The thesis will describe the evolution of my musical interests
posted by Garrett Kennedy at 11:59 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Historical Perspective
According to Philip Ennis, in his 1991 publication "The Seventh Stream, The Emergence of Rocknroll in American Popular Music" (Wesleyan University Press), Rocknroll emerged in the 1950s and became the '7th stream' of American popular music by combining the other 6 streams (pop, black pop, country, jazz, folk and gospel). By 1949, 95% of American households had at least one radio, but RCA's new apparatus for playing music, a small, plastic, $12.95 record player, was probably the single most important piece of technology facilitating rocknroll's appearance (Ennis 133).
Again according to Ennis, disc jockey Alan Freed gave the new music its name in 1952 when he was in his studio with the lead singer of the Dominoes, Billy Ward. "Sixty Minute Man", the Dominos hit that was being played all over the nation, was being played on the radio while they discussed that this new music needed a name. When Ward sang, "I rock 'em roll 'em all night long, I'm a Sixty Minute Man!" Freed shouted, 'That's it! Rock and Roll! That's what it is!' Interestingly, that phrase was slang for sexual intercourse, which most people don't know now. I don't know whether or not that was widely known back then, but it only adds to the 'rebelliousness' of the genre. Other music genres have been pinpointed to certain areas of the globe. New Orleans with Jazz; the South is the heartland of country music; and New York and Hollywood generates the pop stream. Rocknroll could not be pinpointed to a geographical location - "rocknroll is located in the hearts, minds, and feet of young people all over the world; that its homeland is more a pilgrimage than a place, for instance in the memory of Woodstock" (Ennis 40). Also, what made rocknroll unique was that all the other streams did not have a definitive social, racial, religious, class, gender or age that could pinpoint the stream. Rocknroll could - it was the music of the youth (Ennis 97).
For many years it was taken as gospel (pun intended) that the very first rocknroll song was 'Rock Around the Clock' by Bill Haley and the Comets. That belief still exists today for most people, but some informed individuals now believe otherwise, citing the Ike Turner-produced 'Rocket 88' as the first; some would infer a racial element in this discussion - and I believe there is validity in the position, given the social structure in America during the early 1950s.
American society was changing - WWII and its aftermath, race and gender questions, the fear of communism, the civil rights and feminist movements. The youth was told to obey authority, do what they were told and "shut-up". Most obeyed, but many did not and music became a way to rebel against authority. "To listen to [Rocknroll], to dance to that music, and to make that music was a political act without being political" (Ennis 19-20).
Elvis Presley was rocknroll's first star. He was a solo folk performer with a guitar and when he first started recorded, the acceptance of the mixture of streams began (Ennis 123). In 1956, Elvis was introduced to the nation on the television show "Stage Show", Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey's show on CBS (Ennis 131).
Historians have noted that as rocknroll became more popular and mainstream, that it quickly lost its edge. Many youth became bored with this trend and looked to go in a new direction, finding it in the Beat Poets and folk music of the late 50s and early 60s. Enter one Robert Zimmerman a/k/a Bob Dylan. This group would eventually re-emerge as a force in the mid 60s as 'hippies'. But others feel that 50s/60s rocknroll was about other things. I received an email response from a friend of my Dad:
Rocknroll had settled into a stagnant period as 1963 neared its close. But two events took place that would change all that - and our nation and our music would never be the same. First, the assasination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on November 23rd would jolt a generally optimistic youth into skepticism and real rebellion against an increasingly ominous conflict in Vietnam (although it would take a few years to surface) and second, the introduction of the record album "Meet the Beatles" with its initial single "I Want To Hold Your Hand", which overwhelmed the USA music-listening youth. In no time, the Beatles completely dominated the record charts; every song that was released jumped immediately into the Top Ten. And by the time the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan in February 1964, the nation was frenzied over them. This gave rise to the "British Invasion" of the mid-60s, an invasion that, with rare exceptions like the Beach Boys and Bob Dylan, devastated the American music scene. The teen idols, doo-wop groups and Phil Spector's girl groups never knew what hit them. They were immediately and completely rendered insignificant. Some 'Invasion' groups were great, others stunk, but they were British and America couldn't get enough of them. The Beatles and Rolling Stones took R&B, blues and early rocknroll and transformed it into their own style. Other, less talented groups like the Dave Clark Five, Herman's Hermits and Gerry and the Pacemakers got famous with catchy, lightweight songs and cute looks. Then a second wave of harder, blues-based groups followed, such as the Who, the Kinks, the Animals and the Yardbirds, and made rocknroll fresh and nasty again. (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website)
In the early 60s, there was a growing interest in folk music, because it was often used as the protest music of the civil rights movement and other issues of the human condition. Pete Seeger was in the forefront of this protest music and he had significant influence on a young Bob Dylan. And it was Dylan (along with sometime girlfriend, Joan Baez) who became the genre's darling, making it hip to like it. But Dylan expanded his style toward rocknroll and on July 25, 1965, in one of the most famous moments in rock history, went 'electric' (backed by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band) at the Newport Folk Festival and was booed unmercifully by the angry, "betrayed' audience. Dylan was now a rocker and his influence exists to this day.
