Popular Music in the 1970s and 1980s

After reading the two chapters in Rockin’ Out: Popular Music in the USA by Reebee Garofalo, I was drawn to the topic of racism throughout the music industry and its effects on music trends.

I have always enjoyed listening to many different genres of music and I usually am attracted to the tune before I know or comprehend the meaning of the words. I also have been completely unaware of all the political implications the different music genres carry with them. It was amazing to learn that much of our country’s history has been embedded in the popular music of the times; specifically, that the racist and sexist trends our history contains were being mirrored in the music industry.

The clashing genres of popular music started with the onset of punk and disco. They both had distinct differences but shared similar struggles. For example, both were not welcomed to radio initially. According to Garofalo, “Critics decried disco as escapist and embraced punk as a political statement.” The leaders of the punk trend were the Sex Pistols and The Clash. These and other punk groups continued to be in the hot seat of controversy. In 1977 The Sex Pistols, a British group, intended to release a record called “God Save the Queen.” The song was accused of “uncovering the cracks” in the British government. As a group without an album, they made openly touring difficult for themselves. As the punk trend continued, many of these groups felt inspired by the shock value they could create. They started outwardly displaying symbols of controversy such as the swastika sign. Additional, songs such as “Final Solution” or “Belsen Was a Gas” were released. Creating further controversy, anti-black songs such as “Rock and Roll Nigger” and “White Riot” entered the punk music scene.

With the development of Rock Against Racism (RAR), the merging of the music industry began to take place. RAR “packaged black and white acts together” to make an anti-racist statement. The events “paired reggae groups with punk bands.” The trouble arose when the skinheads, a group of punk followers, attended these events and behaved destructively.

Eventually, disco broke into the mainstream music industry. Many big musical names entered the disco genre, such as the Bee Gees, but again racial difficulties arose. Garofalo states:
"In a given week as many as forty of Billboard’s Hot 100 were disco releases. With the market saturated to this degree, there was bound to be backlash, and given disco’s particular history, it was bound to have racial overtones."

This break-through posed a challenge for disco artists considering several FM radio stations were simultaneously running “anti-disco campaigns.” Robert Hilburn is quoted in Garofalo’s book saying:
"Rock-oriented radio stations could have educated this young audience on the historical link between rock and black music by programming classic Motown-Stax-Hendrix tracks or rock-oriented tracks by such contemporary black stars as Stevie Wonder, Prince, Donna Summers, and Rick James. Eager to be culturally in tune with their listenership, however, the stations carelessly picked up on the anti-disco sentiment and fell into racist programming policies: They simply stopped playing all black records."

These racial trends continued into the 1980s. Music videos became a new phenomenon with the introduction of MTV. However, MTV favored British artists and refused the airing of videos by African Americans. Rumors circulated that MTV was racist as they further refused to air Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” videos. Finally, after being threatened by CBS they aired Michael Jackson’s videos, making him the first African American to be on MTV. I find this extremely interesting because I have vivid memories of listening to Casey Kasem’s Top 40’s when Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” and “Billie Jean” carried the number one slot for several consecutive weeks. I definitely was a fan while never being aware of the controversies, which were underway.

Jackson started a wave of successful African American artists, including Prince, Lionel Richie, and Whitney Houston. This was followed by several efforts to unite the races. Many artists released “well-calculated cross-racial ethnic duets.” The “ultimate crossover recording” was “We Are the World.” Additionally, Charity Rock events became a growing movement. Some included Live Aid, United Support of Artists for Africa, and the Human Rights Now! Tour.

As a junior high English teacher, I teach a literature unit on the Holocaust and the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Both of these units, clearly, position themselves in two very controversial times in our history. Therefore, I wonder if popular music could be a teaching tool to introduce these topics and to explore the themes presented throughout these units.

With the Holocaust taking place between 1942-1945, it is hard to understand that there were politically charged music groups in the late 1970s displaying swastikas and recording songs called “The Final Solution” or “Belsen Was a Gas.” However, I think that students too often assume that these stereotypes are behind us and possibly could learn from these popular music trends. This especially holds true for To Kill a Mockingbird. The racial issues are considered at a peak during this time and it is surprising to learn that similar racial issues continued into the 1980’s with MTV’s refusal to air Michael Jackson’s music.

Additionally, I mentioned that, for me, the tune of a song always takes precedence over the lyrics, but I think that exploring the lyrics of popular music could educate students on their understanding of these periods in history.

Music will always reveal the dysfunctions in our society at any given time in history, whether it is emphasizing racism, sexism, wartime, etc. It is almost as if music is the time-line of our history. As we wade back through the music trends, we reveal history in the making. Allowing students to explore history and historical literature through this medium allows them to connect with the music they listen to while becoming aware of the messages the music possesses.


References
Garofalo, Reebee. Rockin’Out: Popular Music in the USA, 2nd edition. Prentice Hall, 2002.