Category Archives: Album Essays

Album Essays, Artists, Manhattan, Pop, The Big Apple

Like a Virgin: More Than Just Another Dance Album

May 24, 2016 Samantha Lee Leave a comment

The 1980s was a decade that changed music forever. The introduction of synthesizers and drum machines paved an infinite path for artists to explore and create multiple genres of new music. For example, the use of synths and drum machines in songs was just a small step into the modern world of dance music. Without the emergence of synthesizers and drum machines, dance-pop music would have never been born, and EDM/dubstep/house music would cease to exist. Madonna’s Like a Virgin album incorporated elements of dance-pop along with powerful lyrics that conveyed a very relevant message.

Growing up the sounds of new wave and 80s pop music always filled the family car, since my mother was (and still is) a huge fan of those two genres. Duran Duran, Madonna, INXS, The Cure, and Depeche Mode are just a small number of artists I remember listening to during my elementary school years. The fact that I was familiar with and enjoyed listening to 80s music is one of the driving factors that prompted me to chose Madonna’s Like a Virgin as the album I wanted to write about.

Madonna was born in Bay City, Michigan in 1958, but dropped out of college and moved to New York City at the ripe age of nineteen with only $35 and a dream. After five years of living in the Big Apple and working non-stop to make her dream a reality, Madonna finally got a record deal through Sire Records. Released in July 1983, her first album Madonna proved to be a huge success, setting the bar for dance-pop music with hits like “Lucky Star,” “Borderline,” and “Holiday” that dominated the charts. madonna album cover

Though the album was a success, it was not what Madonna had envisioned. Producer Reggie Lucas did not allow Madonna to give any input on the production of the tracks and did not adhere to her wants and ideas. Consequently, on her second album she wanted to have more creative input and become one of the producers. However, her new label, Warner Bros. did not want her to hold such artistic freedom just yet. She was able to choose her own producer (with the approval of Warner Bros.), Nile Rodgers. Rodgers was part of the disco/funk band Chic in the 70s and produced hits for Duran Duran, Diana Ross, and David Bowie. Madonna knew that she wanted to work with Rodgers because she was in love with his band, and especially loved the single he produced for David Bowie. Bowie’s single had many dance-pop influences, and Madonna wanted similar elements in her album’s tracks.

-Madonna and Rodgers performing “Like a Virgin” together- -Madonna in her recording studio-

Dance-pop was a music style that could be played both at dance clubs and on mainstream radio. Its simple beats and uncomplicated strong structure made them easy to dance to at clubs, while catchy melodies and lyrics made it suitable to play on the radio. Many young people enjoyed the nightlife by going to dance clubs and discovering the latest songs to move their bodies to. Even my mother, who was just a freshman in college living in Harrington Park, New Jersey made the journey all the way over to Manhattan to go to a dance club with her friends. She confessed to sneaking out of her aunt’s house at night and taking a bus with her friends to the Village and sneaking into 21+ dance clubs. Palladium Dance Hall, Fat Tuesday’s, The Cat Club, and The Bottom Line are just a few of the most popular night clubs in Lower Manhattan. One of the dance clubs Madonna frequently went to to promote her music was the Danceteria, and was the place that she finally got discovered.

-Pics of dancers and Madonna at Danceteria-

Although Like a Virgin was only Madonna’s second album, her drive and dedication to music proved her different from other artists, that were just in it for the money and fame. The need to create her own music and oversee every step of the album’s production showed that she truly wanted to be an artist, not just a singer, and that this album was something that she had a lot of involvement in. Madonna co-wrote 4 of the 9 tracks on Like a Virgin with her former boyfriend Steve Bray, which provided raw and real songs, ones that almost anyone who has been in a failed relationship can relate to. The instrumentals used a lot of synthesizers, fast beats, and funky bass lines which put on a façade that the songs were happy and positive. Still, the lyrics and messages behind many of the songs prove that her music was more than just something to dance to in a night club.

The chronology of the tracks in Like a Virgin paints a clear picture of the life of a young woman during the 1980’s in New York City. When listening to the album, you must listen to it in chronological order, or else you won’t be able to see the bigger story that is being told through each subsequent track. It feels like watching a romance movie with many twists and turns throughout the plot. The album starts off with “Material Girl,” which opens up the story for us. What Madonna is telling us is that she would rather be with a man who can provide for her economically, instead of emotionally.

However, on the next track “Angel,” she tells us that she ends up falling in love with someone who is “an angel in disguise.” Then, she goes on in “Like a Virgin” to express her strong love for this person, claiming that she “was beat incomplete…sad and blue but you made me feel…shiny and new.” Though metaphor “like a virgin” is very ambiguous and can be interpreted in different ways, the general message is that Madonna feels new again. Whether that’d be love has a new meaning for her, or that she literally feels like a virgin when being with her lover is open to the listener’s interpretation.

The next track is not so optimistic and sets the mood for the rest of the album. “Over and Over” does not quite qualify as a love song, and its meaning can be applied to almost anyone who is trying to follow their dream, but has someone holding them back. However, the next track “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore,” makes it clear that this person not supporting her is indeed her love interest. It is evident that Madonna is suffering from heartbreak when she sings “you abandoned me, love don’t live here anymore.” Track 6, “Dress You Up,” exemplifies the overt feeling of love when meeting someone new, and wanting to shower them with affection: “Gonna dress you up in my love, in my love//All over your body, all over your body//In my love.” “Shoo-Bee-Doo” brings Madonna back to reality when she starts to notice that her newfound love is not expressing the same feelings as she does. Another turn for the worst is taken in “Pretender.” This man that Madonna was so madly in love with only wanted to have a one-night stand, and tries to console herself by saying “things happened much too fast I should’ve stopped him then, I knew it wouldn’t last.” Finally, the last track “Stay” ends her journey on a bittersweet note, with her first love (introduced in “Angel”) returning back to her. Madonna admits her flaws and mistakes and begs him to stay, to “leave the past behind…you know you’ve got to stay.”

The trials and tribulations someone goes through when in relationships are perfectly embodied throughout Like a Virgin. At first there is this new, exciting feeling of love, but then the smoky honeymoon phase ends. Then begins the arguing, not being able to see eye-to-eye on anything anymore, followed by the breakup. To top it all off is the regret and longing to be with that person again, but ultimately finding someone new and starting the vicious cycle all over.

Album Essays, Manhattan, Rock

Innervisions and Urban Decline in 1970s NYC

May 20, 2016 Gabriella Walrath Leave a comment

The above pictures are concept pictures I made if the song Too High became a full-fledged TV Show, complete with a title pictures, and a theme song (“Too High”).

(Only a few days after this album was released, Wonder got in a nearly fatal car-crash. Most fans associate this album with that event, and see it as his visions of renewed purpose with the idea of “life is short, do something right”

Simply put, NYC in the 1970s was in absolute chaos. The economy was out of control, leading to an increase in poverty and AIDS because of lack of funding for public, social, and medical services. People desperately turned to drug use, as seen with the rise in heroin. With this, crackdowns and arrests on drugs skyrocketed, mainly in poor African American and Hispanic neighborhoods. This ultimate domino effect of racism with poverty, drug use, and crime drove NYC to a brink where even news outlets today are still calling it the biggest economic crises NYC’s ever experienced.

So how is Stevie Wonder’s 1973 album Innervisions relevant to this situation? It’s simple. Though not written about any city in particular, Innervisions describes life in NYC in the 70s and covers all of the issues previously described. From tracks like “Too High” about drug use to “Living in the City” about racism and poverty in cities, Stevie Wonder captures the issues surrounding NYC. In his first track on Innervisions “Too High”, he talks about how the main character, a woman, “Is living a superficial paradise. She had a chance to make it big once or twice. She wasn’t very nice.”