The late 60s/early 70s found America in a war that split the country. College campuses became centers of rebellion against the 'establishment'. Children had pressure to conform and achieve. Road to success was laid out in schools and advertising - just follow directions (Ennis 36). Rebellious attitude increased in the 1960s. There were more dropouts and drug use (Ennis 37). The music reflected this, lots of deviation from normal styles, blending anything and everything.
The late 70s brought a reaction to the chaotic 60s with the coming of disco. Then punk and new wave came as a reaction to disco.
The 80s just seemed to be bad music and worse hair. And that's all I am going to say on the subject. It could have been the worst decade in rock history.
Which brings us to the nineties, when music began to get nasty again. It was about time! Punk, grunge and rap hit the mainstream youth of America.
I look to my brother, Jonathan, for a perspective on Punk:
The music of the 2000s hasn't seemed to be defined yet, but is mostly carrying on the styles from the 90s.
Again according to Ennis, disc jockey Alan Freed gave the new music its name in 1952 when he was in his studio with the lead singer of the Dominoes, Billy Ward. "Sixty Minute Man", the Dominos hit that was being played all over the nation, was being played on the radio while they discussed that this new music needed a name. When Ward sang, "I rock 'em roll 'em all night long, I'm a Sixty Minute Man!" Freed shouted, 'That's it! Rock and Roll! That's what it is!' Interestingly, that phrase was slang for sexual intercourse, which most people don't know now. I don't know whether or not that was widely known back then, but it only adds to the 'rebelliousness' of the genre. Other music genres have been pinpointed to certain areas of the globe. New Orleans with Jazz; the South is the heartland of country music; and New York and Hollywood generates the pop stream. Rocknroll could not be pinpointed to a geographical location - "rocknroll is located in the hearts, minds, and feet of young people all over the world; that its homeland is more a pilgrimage than a place, for instance in the memory of Woodstock" (Ennis 40). Also, what made rocknroll unique was that all the other streams did not have a definitive social, racial, religious, class, gender or age that could pinpoint the stream. Rocknroll could - it was the music of the youth (Ennis 97).
For many years it was taken as gospel (pun intended) that the very first rocknroll song was 'Rock Around the Clock' by Bill Haley and the Comets. That belief still exists today for most people, but some informed individuals now believe otherwise, citing the Ike Turner-produced 'Rocket 88' as the first; some would infer a racial element in this discussion - and I believe there is validity in the position, given the social structure in America during the early 1950s.
| "Ike had met Riley King a couple of times before he ran into him at the Harlem Club in Chambers, Mississippi and managed to finagle a guest spot. King was impressed and promised to help. Ike duly received a phone-call from Sam Phillips' Memphis Recording Service. His plans were jolted by the departure of johnny O'Neal, a temporary blip overcome by the recruitment in 1950 of Jackie Brenston, another native of Clarksdale. Ike, Jackie, guitarist Willie Kizart, sax player Raymond Hill and drummer Willie Sims headed for Memphis in March 1951. On the way somebody suggested that maybe they should have something original to offer at the session. Brenston came up with the idea, Ike wrote the first verse and the rest of the band chipped in. Jimmy Liggins had had a big hit with "Cadillac Boogie" in 1947, and it was the concept and tune of this song that (Jackie) Brenston appropriated, dispensing with the Cadillac in preference for the new Oldsmobile Rocket Hydra-Matic 88, resulting in the song "Rocket 88". The Kings of Rhythm recorded a five-song session on March 5, which included "Rocket 88" and "Independent Woman". Jackie sang on a couple and so did Ike. The masters were sent to Leonard Chess in Chicago who credited "Rocket 88" to "Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats" and not to "Ike Turner & the Kings of Rhythm featuring Jackie Brenston" as was Ike's intention, although the two vocal sides by Ike were indeed credited to Ike Turner & the Kings of Rhythm. It was the Brenston record that entered the charts on the 12th May at #4 and became a smash hit, giving Chess their first #1 R&B hit. It is one of the several records that, with some justification, have been touted as the "First Rock 'n Roll Hit'. Kizart's electric guitar work and Ike's rippling triplets being years ahead of their time. It inspired a cover version from Bill Haley, who changed direction from country music to rock 'n roll as his Saddlemen turned into the Comets. The Ike Turner single sank without trace." (Robbie Lamesan Salins, December 2003, liner notes to "Ike Turner/Jackie Brenston Rocket 88" by Proper Records Ltd, Kent, England.) |
American society was changing - WWII and its aftermath, race and gender questions, the fear of communism, the civil rights and feminist movements. The youth was told to obey authority, do what they were told and "shut-up". Most obeyed, but many did not and music became a way to rebel against authority. "To listen to [Rocknroll], to dance to that music, and to make that music was a political act without being political" (Ennis 19-20).
Elvis Presley was rocknroll's first star. He was a solo folk performer with a guitar and when he first started recorded, the acceptance of the mixture of streams began (Ennis 123). In 1956, Elvis was introduced to the nation on the television show "Stage Show", Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey's show on CBS (Ennis 131).
