At 10:49 AM -0500 3/31/06, Williams, Jim wrote:
John, I agree in principle with your statement about the past repeating itself, railing preachers, etc...but as the parent of a 16-year-old son and a 12-year old daughter, I ask the following: Did Benny Goodman's music regularly refer to women as "hos" and "bitches"?
Well, I'm not sure that Benny's music was vocal in the first place, but things do change and whether the changes are for the better or worse is a matter of opinion, always. In the '50s we could not have Bloody Mary in "South Pacific" using the word "bastard" on stage, and had to Bowdlerize it to "buzzard." I think we even had to clean up something in "A Connecticut Yank" of all shows! Today theater people, much more and much more vehemently than musicians, will fight to defend their rights to use what used to be gutter language in their "art." I made a personal decision to drop my sponsorship of our on-campus, student-run theater company the year they decided to do "Hair," and that's been around since when, 1969?
Did Elvis's music openly advocate killing policemen?
No, but his pelvis was said to incite young women to riot! At least Ed told his cameramen not to show it!!
Did swing music openly advocate sexual promiscuity with no regard to its physical or emotional consequences? (well, I might have to concede some there...)
I should think so!! Long poodle skirts are one thing, but swirling them around until one's underwear became visible was something else again!
Did Bessie Smith videos (yes, there are a few, I believe) feature her 3/4 naked and writhing in simulated orgasmic ecstasy?
Probably not, and I also find it hard to believe that legitimate actresses will do some of the things that actresses WILL do nowadays, but I guess that's what comes of growing up in the '50s with those still-repressive Victorian attitudes toward sex and sexuality.
As much as I may hate to admit it, I have come to believe that today's "music" is indeed worse than it was in the past, and I find myself struggling--as a performer AND as a parent--to cope with the current stuff...or am I too caught up in today to see history properly?
I think we all are, and it's impossible not to be! I fought hard against accepting Rap as real music, completely aside from the lyrics, but if you reject that, what do you do with Henry Higgins or Prof. Harold Hill?
Though my kids are young, I am 54, so I have seen/heard a lot of the (r)evolution leading to current trends.
What it comes down to is that things aren't what they used to be, and what's more they never were!
John -- John & Susie Howell Virginia Tech Department of Music Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