His anti-drug stance relates to NYC’s drug crisis with heroin, as the city was trying to figure out how to curb it, and whether or not to punish drug addicts. Looking back in time about fifty years ago, NYC wasn’t jailing as many people as it does today, especially not for drugs, with fewer people going to jail and those going receiving lighter sentences. The jump in difference in NYC can be attributed to the Rockefeller drug laws, named after the New York governor who championed them, Governor Rockefeller. Although there was criticism of these rules at first, mainly from drug treatment experts, politicians, and many New York District Attorneys, the rules were quickly adopted by each state.

Racism at this time also had a key connection to these drug busts. The majority of people being put in jail over drug use under the Rockefeller Laws were almost all entirely from African American and Hispanic neighborhoods, when actually many white people were using a lot of drugs and committing crimes. This motif can be seen in Innervision’s track titled “Living in the City” where the main character gets off the bus in New York City after travelling from the south, and is arrested for a drug bust simply because he is African American.

At the time of Innervsions’ release, music in the west differed from years later as it had spawned a rise in a number of different musical genres, such as the increasingly popular disco and funk. Other generations evolved to have a 70s flavor, such as soul, jazz funk, and Motown. Rock also remained very popular throughout the decade, spanning different subgenres like progressive rock, glam rock, art rock and many others. The decade was noted for its contribution to electronic music, with many artists incorporating synthesizers and harmonizers into their music. The genres that Innervisions really draw from are Motown, soul, funk, and jazz. As the 70s evolved from the 60s, Stevie’s career at this point had also grown, as he was no longer the “Little Stevie Wonder,” and released his 16th studio album that showed his ability to question the world around him with realistic passion in each track.

Stevie Wonder’s album Innervisions is a wonderfully fused blend of soul and funk that initially begins with despair but ends with hope. It is a simple human album that says that evil is present but can be changed. Ultimately, this album gives a deeper understanding to NYC and fuses its context with its music in a wonderful blend. This album is a piece of history, representing the musical and societal expression in 1970s NYC. This connection to the past, coupled with its humanistic, empathetic, empowering and story-telling appeal, raises Innervsisions’ quality to bring out the awareness in people and the ability to shows them for what they are, damage to positive life in the city.

Album Essays, Long Island, Rock

A Walk Through 52nd Street

May 18, 2016 Raquel Calero Leave a comment

Music, like literature, is an art that connects people across the world and can also function as a time machine, providing insights into the worlds of all kinds of people throughout history. It can be analyzed from different perspectives and dissected into its respective cultural, historical and musical contexts as well as the personal experiences of the artist that influenced and shaped a specific album or genre. In order to obtain a better understanding of what the artists intended to convey through their carefully crafted lyrics or meticulous instrumentation, it is important to take into account the time, place and circumstances under which the album’s creation took place. With only nine tracks, all about different themes ranging from love songs to inspiring tunes, 52^nd Street by Billy Joel seems to be one of the most famous and recognized albums and according to Village Voice, it represents the City of New York remarkably. Billy Joel might be widely known as a musical legend of the 70s and 80s, but there is always a different side to an artist than what is portrayed through their music.

Newspaper advertisement for the album from the year it was released (1978).

By the time the album 52^nd Street came out, Joel had already built a name for himself with his 1977 success of an album The Stranger including the Grammy Award winning track “Just the Way You Are.” This not only set the bar higher for his next production, but it also gave Joel a growing and expecting audience that he felt the need to impress with his latest creation. With this in mind, Joel set out to write the songs in 52^nd Street, consciously implementing certain techniques (such as juxtaposing lively rock and roll tracks with jazzy and ballad tunes to “keep himself interested”) and with the main goal of creating something “different.” This goal then led to the jazz-like theme that Joel attempted to adopt in several tracks of the album, he wanted to create a “mix of jazz with his own personal style.” The album itself was named after the place in New York City where the greatest jazz legends were formed, where all the jazz clubs were located, and conveniently also where A&R Studios (the recording studio where the album was produced) was located. Fifty-second street was what gave the album as a whole the impression of being a “tribute to jazz” and as band member Richie Cannata states, “It was typical New York, where you had to walk through all of the garbage and the rats to get there, and go upstairs.”

A&R Recording Studios as seen through Google Earth 2012.

(Here is a Google Earth Map of how the building looks now.)

Album cover overlayed over the spot where the picture was taken (The Equitable Building) on 52nd St, approximately 35 years after.

In order to better comprehend the album as a whole it is helpful to look at the entire portrait of the musical, social and cultural aspects of both New York City and Long Island (where Joel grew up and currently lives) at the time of the album’s release.

During the 1970s, Long Island was facing one of its biggest urbanization and economic development waves, which is said to have started a chain reaction for many cities all over the United States. As seen in some stock footage from the 1970s, a reporter describes the situation as follows: “Long Island is coping with all of the problems which other suburban communities are just beginning to face up to now, because we had 20 years with it. Problems with planning, zoning, transportation, urban sprawl, schools and governmental overlapping.” The reporter also mentions how Long Island was terribly “decentralized” and proceeds to compare this lack of a main city to other places across the country, such as Los Angeles. This economic development and Long Island’s overall growth is said to have been sudden, “like an explosion” and might have been a result of factors such as nature, politics and the end of World War II.

New York City on the other hand, was facing an era of urban decay and was experiencing an economic collapse. The streets of Manhattan were known for the large population of pimps and prostitutes that frequented them, and a crime-filled subway system. The city was on the verge of bankruptcy and many people were unemployed, a consequence of the “white flight” that highly influenced the city’s tax base and economy. The severity of the situation can be portrayed by the pamphlet that was released in the mid 70’s by the Council for Public Safety, titled “Welcome to Fear City: A Survival Guide for Visitors to the City of New York,” with the purpose of warning tourists to stay away. Millions of copies of this exaggerated depiction of the city’s fiscal crisis were distributed to tourists as they arrived, by none other than members of New York’s police forces. The pamphlet was created and distributed as a result of the discharge of a substantial number of public safety personnel, whom infuriated sought some kind of retaliation. The guide provided nine specific steps or tips for tourists in order to “help them enjoy their visit to the City of New York in comfort and safety.” Some of the guidelines were written as advice “Be aware of fire hazards…” while others sounded more like orders that if not followed could lead to terrible consequences. “Do not walk, remain in Manhattan, avoid public transportation…”

However, even under these circumstances, the city still held an appeal that attracted foreigners from other places such as Long Island. New York City did not start its period of gentrification until early 1990s, but even though Times Square was nowhere near the attraction it is today, the city still held this sense of excitement that called to some. Glenn Kenny, writer for The Guardian, describes New York City during the 1970’s as a scary but exhilarating place to be in. “The place these books conjure is both very scary, and very exhilarating. Not a place where some kind of arty misfit or wannabe arty necessarily wanted to live, but rather a place where one such creature could live. And hence, a place where one such young creature had to live. Speaking strictly for myself, born in 1959, I got there a little late to the party. As someone who was watching from across the river in dreaded exile of New Jersey, I get the appeal of their somewhat misty-eyed memories.”

This appeal Glenn Kenny speaks about, might have also applied to Joel and it is possible that this is the reason behind 52^nd Street’s romantic representation of New York City. The rock & roll and jazz-like tunes in the album previously described, effectively communicate the feeling of exhilaration and allure that many young artists, including Joel, probably experienced at the time.

During an interview Joel stated that, “Long Islanders have a little bit of an inferiority complex when it comes to New York City. We’re like the country bumpkins, the cousins from out of state. . . I used to go to the city and feel like a dumb tourist: ‘Look at all the tall buildings! Look at all the people squashed together!’ New York is really an impressive city. I’ve been all over the world. I’ve played all these cities, but New York is Gotham. It’s gargantuan. I think Long Island people feel the same when they go to the city. . . But we have things that are our own.” In this statement Joel expresses the feeling of wonder that can also be heard in the artist’s 1978 album, with songs like “My Life” and “Big Shot” referencing key places in the city that he frequented but also reflecting the freedom and independence New Yorkers are known for.

Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuttin Ta Fuck Wit

May 18, 2016 Tasmina Khair Leave a comment

The Wu Tang Clan and their debut album, Enter the Wu Tang (36 Chambers), changed the face of hip hop. “The group’s 1993 debut, basically obliterated the old rule on hip hop. It broke ground in so many ways, from charting new directions in sampling, studio production, and storytelling to expanding the concept of a hip hop crew” (Denver Post, Harrington). The Wu Tang brought an entirely different element to hip hop with their ensemble and production. Member RZA said in an interview, “We were street kids, guys that was more like felons, or high school dropouts. Not saying this was a positive thing, I’m saying this is the difference of our character. If you keep eating McDonald’s, you gonna get sick. You need a real home cooked meal of hip hop. Of the real people” (The RZA Interview 36^th Chamber of Shaolin).

The Wu Tang fused East Asian martial arts culture into their form and lyricism, uniting different and otherwise separate cultures into one realm. Each aspect of the group and their album, from the lyrics to the title songs to the group name and stage names have been inspired by kung fu. Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, more widely known as RZA, was the mastermind behind the idea of the Wu Tang. He states, “This war style of this movie (Shaolin vs Wu Tang) was invincible and unbeatable. And that’s how we felt about our lyrics. Wu Tang Clan became us” (The RZA Interview 36^th Chamber of Shaolin).

Kung Fu and other forms of martial arts exhibit a quality of invincibility and toughness. This quality is woven into the Wu Tang Clan’s intricate lyrics. For example, in the first song of the album, “Bring Da Ruckus,” the introduction includes a snippet from the film Shaolin vs Wu Tang. “‘Shaolin shadowboxing and the Wu Tang sword style. If what you say is true, the Shaolin and the Wu Tang could be dangerous. Do you think your Wu Tang sword can defeat me?’” This song continues to portray the idea that this group and their lyrics, are not a force to be messed with; if one dares to, they should ‘bring da fucking ruckus’ because ‘Wu Tang slang’ll leave your headpiece hanging.” “My Wu Tang slang is made fucking dangerous. And more deadly than the stroke of an axe chopping through your back *swish* giving bystanders heart attacks. Niggas try to flip, tell me who is him I blow up his fucking prism make it a vicious act of terrorism.” In Shame on a Nigga. Ol’ Dirty Bastard raps, “Do you wanna get your teeth knocked the fuck out? Wanna get on it like that, well then shout,” meaning anyone who fights him will get beaten up. And Method Man raps, “For rhyme and for rapture, got niggas resigning, now master my style? Never. I put the fucking buck in the wild kid, I’m terror razor sharp, I sever the head from the shoulders, I’m better than my competta.” His raps have people resigning; and the people who try to imitate him and his style will never be able to, because he will slaughter them, literally. The song continues to perpetuate this representation of the Clan as everything but gentle and easygoing. In Method Man, they rap “I’ll fuckin pull your fucking tongue out your fucking mouth and stab the shit with a rusty screwdriver,” to portray how incredibly tough and intimidating they are.

The tough and raw nature of this album represents the nature of life in New York City – rough and filled with hardships. There were high rates of crime, drugs, and poverty. In the song C.R.E.A.M. the first verse begins with Raekwon rapping, “I grew up on the crime side the New York Times side, staying alive was no jive.” Living in New York City, meant that one had to fight to survive. One had to embody the traits of the City and also become tough and aggressive. C.R.E.A.M. most vividly portrays the cold, hard reality of the crime life in NY.

Inspectah Deck in verse 2 raps, “It’s been twenty-two long hard years of still struggling. Survival got me bugging, but I’m alive on arrival.” He continues, “I peep at the shape of the streets. And stay awake to the ways of the world cause shit is deep. A man with a dream with plans to make cream [cash] which failed; I went to jail at the age of fifteen. A young buck selling drugs and such who never had much. Trying to get a clutch at what I could not. The court played me short now I face incarceration. Pacin’ – going upstate’s my destination. Handcuffed in the back of a bus, forty of us. Life as a shorty [kid] shouldn’t be so rough. But as the world turned I learned life is hell. Living the world, no different from a cell.”

The Wu Tang Clan was focused in Staten Island where most of the members originated from and lived in. Most of the members were from neighborhoods like Stapleton and Clifton, federally subsidized low income housing complexes, also known as projects. Violence and conflict was often the result of high levels of unemployment and poverty. In his book The Tao of Wu, RZA wrote, “I’ve lived in at least ten different projects in New York…and they all taught me something different even if they were lessons no one would choose. Imagine you’re eight years old, going to the store with 35 cents to buy a packet of Now and Laters and a bag of sunflower seeds. You get there, three teenagers choke you with an umbrella, take your 35 cents and buy cigarettes. That’s the projects: math and economics on every block. You wonder why the jail and courthouse are so close to the projects. When you get locked up a few years later, you learn” (RZA, 122).

During the 1980s, crack had arrived to New York City. It had a profound impact on America, particularly on inner city life. It had completely altered life for the worse. For example, Clifton or Park Hill acquired the nicknames “Killer Hill” and “Crack Hill” because of this. Raekwon said in an interview, “Park Hill was a dangerous project you know what I mean. I grew up with drug dealers all my life. It’s where I learned how to grow up fast. Park Hill was one of the most hated projects in Staten Island because it was like everything that you needed on the Island – drugs, money, guns, prostitution, all that shit was going on in our projects and we was growing up living in it. It was a hustle area” (New York Minute Episode 5: Raekwon). Crack had exacerbated the already growing rates of drug use and crimes, which in turn worsened the already high rates of poverty.

Drug, crimes, prison, violence, and poverty were all things that the members of the Clan witnessed and experienced while living in the projects of Staten Island. The Wu Tang was “From the generation that was ravaged by the era of crack and trapped in neglected cities under the regime of Ronald Reagan and George Bush. The desire to be a superhero or a comic book character, has not been a mere fantasy but a bizarre attempt to flip reality…” (Ghansah, 127). Music was a means of flipping reality; the formation of Wu Tang Clan served as a coping method as well as an escape route from the harsh reality of life. RZA states in the Tao of Wu that, “As a kid, especially, a single parent kid, the one thing you really need is protection…and more kids wish they had some kind of special powers to protect themselves” (Ghansah, 130). And that is what he and the Clan did with the powers of kung fu and Shaolin.

Growing up in New York was more about survival than anything, and one had to do whatever it took to survive. “Niggas got to do what they got to do, to get through – know what I’m saying? Because you can’t just get by no more, word up. You gotta get over straight up and down” (C.R.E.A.M). Transferring the values, ideas, and themes from kung fu films into their music and character was a method of survival for the Wu Tang Clan.

Shaolin is a recurring symbol in this album. For example, “From the slums of Shaolin, Wu tang Clan strikes again” (Method Man), “I come from the Shaolin slum, and the isle I’m from” (Da Mystery of Chessboxin’), and “Started off on the Island, aka Shaolin” (Can It All Be So Simple). Shaolin was synonymous to Staten Island for the Wu Tang, it represented where they came from and the place that they could escape to, like their music or the movie theatres. RZA stated, “These films definitely resonate with the Black community. It’s the underdog thing, the brotherly thing, and also I think its escapism. Cause you can go there and watch the movies and it’s not even America” (The RZA Interview 36^th Chamber of Shaolin).

