Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
"Decay of the Eco-Friendly Home"
This week, Al and Tipper Gore announced the mutual disintegration of their marriage. For some reason, most likely because such a thing hasn't heard of such a thing since Jerry and Elaine broke up (Seinfeld), people just aren't buying it and have taken to mocking Al Gore. While Al Gore has certainly been dull in the past, something he's attempted to fix by becoming a stand up comedian of sorts (Futurama) and admittedly he has said some pretty stupid things, I for one am doubtful Al's love for the environment has anything to do with the divorce. That being said, I think Al's had his time fair share of roasting this past decade so I think I'll shift some heat over to Tipper.
In 1985 Tipper along with Susan Baker setup a group called Parents Music Resource Center. According to Baker, she was inspired to start the group when her seven year old daughter was caught singing singing some Madonna. While Tipper jumped on board when she came into contact with Prince's Darling Nikki. Gore's reaction to this song and ones like it: ""The images frightened my children, they frightened me! I am frightened! Way frightened! The graphic sex and the violence were too much for us to handle." (according to an unsourced Wikipedia entry). According to Gore and the rest of the PMRC the decline of the "nuclear family" and the increase of vulgarity in Rock/Hip-hop were directly correlated. They added that families were "haven[s] of moral stability" designed to shelter children from the harsh realities of world they lived in. Yet somehow the power of music proved to powerful for families and it had managed to begin "infecting the youth of the world with messages they cannot handle".
Upon hearing this, artist such as John Denver, Dee Snyder (of Twisted Sister), Frank Zappa all testified on behalf of musicians, while Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys, Joey Ramone assisted from the sidelines. Zappa lead the pack stating "the PMRC proposal is an ill-conceived piece of nonsense which fails to deliver any real benefits to children, infringes the civil liberties of people who are not children, and promises to keep the courts busy for years dealing with the interpretation and enforcement problems inherent in the proposal's design." And soon after stated he believed that this was all a cover-up for a new blank-tape tax and that "a couple of blowjobs here and there and Bingo! — you get a [bogus] hearing. Synder added that it wasn't he who was perverted, but in fact the Senate, as songs they claimed to be about sadomasochism and rape (Under The Blade) was acctually about his fear of an upcoming surgery. More importantly Synder stated "The full responsibility for defending my children falls on the shoulders of my wife and I, because there is no one else capable of making these judgments for us".
Gore and company, but mainly Senator Paula Hawkins jumped on this stating that"Much has changed since Elvis' seemingly innocent times" (Besides being the King of Rock, Eminem also dubbed Elvis one of the "First Kings of Controversy" in his song Without Me) and they weren't trying to censor anyone, but rather "take the element of surprise out of buying an album" and thus only assist parents. A nice yet non-evasive thought. However it is totally untrue, as they had the additional goal of rewriting contracts of profane artists, setting industry standards which could not be exceeded under any circumstances, and pressure stores and stations to prohibit the sales of objectionable material. Stores such as Wal-mart readily agreed. Furthermore, when the PMRC finally settled on a Parental Advisory sticker, it wasn't just applied to objectionable material. No, instead Gore applied it to political opponents in order to hurt sales. Most notably she slapped the sticker Frank Zappa's Jazz From Hell, a record that had no lyrics whatsoever and thus no reason to be considered objectionable. Luckily John Denver's famous in trial speech, "That which is denied becomes that which is most desired, and that which is hidden becomes that which is most interesting" proved true, as not only did Jazz From Hell win a Grammy but other far less appealing albums managed to become best sellers in part due to the sticker.
Although I personally do not find it immoral or wrong to separate from someone, and would in fact consider it immoral to stay with someone you no longer have feelings for, some would disagree. The point is that there is no set standard for morality on most issues and thus it is impossible to regulate. But for a person to decry Rock and Hip-hop as destroyers of the modern family and more generally the moral fabric of America yet at the same time being unable to maintain her own familial relationships is utter hypocrisy. I would love Tipper to respond to this statement, I would imagine she would embarrassingly attempt to tell me that the nature of her work kept her in constant contact with unsavory music and as a result, hero moral fiber slowly broke down over the years resulting in the eventual disintegration of her marriage. I however, agree with what Ice-T had to say in his song Freedom Of Speech
If you're too busy or to easily easily offended here are the highlights of why Ice-T thinks Tipper got divorced and why he thinks the PMRC is a failure in general.