 The Stroll on American Bandstand | But my Mom, hardly a rebel, loved her Rocknroll through American Bandstand, a daily live television teenage dance program based in Philadelphia that was broadcast nationally beginning in 1956. With Dick Clark as host, the show became an obsession with high school kids across the country. The 'regulars' became celebrities; everyone knew their names and which ones were dating. American Bandstand is the setting for the NBC show 'American Dreams.' This was hardly 'rebel' stuff, the music guests never really sang their songs, but rather lip-synched as their records played. I guess Ashley Simpson should have been born earlier! |
Historians have noted that as rocknroll became more popular and mainstream, that it quickly lost its edge. Many youth became bored with this trend and looked to go in a new direction, finding it in the Beat Poets and folk music of the late 50s and early 60s. Enter one Robert Zimmerman a/k/a Bob Dylan. This group would eventually re-emerge as a force in the mid 60s as 'hippies'. But others feel that 50s/60s rocknroll was about other things. I received an email response from a friend of my Dad:
| "It was New Years Eve - 1969. The number 1 song on the charts was "Someday we'll be Together" by the Supremes. Melodies, melodies and more melodies! Melody was the heart and soul of Rock N Roll. Could you sing the lyrics and did it have a good beat? Positive answers to both questions and you had a hit! The guitar playing of the 70s changed all that - faster and louder was better - then the shocking lyrics of the 80s & 90s took away my interest. Your dad and I grew up in an era of Love Songs. Yes we had our weird songs also, but mostly the songs were about love and having fun. To tell the truth, all the different eras of Rock N Roll should have been able to stand on their own. Each era should have been left in the dust to erode away, while the next newest music should have been able to take over and carry the audience along with the music. Your dad and I, along with the baby boom generation created rock n roll. We started it, and are proud to lay claim to this fact. The strange thing is that the music from the 50s & 60s still endures today. You can hardly see a movie or watch a tv ad without hearing a song or melody from the 50s and 60s. Many of our peers moved on and changed with the music. For me 1969 with the zenith. I do like some songs and some artists from the 70s - 90s, but a small amount compared to the golden age of rock." "..... I count many of the legends of Rock N Roll as my friends. I just came from Joey Dee's house in Clearwater, Florida, where we spent an enjoyable weekend. Last Friday I was with Carl Gardner (original lead singer of the Coasters), at his house; I will see Ben E King next week. I have a band in Florida and we play nothing but the old songs. We have played all over Florida. Say hi to your dad, and if you need more info - let me know." Jim Kane |
Rocknroll had settled into a stagnant period as 1963 neared its close. But two events took place that would change all that - and our nation and our music would never be the same. First, the assasination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on November 23rd would jolt a generally optimistic youth into skepticism and real rebellion against an increasingly ominous conflict in Vietnam (although it would take a few years to surface) and second, the introduction of the record album "Meet the Beatles" with its initial single "I Want To Hold Your Hand", which overwhelmed the USA music-listening youth. In no time, the Beatles completely dominated the record charts; every song that was released jumped immediately into the Top Ten. And by the time the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan in February 1964, the nation was frenzied over them. This gave rise to the "British Invasion" of the mid-60s, an invasion that, with rare exceptions like the Beach Boys and Bob Dylan, devastated the American music scene. The teen idols, doo-wop groups and Phil Spector's girl groups never knew what hit them. They were immediately and completely rendered insignificant. Some 'Invasion' groups were great, others stunk, but they were British and America couldn't get enough of them. The Beatles and Rolling Stones took R&B, blues and early rocknroll and transformed it into their own style. Other, less talented groups like the Dave Clark Five, Herman's Hermits and Gerry and the Pacemakers got famous with catchy, lightweight songs and cute looks. Then a second wave of harder, blues-based groups followed, such as the Who, the Kinks, the Animals and the Yardbirds, and made rocknroll fresh and nasty again. (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website)
The website of the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame has a very good timeline that parallels music and events of the time - Timeline |
In the early 60s, there was a growing interest in folk music, because it was often used as the protest music of the civil rights movement and other issues of the human condition. Pete Seeger was in the forefront of this protest music and he had significant influence on a young Bob Dylan. And it was Dylan (along with sometime girlfriend, Joan Baez) who became the genre's darling, making it hip to like it. But Dylan expanded his style toward rocknroll and on July 25, 1965, in one of the most famous moments in rock history, went 'electric' (backed by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band) at the Newport Folk Festival and was booed unmercifully by the angry, "betrayed' audience. Dylan was now a rocker and his influence exists to this day.
The late 60s/early 70s found America in a war that split the country. College campuses became centers of rebellion against the 'establishment'. Children had pressure to conform and achieve. Road to success was laid out in schools and advertising - just follow directions (Ennis 36). Rebellious attitude increased in the 1960s. There were more dropouts and drug use (Ennis 37). The music reflected this, lots of deviation from normal styles, blending anything and everything.
The late 70s brought a reaction to the chaotic 60s with the coming of disco. Then punk and new wave came as a reaction to disco.
The 80s just seemed to be bad music and worse hair. And that's all I am going to say on the subject. It could have been the worst decade in rock history.
Which brings us to the nineties, when music began to get nasty again. It was about time! Punk, grunge and rap hit the mainstream youth of America.