These films emphasized values of fighting, of being strong and resilient, and having a strong brotherhood which were some of the essential elements of what it meant to be a Wu Tang member. RZA explains that the brotherhood between the warriors in the films were what inspired him and shaped his mentality of a brotherhood. “Especially in 36 Chambers, in the beginning you think both of the guys made it, but only one of them did because his friend risked his life so he could make it” (The RZA Interview 36^th Chamber of Shaolin). Brotherhoods are built on complete loyalty and trust, bound by the ideas that they will protect and support each other and die for one another. Gang activity often increases during times of economic and social hardships because the concept of brotherhood that gangs spring from, ensure the survival of all members of the group. Having support and comfort helps people deal with the struggles and reality of living, which was what the Wu Tang Clan provided for each other.

Member RZA said, “The movie 36 Chambers in Shaolin hit me multiple times in my life. The first time I saw it, it just was the first film that I had seen that had a history that was outside the scope of American history. And being a Black man in America, history don’t go farther than slavery actually. Then when I saw it again at the age of 14, I actually started hearing things that I heard in the movies. It kinda started getting to me in an internal level and I started looking into books about Eastern philosophies. The third time it affected me was when I was 19 when I was with the Wu Tang crew, throwing lyrics. It let me understand that a chamber is a chamber that a man must go through, something a man must conquer. That made me call the album the 36^th Chamber” (The RZA Interview 36^th Chamber of Shaolin). The kung fu genre allowed RZA and the other members to create their own identities. It provided a promise of a more helpful, brighter future as a result of being resilient and patient. This genre portrayed the theme that overcoming struggles is something that everyone must go through, this resonated with the Wu Tang Clan members who were surrounded by hardship in the circumstances around them.

Album Essays, Jazz

Gil Scott-Heron – Pieces of a Man

May 18, 2016 Wesley Dasilva Leave a comment

Gil Scott Heron’s Pieces of a Man tackled the issues of 1970s America in a way that only he could. At a time where problems like political scandal, crippling debt, and racial oppression/tension threatened to break society, it was difficult to stay solid for a man under pressure. Yet there weren’t too many musical outlets that tackled the issues and put them into perspective. As a natural poet, Gil wanted to change that (and in the process unintentionally spawn a creative movement out of it). However, he brought the issues to the forefront through the unique lenses of a black man living in New York City. The city not only produced its own set of niche issues, but seemingly amplified the problems already found throughout American society. The condensed filter of the city constantly tested the wills of many men, Gil included. Yet a common theme surrounding the album is the fact that it is often misunderstood, being cited as the start of a pro-black war-cry of sorts by society. Because of that attribution, much of its message is lost throughout musical history. In order to truly understand what Gil was trying to say through the album, one must observe 1970s America as well as 1970s New York to discover just what kind of insight he was bringing to the table.

The American economy proved to be the root of many of the nations problems, as a faulty foundation led to unease throughout society. Inflation, which had steadily increased over the years following the great depression, exploded in to the double digits around the start of the 1970s. This occurred while unemployment simultaneously increased to double digits as well. This phenomenon is known as stagflation. As one can imagine, economic issues hit the cities of the United States the hardest, as they depended on that constant flow of business in order to continue functioning. Detroit lost almost 40% of its industrial jobs in the 1970s alone. With economic disparity came a sharp increase in crimes throughout the nation. “Statistics from 1974 showed that since 1960, overall crime rates soared higher than ever before—robberies increased 255%, forcible rape 143%, aggravated assault 153%, and murder 106%” . As cities starting becoming more and more dangerous, those who could afford to chose to leave. Namely, white middle-class Americans. Cities were no longer the premiere location to raise a family, start a business, or attempt to aid as a politician. As one could expect, this did not positively impact the racial tension between whites and Blacks/Hispanics of lower economic standing. Whites would flock to the suburbs in a movement known as the “Great Suburban Migration” in order to get away from the perceived source of the influx of crime, causing further unrest and imbalance. As suburbs became more profitable with a new influx of consumers entering the market, investors left their collapsing cities in order to seek profit elsewhere. Politicians joined in the movement as well, writing cities off as lost causes. Not that their help was particularly expected (or trusted) at the time. In fact, the 1970s contained some of the most controversial times for American politics in its entire history. The U. S’s participation in the Vietnam War was met with a lot of resistance, due to both native unpopularity and a much more difficult battle than they bargained for. Events such as the Tet Offensive and the Kent State shootings put Richard Nixon in quite a lot of trouble. These events were also accompanied by the publication of the first set of Pentagon Papers which revealed the truth about the state of the war to the public, who were rightfully outraged. An unstable ceasefire wasn’t established until 1973, 8 years after the war had begun . However, that event was seemingly eclipsed by the controversy of the Watergate scandal, which would grip America during the tail-end of the war in 1972. Ever since the event, there has always been a lingering doubt about the government that is seen strongly even today.

New York, as probably the most prominent city of this time, experienced these issues to a degree that was unfortunately unique. The general decline of the urban economy devastated New York in a way that was unparalleled. In a matter of a couple years, its population dropped from 7.8 million to almost 7 million. The population that could afford to leave were those with the means to do so, dropping New York’s capital by an unprecedented amount. The people left behind were mainly poor people of black or Latino backgrounds. They desperately needed federal assistance and regulation, yet they were seemingly met with opposition from the very people in charge of the country. The “silent majority” (white middle class) that elected Nixon into office did so because they felt certain systems put in to place (such as welfare and the attempted desegregation of schools) were pandering to those that, quite frankly, they grew tired of. At a time where these systems could have kept the city from completely collapsing, it only served to further the extreme gap between the wealthy and those who could barely scrape by. The tradition would be kept on through president Gerald Ford and the infamous Daily News headline “Ford to City: Drop Dead “. In direct opposition to New York, he stated that he would deny any type of federal bailout of the city, essentially leaving it to rot. And so it did. As the population of minorities grew, no money was being placed into urban development and the housing that did remain was literally falling apart. The South Bronx specifically was probably the most extreme case of poverty within the United States during the 1970s. A borough seemingly always on fire, littered with buildings long abandoned and ready to collapse. Even the times square that we know today was a squatter’s town lined with boarded up buildings and prostitutes/drug dealers openly advertising. For those that had to live through the daily trials and tribulations, it was a struggle to resist succumbing to the city and its enriched problems. Those who did succumb generally went two ways. Drugs or crime. Both of which were rampant across the city and ruined the lives of its victims. A hotspot for both could be found underground, in the subways that are now considered vital to the functioning of the city. They were so dangerous and out of control that they sparked the start of multiple controversial vigilante groups, most notably the Guardian Angels.

New York was not the destination of choice in the 70s, and that is being generous. Gil experienced both America’s overarching issues and the unforgiving nature of the City first hand, and in an effort to cope created Pieces of a Man in order to address said issues. Each song tackles these issues in one way or another, often told as a story in order to make it musically inclined. The title-track “Pieces of a Man” does an exceptional job of painting a tragic picture of a man (in this case, his own father) breaking into pieces under the stress. The song talks about his father learning of his firing from the mailman. “Now don’t you take this letter to heart now Jimmy. Cause they’ve laid off nine others today – He could hardly understand That he was only talking to Pieces of a man”. At a time where the city was losing many of its jobs due to lack of investment, people lived in a constant fear of losing their job as it was very difficult to acquire one at the time. Like many others, Gil’s father buckled under the pressure of having to provide for his family and resorted to criminal means in order to make ends meet. He was forced in to a lose/lose situation, and he suffered the consequences. “And now I hear the sound of sirens Come knifing through the gloom – They could hardly understand That they’re only arresting Pieces of a Man”. Gil used his father as an example of the phenomena that was occurring all across New York City. Unfortunately for him, the saying “like father, like son” would prove all to real in the future.

