History test

Lecture 24: The South Bronx and the Origins of Hip Hop: "The Message" The Politics of Rap

"How We Gonna Make the Black Nation Rise?" -Brother D with Collective Effort, 1981 -First hip-hop "message song" "The Message" -1982 Sugar Hill record - "GrandMaster Flash and the furious 5" -Rap as social commentary: Life in the inner city "The Message" underscored that focus had shifted from DJs to MCs -Ability to speak directly to the crowd triumphed over ability to manipulate turntables Female Rappers include "The Mercedes Ladies" (No record contract), "The Sequence" (Signed to Sugar Hill Records), Conclusion -A new outsiders' music -Rooted in race & class, politicized -...Like earlier genres of outsiders' music, could hip-hop "cross over"?

Lecture 21: Musical Masculinity, Redefined: Backlash

-"Disco Sucks" -Chicago radio DJ Steve Dahl's anti-disco crusade -Invading disco clubs and throwing marshmallows at the dancers -"Disco Demolition Night," Chicago White Sox, Old Comiskey Park, July 12, 1979 -Anti-black and Anti-Gay backlash -disco is still regarded by rock loyalists as a black and homosexual phenomenon. It's not always clear when whites profess a dislike of disco as to whether they dislike the music or whether they dislike those who like it." -Sign of the anxiety over decline of working & middle classes -Conclusion Disco & Glam reflected: -Break with/end of 60s counterculture -Leading edge of sexual revolution— especially gay rights movement -In that sense, a return to traditional political function of popular music: mediating gender & sexuality Glam & disco marked important change -But music industry almost completely avoided openly gay artists -Only Mercury Records issued Steven Grossman's, "Caravan Tonight" an openly gay themed music a record deal

Lecture 21: Musical Masculinity, Redefined: Disco

-1970s music genre -Audience-centered music— dancing -Instrumentation: Focus on rhythm section - Keyboards, drum machines, fast tempos -Simple Lyrics—focus on the beat -Known as "outsider's music" -disco became popular initially without much radio play or publicity -Disco had gay roots in gay dance clubs -Also had racial roots from black and latino dance clubs -Like country—and unlike heavy metal and punk, disco appealed across generational divide. -Didn't divide parents and children -It wasn't "message music" it was a way to dance and let loose with the lights and the sound -In effect, disco in gay clubs was a site where heterosexuals could begin to explore and accept gay/black/Latino culture -In this respect, a very political music

Lecture 23: ROCK & DEINDUSTRIALIZATION: Deindustrialization, 1970s-1980s

-Against backdrop of decline of American economic and military power, critical shift in economy: -Decreasing role of manufacturing in American life -In 1970s, combination of international competition & increased efficiency produced closings of US factories, particularly in steel, rubber, automobiles -Union official: US becoming "a nation of hamburger stands . . . a country stripped of industrial capacity and meaningful work . . . a service economy." -American industry seemingly out-done by WW2 enemies rebuilt by the US (Japan) -American products seemed inferior The Rustbelt -Uneven regional impact of deindustrialization • Election of conservative President, Ronald Reagan, in 1980, revived hopes for American economic power -Reagan Recession ensued in 1981-1982 -Sharp economic downturn cost more blue collar jobs -Working-class incomes & opportunities continued to stagnate and decline Country, not surprisingly, reflected impact on the white working class Merle Haggard May 1982 song, #2 Billboard Country hit: "Are the good times really over"

Lecture 21: Musical Masculinity, Redefined: Glam Rock

-Bowie part of a broader musical movement in the early 1970s: "Glam" or "Glitter" rock -New, post-60s outlook & aesthetic -Rooted in 1960s psychedelic music & British "art rock" -Glam more defined by visual styles: -Long hair -Unisex & cross-dressing fashions -Lots of makeup Glitter -Dyed hair Platform boots -Similar musicians to Bowie = Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, T.Rex, Queen (Freddie Mercury), Alice Cooper...etc -Break with 1960s counter-cultural faith in "revolution" -Re-emphasis on gender & sexuality (but now ambiguous, adrogynous, bi-sexual, homosexual) -Rejection of Authenticity for Artificiality & Theatricality