I look to my brother, Jonathan, for a perspective on Punk:
| Punk rock, at least the way I see it, is more than just the sound or the look, it's the attitude, attitude about everything, your worldview. It's the DIY (do it yourself) philosophy that started punk rock, the rebellion against over-produced corporate rock. Music in general had lost its soul, and for rock, it surely had lost its roll. This all started in the early 70's when bands stopped writing protest songs and started playing watered-down meaningless shit. And I'd argue that it wasn't 1977, but 1991 that back the basic music finally reached the mainstream with "Smells Like Teen Spirit", by Nirvana. I mention 1977 because this is the summer of punk; bands like the Ramones, Sex Pistols, and The Clash started blowing up in London. Punk rock was a phenomenon in the UK, significantly greater influence over the culture and youth than in the US. Though most fans of punk rock give the Ramones the title of "first punk band", punk music had been around in various forms for years, it just wasn't called punk. Bands like The Who were punks in the mid-60s. Punk rock in the 90's was called grunge- long hair, flannel shirt, and from Seattle's underground came the new "it" bands; Sound Garden, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana. The Seattle scene was lead by Curt Cobain of Nirvana, and for about 3 or 4 years in the early 90's mainstream music didn't suck. But as always, good things have to come to an end. April 1994, the day this generation's music died with the sound of a shotgun to the head, the head of rock's biggest figure, Curt Cobain. It is said that he killed himself; others say that it was his girlfriend rocker Courtney Love of the band Hole that made it look like a suicide. |
The music of the 2000s hasn't seemed to be defined yet, but is mostly carrying on the styles from the 90s.
posted by Garrett Kennedy at 2:08 AM
0 comments
Personal Perspective
“Echoes of reggae comin’ through my bedroom wall
havin’ party up next door but I’m sitting here all alone
two lovers in the bedroom and the other starts to shout
all I got is this blank stare and that don’t carry no clout at all”
The house shakes. Jonathan, up in his bedroom with the door closed, pounds his 36” Easton metal-bat electric guitar as he growls the lyrics with just the right inflections.
“Destination unknown, Ruby ruby ruby ruby soho!!!!!!!”
I’ve heard it a hundred times before. He loves Rancid. They have cred. Green Day sold out. The Ramones were the first punks, Jonathan says. No wait, he says in his animated I’ll-TELL you-the-way-it-IS manner, it was the Velvet Underground. Yeah, they were THE ones; raw, edgy, way cool. Dad says look at the Who. That they were Mod rocker tough-guys who followed the Beatles, but weren’t so nice and cute; smashed guitars, sang about being fucked-up kids- “hope I die ‘fore I get old. Talkin’ ‘bout my generation.”
That is a common scene in the Kennedy household – my brother upstairs listening to Rancid, pretending a baseball bat is a guitar. My dad downstairs, creating websites and blogs for the rest of the FAM while listening to Joni Mitchell, or maybe he’s in the mood for the softer, yet just as soulful, Miles Davis. I took a Jazz History course in college. Liked it, more so because it was easy, rather than because of my appreciation for jazz – that’s for old people – or sorry dad, older people. Or that’s what I used to think, but now I feel all genres are for everyone to enjoy. At the moment, I don’t enjoy jazz, but I’m coming around, expanding my horizons beyond the music I use to listen to. I thought college would expose me to more music – didn’t quite happen. I learned I must expose myself to the music. I’ve spent much of my free hours, not in class, listening to music and listening to music. That is my excuse for not getting a 4.0, and I have my father and brother to thank for that as they have turned me onto more and more music. I spent too much of my teenage years listening to pop-music, music all over MTV (in which today I found out stands for Music Television). During those years, I listened to music all the time, but wouldn’t say I had a love for it. But now I do, and would like to share with you how my musical interests have evolved. But first I’m going to listen to some music to get me in the mood, an excuse I have used often in order to postpone writing this thesis. I’ll be back to the keyboard after a couple tracks.
Before my teenage years, which were during the 1990s, I listened to the Beach Boys, Beastie Boys, Michael Jackson, MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice and the Fresh Prince. But like the colored three striped socks, jacked up to the knees, that my mom (Rockin’ Rita) dressed my brother and I in, some things go out of style. So I stopped listening to all of the above. I became thirteen, leaving Michael Jackson upset. I don’t listen to any of these artists anymore, except an occasional nostalgic listening of “Watcha Want,” a classic by the Beastie Boys. However, all of these artists played a major role in the evolution of their music genres. Let’s take a closer look.
If everybody had an ocean
Across the U. S. A.
Then everybody'd be surfin'
Like Californi-a
You'd see 'em wearing their baggies
Huarachi sandals too
A bushy bushy blonde hairdo
Surfin' U. S. A.
Michael J. Fox, in the mid-1980s hit movie “Teen Wolf”, surfed atop his van to the tune “Surfin USA”, the Beach Boys first hit (1961). During the 80s, I found myself listening to this song over and over until the tape broke (What are tapes, asks Garrett Junior? I am getting old). Growing up in Southington, CT, I never became a surfer-dude, but surfed through my dad’s collection of music to find a Beach Boys tape.