Sources

Flood, Joe. Why the Bronx Burned. May 16, 2010. http://nypost.com/2010/05/16/why-the-bronx-burned/ (accessed May 07, 2016).

Nosnitsky, Andrew. Gil Scott-Heron: More Than A Revolution. January 17, 2012. http://pitchfork.com/features/article/8755-gil-scott-heron/ (accessed May 07, 2016).

Roberts, Sam. Infamous ‘Drop Dead’ Was Never Said By Ford. December 26, 2006. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/28/nyregion/28veto.html?_r=0 (accessed May 07, 2016).

Album Essays, Hip Hop, Manhattan, Rock

Double Fantasy

May 18, 2016 Rina Suzuki Leave a comment

John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy (1980) is one of the famous and unforgettable albums that evoke New York City. The album is supposed to be a special album in celebration of Lennon’s return to the music industry after spending the prior five years raising his son, Sean Lennon. However, it became his posthumous work and his last album, after he was murdered in front of his apartment on December 8, 1980. It happened just after the album was released. It became famous worldwide, in part because of the tragedy, and the album was chosen as the 1981 Album of the Year at the 24th Annual Grammy Awards.

The album is written by both John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Each songs by John and Yoko are composed alternately and it is like a conversation between a man and a woman. In this album, songs written by John sound gentle and sweet, and the more powerful and energetic songs were written by Yoko.

My favorite song from this album is “Woman,” written by John. Generally, it is understood as a romantic song for Yoko. There are also some alternate interpretations of it. For instance, John said that he had written this song to show his respect to Yoko, as he knew how tough and hard it is to raise a child after the five years caring for his son. Also John had written the song an apology to Yoko for the “Lost Weekend”. John and Yoko had lived separately for a while and he had lived in Los Angeles with May Pang from October 1973 to January 1975. John and Yoko were calling about this period of time as “Lost Weekend” although it is not literally a weekend (Allan Kozinmarch, 2008). These two are really famous interpretation of this song and they are all about John and Yoko. Moreover, this song has deeper meaning for women in this world. There is this lyric, “It’s for your mother, or your sister, anyone of the female race”, which shows us his feminist statement. He also says, “For the other half of the sky,” at the beginning of this song, which refers to women. His thought about women had been changed by Yoko very much and I will explain how Yoko affected John’s thoughts in the next part.

After Yoko married John in 1969, they started having relationships with avant-garde artists, antiwar movement people and feminists. Her thought was “love and peace”, and also she was a women’s liberationist. She is making many arts related to her thoughts. “Cut peace” is one of her famous and most distinctive art works. This art first staged on July 20, 1964 at Yamaichi Concert Hall, Kyoto. Audiences come on a stage and cut clothes, which Yoko Ono is wearing. Yoko explained it as a pain in her heart. It also showed us how women are passive and discriminated by men. We can understand women’s discrimination was bad at that time through this art. Her book of poem called “grapefruit” is about world peace. She is asking as to “imagine” in this book. As you can assume, this book affects John Lennon very much. This book inspired a song “Imagine” released by John Lennon. When John Lennon recorded this song, he credited only himself, but later he disclosed that the song “Imagine” was inspired by Yoko Ono and written with her . “Woman” on Double Fantasy reveals that Yoko affected John’s thought and changed it very much.

Many immigrants came to New York City to find a new life. However, New York City at the time John and Yoko lived there, in late 1970s to the early 1980s, wasn’t a really an easy place to live in. It was a dirty, bad conditioned and busy city. It’s ironic that these man and woman, who were hoping and working on the world to be peace and full of love, actually lived in New York City where one of the most dangerous place and the worst place to raise children. According to The New York Times, the number of drug abuse by New York’s school children rose very high in the late 1970s to the early 1980s. In 1977, “ A congressional committee on drug abuse found a “very substantial increase” in narcotics use among New York City school children in the last year year and a half “from the seventh grade on up.”” It also says that “the city’s overall narcotics problem had reached a “crisis situation” and the city’s criminal justice system “is in almost total collapse.””

Despite the situation in New York City, John and Yoko decided to move to there and started to raise their son, Sean Lennon, which was challenging for them. This song “Starting Over” is expressing a feeling of getting tired of living in New York City and asking people to get out from this city. You can see it from the lyrics, “Why don’t we take off alone. Take a trip somewhere far, far away”. Also as the lyrics says “Every day we used to make it love. Why can’t we be making love nice and easy? It’s time to spread our wings and fly. Don’t let another day go by my love. It’ll be just like starting over. Starting over…”.

As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, New York City was one of the highest rate of drug use and crimes. Crimes in New York City related to John Lennon’s death too. He was murdered by his fan in front of his apartment and Yoko Ono was with him. John Lennon and Yoko Ono were living in an apartment, The Dakota, on 72nd St, which is one of the richest and safest place in New York City. Mark David Chapman was one of the most enthusiastic fan of John Lennon until he became a Christian. He actually had a list for murdering, which included some musicians, actors, actresses and politicians. However, he was particularly infatuated by John Lennon. Although, he didn’t have a particular person to kill at first, he decided to kill John because John seemed easier to kill for him. Also when he had heard that John said, “The Beatles are more popular than Jesus”, it triggered and he started preparing to murder John Lennon. This is a tragic irony that a musician who was singing for world peace was killed by his fan.

Suggested Reading

Allan Kozinmarch (2008), A fond look at Lennon’s ‘Lost Weekend, New York Times

Edward C. Burks (1977), House Panel Finds Big Rise in Drug Use by New York’s Schoolchildren, The New York Times

Toshinobu Fukuya (2009), Yoko Ono Lennon, pp 2,5,6

Toshi Ichiyanagi 一柳慧 (2015), Toshi Ichiyanagi

Album Essays, Hip Hop, Long Island

Fear of A Black Planet

May 18, 2016 Yorranshell Wattson Leave a comment

Public Enemy made their first appearance in the music scene with their 1987 debut album Yo! Bum Rush The Show. The hip hop group would soon be thrust into the mainstream arena with the release of their second album It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, as their continued provocative style, messages and unique sound generated mass hype. Their unapologetic confrontation with white America as well as their desire to affect the minds of America’s black youth allowed for their continued musical success in 1990 after releasing Fear of a Black Planet.

Before their rise to fame however, Public Enemy was officially formed in Long Island by Adelphi University students Carlton Ridenhour (Chuck D) and William Drayton (Flavor Flav). Richard Griffin (Professor Griff) was soon recruited into the Public Enemy group as a minister of information and side man. Members of Chuck’s previous music group, Spectrum City, which included Hank Shocklee, Keith Shocklee, and Eric Sadler, further became the production team for Public Enemy under the name of The Bomb Squad. The Bomb Squad helped to craft the chaotic, spontaneous, and overwhelming sound associated with Public Enemy tracks. Their production involved the use of sound bites, looping, addition of atonal (having no musical key) sounds and the incorporation of various samples all in one track.

Fear of a Black Planet has a disruptive quality that counters the cool smoothness of the imminent gangsta rap subgenre that has steered mainstream modern rap and hip hop into their current state. Right off the bat numerous music samplings can be heard in the first track on the album. This pattern of sampling, which was essentially an amplified version of what hip-hop groups were already experimenting with at the time, continues throughout the entire album to create an interesting mesh of sounds. The Bomb Squad shockingly used samples from 18 different songs to produce “Anti-Nigger Machine” and 19 different songs to produce “Welcome to the Terrordome.” In many instances, the combination of music samplings and recurring sporadic voice snippets produces a harsh and chaotic musical effect to complement the harsh truth behind the ideas present in Chuck D’s lyrics. The way Chuck bluntly delivers his lines combined with the nature and tone of his voice makes for a killer combination.

