Explaining Classic Rock Bands to Kids

You know how chicks at school really like Justin Bieber and One Direction? Imagine if you combined the two things -- stay with me -- and added loud guitars and suits, and kept the Bieber haircuts.

On top of that, you have parents who are still kinda boring and dull and don't get it. It's hard to express how important the Beatles were to your grandparents and parents, but don't let that turn you off from them. You can always show them to friends and look cool later on when they finally "get" the Beatles. Get their album "playlist" Revolver from iTunes, and start from there.

(See also: The Monkees, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr)

Bob Dylan

"This dude doesn't know how to sing," you may say after you listen to few Bob Dylan songs. He wheezes, he sings riddles and there is harmonica. Sounds like the stuff that you hear in the coffee shop on Saturday mornings when dad reads the paper.

This stuff made your grandparents feel like adults, even when they couldn't drive or even vote. Once you get your heart broken, I mean really bashed in, Dylan will make a whole lot of sense. For now, have fun figuring out what the hell he is trying to say.

(See also: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Simon & Garfunkel)

Johnny Depp's dad isn't in this band, I promise. It would be cool, and make total sense, but no. That's Keith Richards, who did more drugs than anyone ever in existence. He plays lead guitar. Mick Jagger is the lead singer.

Okay, you know that Maroon 5 song "Moves Like Jagger"? It's about being able to dance like him, which is pretty hard but people still try. He was really stealing it all from James Brown....

(See also: The Faces, X, Social Distortion, lust)

**James Brown was this little guy with great hair who wore really tight pants. Pretty much the greatest funk singer and dancer who ever lived. Check him out too.

The Doors

The Doors had a lead singer named Jim Morrison, who sang poems -- weird, huh? -- that his band set to this, like, circus music. He had a big Hagrid-looking beard for a while. Another guy who drank too much and died, though if he had lived, he probably wouldn't have been as cool as he was when he was young, and been playing wacky grandpas on sitcoms by now.

(See also: The Cult, Jane's Addiction, dreamcatchers)