The main members grew up in Hawthorne, CA. They included the Wilson brothers, Brian, Dennis and Carl, cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Dennis was the only real surfer, but in the 1960s they became the nation’s surfer band (All Music Guide). The Wilsons' father fancied himself a musician/songwriter and in their youth the brothers would harmonize for their father to songs by the Four Freshmen and Kingston Trio. The Beach Boys' pure harmony would become their signature as they ventured into 'surf music' and beyond. When the British Invasion hit the United States in late 1963, it hit the American music scene hard. Suddenly you had to be from the UK to be cool, a frightening realization for the somewhat stagnated stateside rockers. Music had been sliding away from its R&B/country roots to a more 'pop' sound and the Brits were using their love of American musicians Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley and the old black blues legends as a basis for some very new-sounding rock music. The Beach Boys (Brian Wilson in particular) was fascinated by the turn of events, especially the Beatles' 'Rubber Soul' concept album, and began to experiment with their own style to challenge the Beatles. In 1966 they released the album “Pet Sounds” to spectacular critical acclaim. It remains one of the best and most influential rock albums ever. However, it was only modestly successful commercially and Brian Wilson set out to create his masterpiece, to be called "Smile". What happened then is the stuff of myth and legend. But for whatever reason (Brian Wilson became heavily involved with drugs, had a nervous breakdown, stayed in his bed for over two years, eventually weighing over 300 pounds and generally crumbled into a creative vegetable), the album was never completed and only a couple songs ever made it out of the studio. The group then lapsed into kind of a traveling oldies band, occasionally having a hit like the novelty "Kokomo" from the Tom Cruise movie 'Cocktail'. Wilson brothers Dennis and Carl died in the 1990s, leaving the band to lead singer Michael Love, while Brian Wilson continued his estrangement from the band due to health/emotional problems and creative differences.
 | Epilogue: Cut forward to 2004, Brian Wilson, after years of therapy and detox, finally releases "Smile" to amazing critical and commercial acclaim and tours the US and UK to adoring crowds. Who would have thought! Here is a quite interesting discussion of the whole 'Smile'adventure as told in the liner notes of 'Smiley Smile', an album released from scraps of the 'Smile' project. - here... |
Beach Boys- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website profile - here...
All Beach Boys' song lyrics by album! - here...
My father would wake my brother and I for school screaming “cock-a-doodle-doo” up the stairs. At the kitchen counter, we’d sit at our stools, waiting for mom to fix the most important meal of the day. Dad played Van Morrison morning after morning. Although Van sounded better than the doodle-doo, at eight I wasn’t feeling Mr. Morrison. Or maybe we were still pissed off from being awakened from the rooster again. Nevertheless, “Moodance” played regularly on the mourning rotation. I was like Woodie Harrelson in the movie “White Men Can’t Jump”. I was listening to Van, but not hearing him. I wouldn’t appreciate his music until my college years. I did give Stevie Winwood’s “Roll With It” (1988) a chance, and played it on my first CD-player that I got as a present for my first, and last! Communion. I was eight years old, in 2nd grade, and this was also the time I got my first CDs, which included “Raps Greatest Hits” and Mariah Carey. Mariah didn’t receive much airplay, or attention, except for looking at her picture on the front of the CD. But rap became the dominant genre played by the Kennedy brothas during the late 1980s into the mid-1990s. This was a period when rap music became pop-music, and many suburban white kids started listening to gangsta rap while being afraid of white guys singing folk songs. So I passed on listening to Van (who I now think is “the man”). But before rap dominated my music collection, Michael Jackson was a “Thriller” to listen to.
She told me her name was Billie Jean, as she caused a scene
Then every head turned with eyes that dreamed of being the one
Who will dance on the floor in the round
People always told me be careful of what you do
And don't go around breaking young girls' hearts
And mother always told me be careful of who you love
And be careful of what you do 'cause the lie becomes the truth
Billie Jean is not my lover
She's just a girl who claims that I am the one
But the kid is not my son
She says I am the one, but the kid is not my son
Michael Jackson first burst on the music scene in the 1969, when his family group, the Jackson 5, released their first album “Diana Ross Presents The Jackson Five”. They immediately found success with their singles “I Want You Back”, “ABC”, “The Love You Have” and “I’ll Be There”. The Jackson 5 became a phenomenon during the 1970s. Michael stood out as he amazed people with his singing and unique dancing. In 1982, he released his 6th solo album “Thriller”, which became the biggest selling album ever. This is possibly his greatest accomplishment, and in the 1980s he became the King of Pop. In 2005, he is more known for his private life, first being accused of child molestation in 1993, and again in 2003. He denies both allegations. What is also a question is the change in the color of his skin. When with the Jackson 5, he had a dark black and babyish face, and now has a light feminine face, which has made the lives of comedians easier – as he has been referred to as the “Queen of Pop”. Despite these troubles, Michael Jackson revolutionized music videos on MTV, especially with his video for the single “Thriller”, a video favorite of many still today. And everyone has tried imitating his trademark “moon walk”.
During the late-1980s, I decided to ignore my father’s music suggestions, except for the Beach Boys and Stevie Winwood. Rap music burst into Suburban living rooms through MTV and this is when I became interested in the Beastie Boys, L.L. Cool J., MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice and the Fresh Prince. This is when my brother and I put the high socks away, and put our Hammer pants on. The first rap music I listened to was the Beastie Boys, which was the first significant white rap group. The Brooklyn trio, Mike D, MCA and Ad-Rock, released their first rap album “Licensed to Ill” in 1987. In the earlier-1980s, they were a hardcore punk band. This album combined rock and rap to produced rap’s first number one album ever (AMG). I soon became a fan of L.L Cool J. My first listen of him was of his single and album “Mama Said Knock Your Out”, which released in 1990. L.L. Cool J released his first album “Radio” in 1985; however, I was only three at the time, and rap music hadn’t burst into the mainstream yet. Because of the Beastie Boys many suburban white boys like myself became interested in L.L. Cool J, and other rap like D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince (Will Smith) who came out with their first album in 1987. The single “Parents Just Don’t Understand”, from their 2nd album “He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper”, won rap’s first Grammy in 1988. This exposed rap to an even wider audience and Will Smith was one of the first rappers to crossover into acting, first starting his acting career starring in the sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”.