Lecture 28: The Death of Popular Music?: The Fragmentation of Music

-By 1990's clear proliferation in number of popular genres -Three major genres (rock, hip hop, & country)—none dominant -Increase of channels • Top 40 radio, unifier of tastes, declined, 1990s • Other formats proliferated on radio • MTV quickly had competition -College Radio in the 1980's: 1000s of channels Impact on Record Companies • Decline of monolithic Top 40 stations made it harder to market records • Less likely to get top hits played on radio Personalized Music -Sony Walkman, introduced US 1980: Portable audio-cassette player -No need to listen to radio

Lecture 21: Musical Masculinity, Redefined: David Bowie

-David Bowie's career at the start did not take off -Bowie then "recreated" himself with a Gay/Androgynous identity. "The only thing that shocks now is an extreme. .... I'm gay and I always have been." - Bowie then fabricated something "so unearthly and unreal and having it live as an icon" -Bowie adopted "theatricality" -Music as visual drama -in dress, in manner, in presentation and in attitude. . . ." -"on-stage androgynous sexuality, colorful theatrical effects and rudimentary dramatics" -Musical Activism was still in creation of community. His was through "Pain and struggle" rather than "revolution and utopia" -Music about agony and pain (similar to generations of past rock)

Lecture 26: Gangsta Rap and South Central Los Angeles: N.W.A

-Eazy E, Dr.Dre, Ice Cube, M.C Ren, Arabian Prince, and Yella all formed NWA (N***** With Attitude) -Released "Straight Outta Compton" "F*** Tha Police" Misogyny -EFIL4ZAGGIN NWA's 2nd album, 1991 Included: -"To Kill a Hooker" -"One Less Bitch" -"Findum, ****um & Flee" -"She Swallowed It"

Lecture 22: Feminism & Popular Music in the 1970s: "Women's Liberation": Feminism in the 1960s & 1970s

-Emergence of new ideas, new activism leading to new critique of popular music generally & rock in particular -Liberal Feminism: -Emerging middle-class movement demanding equality in the workplace & politics particularly -The Feminine Mystique(1963) -Equal Rights Amendment -Radical Feminism: -Late 1960s -Younger women with roots in black freedom struggle & campus activism -Private and public focus: "The personal is the political" -Male violence/women's control of their bodies—rape, abuse, abortion Anti-Feminism -Phyllis Schlafly, leader of movement against the Equal Rights Amendment

Lecture 22: Feminism & Popular Music in the 1970s: "Women's Liberation": Cock Rock

-Feminist critique of countercultural rock as male privilege -Reinterpreted 1960s -Undermined rock's revolutionary image -Susan Hiwatt -First important example: anonymous 1970 article, "Cock Rock" in feminist magazine Rat (aka Women's LibeRATion). -"but all these different groups of men. And once I noticed that, it was hard not to be constantly noticing all the names on the albums, all the people doing sound and lights, all the voices on the radio, even the D.J.'s between the songs—they were all men." -"Massive Exclusion of Women" -No women electric guitarists or drummers -Women singers but they had "to be twice as good just to be acceptable" (Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin) -Allison Steele, "The Nightbird" -Pioneering woman DJ, WNEW-FM, New York City -Rock Misogyny "Because when you get to listening to male rock lyrics, the message to women is devastating. -We are c****—sometimes ridiculous ('Twentieth Century Fox'), -sometimes mysterious ('Ruby Tuesday'), -sometimes b***** ('Get a Job') -sometimes just plain c**** ('Wild Thing'). Women Still Necessary -"Women are required at rock events to pay homage to the rock world—a world made up of thousands of men...Homage paid by offering sexual accessibility, orgiastic applause group worship, gang bangs at Altamont." 60s Revolution wasn't real -Rock's reconfiguration of masculinity in the 1960s —unisex clothes and long hair a la Beatles? -Just "hip camouflage" for continuing sexism -Earlier rock didn't cast women simply as passive sexual partners or bitchy emasculators -Rock heroes of 60s guilty—Beatles, Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones Impact • Feminist critics subverted the history of rock as rebellion • In some ways reinforced 1950s critique of rock as degeneracy • But very little changed in the world of rock in 1970s

