t help but admire his commitment to the bit.
Despite some of Simmons’s wild takes, even a broken clock is right twice a day, and his take on the problem with a lot of modern music is spot on. It feels like being a successful musician has never been more achievable. That’s not to say that the industry is easy to crack into, but the means by which people can make music, record it, publish it and market it have never been easier. As such, we are subject to a number of overnight success stories about artists who go viral on TikTok and Instagram one day and the next are headlining stages at festivals.
Because of the steep trajectory available for artists in our current technological age, many record labels are hunting for overnight success. They ask artists to write songs that have a specific section that could go viral, they want a plethora of video content, and if it doesn’t look like said artist has it in them to go viral, they get dropped.
Essentially, what this means is that longevity in music is, for many, a pipe dream, despite how easy it is to record and release music in the modern age. If you get an overnight hit, it’s hard to shake the shackles of that overnight hit. If you don’t, you’ll be dropped from a label and have to fund everything yourself, which most artists simply can’t do.
When Gene Simmons was talking about the Beatles, a band he has repeatedly praised to the high heavens, he noted their trajectory and became frustrated at the modern music industry, as no one would be allowed to have their trajectory in the modern age. He noted specifically their debut single, ‘Love Me Do,’ compared to some of the songs they released at the end of their career and how much they evolved.
Simmons said the Beatles were just “babies” when they released that debut track and that a band needs time to be nurtured and grow. That time they were allowed led to the creation of some of their greatest songs ever written.
“Look, the system is broken, and because the system is broken, new rock bands are very fragile,” said Simmons, “They’re like babies. You need to give them love and caring and give them a chance to come up with their better stuff so that they start with ‘Love Love Me Do’ [and] end up writing ‘A Day in the Life’.”
Simmons continued, “The same band, they had the time to mature and grow. But if they were living in their mother’s basement and had to work for a living, which is what’s going on today, it’s not going to happen.”
Despite having some very questionable opinions on music across the board, Simmons might have hit the nail on the head with this one.