Regardless of its fundamentally chaotic sound, Public Enemy’s Fear of a Black Planet has proven itself to be a very dense and powerful album. The breadth and depth of topics discussed in the album are compelling to say the least. From the importance of decreasing crime within the black community to the acceptance of interracial relationships and peace amongst all peoples, the album refreshingly addresses topics related to race and society. The overall messages of the album are extremely progressive and empowering. Considering that Chuck D’s main goal in producing music was to reach out to fellow black and inner city youth, the messages within the music are meant to be progressive and inspirational.

The torrid social climate of 1980s New York was an important driving force of Fear of A Black Planet. As is indicated by its title, the album is very much a commentary on the black experience in America. Unlike, most hip hop artists at the time, Public Enemy shamelessly sheds light on relevant social issues, mostly those affecting the black community. The use of storytelling in the third person point of view and pre-recorded dialogue allow for dueling perspectives to be presented to the listener. Presenting all of these arguments allows for further discussion and reflection on the black experience in America and the true intentions of Public Enemy.

Public Enemy also mentally stimulates and informs the listener on the black experience in America with the deliberate use of certain phrases that function to intrigue the audience enough to seek further information on historical facts and contemporary news. Listeners are motivated to inquire about the meaning behind trigger phrases like “40 acres and a mule Jack,” as well as the background stories of individuals mentioned on the tracks such as Yusef Hawkins and Louis Farrakhan. The stories on these individuals could easily be left to perish if it wasn’t for their revival and relevance in Public Enemy’s songs. Exposure to overlooked concepts, phrases and individuals helps to promote overall awareness and understanding in curious young listeners. It isn’t surprising that white and suburban youth would also latch onto the album and subsequent music styles it helped to cultivate.

Following the birth of hip hop culture in the South Bronx during the 1970s, there would ironically be an emergence of talented hip hop artists in Long Island nearly a decade later. The irony lies in both the calm suburban atmosphere of Long Island as well as the demographics of the island in comparison to contemporary South Bronx. Public Enemy for example, emerged out of Nassau County, a suburban and predominantly white region of Long Island. With that said, Fear of a Black Planet undoubtedly sounds like New York City. Together, the sound collages, samples, and rock-like undertones parallel the daily sounds of a typical busy New York City street. Considering Nassau County’s proximity to the city, it could very well be the case that Public Enemy was influenced by the city and desired to incorporate a vibrant, energetic and youthful New York City vibe into their music. This would certainly help them appeal to black youth in New York, given that New York had the greatest population of black people out of all the Mid-Atlantic states in 1990.

The rise of hip hop music groups from Long Island such as Eric B and Rakim, De La Soul, and Public Enemy is a testament to the ability of hip hop to rise and flourish even in conditions that differ from the norm.

(Street in Hempstead, Long Island near Chuck D’s High School)

All of these suburban artists were able to officially launch their music careers relatively quickly without too many obstacles in comparison to urban rappers, many of whom grew up in poverty. Rakim was able to respond to Eric B.’s search for New York’s top MC by using his roommates home studio. De La Soul members were able to release a successful debut album right out of high school given the resources they had. Before becoming an official group Public Enemy members had already known each other while running and producing music for a college radio station. Furthermore, during the creation of Fear of a Black Planet, the Bomb Squad was able to use the latest “devices such as the E-mu SP-1200 drum machine and sampler, the Akai S900 sampler, and a Macintosh computer to arrange samples and sequence tracks.” Many Long Island rappers simply had easier access to the necessary equipment to produce music and were connected to individuals that would further their music careers. This was a big advantage over artists who were trying to make it in environments lacking resources, connections and money. Therefore, it is no surprise that many rappers do come from the middle class or suburban homes. Even in today’s society, some of the most influential young rappers like Kanye, Drake, J Cole, and Wiz Khalifa were all raised in middle class families and were supported in their musical aspirations. It is also interesting to note that they were all raised without their fathers in much of their childhood years. While their experiences would differ from rappers who were raised in more difficult environments, this unfortunate similarity is also a means of identifying with their fellow hip hop artists. Afterall, it is no secret that hip hop and rap music had originally formed out of oppression and struggle. In addition, the sense of isolation and subtle forms of discrimination faced by black people in predominantly white suburbs may have also pushed black suburban dwellers into further identifying with the black community and hip hop.

On a different note, the idea that black hip hop artists emerging out of middle class and suburban homes are anomalies, sheds light on the larger issue of housing segregation in the 1980s. Black people, regardless of class, simply did not have the same mobility as their white counterparts in choosing where they wanted to live. After the abolition of slavery in 1865 by the Thirteenth Amendment, African American people were subject to the Jim Crow Laws in the South while, de facto segregation continued in the North. Discriminatory housing practices such as racial steering, blockbusting, redlining and mortgage discrimination made it difficult for striving black people to be treated fairly. Racially restrictive covenants were used between 1920-1948 to bar African Americans from certain communities.These covenants were legal contracts imposed on buyers of property that prohibited the purchase, lease or occupation of a piece of property by a particular group of people, often African Americans. A similar example of housing discrimination can be seen in the Levittown establishments in Long Island, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. One important case being with the Myers family.

Not until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 followed by the Fair Housing Act in 1968 did it became illegal for African Americans to be discriminated against. The Fair Housing Act made it illegal to refuse to sell, rent to, or negotiate with a person because of their background. This act would ensure a fair housing market and protect the enjoyment of housing rights. The black middle class was thus finally able to have greater housing opportunities. By 1990 46.2% of Americans were living in the suburbs compared to 31.3% living in their central cities . The black population accounted for only 7% of the total suburban population. Even so, this was still an improvement, representing a 29% increase in the suburban black population between 1980 and 1990. While movement of the black middle class to better neighborhoods was vital towards promoting increased success in future generations, on the other hand this “black flight” also resulted in concentrated poverty. As better off black people moved out of predominantly black areas, the concentration of poverty in these areas increased. Concentrated poverty results in a vicious cycle of continued poverty, increased crime rates, low levels of education, weak family structures and increased health concerns.

Screen Shot 2016-05-18 at 5.45.57 PM — Concentrated Poverty Levels (40% or higher) in NYC

Listening to this album was a great experience. Aside from the hip hop group originating in Long Island, the album is most definitely a New York album due to its ambitious and assertive attitude. The music is blunt, direct and “in your face,” forcing the listener to become more socially conscious. There is notable reason behind the chaos of Fear of a Black Planet that has its roots in racial and social conflict. Furthermore, the sheer fact that Public Enemy members from the suburbs are the ones who are able to creatively discuss major issues affecting the black community, on an international platform, is astonishing. It is a reminder of the importance of housing mobility in the black community, especially after it had been inaccessible to so many black people for such a long time. Housing mobility, an issue Public Enemy barely discusses on the album, is ironically revealed as a major issue of this album’s time based on exactly where Public Enemy members were raised themselves.

Blakey and the Black Movement

May 18, 2016 Sharon Lee Leave a comment

Born during the Harlem Renaissance, Art Blakey was influenced by the political views that dominated African American culture. A professional musician during a period of intense civil rights activism in the US, Blakey produced music that displayed his mastery as an artist over the bebop style. Albums like A Night at Birdland helped propel the Jazz Messengers, a group that nurtured the talents of upcoming musicians. Blakey not only heralded the influential jazz combo, but also led the way to integrating West African culture with the music of his time. Through these activities, Blakey was able to provide commentary on the strides being made for the civil rights of both Africans and African Americans. By the ‘80s, the evolving mainstream had reached a consensus: Art Blakey was easily its long-lived master.