Lecture 21: Musical Masculinity, Redefined: Gay Liberation

-McCarthyism unravels in the 1940's and 1950's which primarily uncovers closeted homosexuals in congress -After Stonewall confrontation with police in 1969 there is a new willingness to assert gay identity and openly called for "Gay Power" -Gay Liberation Front is then created in 1969. They believe in Gay Rights Anti-Sexism, Anti-Capitalism..etc -Gay liberation rested on willingness of men to come out & then changing other Americans conception of homosexuality -Popular music then avoided "gay identities": "Tutti Fruitti" "Love is a drag"

Lecture 22: Feminism & Popular Music in the 1970s: "I Will Survive": Women in Disco

-Meanwhile, female performers played a larger role in disco -Donna Summer was a "disco diva", left psychedelic rock for solo career -Known as, "The Queen of Disco" -Hits like, "Hot Stuff" -Also Gloria Gaynor and Grace Jones -Why so many women in Disco? -"...a high, piping sound suits the silly, partying mood and bounciness of many disco songs." -Women singers suit "national mood" of "sentimental escapism" (John Rockwell) -Women were "cult figures for homosexuals." -Women were still exploited -Rockwell: "Disco music...is ultimately a producer's music, which means men's music, which means the exploitation of women to suit male fantasies, be they homosexual or heterosexual.... -At worst it's a puppet-like acting-out of a male fantasy of women as objects or as slightly grotesque figures of exaggerated lust and dominance." -Rockwell's argument effectively erased disco divas—as if Summer, Gaynor, & Jones had no identity of their own

Lecture 22: Feminism & Popular Music in the 1970s: "No One's Ever Gonna Keep Me Down Again": Helen Reddy & Pop Feminism

-The biggest feminist "message" song came—not from rock—but from mainstream pop -Helen Reddy was divorced and a single mother -" I am a woman" In 1971, Reddy wanted song reflecting her experience in the women's movement -Found only "total doormat" songs; wrote her own statement instead -Radio stations wouldn't play it -She went on afternoon TV talk shows; -Women viewers then phoned radio stations to demand the song -Men reacted angrily -#1 Billboard Hot 100, Dec. 1972 -1973 Grammy, Best Female Vocal Performance -Controversial acceptance: "I want to thank God because She makes everything possible." Another example of effective "political" music: no policy prescriptions -Instead, lowest-common denominator music —collective identity, group pride -Like Haggard, "Okie from Muskogee" & James Brown, "Say It Loud" Conclusion • Rock "revolution" wasn't absolute • Paradox, again: country & mainstream pop arguably more "feminist" • 1970s music radical—gay identity, feminism —by doing what popular music had always done: redefining gender & sexuality

Lecture 27: 21st Century Performances

1) Panic! At the Disco, "Girls/Girls/Boys" (2013) 2) Leon Bridges, "River" (2015) 3)Beyoncé, "Formation" (2016) 4)Twenty One Pilots, "Stressed" (2015) 5) Shania Twain, "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" (1999)

Lecture 26: Gangsta Rap and South Central Los Angeles: Who Won?

2 Live Crew acquitted -As predicted, labeling and controversies boosted record sales -2 Live Crew ultimately sold 2 million copies of As Nasty as They Wanna Be -Followed with album Banned in the USA -"As clean as they want to be" (clean version) sold less copies -Clean versions never caught on Rap remained explicit in theme and language Juries largely rejected local obscenity laws -Federal obscenity power proved even weaker US Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit, overturned obscenity ruling on As Nasty as They Wanna Be (again Gates testimony), 1992 -US Supreme Court refused to take up case Fundamentally, hip-hop had too broad an audience to stop it -Crossover audience white as well as black, middle-class as well as working-class

Lecture 24: The South Bronx and the Origins of Hip Hop: African Americans & Post-Civil Rights America

A period of success for African-Americans But new stresses amid deindustrialization Divisions -Between advocates of integration/civil rights & nationalism/separatism -Between nationalist advocates of "Revolution"/violence & cultural assertion After anti-segregation and voting rights laws, the next steps towards racial equality prompted controversy: -Busing -Affirmative Action Rise of the Black Middle Class -Gradual increase of business owners and white collar workers a hopeful sign. -But associated, too, with movement out of cities into suburbs Predominantly black neighborhoods, once called "ghettoes," still facing: -Discrimination -De facto segregation -High unemployment -Drug addiction—crack epidemic & flight of black middle class