The other two rappers I listened to when I first started listening to rap were MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice. According to All Music Guide, MC Hammer’s 2nd album “Hammer Please Don’t Hurt Them” (1990) is still the biggest-selling rap album of all time. This album, mostly known for its single “U Can’t Touch This”, brought rap popularity beyond anyone’s expectations. Hammer is the reason every elementary school kid, in my hometown Southington, CT, wore baggy pants, which became known as Hammer pants. Vanilla Ice came onto the scene during the same time. He had only one successful album, “To the Extreme”, with his single “Ice Ice Baby” (a rip-off of David Bowie and Queen’s “Under Pressure”). Both are considered jokes now, but did have an impact on the genre.
Backstroke lover always hidin’ ’neath the cover | So I took a big chance at the high school dance |
The next stage of my musical interests is confined to my middle school years and high school years (ages 12-18; 1994-2003). This is a long period of my life, but rap wraps up the music I listened to. The early 1990s saw new styles of music in many genres (gangsta rap, grunge punk, etc), but I ignored all guitars and was entertained by beats and MCs. Like I said, I was afraid to listen to white guys, like Kurt Cobain, because that wasn’t considered cool. Now I feel, if you use to listen to rap, and now you don’t, then that is cool (because rap sucks now). Run-D.M.C., possibly most responsible for rap’s sound and style, was rap’s first hardcore rap group, and opened the door for Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions and N.W.A. Run-D.M.C. remade Aerosmith’s “Walk this Way” with the band’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. This was the first rock/rap collaboration that appealed to fans from both genres, and is arguably the song that brought rap into the mainstream. Without Run-D.M.C. I wouldn’t have screamed, “You Gotta Fight for Your Right to Party”, the Beastie Boys first hit from their debut album “Licensed to Ill”. Public Enemy, in the late 1980s, became the most influential and controversial rap group ever. Lead rapper, Chuck D, brought politics and black consciousness to hardcore rap and paved the way for N.W.A. and eventually Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G. N.W.A. brought rap to the west coast, which had been primarily New York City music, and are considered the first gangsta rap group. Rap music had been seen as a fad, but in the early-1990s, the music was nationwide, critics of the music were silenced, and the music was here to stay.
During the mid-1990s, my brother strayed away from rap music. Green Day burst into the mainstream with their third album “Dookie” in 1994. “This is when real music started for me,” he said. At house parties, he’d turn off the rap hit of the day, put on “When I Come Around”, and say, “I sound like Green Day, don’t I?” Many tried emulating Green Day after their breakthrough album “Dookie”, paving the way for many pop-punk bands of the 1990s. My brother played Green Day so much to the point I couldn’t stand them, and didn’t become a fan. Now I do like them as long as they don’t “come around” every hour of the day – remember, I live with a Billie Joe Armstrong sound alike (the lead sing of Green Day). This was my brother’s introduction to punk music, and later learned, Green Day isn’t “real punk”.
As for me, during the mid-1990s to the late-1990s, I remained primarily a rap music fan. You couldn’t walk outside without hearing a car stereo system blasting the latest rap song. This was when my friends and I got our licenses, rap in the CD player, not one of us considered changing the dial. At school lunch, I would buy a slice of pizza and save the rest of the money my parents gave me to buy a rap CD almost every Tuesday, the day of the new releases. However, during my junior year of high school, a best friend, Nate Ouellette, picked me up for school, playing tunes of Sublime, a ska-punk band that I immediately loved. The lead singer, Bradley Nowell, had a unique singing style, that sounded somewhere in-between Bob Marley and The Red Hot Chili Peppers, both of which Sublime was influenced by. I’ll take my brother’s saying – “this is when real music started for me”. I didn’t immediately put away rap music. I’d still buy it, but became tired of how repetitive the music got. Rap music had always been somewhat materialistic, but by the end of the 1990s, it seemed that’s all the music was about. And if you are still alive, rap music keeps getting worse and worse. But hey, there is other music out there to listen to Garrett! So back to my dad’s collection of music I went.
How many roads must a man walk down |  |
I had virtually stopped listening to rap music. But then I became aware of Talib Kweli and he is the only reason I still listen to rap today. When you first hear a new musician their lyrics don't jump out at you. It is music. If it does not sound good then I do not care what the person is saying. I had never heard rap music like his - it had a jazz feel to it and the more I listened, I began hearing what he was saying. This is when I started caring about what musicians had to say. And this is why I am attracted to the music of Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Ben Harper, The White Stripes and Bob Dylan. These are my favorite musicians today, all of whom write lyrics with the best of them. First, let us take a look at Dylan, probably the best lyricist. Dylan is a latecomer to my music family, but I have become intrigued with him. If someone were to say Bob Dylan is the greatest rock artist ever, I am certainly not going to argue. He is another my dad played that I ignored, but I chose to give him a shot in college (probably after taking a shot; not in basketball because I don't shoot) and I am sure Bobby will stay in my musical collection for the remaining years I have left on this planet. At first listen, I did not hear him asking the "Blowing in the Wind" questions, but it did sound like he was passionate about what he was saying.