Arthur Blakey first began his musical education in the form of piano lessons, later switching to drums by imitating the styles of Chick Webb and Sid Catlett. Blakey’s childhood reflected the difficult life commonly found in Pittsburgh at the time. His mother died just a few days after he was born and shortly after his father, who was very light skinned, abandoned him to foster care. In an interview with Rosenthal, Blakey states, “My father…never spoke to me or anything. It was a difference between, you know, the races, the prejudice [within] the black race. Mulattos didn’t speak to the blacks; blacks didn’t speak to mulattos.” In fact, Blakey’s school years were filled with episodes of racism. Blakey stated “most of the teachers were white, and most of them were bigots.” He was acutely aware of his African heritage as a child, explaining that he was expelled from school when he presented a report that identified Africa as the site of the first University because teachers accused him of lying. This school report was the origin of an interest in African culture, religion and music that would occupy a significant portion of Blakey’s life.

The Harlem Renaissance began in the 1920s and had a profound effect on Blakey’s early life. He developed a sense of pride in his African heritage and began a journey that would inspire him to create African-inspired jazz in the 1960s. While the Great Migration and development of Harlem were important factors that helped to bring about the Harlem Renaissance, this movement ultimately grew out of political activities of African Americans who were working hard to promote African American civil rights and cultural heritage. African American composers and musicians began to use rhythm, percussion instruments, and unique timbres as a way of including Africa in their music. Blakey’s experiences, influences, and music demonstrated the importance that West African music and culture played in the ongoing development of jazz. As a community, African Americans were able to find a spiritual connection with their cultural heritage by adopting the religion, customs, and music of West Africa.

According to Blakey, his “first real spurt of development occurred during a three-year stint with the Billy Eckstine Band.” In an interview with Art Taylor, Blakey underscores the impact that Eckstine’s band had on him and states, “It was like a school for me and that’s when I realized that we had to have bands for young black musicians. It’s a school and they can train to become musicians and learn how to act like musicians.” This most certainly led to Blakey’s interest in mentoring young musicians. Blakey insisted big band experience was important to musicians because it provided education and what he often described as a “family atmosphere.” He had a policy of encouraging young musicians: as he remarked on-mic during the live session which resulted in the A Night at Birdland albums in 1954: “I’m gonna stay with the youngsters. When these get too old I’ll get some younger ones. Keeps the mind active.”

While not an extremely significant album, A Night at Birdland formalized the establishment of the Messengers and signaled Blakey’s return to music after his stay in Africa. The album featured Art Blakey, Clifford Brown, Lou Donaldson, Horace Silver, and Curly Russell. Later, his Jazz Messenger small groups served as learning grounds for young musicians. As a result, a great many young jazz musicians got their big break with Art Blakey and went on to have successful performance careers of their own.

Album Essays, Artists, Disco, Manhattan, Pop, Rock

Parallel Lines and Blondie’s Capture of New York City

May 18, 2016 wangie wu Leave a comment

New York City was booming with different artistic flavors during the 1970’s. There was a lot of artistic expression in all parts of the city, from the Bronx all the way to Brooklyn. During the 1970’s, New York City was dirty, grimy and poverty stricken; crime and bankruptcy rattled the city and no place was safe. However, that never stopped the voice that people had, it wasn’t the glorified happy beat of disco; it was the harsh vocals and guitar riffs of punk rock. A lot of the bands never made it to the big times, but that did not discourage people from trying and one in particular, Blondie, made their hit album based on New York City. Blondie was a unique band that encapsulated the spirit of New York and brought something new to mainstream music.

Blondie was originally an underground band that was only known by a small group of punk lovers. They wished to make it to the big times and play for larger audiences, but their sound faced many challengers such as disco. After the release of their third album, Parallel Lines, they sprung into success and escaped from their little world. Their album was inspired by the New York spirit, scene and the neighborhoods surrounding them.

Originally starting out as a punk band, Blondie only performed in small clubs. The Cavern and CBGB’s were their spots and they shared these with the Ramones and other well known bands at the time. Interestingly, CBGB stood for Country Bluegrass and Blues. The owner, Hilly Kristal, took a bet and allowed a rock band called Television to perform in his club, but they weren’t just any rock band they were original. Their sound was like a riot, so much noise and harsh lyrics with off tune vocals. Kristal was skeptical at first, but soon enough, his club became the most famous rock club on the planet.

These rock bands were different from the mainstream disco scene. Disco had a repetitive beat and a usually happy kind of feel to it, in addition to, the singers were usually dressed well with eye popping colors. For rockers, it was the complete opposite. Rock bands had a hoodlum kind of feel to their clothing; a simple t-shirt, ripped jeans and short platinum blond hair. This difference allowed a small group of people to enjoy themselves with their unique taste of music. Punk and rock bands were usually raw in their lyrics and vocals, not everything needed to be crystal clear. Moreover, the instrumentals were usually had an aggressive edge to them. This type of scene is where Blondie’s career sprouted.

Although they were liked by their peers and fans, no one thought the band was going to make it make it big time. The clubs were usually filled with other bands and their significant others. The community was small and not very known. CBGB’s only got a little more flare in the mid 1970’s when Danny Fields wrote about the club for SoHo Weekly News. When Blondie performed more frequently, they were discovered by Chrysalis Records and what raised them to stardom was when they worked with producer Mike Chapman.

They were all true New Yorkers and captured the style and sound of their surroundings. For instance, Debbie Harry would like to walk down her block once in a while to absorb the character and spirit of her neighborhood. They appreciated the grime and grit of the place. A lot of vivid memories were made in this area and it is presented in their album. There were a lot of different artists that roamed the streets of New York from fashion designers to photographers to rising stars. They were all gathered in this crumbling neighborhood to try and make it to the big time. New York City was a rundown and poor area that many flooded into, which gave it it’s rich diversity. The different characters, styles, and attitude that made up New York City was embraced by the band and they incorporated it into their sound.

During the 1970’s, New York City was a dying society. The crime rate was escalating, people were scared and everything was cheap. Drugs were freely traded on the Lower East Side. For instance, heroin could be scored easily from dilapidated storefronts and apartment buildings. The mayor at the time, Abe Beame, tried to appeal to the government to bail the city out of its bankruptcy, but the President refused. President Ford allowed the market forces to have their way and the Daily News made a headline that read: Ford to City: Drop Dead. Many artists lived on the Lower East Side and Greenwich Village because the rent was cheap. Furthermore, this environment allowed people to be creative and touch their inner thoughts about the society. Because of the turmoil that was occurring in the city. Times Square was filled with crime and every corner made one feel unease. Dead bodies were not concealed but the city was filled with life. The area was full of menace and harsh reality and that scene was depicted in many different art forms.

Music was an outlet and the lyrics that were spoken was a poem that had true meaning and thought. They were both part of the underground scene because what the rest of the world was listening to was mostly disco. However, all the genres strived in different parts of New York City. Blondie was one the only bands that made it to stardom from the underground scene. They knew they made it because their original fans started to despise what they became.

When Mike Chapman produced their album, he saw great potential in the band because of all the talent that illuminated from them, especially Debbie. Debbie Harry was a strong woman that was not only beautiful but also had a punk attitude that inspired many others later on. Her voice was harsh and identifiable the moment one would hear it. She also had a certain way of singing. She wasn’t always in tune and she didn’t need to be, sometimes she would scream out her lyrics more, but that added to the emotion of her songs. Even though Chapman made it so that the album was a pop album, he incorporated a lot of different genres into this album and still held the spirit of New York City.

Debbie was never shy about her attitude and expressed it not only in her shows but also her music videos. She proved herself to not only be a bleached blonde girl that had good looks. She embraced and used her sexuality to her advantage w Blondie_-_Picture_This hich allowed the band to have its unique style. She designed her own outfits and embraced the simplicity of the punk rock scene. Her clothes were usually more toward a casual sexy. In addition, the lyrics were explicit and unforgiving just like New York. A good example would be Picture This when Debbie says “All I want is a room with view, oh-oh/ I will give you my finest hour/The one I spent watching you shower.” In addition to the lyrics, the different beats and sounds from their instruments really embrace the busy and frustrating nature of the city.

