Rock & Roll and Language (was: 70s crap)

[Gary L. Thompson]

On Tue, 15 Jul 1997, Joe Varo wrote:

> This brings up something I wonder about every so often:  why is it that
> Rock & Roll can seemingly be done only in one of the germanic languages,
> and still sound like Rock & Roll? 
> 
> Think about it...have you ever heard rock in any of the romance languages?
> You've got German (e.g. the Scorpions), Dutch (Golden Earring) and there
> was a Swedish group....not ABBA....damn....oh....Roxette.  But I've never
> heard of any french, italian or spanish rock & roll.

Don't know about Romance languages, but in the '80s there was some 
rompin, stompin rock in Polish (with many group names adapted English 
words, e.g., Perfekt, Ladypank). That was one of the few outlets for 
transparently coded resentment against the Colonels after the "state of 
war" in Dec. 1981 (remember Reagan's call to light a candle in the 
window?).

Last trip to Europe ('93) I rented a car and drove a bit in Finland, and 
caught an _extremely_ funny (to American ears) set of Rick Nelson songs done in 
Finnish. You haven't lived until you've heard "Travelin' Man" or "Goodbye 
Mary Lou, Hello Heart" in Finnish . . . 

Sorry if this sounds ethnocentric--it was just the combination of some 
far-from-kick-butt rock'n'roll with a language completely foreign to my 
comprehension.


Gary Thompson
Saginaw Valley State University

"No matter how cynical I get, I just can't keep up."
				--Lily Tomlin