In 1985 Tipper along with Susan Baker setup a group called Parents Music Resource Center. According to Baker, she was inspired to start the group when her seven year old daughter was caught singing singing some Madonna. While Tipper jumped on board when she came into contact with Prince's Darling Nikki. Gore's reaction to this song and ones like it: ""The images frightened my children, they frightened me! I am frightened! Way frightened! The graphic sex and the violence were too much for us to handle." (according to an unsourced Wikipedia entry). According to Gore and the rest of the PMRC the decline of the "nuclear family" and the increase of vulgarity in Rock/Hip-hop were directly correlated. They added that families were "haven[s] of moral stability" designed to shelter children from the harsh realities of world they lived in. Yet somehow the power of music proved to powerful for families and it had managed to begin "infecting the youth of the world with messages they cannot handle".
Upon hearing this, artist such as John Denver, Dee Snyder (of Twisted Sister), Frank Zappa all testified on behalf of musicians, while Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys, Joey Ramone assisted from the sidelines. Zappa lead the pack stating "the PMRC proposal is an ill-conceived piece of nonsense which fails to deliver any real benefits to children, infringes the civil liberties of people who are not children, and promises to keep the courts busy for years dealing with the interpretation and enforcement problems inherent in the proposal's design." And soon after stated he believed that this was all a cover-up for a new blank-tape tax and that "a couple of blowjobs here and there and Bingo! — you get a [bogus] hearing. Synder added that it wasn't he who was perverted, but in fact the Senate, as songs they claimed to be about sadomasochism and rape (Under The Blade) was acctually about his fear of an upcoming surgery. More importantly Synder stated "The full responsibility for defending my children falls on the shoulders of my wife and I, because there is no one else capable of making these judgments for us".
Gore and company, but mainly Senator Paula Hawkins jumped on this stating that"Much has changed since Elvis' seemingly innocent times" (Besides being the King of Rock, Eminem also dubbed Elvis one of the "First Kings of Controversy" in his song Without Me) and they weren't trying to censor anyone, but rather "take the element of surprise out of buying an album" and thus only assist parents. A nice yet non-evasive thought. However it is totally untrue, as they had the additional goal of rewriting contracts of profane artists, setting industry standards which could not be exceeded under any circumstances, and pressure stores and stations to prohibit the sales of objectionable material. Stores such as Wal-mart readily agreed. Furthermore, when the PMRC finally settled on a Parental Advisory sticker, it wasn't just applied to objectionable material. No, instead Gore applied it to political opponents in order to hurt sales. Most notably she slapped the sticker Frank Zappa's Jazz From Hell, a record that had no lyrics whatsoever and thus no reason to be considered objectionable. Luckily John Denver's famous in trial speech, "That which is denied becomes that which is most desired, and that which is hidden becomes that which is most interesting" proved true, as not only did Jazz From Hell win a Grammy but other far less appealing albums managed to become best sellers in part due to the sticker.
Although I personally do not find it immoral or wrong to separate from someone, and would in fact consider it immoral to stay with someone you no longer have feelings for, some would disagree. The point is that there is no set standard for morality on most issues and thus it is impossible to regulate. But for a person to decry Rock and Hip-hop as destroyers of the modern family and more generally the moral fabric of America yet at the same time being unable to maintain her own familial relationships is utter hypocrisy. I would love Tipper to respond to this statement, I would imagine she would embarrassingly attempt to tell me that the nature of her work kept her in constant contact with unsavory music and as a result, hero moral fiber slowly broke down over the years resulting in the eventual disintegration of her marriage. I however, agree with what Ice-T had to say in his song Freedom Of Speech
If you're too busy or to easily easily offended here are the highlights of why Ice-T thinks Tipper got divorced and why he thinks the PMRC is a failure in general.
"Yo Tip, what`s the matter? You ain`t gettin` no dick?
You`re bitchin` about rock`n`roll, that`s censorship, dumb bitch
The Constitution says we all got a right to speak
Say what we want Tip, your argument is weak
Censor records, TV, school books too
And who decides what`s right to hear? You?
