I actually think Rock & Roll is an UNDER-used term. To me, Rock & Roll is a blanket term for hit (not necessarily Top 40 but mostly) music from the 50s to the 70s. It is an endearing description of music from (what's called) "the rock & roll era".
"Rock & roll" connotes fun- the term "rock", at least to me, is a much darker- soundinb label. "Rock & roll" was the music craze that began in the mid 50s, it's what the kids called it (and their parents hated, which made it all the more cool) and, IMHO, still holds up very well today for that era of music. And, the term "rock & roll" does not just cover guitar-based music- to those who grew up on Top 40 radio from the 50s to the 70s, it includes rock hits, Motown, etc. One could say "rock & roll" is less a musical description and more of a cultural era banner (does that make sense?).
Much past the late 70s (probably with the advent of the disco fad), music labels began to splinter off in a handful of other directions.
> Do they still use that term? It sounds so 80s (when it
> seems every AOR called itself the "home of rock & roll").
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> I agree with the other poster...Van Halen is "rock", not "rock & roll".
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