Tayler Green LBST 1103-H72 Dr.

J 17 March 2014 Reflection Two Throughout the second portion of the class, though much has changed in the genres, many of the themes have stayed the same. Covering disco, post-punk, and no wave in the US and the UK, we once again have seen genres that strayed from the mainstream and developed their own subcultures. Moving along into the late 1970s and early 1980s, the two genres seem to be a bit less political, as was punk and hip-hop, and far less do-it-yourself. Disco required great amounts of time, effort, and money to produce tracks, and along with post-punk, definitely required musical talent. But while disco moved towards the direction of modern music industry with artists signing to records, the post-punk scene, particularly in the UK, had Factory Records and the establishment of independent labels. Post-punk, no wave, and disco were refreshing genres in that they seemed less rudimentary and drew more from other genres to create incredibly diverse sounds. The explosion of technology obviously helped these genres along not only in music production, but also in the potential of what instruments the bands could use to make music. Although music equipment technology played a huge role in their success, I think there was a huge value placed on television and music videos, i.e. MTV, as they allowed these genres to have widespread access. Disco didnt make quite as much of a statement with their music or their music videos, while post-punk really utilized music videos in ways unlike before. Some videos during this time are proved to be odd and a little disturbing, yet music videos had to play a great

role to play in these subgenres by reaching out to new people and making statements not otherwise grasped in the songs, like we saw with Joy Divisions Love Will Tear Us Apart. I mentioned during class how in the UKs post-punk scene the music did not sound as artsy, yet the way the music was being produced was very similar to performance art. Performance art had its start in the 1960s and was recognized worldwide by the 1970s, it was during the 1980s that the performances began to incorporate technological media. So the way in which the Factory House manager developed certain conditions to produce a different sound has very similar procedures to performance art, and perhaps can make the post punk-no wave scenes music be considered more artistic. While punk was all about shock factor, post-punk seemed to lose that aspect completely. I was thinking the lack of shock-factor we see in post-punk is made up for through performance art not only in the way the music is produced, but as well as in the creative liberties the music videos were taking at this time. As with mainstream backlash against punk or hip-hop, the societal question of what constitutes as art continued to be explored through the 70s, 80s, and will always be challenged as new art enters the scene. It is very interesting to see the way in which not only pop culture changes, but also how we can see our values change in music. For example, the punk scene in the United Kingdom during the 1970s was very political, and style oriented. It was a recognizable lifestyle through choice of fashion, actions, and shock factor. The Sex Pistols would wear leather jackets like the Ramones from New York, yet their shows would be incredibly violent, not just in the audience spitting on one another, but the band displaying and encouraging such behavior themselves. The post-punk scene was incredibly different; the bands werent participating with the audience, they were controlled, calm and monotone. They were distant performers, and minimalist, even though they were making use of the technology available with synthesizers. Its almost like they retained

some of the simplicity of the punk scene in different aspects, such as having more maturity in sound and performance. Arguably, disco could have followed and helped along the acceptance and progression of homosexuality in society through music, especially since it began as a scene for homosexual men but became widely popular. Disco also explored the boundaries for gender roles within music, similar to the New York Dolls did through cross-dressing, but featured a lot of throaty female vocals, while some many male vocalist sang very soprano and femininely. Im really enjoying seeing how music genres spread across the two countries, and how the bands differ in sound or style. It seemed as if the US was leading in creating or popularizing genres first with punk, disco, and hip-hop, but during the post-punk the UK evolved faster into alternative and college radio. Since Radio 1 is still ahead of the US on hits right now, I would like to see whether the US or the UK will continue to share genres as theyve been doing, or if there will be a split somewhere, such as where one will begin to have genres the other does not. Along with genres, I wonder if drugs will continue to impact and define the music scenes. Do the artists in the music subcultures ever cease to be so heavily influenced by drugs? Drug use in todays music scene ultimately is a scandal, whereas for punk in the 1970s, it was practically a requirement. It seems as if the involvement of drugs in these scenes causes people to now devalue the music, and maybe thats why some of these genres lack the respect seen in mainstream music from the same era. In these genres so far, we really have not a good variety of women in music, or a genre where women dominated. Disco sort of had a place for women, more so than punk or post-punk really did, but as with disco music, the themes were somewhat shallow and romantic. There were obviously girl bands in these genres, such as the Slits in punk, and the female in Joy Division/New Order for post-punk, or Donna Summers in disco, but the music scene still lacks

feminine power and girl issues. It certainly leads into the idea that the mainstream music and pop featured a plethora of female artists without depth, but it causes me to question why the girls of the 70s and 80s werent forming their subcultures like the male youth seemed to doing, especially considering the females were just as, if not more, effected by the economic depressions and problems that characterized these eras. I am definitely seeing that the 1990s are an explosion of girl-power, especially since Im starting to research Riot Grrrl, which is absolutely nothing like female pop. Its just as aggressive and gritty as the beginning punk, but talented as post-punk, so maybe the music industry needed the fall of punk to let the girls shine. The 1990s are continuing the trend of opening up to more and more people, unlike the punk scene directed at male youth, the disco scene as a haven for homosexual males, or an almost total lack of racial diversity for all of these genres. Im definitely interested to see how gender and racial politics are going to evolve more in the music scene, especially since the 1990s pick up where other eras have been slacking. As for bigger-picture skills, the way in which were analyzing music and their cultures can be employed for really any topic or aspect of life. The ability to analyze an idea beyond face value and use political, social, and economic context to form educated opinions and interpretations is vital for succeeding in any area. The statement, We can understand the future by looking at the past, definitely rings true for analyzing music, and by learning about these genres we can not only try to understand where music is today, but see where it is going in the future. Im beginning to listen to recent music and think about whether it is going to pass or fail the preference of society, and if it does live, what kind of music its going to evolve into. Between now and the end of the term, my goal is to try to find the deeper themes in the weekly listening assignments. With the addition of music videos and familiarity of songs into the genres,

sometimes its easy to be distracted by my bias for certain music or incredibly odd videos without focusing on the musical aspects or lyrics. In some way, I do feel as if analyzing the music and making connections has become easier, since the themes from the early genres are only continuing to develop into the following weeks.