Hey PMRC, you stupid fuckin` assholes
The sticker on the record is what makes `em sell gold
Can`t you see, you alcoholic idiots
The more you try to suppress us, the larger we get
Yo, you gotta be high to believe that
You`re gonna change the world by a sticker on a record sleeve"
Although at the beginning I said I felt Al had taken enough criticism from the general public, I'm going to conclude with a great shot at Al's massive ego I heard yesterday.
If Tipper gets half the internet in the divorce, who gets facebook and who gets twitter?
As always feel free to leave comments at our Formspring
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Friday, March 12, 2010
Ray Charles: Generations Blindness to One Man's Insults
If life was like a game of Family Feud and Ray Charles was the topic the answers would likely look like this. 2) Piano 3) Sunglasses 4) Jamie Foxx Bio-Pic 5) Musical pioneer. Number one would likely be cute little old blind man, unless of course everyone in the survey pool was like me, than survey would likely say “antagonizer”. For those of you who have seen the movie Ray, this likely isn’t all that far-fetched as you already knew of Ray’s checkered past such as his Heroin addiction. But for the benefit of those who still view Ray as an innocent old man allow me to explain.
As much as Ray is known for his “banging and swaying” style on the piano today, early on in his career he was known for something entirely different; disrespecting the Church. When I first learned of this shocking de velopment it made sense, perhaps Ray was bitter and saw this as an attack on God for leaving him blind. However I was wrong, as Ray was not born blind but, was rather blinded because of an eye infection from contaminated water that was left untreated. So it is unlikely that Ray had any qualms with God. No, Ray simply loved pushing the envelope.
Ray , unlike modern day trouble makers, who merely spew out offensive SoundBits in order to gain free publicity. Ray was talented and his talent gained him all the attention he wanted, he caused controversy, because he legitimately enjoyed doing so. Even more impressive, Charles didn’t have to just say offensive things, he actually worked them into the structure of his music, thus killing two birds with one stone.
Example 1) “This Little Girl of Mine”: In this piece Ray strips the famous gospel hymn “This Little Light of Mine”. Normally this song tells a story of one who finds faith in God and decides to share this new found faith with the world. Doing so by shining the light of God on them in hopes they too will see the light. Ray however makes it a tale of a man whose found a woman who “loves him even when he’s bad”, calls him up late at night for dates (booty calls) and stops traffic with her scantily clad body.
Example 2) “What’d I Say Part 2”: Although this song isn’t based on any particular hymn, it is once again an example of Ray taking the gospel hymn style and secularizing it. Unlike Ray’s other songs, this song was not preplanned, but rather was born out of Ray’s need to fill the last few minutes of a live set. To do so Ray and The Raelettes improvised using the call and response method often employed by African-American churches. Except, rather than cries of “Praise Jesus” followed by howls of “hallelujah” or “amen”, there was the moans and very sexual groans of Ray and the Raelettes. This isn’t just the opinion of one eccentric write either, on the subject of this song Ray had this to say. “I'm not one to interpret my own songs, but if you can't figure out 'What I Say', then something's wrong. Either that, or you're not accustomed to the sweet sounds of love.” Fans agreed as part 2 was boycotted nationwide, while part 1 was played even on white radio stations (controversy creates cash). Eventually, this became Ray’s first album to go gold (sex sells). Lyrics starts around the 1:35, while the 2:00 features one of the first instances of an artist talking about a women shaking her ass and part 2 starts around 4:30, but feel free to listen to the whole thing, because it’s great.
3) “I’ve Got a Woman”: This song once again utilizes both the beat and lyrics of a famous gospel hymn, this time drawing from “It Must Be Jesus” and “My Jesus is All the World to Me”. The initial hymn was about how Jesus is the center of our lives and how he gives us the strength to do all things. Charles’ version however spoke of a sugar momma, who not only provided Ray with money to do nothing all day, but also provided him with “lovin’” both day and night. Furthermore, mainly will recognize the style as a model for Kayne Weste song “Gold-digger” , which ironically deals with the reverse topic. Although Kayne is often chastised as a scum-bag extraordinaire, in this instance he did the right thing and gave Ray posthumous credit for writing the song (although this may have just been at the urging of his legal team).