Debbie Harry was a unique person and her attitude was incorporated in her style. Her strong emotions were able to show through her music. For instance, her song One Way or Another was based off of one of her ex-boyfriend’s that would stalk her. Her live performances and strong vocals captured the audience. It’s strong messages and her presentation of the song shows them to be very New York. However, it wasn’t only because of her did the band make it to the big times, her guitarists and drummer also played parts into it. For instance, Gary Valentine also contributed to some of the songs on the album, he wrote them. Jimmy Destri made the base sound for their hit song One Way or Another. These people put their own lives into their music which was what it so original. They were songwriters and singers that poured their memories and experiences of the city into their music. This explains why their lyrics capture the audience.

With Debbie’s presentation and sometimes sing-song voice, it was baffling to hear such crude words at times. For instance, their disco song, Heart of Glass was just that. When you hear it, it has a happy and upbeat tone, but then as she sings in a sort of lullaby voice, and one may drown the real words that she says. “Once I had a love and it was a gas/ soon turned out I had a heart of glass… lost inside adorable illusion and I cannot hide/ I’m the one you’re using please don’t push me aside.” Her voice sugar coats the sadness and aggression that is presented in the lyrics.

Blondie as a band is New York in the 1970’s. They capture a lot of the sounds and spirit that was presented to them in the city at the time. Their unique styles and attitudes melded together to make their biggest album which captured a lot of what the city had to offer. This made them into a big success that is still being mention to this day.

Suggested Reading

Blondie’s New York and the Making of Parallel Lines. Dir. Alan Ravenscroft. Perf. Roberta Bayley, Andrew Bolton, Clem Burke. BBC Documentaries, n.d. Web.

Fletcher, Tony. All Hopped up and Ready to Go: Music from the Streets of New York, 1927-77. New York: W.W. Norton, 2009. Print.

Album Essays, Pop

Born to Die

May 18, 2016 rababalajmi Leave a comment

Lana Del Rey is a polarizing figure in music and pop culture. Some praise her as one of the best artists of the new generation, some think she is a con artist who has hardly any talent. Love her or hate her, it is unarguable that this woman is impactful and has birthed a new era of branding and amassing a core demographic young people in New York City and the United States as a whole. It all started with Born To Die, Del Rey’s first major release in 2012, which she released to mixed reception. Many praised the album for being unconventional and genre-pushing, while many wondered if the album sold for reasons outside of the actual music. The album artwork, for example, is a display of what one can call unattainable beauty. It shows Del Rey looking dead ahead, smileless, wearing thick red lipstick and a see through button down partially showing a red bra. What is for certain, though, is that Lana Del Rey spoke a certain perception of herself into existence and turned herself quite literally overnight into a pop star. The themes of Born To Die touch on very relatable topics to young music listeners including love, happiness, depression and even the rags to riches archetype. This album is shamelessly New York because there is nothing more New York than flashing one’s sexuality and money around while being depressed.

Lana Del Rey was born as Elizabeth Woolridge Grant in NYC to an affluent family, but raised in Lake Placid, New York. After dealing with substance abuse problems through high school, Grant moved in with her aunt and uncle in Long Island, who taught her to play the guitar, eventually attending Fordham University, in which she began to earnestly consider her musical career. Grant eventually signed with 5 Points Records in 2006, with the stage name Lizzy Grant, and recorded an EP titled Kill Kill, which was only released digitally, and the combination of that and the fact that her label was not acclaimed can be accredited as the reason why the album flopped, even despite a self-titled album that she released in 2010 with her current stage persona, “Lana Del Rey” (Harris). Eventually, Grant began working with different managers that wanted a more distinguished career for her (Ben Mawson and Ed Millett), revoking 5 Points Records’ rights to her music and moving her to the United Kingdom to work on her new stage persona “Lana Del Rey” in 2010 (Billboard). By 2011, (now) Del Rey released the videos for “Video Games” and “Blue Jeans,” under Stranger Records, an independent Interscope subsidiary label, which were watched over a million times each on YouTube. From that point on, Del Rey blew up and became the face of grunge-pop/hip-hop with her unique “bad-girl/country/vulnerable/yet-urban” persona (Harris).

The way Lana Del Rey fit into mainstream music and pop culture was by creating her own genre of music that intertwined hip-hop, pop, and alternative. With her soft, whiney voice Del Rey recorded this album with a group of very important producers who would help her craft this unique blended sound. Kanye West’s classic 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy served as one of the largest inspirations for Born To Die, as this was a very eclectic, genre-bending album. Also, many of West’s producers joined forces with Lana to produce her album. Producers like Jeff Bhasker (who went on to produce hits like “We Are Young” and “Uptown Funk) and Emile Hayine (who also produced many early Kid Cudi hits) took Lana’s narrow range and allowed her to explore over multi-layered, intricate beats. Songs like “Blue Jeans” and “Off To The Races” are made up of programmed drums that sound ready for any rapper to rhyme on, but also have alternative components like piano and guitar leads. “Off To The Races” even has real background noise from Coney Island! Fans of alternative, pop or hip hop can all find elements of their favorite genres on Born To Die, making it even more accessible.

Because Lana Del Rey is a modern pop-star, who serves as America’s “not-so-good girl,” social media websites like Reddit and Tumblr have a plethora of fans that idolize her, making her the subject of a myriad of GIFs, which would be quite aesthetically pleasing on the class website as a representation of what NYC idolizes as a hard-shell, soft-core NYC woman. Del Rey also mentions in an interview with Complex’s Ernest Baker that she picked out all of the video snippets for her music video for “Video Games,” making sure that specific music video was unique to her and her album, although it is mostly composed of fragments of other videos, therefore making it a video that is an accurate representation of what she stands for and her career: a compilation of already established classical themes tailored for the 21st century. Her music video for “National Anthem” is also very New York-esque because a big part of it features A$AP Rocky, a native Harlem rapper, thus also making this music video an excellent candidate for a cameo on the class website.

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The title of the album is the title of the first song of the album, but the significance of it delves deeper than that. Throughout the album, Lana makes stark contradictions between happiness and depression. For example, in her song “Diet Mountain Dew,” she starts off the song by singing, “You’re no good for me, But baby I want you, I want, Diet Mountain Dew, baby, New York City, Never was there ever a girl so pretty.” The contradiction between the tone of her insecurity in that she wants this person, even though they are not “good for her,” to her talking about being the prettiest girl in New York City is an accurate depiction of the attitude of New York City. The attitude of New York City is one that is not humble. New Yorkers are notorious for being rude and prideful of their city, and Lana brings this out in Born to Die, but she also incorporates the insecurities and depression that people face in secrecy when having fun, creating a beautiful, relatable and always relevant narrative

This album ultimately touches the hearts of young girls in a way other albums by different mainstream pop artists haven’t. Del Rey hits young New York women with genuity of the dichotomy of the importance of being beautiful, youthful, living “the good life,” along with with the all too familiar depression of being lonely or falling in love with the wrong person. She displays this dominant theme of preserving beauty and youth in her later singles “Young and Beautiful,” but the bud of this theme is seen in the lyric “Money is the anthem of success, so put on mascara and your party dress” on “National Anthem,” signifying how despite all of the problems and complexities of the female experience, a woman should still look and dress her best. This very superficiality is the essence of Born To Die. Like New York City and Lana Del Rey herself, the album is half beautiful and half ugly. It’s very deep in its exploration of growing up, relationships and heartbreak, while also very fake in its obsession with exuberant wealth, much like the classism that makes New York the city it is.