I read the \u201cToday in History\u201d column in my local paper pretty much every day. My favorite part are the celebrity birthdays. I always had a rule that once a musician turned 50, the could not be listed as a \u201crock\u201d musician.<\/p>\n
I decided to change that rule yesterday when Peter Buck<\/a> celebrated his 51st birthday. Happy Birthday, Pete.<\/p>\n At first, I thought the listing had to be wrong. Peter couldn\u2019t be 51. They started the band while in college in 1980. But Wikipedia set me straight. Even though I\u2019m fairly obsessed with the band, I didn\u2019t realize just how much older he was than the other guys. Bill Berry<\/a> is 18 months younger and Michael Stipe<\/a> is four years younger.<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t mean Peter doesn\u2019t still rock. I remember seeing them in 1999 during their first tour since Bill left the band. Something seemed different. Peter didn\u2019t really look like he wanted to be there that much. Granted, it was near the end of the tour, but his trademark jumps and leg kicks diminished. At the end, he literally picked up Stipe and carried him off the stage, like he couldn\u2019t wait to finish the show.<\/p>\n Fast forward to 2003 when I saw them at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va. They had settled in a little without Bill. They faced their past and released a greatest hits album. They brought out some songs they hadn\u2019t played since 1980. At the end of the show, during \u201cEnd of the World,\u201d Peter went over to the keyboard area and banged on them for a while near the end of the song. He looked like he could play all night.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why 51 year olds can still be called rock musicians. It\u2019s not the number, it\u2019s the attitude. Enjoy this rare 1982 concert clip which just showed up on YouTube recently.<\/p>\n