Recently we pondered the musical foundation of Classic Pink Floyd. I learned some useful information, such as the influence of Miles Davis‘ Kind of Blue on Rick Wright‘s keyboard stylings and the fact that “Run Like Hell” was a pisstake on disco. All that I learned helped strengthen my confidence in my recent realization that Classic Pink Floyd, beginning at the time the band found its true voice on Dark Side of the Moon, had more in common with The Who and U2 than I’d ever considered, something I will hereby term Popeye Rock.

“I am what I am.”

I believe the case can be made that most rock bands that connect with the public to some degree develop their sound from an established musical foundation, or traditions. In some cases the influences run deep and are easy to spot. In other cases, as is especially true in the playlists and sales charts of any given genre, the traditions may run as deep as last week’s playlists and charts. In short, rock ‘n roll musicians usually structure their individual talents around an identifiable sound. The craftwork rock musicians typically put into their music involves applying the “fabric” of their instruments to an existing “frame”: stylistic conventions dictating beat, melody, verse-chorus-middle eighth structure, etc. The Beatles are credited with blowing open the vault of rock’s available frames, but it was always the frame that dictated the course of the music.

This was the uninterrupted history of early rock ‘n roll until The Who came along. They may have introduced the Popeye Rock approach that, while still not the norm, has become a viable path toward making rock ‘n roll, especially following the massive popularity and influence of both Pink Floyd and U2.
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