Bob Dylan described, in his recent book Bob Dylan Chronicles Volume One, that one day he saw Mike Seeger and realized the type of songs he wanted to write. He knew then that he had to open up his mind more - "I had been closing my creativity down to a very narrow, controllable scale" (Dylan 69-71). He decided he wanted to write folk songs - "Folk songs are evasive - the truth about life.The thought occurred to me that maybe I'd have to write my own folk songs, ones that Mike [Seeger] didn't know" (Dylan 71). Besides his mind, he decided to change his whole persona. He needed a name change. He had grown up in Duluth, Minnesota as Robert Allen Zimmerman, and in 1961, traveled to New York City to pursue a musical career. He tried the names Elston Gunn and Robert Allen. Then he had heard of a saxophone player named David Allyn and liked the spelling so he called himself Robert Allyn. Then he read poems written by Dylan Thomas so he became Robert Dylan. He had always been referred to as Bobby, but there was already a number of other Bobby's, such as, Bobby Darin. "The first time I was asked my name in the Twin Cities, I instinctively and automatically without thinking simply said, 'Bob Dylan'". He struggled at first to respond to the name, but people caught on fast and Bob Dylan became a household name across America (Dylan 79).
Bob Dylan became well known for writing protest songs. However, he did not see it this way, nor did he consider himself the voice of a generation as many referred to him as this. He though of his writing as topical songs - "songs about real events" and this did not necessarily mean they were protest songs (Dylan 82-83). He was pinpointed as a protest singer and the voice of his generation - ".the press kept promoting me as the mouthpiece, spokesman, or even conscience of a generation. That was funny. All I'd ever done was sing songs that were dead straight and expressed powerful new realities. I had very little in common with and knew even less about a generation that I was supposed to be the voice of. I'd left my hometown only ten years earlier, wasn't vociferating the opinions of anybody. My destiny lay down the road with whatever life invited, had nothing to do with representing any kind of civilization. Being true to yourself, that was the thing.I really was never any more than what I was - a folk musician" (Dylan 115-6).
Well I was dancing at a night club one Friday night |  |
I arrived at Manhattanville College with an optimistic mind, free to learn and meet new people - possibly become interested in more music. The first person I met was my freshman roommate Scotty G. We had similarities, both 5'10 white dudes that listened to mostly rap. We shared a couple brewskies one night at the beginning of our first college semester, exchanging autobiographies. I had just started listening to Jonathan Richman so decided to put him on. Scott had never heard of him, but I soon realized he was the subject of one of Richman's songs. There was a knock at our door. We hid our alcoholic beverages quickly and turned down "Dancing at the Lesbian Bar", a Jonathan Richman classic. It was our Residence Director telling us there were complaints about loud music. He searched our room to find beer cans. We got written up and were put on probation for underage drinking. We can thank Richman for that. Our IDs said we were 21, but Manhattanville campus safety did not buy the 21-year-old freshmen idea. After that night, the conversation between Scott and me stagnated and soon vanished. Communication between us roommates was limited to a head nod, an occasional hello or what's up. This called for some Jonathan Richman again, track number 3, You Can't Talk to the Dude, from his album I, Jonathan. The 'dude' refers to Scott and Richman is telling me that I can't talk to him - yeah, no kidding, Jonathan!
You wonder why you're feeling blue, | Your sense of humor has gotten worse |
Talib Kweli is the only reason I listen to rap music today. His first album was Black Star, a collaboration with his friend Mos Def. It was released in 1998, but I was too busy watching music on that MTV channel. Like Lewis Black said, "MTV has ruined music like KFC has ruined chicken". They do not get much airplay on that station so I had no idea they existed. It was not until 2000, late in my junior year of high school, that I became aware of Talib. I was still buying rap CDs, but was getting very sick and tired of using my lunch money to buy albums that had like 2 good songs on them, and the only reason the 2 songs were good is because the rest of the songs were so horrible. I went to Strawberries, a local music store. I needed a music fix and looked in the new releases section. We're told to not judge a book (CD) by its cover, but I saw one that looked like it meant something. Meaning is hard to find in rap music so I picked the CD up to see that it was Talib Kweli and DJ Hi-Tek's album Reflection Eternal - The Train of Thought. I had not heard of them so I put the CD back and I do not recall what I chose to buy; obviously something not too spectacular if I cannot remember what it was. I still needed my music fix and I'll be honest (opposed to if I did not say that, I would be lying) I still wanted to like rap music. So I searched the Internet and found a list of 2000s best underground rap CDs. Talib's Reflection Eternal was number one on the list. Immediately I went to steal his music from Napster. I downloaded tracks 1-20. Napster was working wonders then. I had the whole CD downloaded within ten minutes. It became one of those CDs you could place in your CD player, press play and let it go until it ended and you had to press play again. I went to Strawberries and bought the real CD.
 |  |
A month or so passed and I had not taken his CD out of my stereo, probably pissing my mother off because to her it was "just that rap music" again. But this rap music was different and that could not be conveyed any better than in his song For Women, the last song on the album. It was originally Nina Simone's song called Four Women, discussing the struggles of four black women - as Talib states in the introduction to the song, "Yeah, so we got this tune called "For Women" right. Originally, it was by Nina Simone. She said it was inspired by, you know, down south. In the south, they used to call her mother Antie. She said, no Mrs., just Antie. She said if anybody ever called her Antie, she'd burn the whole goddamn place down. But you know, we moving past that. Coming into the new millennium, we can't forget our elders". His music certainly comes from the hip-hop culture that he grew up in, but also comes from an understanding of his history. Here is an example of lyrics from the song "For Women".
