JS: How did you get involved with teaching rock `n’ roll?

DS: It happened very shortly after John Lennon was assassinated. A number of professors, who were acquaintances of mine, and I did a seminar on music of the Beatles era. We decided to do a seminar on music of that era because there was not such a variety like now, and the music became a big deal after Lennon was assassinated. I’ve always liked rock `n’ roll and wanted to teach a course on it. Rock `n’ roll is more than 50 years old, which is a good length of time for the history; it has periods or styles, and it is fun to examine. Rock `n’ roll courses became popular across the country, and I worked for several years with the university to approve this as a course [the history of rock `n’ roll].

JS: Who are your musical influences?

DS: My high school band director had a profound influence on my deciding to go into music. As a student in Vienna in the late 1960s, two teachers at a musical academy were very influential to me. John Hill at the University of Iowa, where I worked on my doctorate, was probably the most influential in my wanting to become a college teacher.

JS: What does rock `n’ roll mean to you?

DS: I guess people have said this about me and I realize it’s probably true. `In almost any situation that arises, either in terms of how someone feels or what’s going on, Stuart can come up with a rock `n’ roll song that describes the situation.’ There has always been something in some tune that sort of has a poetic way of summing up a particular situation. Because I like the music, I tend to remember the lyrics, not the other way around. A lot of people remember the lyrics, then try to remember the song, but I remember the music first.

JS: What is your opinion of rock `n’ roll today versus that of the 1950s and 1960s?

DS: This is a very difficult question because one thing we investigate in my rock `n’ roll class is “what is rock `n’ roll?” There are a bazillion categories from oldies, to classic rock, to techno, to rap, to you name it, and for each one you can find someone who can say `that’s not rock `n’ roll’ and someone who will say `yes it is.’ In the 1950s, rock `n’ roll was young and people who were in their 30s and 40s had listened to swing, and those older had listened to jazz. In the ’90s, people had grown up with rock `n’ roll and different styles of rock. People who are 50 or younger can point to music they listened to that was rock `n’ roll in high school or middle school.

JS: What does your course teach?

DS: It does not go through an exact chronological history; we go through the decades. It is oriented on musical styles and influences, such as the influence of basic pop, country rock, blues, and folk rock. We look at music from previous decades that use certain styles and we look at music within last the few years that use those same styles.

JS: If you could be a member of any band, past or present, which would you choose and why?

DS: I guess in my alter ego, I always wanted to be a rock `n’ roll drummer. It’s really hard for me to pick a particular band, but maybe the Animals, because it’s sort of basic, real, gritty rock `n’ roll, which is what I think of. I’m a music listener, a legit musician, and when I do rock `n’ roll, it’s not something I do, but something I listen to. To listen, I like more horn bands and art rock people and those kinds of things, but if I was going to do and be rock drummer, I like the gritty approach. I think about the Animals as a British invasion band that was basic three-chord, gritty, in-your-face rock `n’ roll.

JS: As a child, did you have the dream of growing up to be a rock star?

DS: No, I never did. I suppose maybe, when I was 30 I thought, jeez, if I had been able to do this as a kid, what would I have done?’ The horns section of the Blues Brothers, Blood, Sweat, and Tears, Chicago, Tower of Power, those kinds of horn bands weren’t around when I was a kid. When that kind of stuff came out, I was already too old to think about being a rock `n’ roll person.

JS: What do you think the future of rock `n’ roll holds?

DS: It will probably be pretty much the same as it always has been. The difficulty now is being one of the major areas of pop culture so there is a lot of money to be made, which means there are a whole bunch of other people interested in the money, not necessarily the creativity or musical expression. There are people in rock `n’ roll that are interested in only the musical and creative expression. Sometimes people make it and sometimes people don’t. The most difficult thing now is if you make it and how do you deal with the forces that be and keep your creative and musical integrity? How do you not sell out wasn’t so much of a concern in the old days because rock was one of many in the popular scene. Now it is the biggest and there is a lot more pressure on people.

JS: Anything else you would like to add?

DS: Use your ears, listen to music, don’t take only what promoters tell you is good. Listen to something you haven’t heard before, get on the Internet and talk to friends to expand what you listen to. You might like something you’ve never heard before.