The Living Rockumentary

Ning, in most cases, it's not a case of getting old--it's a case of getting rich. Most famous songwriters, even by your present age, were starting to over-ripen.
But we know several songwriters, uh, of advanced age (?) who are still writing good stuff. Plus folks like Hitchcock and Freedy, who aren't raking in millions.

Also, when songwriters are young, there is urgency and competition. In the mid 60's, Thownsend and Ray Davies often put down the Beatles as nothing special. Everyone was competing to see who could move pop songwriting up another step. And for like 5 magic years, it produced such an enormous canon. Pop advanced so much and so quickly between '63-68 in ways that few artforms have. It was almost like the Rennaisance in fast motion.
Is it a coincidence that doctors were dolling out amphetamines in those days for dozens of minor illnesses? From allergies to mild depression to jet lag?
Unfortunately, that era is over, isn't it?

But the punk/new wave scene started it up again. Or, whatever--I''ve not the time to write a book here, that's already been written by countless rock journalists.