When the first issue of SPIN came out in 1985, I was one of the magazine’s editors. The decision to put Madonna on the first cover was not mine, but I agreed with it – she was already a major player, and threatened to become “important.” Which she did. There’ve been missteps, and I’ve never been a true fan of her music, but I’ve long admired Madonna’s ability to do it her way, and her uncanny knack for sniffing out the next big thing in pop. The new CD, though, is a generic dance record that seems not have an original idea on it, until perhaps the last track, “Voices.” Diva or done? For now, reluctantly, I say “done.”
July 25, 2008
Soundcheck Blog
Monthly Archives: April 2008
Keeping Pop on the Radar
April 28, 2008 – 1:34 pm
When Greil Marcus first published his landmark book Mystery Train in 1975, American culture was something you could talk about as a single thing. We all watched the same menu of TV shows, and pop music was truly popular –- it seemed like everyone knew the words to “American Pie,” for example. Now, American culture is so fractured that it’s hard for even the most “pop” of pop music fails to reach more than perhaps a quarter or a third of the population. So just how important is pop music on our cultural landscape these days?
Weigh in: Does rock ‘n’ roll music still matter today?
TV Themes: What It’s All About
April 23, 2008 – 9:58 am
Actually, only one type of TV theme song has really disappeared: The “explainer,” where the lyrics set up the story. Classic example: Gilligan’s Island (“just sit right back and you’ll hear the tale, the tale of a fateful trip…”). Some kids’ shows, like “Hannah Montana,” still have something like that, but for adult shows, I guess people think they’re corny. Here’s a fun exercise: imagine the “Gilligan’s Island” theme introducing the TV series “Lost.” With just a few word changes, it’d fit, thematically. But what would it do to the mood?
Tell us: Do you have a favorite TV theme song? Do you miss opening themes?
Sound Advice for the Candidates
April 22, 2008 – 1:10 pm
If I were running the Clinton or Obama campaigns, and had to pick a song that echoed the image each of them is trying to project, I’d tell Hillary to reclaim Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” from the Republicans who tried to co-opt it (against Petty’s wishes, apparently). Clinton is presenting herself as the tough, street-fighting woman who’s being told to go home but simply won’t.
As for Obama, I’d have to suggest the Beatles’ “Come Together.” Mind you, I wouldn’t want people listening too closely to the verses (not that they make a lot of sense anyway, but who wants to “feel his disease?”), but as an expression of Obama’s desire to cast a wide net, it works.
Join the discussion: Which Democratic candidate has the best music on their side?
John … on Beards
April 21, 2008 – 1:55 pm
What is going on over in Williamsbeard? I mean Williamsburg. All these indie-rockers with their sudden facial hair… I’ve never seen myself as a bearded type, though I’ve idly wondered what it would be like. But unlike the hair on the top of my head, the hair on the bottom seems wiry and stiff when it grows in — if I’m on vacation, say, and haven’t shaved that week. It’s like trying to grow a brillo pad –- it itches and I just can’t wait to shave it off. So I will admit to a grudging respect for guys who can somehow get through that awkward, in-between phase and get to the point of facing the world with a presentable beard.
The question is: are rockers growing beards because they see it as a distinguishing mark – something that makes them different? Or are they, in the words of the old Kinks song, “dedicated followers of fashion,” latching onto a trend? The Beatles grew beards. The Stones never did. Just food for thought.
Tell us what you think of beards in pop music.
On Music and Identity
April 18, 2008 – 1:24 pm
When I started commuting to Manhattan to go to high school, I began to see my Queens neighborhood as sleepy, remote, and boring. That was (I hoped) not me, and not who I wanted to be. When I discovered this new style of music they were starting to call punk rock, it was energetic, immediate, and not at all boring. This was, somehow, the soundtrack to the way I wanted to see myself, and to be seen by others. (The fact that the Ramones came from the equally boring neighborhood next to mine was an irony of which I was blissfully unaware.)
To this day, I am not sure if I gravitated to that music because it fit who I was, or if my identity were somehow being altered by the music. Perhaps a bit of both?
Tell us: How have you used music to express your identity — or escape from it?
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