Lecture 26: Gangsta Rap and South Central Los Angeles: Hip Hop Goes West

After "Rapper's Delight" hit in 1979, Hip Hop spread across the country -Most notable new area: West Coast, especially San Francisco & Los Angeles -Early & mid-1980s, mostly reflections of East Coast hip-hop— dancers, DJs, MCs (Ice-T), graffiti tags -Rise of Ice Cube, Dr.Dre, Eazy E, Dr.Dre had Ice Cube write "Boyz N the Hood" -East-Coast group turned down this "West Coast shit." -Dre and Ice Cub persuaded amateur rapper Eazy E—closest thing to an actual "boy from the hood"—to make the record. -Sold the single independently around town Ruthless Records -1987, Eazy E, with white promoter Jerry Heller, formed "Ruthless Records" (which re-released "Boyz-N the Hood") Dre became producer for Ruthless -

Lecture 26: Gangsta Rap and South Central Los Angeles: From Watts to Compton

After Okies' migration to California, 1930s African-American migration for defense jobs during WW2 African-American migrants centered in South Central district of Los Angeles Watts, within city limits -City of Compton just a few miles further south (majority of white suburban residents) Watts became majority African-American by WW2 -Large projects built during war & white flight after, led to still larger % of black residents Beginning late 1940s, middle-class blacks left Watts for Compton Beginning late 1950s, white middle-class left Compton—though still a large white population -Class character of Compton began to change After 1965 Riots with the rise of the black panthers and violence white's and middle class African-Americans left too -Compton then has little social services and becomes poor, gangs spread, crack became prominent, violence and crime increased, black men in prison

Lecture 23: ROCK & DEINDUSTRIALIZATION: Punk Rock

Another, post-60s version of rock Richard Hell & the Voidoids -Pioneering NYC punk band Rock—rooted in past -Short songs (ca. 2 minutes or less) -Simple chords -Loud—but different sound from heavy metal? Faster Visual Style -Like glam & heavy metal, punk also defined by visual style -Richard Hell led the way: Spiked hair Torn clothes Safety pins Class Appeal? -In United Kingdom, "Punk ... is a protest by Britain's working-class children, who have no memory of swinging London and cannot find jobs." Time, 1977 -Not as clear class dimension in the US: more middle-class Blank Generation" (1977) I was sayin' let me out of here before I was even born.... The nurse adjusted her garters as I breathed my first, The doctor grabbed my throat and yelled, "God's consolation prize" I belong to the blank generation, And I can take it or leave it each time. Anti-Drug? -For many punk fans, rejection of drugs. -"They make you passive. I want to be able to think straight." Rejection of Commercialized Rock -Punk fans rejected big business that rock had become in serving the counter culture

Lecture 25: Rock and Pop in the 1980's: "Everybody Wants to Rule the World": The "Material Girl": Madonna

As before, pop music focused on mediating tensions & conflicts over gender & sexuality—issues of identity -Madonna: Redefinition of gender in context of video-driven theatricality Madonna faced controversy of being -Inauthentic (video iconography) -"Bimbo Rock" (female identity) A Woman in Control "...the essential truth is that no one has backed Madonna into any corners. Her videos may be sexist or sexy, but they are her own creations. Her songs may suggest the triumph of selfishness, but she has chosen them. Her fashions and her performance may be libidinous, but they are not demeaning." -Richard Harrington, 1985 The Anti-Bimbo -"Bimbos suggest that their purpose is to fulfill men's fantasies; Madonna suggest her purpose is to fulfill her own. ... In ways that feminist critics dismiss, Madonna is saying that women don't need to play the waiting game with men. She is aggressive and controlling, coming on strong with a posture that's frightening to males and instructive to females who can get past the surface." -Richard Harrington

Lecture 25: Rock and Pop in the 1980's: "Everybody Wants to Rule the World": The Big Business of Music