I got off the 2 train in Brooklyn on my way to a session
Said let me help this woman up the stairs before I get to steppin'
We got in a conversation she said she a 107
Just her presence was a blessing and her essence was a lesson
She had her head wrapped
And long dreads that peeked out the back
Like antenna to help her get a sense of where she was at, imagine that
Livin' a century, the strength of her memories
Felt like an angel had been sent to me
She lived from nigger to colored to Negro to black
To Afro then African American and right back to nigger
You figure she'd be bitter in the twilight
But she alright, cuz she done seen the circle of life
This is a perspective that is absent in virtually all of rap music today - or at least the music that is played on television. At this point I had not heard much of Mos Def. I went surfing on the Internet again and found out Mos Def and Talib Kweli had an album called Black Star. Again, I proceeded to Napster and downloaded tracks 1-13. Rapper KRS-One had an album Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip-Hop, and rapper Jay-Z had made an album entitled The Blueprint; however, Mos Def and Talib Kweli's Black Star should be considered the blueprint - it is simply the best rap album of all time and maybe one of the only rap albums that should be respected by other genres. They write lyrics as meaningful as Bob Dylan or Bob Marley, and in the December 2005 issue of JAZZIZ Magazine, Mos Def is proclaimed to be "the birth of the brand new cool". He is simply the most creative person that has come out of the hip-hop culture.
Besides Mos Def and Talib Kweli, the only other rap music I still listen to is Rage Against the Machine, the only truly successful rock/rap group. They were influenced by the rap groups Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys and the rock groups Living Colour and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Rage Against the Machine combines hard rock music and political rap lyrics to create the most in-your-face music I have ever heard. The group includes Zack de la Rocha (vocalist), Tom Morello (guitarist), Brad Wilk (drummer) and Tim Bob (bassist). They formed as a group in 1991 in Los Angles, California and released the self-titled debut in 1992. They immediately gained recognition and became one of the most influential bands on the 1990s. Their second album Evil Empire was released in 1996. My brother played it constantly. I hated it. Their last group effort was in 1999 with The Battle of Los Angeles (All Music Guide). Supposedly they broke up because of Zack del la Rocha's big ego. Again, I was stuck watching music on television and was scarred of listening to music with guitars. Although Zack de la Rocha is as good as any rapper there has been, I did not started listening the Rage Against the Machine until my junior year of college.
posted by Garrett Kennedy at 2:04 AM
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So, where does that leave me?
"Today the relationship of musical creators, publishers and exploiters is a complicated one, handicapped by bickerings and legal technicalities. Popular music has become big business, with hugh investments and quick turnovers. The exact reasons for the success of any passing hit are not always easy to analyze. If anyone could consistently tell them in advance, he would be the highest-paid employee in the entire industry. Statistics are not always dependable, and commercial enthusiasms are sometimes misleading." Interestingly, this is a passage from the introduction to "A History of Popular Music in America" by Sigmund Spaeth, published by Random House, New York in 1948!
"In the end, what is and isn't Garage (or punk for that matter) is as subjective a question as 'What is Disco?' or anything else. What's more valuable than discussing categories is the sharing of music. There are great resources on the radio and online for learning about and hearing tons of music, listening for yourself and deciding what you like. The main purpose however, is to allow yourself to be exposed to the music THEY don't want you to hear. THEY are the record labels and radio stations who dominate what you can and can't hear, forcing you to listen to bad music so often you actually start humming it! Do yourself a favor and start fresh with some real rock n'roll" (More Sugar 28 B).
People ask me what my plans are after graduating from college. I tell some that I'm going to retire. And tell others that I'm going to move to Greenwich Village and become the next Bob Dylan. Problems may occur with the latter plan. I cannot sing, or write songs. And I'm not too sure about living in the Village.
And you say you want a revolution.....
"In the end, what is and isn't Garage (or punk for that matter) is as subjective a question as 'What is Disco?' or anything else. What's more valuable than discussing categories is the sharing of music. There are great resources on the radio and online for learning about and hearing tons of music, listening for yourself and deciding what you like. The main purpose however, is to allow yourself to be exposed to the music THEY don't want you to hear. THEY are the record labels and radio stations who dominate what you can and can't hear, forcing you to listen to bad music so often you actually start humming it! Do yourself a favor and start fresh with some real rock n'roll" (More Sugar 28 B).
People ask me what my plans are after graduating from college. I tell some that I'm going to retire. And tell others that I'm going to move to Greenwich Village and become the next Bob Dylan. Problems may occur with the latter plan. I cannot sing, or write songs. And I'm not too sure about living in the Village.
posted by Garrett Kennedy at 1:16 AM
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