In announcing his list of ten best albums of 2008, here's what DeRogatis had to say about bad times and music:
If there is any upside to these dire, perilous and truly frightening economic times, it is this: History has shown us that music is one of the only things in life that seems to be recession- (and depression-) proof. In fact, it thrives in times of crisis.
The blues arose in part as a cathartic response to economic hardship. Jazz came into its own during the Great Depression. And some of the greatest sounds in the history of rock ’n’ roll were made during bleak economic times, including the recession of the mid-’70s (which gave us punk) and the era of trickle-down economics in the mid-’80s (which gave us hip-hop and the first flourishing of indie rock).
Millions of words have been written in the new millennium about the precarious state of the music industry, and the digitally induced changes in the ways that music is distributed continued in 2008. A clear model for how the business will adapt still has not emerged. But that's the music business.
DeRogatis' choice for best album of the year was Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' "Dig Lazarus Dig!"
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9 comments:
Anything beats that "elevator"
music!
Aero Smith Toys in the Attic
was a good jam too..
He apparently wasn't around for disco.
Ah, the Bee Gees.
The Doors were good too.
Aero Smith Rocks!
I bypassed disco. I went for punk and new wave in the late 1970s, which is why a few ppl from "back in the day" call me "punker."
Derogatis is part of an interesting show called Sound Opinions, I happenned to be listenning after Reagan's death and Derogatis' bile concerning how he hoped that Reagan suffered a horrible and painful death was so disgraceful that I no longer read the man's column.
That said, Mr. Derogatis has spent decades pining for the past. I find his musings somewhat inacurate, for instance punk was not popular in the US during the 70s. When the Sex Pistols toured the US I was able to buy a ticket to see them on the night of the show at the Fox Theater in Atlanta and at that time the Ramones had just played in a converted bowling alley in Highwood, IL.
As to the "Indie scene" I am not sure how Mr. Derogatis would describe Sun Records or the labels that put out what was "punk" in the 60s (see Nuggets and Nuggets II, described as "psychadelic" music much of it was as punk as the 70s punkers the Pork Dukes). Something that passed as "punk" music was popularized in the US by the likes of Billy Joel during the early Reagan years, times of economic turmoil. And as Talnik reminds us, the economic turmoil of the 70s was met by Glam-Rock and then Disco.
To say that I have long taken the musings of rock critics as even less realistic than the average reporter would be an understatement, they usually strike me as overgrown high schoolers. One of the best concerts that I have seen was right here in Chicago and the critics for both papers panned it, the show was the Rolling Stones' Some Girls tour. The Stones appeared with South Side Johnny, Peter Tosh (who was booed off stage) and Journey. The Stones had released the single Miss You but not the Some Girls album so the first place that those of us in attendance heard songs like Shattered, When the Whip Comes Down and the Girl With Far Away Eyes was that day in Soldier Field. The local critics hated the Stones but just they loved the pablum that Journey played. Thirty years later Journey is still a joke and although the Stones are doing their very darndest to become a joke, the White Sox not withstanding they still stand head, shoulders, arms, hips and legs above Journey.
Aerosmith was around in the 70's,
but was it considered heavy metal
back in the day?
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