As they had since the 1920s/1930s, big ("major") record companies continued to dominate the industry The "Big Seven" in the 1980s: • CBS • RCA • WEA (Warner) • BMG • POLYGRAM • CAPITOL/EMI • MCA (originally,Decca) And then there were 5: -BMG would buy RCA (1986) -SONY would buy CBS (1988) Record Sales- Music became bigger than ever before -1990, record sales=$7.5 billion New Technologies -Music business confronted new technologies in the 1980s (music centered around videos) -Cable and MTV (music videos) -VH1, BET, and TNN (Culmination of long-term trend away from genuinely live music) (lip-synching to records on American Bandstand) -CD's introduced in 1982 (Beginning of digitalization) Teen Pop -Young people continued to determine taste in popular music -Teen audience trended younger, -Acts more consciously crafted to appeal to them: -Menudo, New Kids on the Block (R&B Street music safer for white audience), Power- Business still largely hands of white men -(Berry Gordy, Jr. sold Motown to MCA, 1988) -MTV reinforced racial inequality -As in early rock era, African-American performers much less visible -Women remained 2nd class citizens

Lecture 23: ROCK & DEINDUSTRIALIZATION: Recession Rock

By the 1980s, another response to economic transformation Billy Joel "Allentown" (1982) -Another fading Rustbelt factory town -"The great American blue-collar promise that the postwar kids were raised on isn't there....I really don't know anyone who is untouched by what's happening economically." Bruce Springsteen -Fuller return to Lennon's working-class music -"Born in the USA, 1984" Impact -Surprisingly little controversy -Conservatives interpreted the song more optimistically than Springsteen liked -But Springsteen avoided direct partisanship -Instead, more "personal" focus observations of hard times, calls for action on hunger Springsteen's "politicization" worked commercially -Hit records -Born in the USA the 1st cd pressed in US (Terre Haute), 1986 Radical Music? -"Allentown" and "Born in the USA" didn't demand change -Songs of disillusionment, not reform or revolution least common denominator rock politics: -generalized concern about plight of workers, rather than specific policy prescriptions Regional Music? Detroit DJ Jerry Stormer, 1983: "America is so regionalized that music in certain areas is being changed by unemployment. Pop produced in the industrial Midwest by a couple of kids who can't get a job is bound to be more passionate than that produced by well-to-do kids in Minneapolis."

Lecture 23: ROCK & DEINDUSTRIALIZATION: Heavy Metal

By the late 1960s, new style emerging out of psychedelic rock & guitar god music -Simple, heavy rhythm Distorted, loud guitar riffs Theatricality -Britain: rock bands influenced by psychedelic rock & American blues • Led Zeppelin, 1968 • Judas Priest, 1969 Grand Funk Railroad -Band formed 1968, Flint, Michigan, auto manufacturing center part of declining industrial North "We're an American Band" -1973, 1st #1 hit, Billboard Hot 100, off 7th studio album -Now quartet, w/keyboard player, Craig Frost Shorter band name, due to legal battle w/Knight (Grand Funk) -Defined "Hard Rock," later "Heavy Metal": -Loud, distorted guitars -Simple chords -Marked, heavy rhythm and expressive vocals

Lecture 26: Gangsta Rap and South Central Los Angeles: Hip Hop Crosses Over

Controversy over violence and misogyny helped move NWA and hip hop into the mainstream of popular music Hip hop moved, quickly and finally, into the mainstream of popular music in the late 1980 -"Teenage Boys with Attitude" -Yo! MTV Raps- Weekly show, debuted 1988 -Then daily, 1989 -(But MTV wouldn't play NWA video....) -1989 American Music Awards -White hip hop Beastie Boys, ex-NYC punk band 1986 album, "Licensed to Ill" -1st hip hop to reach #1 on Billboard album chart -But still small number of female hip hop artists (Salt n Peppa, Queen Latifah, Daddy-O (rapper, Stetasonic, & record producr): "...I got a 13-year-old son at home that loves N.W.A., but he would never take a gun out in the street and kill somebody else, because he loves basketball and he loves culture and that's just entertainment." Florida Rap Group "2 live crew" released "We want some pussy" and "Throw that dick" -An album was sold to a 14 year old girl- store owner got in trouble -Similar case happened in Alabama where a store owner got in trouble, jurors decided government could not tell people what they could and couldn't listen to - "Clean" versions as well as uncensored versions began to get released They then released another album, "As nasty as they want to be" (1989) that featured songs like "Me so Horny" and "the f*** shop" -2 live crew was sued after the American Family Association went after them -US District judge then ruled album obscene -Record store clerk Robert Freeman arrested -Then, 2 Live Crew itself arrested Fort Lauderdale for alleged violation of local obscenity laws for performing songs from "As Nasty as They Wanna Be" (acquitted on appeal)

