1980s Music
Music has been affected by political decisions and social situations for as long as it is been around. It is written about the experiences of the artist or even their beliefs. Different genres of music tend to focus on different aspects, and these aspects reflect the artist on a personal level, whether it be physical or mental aspects. It is why music has evolved over the years: people change, situations change, so music changes. These intertwine together to form something that can be enjoyed by many, or even just felt by the people who have had related incidents. The history and political situations affected the punk culture in the nineteen eighties, by encouraging a rebellious attitude to be heard, and not taking these people …show more content…
For instance, when Jello Biafra, lead singer and songwriter for the Dead Kennedys, ran for mayor of San Francisco in 1979. His political platform outraged people disallowing cars in the city, he also wanted to force business-people to wear clown suits to work, and was allowing ‘squatting’ in abandoned buildings. He finished fourth overall in the election of 10 candidates. I believe Biafra used this act as a way of rebellion against the current government platform, as well as he made a name for not only himself, but for the punk culture. It showed that these people had strong opinions about policies and would not stop at just anything to enforce these. These opinions and events were kept track of in Fanzines. Fanzines were magazines made by fans and generated no revenue, basically just a system that would keep everyone in the know and up to date on musical events, political opinions, art, and even more obscure topics that were unique to the crowd they …show more content…
Lead singer Ian MacKaye of the Minor Threats seemed to have his rage fueled by his disgust with society. He seethed about the establishment, corruption, and the apathy of youth toward important political issues. His energy transferred to the crowd, who screamed his words back at him (Masar 62). The Bad Brains earned a reputation for having unruly live performances; their lead singer, H. R., would jump wildly around the stage and into the crowd. These performances resulted in an official ban from the few Washington clubs, which led them to relocate to New York City. The ‘Do it Yourself’ mentality came into play because many of the people in this scene felt as if they were burned by society, whether that be major labels in the music industry, or just people in general. They believed they could do whatever needed to be accomplished within their community, which led to the establishment of independent record labels. This led them in the direction of being able to not only write their own music, what they wanted it to sound like as well as how they got their point across; they did not have to rely on these major labels to sign and release their
Music has been affected by political decisions and social situations for as long as it is been around. It is written about the experiences of the artist or even their beliefs. Different genres of music tend to focus on different aspects, and these aspects reflect the artist on a personal level, whether it be physical or mental aspects. It is why music has evolved over the years: people change, situations change, so music changes. These intertwine together to form something that can be enjoyed by many, or even just felt by the people who have had related incidents. The history and political situations affected the punk culture in the nineteen eighties, by encouraging a rebellious attitude to be heard, and not taking these people …show more content…
For instance, when Jello Biafra, lead singer and songwriter for the Dead Kennedys, ran for mayor of San Francisco in 1979. His political platform outraged people disallowing cars in the city, he also wanted to force business-people to wear clown suits to work, and was allowing ‘squatting’ in abandoned buildings. He finished fourth overall in the election of 10 candidates. I believe Biafra used this act as a way of rebellion against the current government platform, as well as he made a name for not only himself, but for the punk culture. It showed that these people had strong opinions about policies and would not stop at just anything to enforce these. These opinions and events were kept track of in Fanzines. Fanzines were magazines made by fans and generated no revenue, basically just a system that would keep everyone in the know and up to date on musical events, political opinions, art, and even more obscure topics that were unique to the crowd they …show more content…
Lead singer Ian MacKaye of the Minor Threats seemed to have his rage fueled by his disgust with society. He seethed about the establishment, corruption, and the apathy of youth toward important political issues. His energy transferred to the crowd, who screamed his words back at him (Masar 62). The Bad Brains earned a reputation for having unruly live performances; their lead singer, H. R., would jump wildly around the stage and into the crowd. These performances resulted in an official ban from the few Washington clubs, which led them to relocate to New York City. The ‘Do it Yourself’ mentality came into play because many of the people in this scene felt as if they were burned by society, whether that be major labels in the music industry, or just people in general. They believed they could do whatever needed to be accomplished within their community, which led to the establishment of independent record labels. This led them in the direction of being able to not only write their own music, what they wanted it to sound like as well as how they got their point across; they did not have to rely on these major labels to sign and release their