Honorable Mention: “Let’s Go Get Stoned”: Deals with Ray’s recent stint in rehab and the lure drugs still possess.
If I haven’t destroyed Ray’s pristine image yet, I leave you with this, according to Jerry Wexler who often worked with Ray, "We didn't know shit about making records, but we were having fun".1 Cheers to Ray and company for their complete lack of professionalism and ability to have fun at the expense of others. If only others would be willing to drop the overly PC (politically correct) attitude our society has developed and live for themselves.
As always feel free to drop a comment at our formspring
Sources: 1
As much as Ray is known for his “banging and swaying” style on the piano today, early on in his career he was known for something entirely different; disrespecting the Church. When I first learned of this shocking de velopment it made sense, perhaps Ray was bitter and saw this as an attack on God for leaving him blind. However I was wrong, as Ray was not born blind but, was rather blinded because of an eye infection from contaminated water that was left untreated. So it is unlikely that Ray had any qualms with God. No, Ray simply loved pushing the envelope.
Ray , unlike modern day trouble makers, who merely spew out offensive SoundBits in order to gain free publicity. Ray was talented and his talent gained him all the attention he wanted, he caused controversy, because he legitimately enjoyed doing so. Even more impressive, Charles didn’t have to just say offensive things, he actually worked them into the structure of his music, thus killing two birds with one stone.
Example 1) “This Little Girl of Mine”: In this piece Ray strips the famous gospel hymn “This Little Light of Mine”. Normally this song tells a story of one who finds faith in God and decides to share this new found faith with the world. Doing so by shining the light of God on them in hopes they too will see the light. Ray however makes it a tale of a man whose found a woman who “loves him even when he’s bad”, calls him up late at night for dates (booty calls) and stops traffic with her scantily clad body.
Example 2) “What’d I Say Part 2”: Although this song isn’t based on any particular hymn, it is once again an example of Ray taking the gospel hymn style and secularizing it. Unlike Ray’s other songs, this song was not preplanned, but rather was born out of Ray’s need to fill the last few minutes of a live set. To do so Ray and The Raelettes improvised using the call and response method often employed by African-American churches. Except, rather than cries of “Praise Jesus” followed by howls of “hallelujah” or “amen”, there was the moans and very sexual groans of Ray and the Raelettes. This isn’t just the opinion of one eccentric write either, on the subject of this song Ray had this to say. “I'm not one to interpret my own songs, but if you can't figure out 'What I Say', then something's wrong. Either that, or you're not accustomed to the sweet sounds of love.” Fans agreed as part 2 was boycotted nationwide, while part 1 was played even on white radio stations (controversy creates cash). Eventually, this became Ray’s first album to go gold (sex sells). Lyrics starts around the 1:35, while the 2:00 features one of the first instances of an artist talking about a women shaking her ass and part 2 starts around 4:30, but feel free to listen to the whole thing, because it’s great.
3) “I’ve Got a Woman”: This song once again utilizes both the beat and lyrics of a famous gospel hymn, this time drawing from “It Must Be Jesus” and “My Jesus is All the World to Me”. The initial hymn was about how Jesus is the center of our lives and how he gives us the strength to do all things. Charles’ version however spoke of a sugar momma, who not only provided Ray with money to do nothing all day, but also provided him with “lovin’” both day and night. Furthermore, mainly will recognize the style as a model for Kayne Weste song “Gold-digger” , which ironically deals with the reverse topic. Although Kayne is often chastised as a scum-bag extraordinaire, in this instance he did the right thing and gave Ray posthumous credit for writing the song (although this may have just been at the urging of his legal team).
Honorable Mention: “Let’s Go Get Stoned”: Deals with Ray’s recent stint in rehab and the lure drugs still possess.
If I haven’t destroyed Ray’s pristine image yet, I leave you with this, according to Jerry Wexler who often worked with Ray, "We didn't know shit about making records, but we were having fun".1 Cheers to Ray and company for their complete lack of professionalism and ability to have fun at the expense of others. If only others would be willing to drop the overly PC (politically correct) attitude our society has developed and live for themselves.
As always feel free to drop a comment at our formspring
Sources: 1
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