Lecture 25: Rock and Pop in the 1980's: "Everybody Wants to Rule the World": "We are the World" - Musical Idealism

Despite business (or because of all the money being made), persistence of Sixties political stance as basic part of pop/rock star identity -Along with "Allentown" and "Born in the USA," the rise of "charity rock" Charity Rock -Benefit concerts for political causes -Original: George Harrison, Concert for Bangladesh (NYC, 1971) -"Band Aid" -"USA for Africa" -Live Aid, July 1985 -Geldof-led benefit concerts for Ethiopian famine relief, An '80s Woodstock? -Farm Aid, 1985 -A kind of spin-off, -benefit for US family farmers, Champaign, IL (Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson)

Lecture 28: The Death of Popular Music?: The Decline of the Music Business

Despite rise of paid downloads, music business increasingly in crisis 2000s-2010 -File Sharing Impact • Huge drop in sales of compact discs • Not offset by legal online sale -By 2012, only a "Big 3": -Universal, Sony, Warner -Decline of Record Stores -New Technology: Streaming (Pandora and Spotify) -YouTube Universal, Sony, and Warner push back to monetize official music through ad revenue (Vevo) -Doesn't work Impact on artists • More get some exposure • Fewer make big money Fans not only benefited from cheap or free music -Social media gave them power Big Three companies have taken stakes in streaming audio companies & other digitial startups -Dr. Dre's Beats and Shazam - In 2016, made up 51% of music biz - And spurred 11.4% profit gain -2018 IPO (start of public trading of stock) But free music on YouTube continued to cut into profits. • CD sales continued to plummet • Download sales dropped • And music revenue only half what they were in 1999

Lecture 24: The South Bronx and the Origins of Hip Hop: Breakout

Hip Hop gradually spread and became commercialized Sugar Hill Records -Sylvia Robinson and Joe Robinson founded new label 1979, with finance from Roulette Records owner Morris Levy -(owner of about 90 labels; convicted of extortion, 1990) -To capitalize on emergence of hip hop, Sylvia Robinson assembled three Edgewood teens (Master Gee, Wonder Mike, and Big Bank Hank) into the Sugar Hill Gang -"Rapper's Delight" Released Sept. 1979 -Over 8,000,000 records sold Kurtis Blow became first rapper signed to major record label "Mercury"

Lecture 22: Feminism & Popular Music in the 1970s: Your Squaw Is on the Warpath": Country Feminism

Once again, country offered a surprising contrast to rock culture -As before, country had plenty of divas Country Conservatism -Paradox? -Country music had more women star singers -But their message about gender seemed conservative -The music of Marabel Morgan & Phyllis Schlafly? "Your Squaw Is on the Warpath" Loretta Lynn -Well your pet name for me is Squaw When you come home a drinkin' and can barely crawl And all that lovin' on me won't make things right Well you leave me at home to keep the teepee clean Six papooses to break and wean Well your squaw is on the warpath tonight Country Feminist? -"I am not a big fan of the Women's Liberation, but maybe it will help women stand up for the respect they're due." 1976 -Songs about the birth control pill (1976)

Lecture 25: Rock and Pop in the 1980's: "Everybody Wants to Rule the World": "Parental Advisory Explicit Content": Censorship

