Music Appreciation: Week 14, Jazz and Rock Part 4 - Punk Strikes Back

MUSIC APPRECIATION

WEEK 14

Jazz and Rock Pt. 4

Punk Strikes Back

By the late 70s, Rock was becoming big business. Big acts like KISS played huge stadiums and sold everything from comic books to action figures. There was even KISS underwear for kids. Acts like The Who and The Rolling Stones, who had once seemed so rebellious, now seemed to be part of the system (although both of these groups were still making valid musical expressions). With the Advent of Art Rock came music that required technical expertise to perform and Disco seemed to be a disease that was slowly taking over the record industry.

In England and America there was an economic recession and it seemed like the opportunities that were available to the previous generation were being denied the new. This created anger and resentment among the young in England, who could not afford music lessons or the economic clout to put on huge pyrotechnical displays like David Bowie or Pink Floyd. There was the feeling amongst these young people that Rock needed to return to its roots. Anybody who wanted to should be able to form a band, whether they had talent or not, and just play some good old fashioned Rock and Roll. As some people said, "just give me three chords and the truth." Virtuosity and long guitar solos were out. Loud, somewhat out of tune guitars and passionate political sneering vocals were in. At first the lyrics offered no solutions, just expression of their anger and total frustration: "There's no future for you." Here is a clip of the Sex Pistols cry for "Anarchy in the U.K."

The Sex Pistols ended up being even more short-lived than Disco as the band self-destructed in a void of drugs, poor management, murder and suicide. The Clash was a U.K. Punk band that went on to evolve musically beyond its Punk roots. The Clash was more political than the Sex Pistols and they retained their leftist politics throughout their career as they grew up artistically. Their classic album is London Calling, which Rocks hard but also features some Jazz, Reggae and Pop in the mix. When they opened for The Who, many Punks brought signs that said "Who Cares?" while The Who were playing.
Here is The Clash playing "London Calling" and "Train In Vain."

In Jazz, Fusion became slick, polished and also more composed and less improvisatory. Fast solos displaying incredible feats of musical virtuosity and technical facility became very popular, sometimes at the expense of creativity. Groups like the Yellow Jackets and late-period Weather Report created heavily produced albums that were easy on the ears and did not push the envelope beyond what the audience would find easy to digest. This eventually lead to Smooth Jazz by people like David Sanborn and Kenny G. This music was perfect for lounges and elevators. My teacher Tony Gabouri used to call Smooth Jazz, "Jazz for people who hate music."

ECM,a new Jazz record label began in the 70s, featured such performers at Kieth Jarrett, Pat Metheney, Chick Corea and Ralph Towner. These mostly solo or small group recordings that valued sound quality and a spacious sound that seemed more intimate and less prone to displays of excessive virtuosity. Unlike fusion, acoustic instruments were preferred and long improvisations were encouraged. The sound on the LPs had an intimate feeling of you being alone with the musician in your living room. One of my favorite artists from this label is guitarist John Abercrombie. Here he is performing "Homecoming" with his group Gateway:

As Punks became more proficient on their instruments and more skilled at songwriting, their music became more sophisticated while still retaining its desire to be different from the "classic rock" bands. This style of music eventually came to be known as New Wave.

Elvis Costello was one of New Wave's best songwriters. His lyrics were clever, he had top-rate musicians in his band the Attractions, and he displayed a facility for writing in a lot of different genres. He has remained an interesting artist through his career. Here is Costello performing "(Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes."

The Police started out as a Punk group but they were just too talented to stay that way for long. Andy Summers was a classical guitar player, Stewart Copeland was a Jazz drummer and Sting could play and sing in any style he wanted. Their break out single was "Roxanne."

The Talking Heads began as part of the New Wave scene in New York City, playing at the CBGB club regularly along with groups like Blondie and the Ramones. As their sound evolved, they added extra band members and included elements from African music and eventually put on huge multi media presentations that were truly unique. Here is "Once in a Lifetime" from the movie Stop Making Sense.

On August 1, 1981 MTV began broadcasting.

In the 80s, to be a star you needed a video on MTV...and it helped if you had a good "look." MTV helped make Michael Jackson a world-wide star. Jackson fully embraced MTV, even creating short films for videos like "Thriller" and "Bad." Here is his video for "Beat It," featuring Eddie Van Halen on guitar.

Madonna built her fame around her MTV videos. Her music and her sexy look was tailor-made for MTV. Here is ver video for "Like A Virgin."

MTV also helped to introduce the rest of the world to Rap. Here is Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five, one of the original Rap groups from New York City with their video for "The Message."

The video that really broke Rap and revived Aerosmith's career was a collaboration between that band and the Rap group Run DMC on "Walk This Way."

To say that Rock music became highly commercialized in the 80s and 90s would be a huge understatement. Heavy Metal became Hair Metal, everyone that was anyone had a video and artists were judged by how much "product" they moved. Sadly, this hasn't really changed. Synthesizers and sampling began to replace guitars and drums and most rock stars had to look like models.

Grunge, which originated in Seattle, Washington, was a reaction to slickness of MTV. Nirvana, with their flannel shirts, ripped jeans and cynical, alienated lyrics seemed to bring back the true rebellious spirit of Rock. Here is "(Smells Like) Teen Spirit."

Another so-called Grunge band was Pearl Jam who also has thoughtful but very dark lyrics of alienation and depression. Here is the disturbing "Jeremy Spoken" performed live in 1992. Pearl Jam remains a great live band to this day.

Keep on going to the next blog for Part II of Week 15.

NEXT: ROCK TODAY - Gaga, Idol and video games.

JAZZ TODAY - The Downtown Scene, a return to swing and Punk Jazz