Skip to main content

The Crickets - Honderd Duizend

If the DJs were in fact the champions of the black community only in it for the music and invested in the subversive power of Rock & Roll culture then we should find something more along the lines of Robin Hood and less along the lines of Pied Piper. In other words, the cash payoffs to the DJs did not find their way back to the black artists, songwriters, and musicians. In fact, we would have never heard about any of this if the DJs had only paid taxes on this common expense called radio promotion. The main vehicles that brought this situation into the light the federal payola hearings of 1960 and the anti payola laws from five years earlier are both functions of the fact that the U.S. government was not getting its piece of the action, the DJs were evading taxes, not claiming this as part of their income.

The operation of the subtle, unseen reifications of the status quo, coined by Gramsci as hegemony, is clear in this process of translation. To adopt a Marxist perspective, the base of production maintaining control of mainstream recordings from signing the talent all the way to retail record sales is safeguarded by the superstructure. The first generation of Rock & Roll, ca. 1952-1959, is a disruption to that system of control on many fronts including the economical, social, and educational. The responses to this disruption are made from these very arenas in an effort to regain control of the hearts and minds of the, white, youth. Schools begin to enforce dress codes defined explicitly against Rock & Roll dress, leather jackets, tight skirts, religious leaders reinforced this message by addressing Rock & Roll as a cancer to spiritual sanctity. Grassroots citizen associations spontaneously spring up in reaction to this threat, echoing the language of the educational and religious leaders.

Corporate media outlets cut ties with any employees who had prospered by masquerading as white renegades, embracing this new black music. It is interesting to note that this operation includes its own process of nomination. Once cleansed of its residual contagion from the maternal R&B music, the music would then be repackaged for a more mainstream consumption, under the name of Rock & Roll.


The Crickets - Honderd Duizend
  • Released: 1973
  • Genre: Pop
  • Duration: 2:56

"The Crickets singles were CNR International records. The Crickets were a Netherlands band from the 70s, putting out songs classified as Schlager, a kind of easy listening pop music."

See previous Song of the Day 

Labels:
Location: United States

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jackson Browne - Kisses Sweeter than Wine

Europe has a rich history of embracing blues and jazz music. In the early 20th century, American jazz musicians began touring Europe, introducing the continent to a new sound that was unlike anything they had ever heard before. Jazz became an instant hit among European audiences, and many European musicians began incorporating jazz elements into their music. Today, jazz festivals are held all over Europe, attracting thousands of fans from all over the world. In addition, many European cities have thriving blues scenes, with local bands and musicians performing regularly. Blues and jazz have also made their way to Asia, where they have found a devoted fan base. Japan, in particular, has a thriving jazz scene, with many Japanese musicians achieving international recognition. In addition, China has also seen a rise in the popularity of jazz music in recent years. Jazz festivals are now held in major Asian cities such as Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, attracting jazz lovers from all over ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Roy Haynes - Satan's Mysterious Feeling

Sun Studio, located at 706 Union Avenue, was started by one of the fathers of rock ‘n roll, Sam Phillips, in 1950. It was the commingling of the Memphis Recording Service and Sun Records that formed Sun Studio, and until 1969... The studio’s claim to fame is that it is where the first rock ‘n roll record was produced, Rocket 88, in April 1951. Stax Records was born in 1957. The original Stax was named Satellite Records until it changed its name to Stax in 1961. The company brought to the forefront American and Memphis soul, as well as gospel, funk and the Delta blues. Its most famous act was Otis Redding, and after his death in 1967, the studio struggled to stay in competition with Detroit’s Motown. The music of Memphis has evolved from its long, rich history. The legends of the past have created a legacy that newer artists can only hope to imitate but never really duplicate. A walk along Beale Street should invoke the memory of the great musicians who have come to and played in Memphi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chuck Berry - Broken Arrow

The blues grew up in the Mississippi Delta just upriver from New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz. Blues and jazz have always influenced each other, and they still interact in countless ways today. Following the end of the Civil War, black men had few options other than doing backbreaking manual work or something like becoming a traveling minstrel. Many chose to rely on their physical stamina and the soulful and melancholy lyrics of many blues songs to create a powerful, emotive and rhythmic music celebrating the life of black Americans. The lyrics they sang reflected their daily lives including sex, drinking, jail, murder, poverty, hard labor and lost love. In the early 20th century, the blues was considered disreputable as white audiences began listening to blues. Blues came into its own as an important part of the country’s relatively new popular culture in the 1920s with the recording, first, of great female classic blues singers and, then, of the country folk blues singers of the M...
Post a Comment
Read more