Openness of music, especially on gender & sexuality, sparked first major attempt at censorship Tipper Gore (Wife of Al Gore) bought the Prince album "Purple Rain" and was disgusted at the lyrics -Gore & her daughter then watched MTV videos including Motley Crüe's "Looks That Kill" & Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher" -They became even more disgusted Gore joined wives of prominent DC politicians' & powerbrokers, including Susan Baker, wife of James Baker, Secy. of Treasury (Republican). -They then formed the PMRC PMRC's Critique of Pop -Condemnation of lyrics for violence, denigration of women -But more fundamentally, for impact on children -Blamed increase in rape & suicide of 18-24 year-olds over three decades in part on influence of music -Blamed the decline of the nuclear family -Released filthy 15 (music that negatively effected the young) -The first amendment allowed freedom of speech, they couldn't stop people from listening to what they wanted In 1984, National Parent-Teacher Association urged industry to put content labels on cds -Industry refused PMRC picked up label idea -Pressed labels to restrict content of their releases voluntarily and to use a self-developed rating (like those of movies) -Also demanded that stores should put cds & magazines with explicit covers under the counter -TV stations shouldn't carry explicit records & videos In Sept. 1985, US Senate subcommittee held hearings on music content issues—i.e., "porn rock." -RIAA (Trade organization of record companies) accepted voluntary labeling. -But when it cut into sales, companies decreased use. -Wal-Mart, JC Penney, & Sears pulled rock magazines and cds for a while -But lyrics didn't change much at all Conclusion -Popular music in the 1980s was the "same as it ever was" -Still a big business, -driven by outsider creativity, -focused on issues of identity Still "political" -Still hard to control

Lecture 24: The South Bronx and the Origins of Hip Hop: The First Rappers?

Out of world of graffiti and break dancing emerged group of party djs—the first rappers -Kool Dj Herc The First MC? -Added partner, Master of Ceremonies, MC Coke (Rock) La Rock -Grandmaster Flash -Scratching innovator turntable manipulation -"Phasing"—varying turntable speeds -"Punch Phrasing"—short burst from one record while it plays on another turntable -"Break Spinning"—spinning both records backwards to repeat phrase—"the get down part"-- over and over -"Cutting"—moving between tracks exactly on the beat Rapping -1977: Began collaborations with rappers: - Kurtis Blow -Afrika Bambaataa (Synthesized Hip Hop Culture) -Inspired by disco as well as funk -Searching for records, looking for break beats -Records: "Jazzy Sensation," 1981 -"Planet Rock," 1982 (electro fusion)

Lecture 28: The Death of Popular Music?: Digital Destablization

Technology created Popular Music business -digital music boosted business: compact discs drove sales from the mid- 1980s to the 1990s -But they allowed free copying (burning) of cds -More dangerous for business: rise of internet sharing of "lossy" music files (mp3 format, released 1993) -Napster and Kazaa -Failed to go after file sharing companies -Bit torrent (file sharing system) allowed -Paying for Downloads: Apple iTunes store, 2003 Amazon -introduction of iPod -

Lecture 24: The South Bronx and the Origins of Hip Hop: The Bronx and the Creation of Hip Hop Culture

The Borough of the Bronx (and New York City) as the ultimate symbol of 1970s urban problems The Fall of the Bronx -Northernmost NYC borough Hit by Cross Bronx Expressway -Declining property values Arson -"White flight" Street Gangs then emerged like: -Black Spades -Grim Reapers -Ghetto Brothers Savage Skulls Decline and danger defined South Bronx in 1970s popular culture -Bronx= Cowboys vs. Indians Signs of a New Culture: Graffiti -"Taki 183" African-American dance fad, early 1970s Influences: -James Brown, "Get on the Good Foot," 1972 2-part single & LP album -Also Michael Jackson 19th Century African- American dancing -Ultimately, African origin?

Lecture 28: The Death of Popular Music?: Does Music Still Matter?

What does fragmentation of tastes and destabilization of corporate music add up to? -Music more available than ever before—but is it worth less? -Does music matter if people won't pay (much) for it? Musical Fragmentation -Widespread availability of music -Multiple genres -Smartphones, streaming channels All make it possible for people to isolate themselves musically "The cultural and technical principle embedded in today's Internet is that it is neutral in the sense that the people who use it have the power to determine its use, not corporations or the network operators." -Jonathan Zittrain, co- director Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard, 2003 History is about power: -Music arguably has lost power since the 1960s-1990s because it no longer serves to unify so many people