[net.music] On discrete musical categories

rlr@pyuxn.UUCP (Rich Rosen) (04/30/84)

> There was an article in Billboard sometime around 1980 where the
> difference between punk rock and wavopop was clearly outlined.
> These (were) the punk rockers:
>	Sex Pistols, Ramones, DK (I think)
> These (were) the wavopopers:
>	Devo, Blondie, B-52s, many others
> Most likely, the wavopopers of today are the frequenters of MTV.  I'm
> not saying I don't like them, just drawing the barriers.

Barriers? Are you suggesting net.music.punk clearly separated from
net.music.wavopop??  :-)

People who believe that "new music" can be cleanly divided into those
two categories are only fooling themselves.  Unfortunately, high-level
record company execs (who have never heard a single piece of music in their
lives---DOCUMENTED FACT!!---much like auto company execs who have never
driven a subcompact) *love* to draw such barriers, because it helps sell
records and define "market strategies".  (Devo??  They go under "D" in the
new "NEW WAVE" section.  Dead Kennedys??  No, not behind Devo, they're
punk, not new wave!!!  Oh, put them in the heavy metal section, George!)

Similar well-designed barriers include:
	Rock = for kids
	Jazz = intellectual, serious music

	Classical = serious, important music
	Popular = drivel by hucksters for mass consumption

	Punk = noisy violent abrasive noise
	New wave = OK to dance to, but weird (My girlfriend likes this sh*t,
		so I'll listen to it...);
	Rock = none of this new music garbage--pure, honest music from the
		gut, for real men...
	(and finally)
	Adult contemporary = music for people who have outgrown rock and now
		live in condos and make large purchases with credit cards

(Of course, I'm leaving out the barriers that segregate(d) (?) music by
race, but of course that's all changed now---*everybody* likes Michael Jackson.)

It's always nice to know that we freedom-loving Americans are not sheep, and
refuse to be cubbyholed into such limited categories...  (IS A SIDEWAYS SMILE
REALLY NECESSARY???)

Is it any wonder that musical categories get names like post-punk and
neo-classical??  These sound like "operative nomenclatures" used by
large corporations until a "real" name can be thought up.
-- 
"You are not SAM.  You are not ISAM!!!"
					Rich Rosen    pyuxn!rlr

cdelliot@uokvax.UUCP (05/08/84)

#R:pyuxn:-61000:uokvax:4000030:000:541
uokvax!cdelliot    May  8 07:32:00 1984




	I think you might be able to define a band as being punk or wavpop
	just by the name of the band.

	Bands with "offensive" (to some) and/or "tough" sounding names like
	SEX PISTOLS, DEAD KENNEDYS, RAMONES, etc. are classed as punk.

	Bands with "tech" names like DEVO and TALKING HEADS bring to mind
	wavpop.

	But who really cares how we categorize music anyway.  To abuse a
	famous saying -- "Music (Beauty) is in the mind (eye) of the 
	listener (beholder)".



					C. D. Elliott
					AT&T Technologies
					!ctvax!uokvax!cdelliot

ron@brl-vgr.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) (05/17/84)

Please explain to me how the name "RAMONES" sounds tough and/or offensive
or how TALKING HEADS sounds techie?

=Ron

lee@rochester.UUCP (Lee Moore) (05/18/84)

I don't know about the Ramones but the name "Talking Heads" is jargon from
the video broadcast industry.  It refers to news programs (and the like) that
only show people telling you what is happening rather than showing you.
So, Talking Heads are something you want to avoid in your program.


-- 
  = lee@rochester
	rochester!lee =

rlr@pyuxn.UUCP (Rich Rosen) (05/21/84)

> I don't know about the Ramones but the name "Talking Heads" is jargon from
> the video broadcast industry.  It refers to news programs (and the like) that
> only show people telling you what is happening rather than showing you.
> So, Talking Heads are something you want to avoid in your program.

More precisely it refers to interview programs (one-on-one) that just show
one head or the other talking.  David Byrne claims he had no knowledge of the
video term when he named the band.
-- 
Never ASSUME, because when you ASSUME, you make an ASS out of U and ME...
					Rich Rosen   pyuxn!rlr