Love is the Message: Dance, Music and Counterculture

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full thing, and much much more, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod to sign up from just £3 a month.

In this patrons episode we thought we’d begin to explore the academic discipline of Cultural Studies. Tim and Jeremy (both Cultural Studies professors themselves remember) explain the ways in which academic study of popular cultural was developing in the mid-70s, including the political motivations informing academics developing the discipline, in the wake of sociology and social anthropology. They talk about analysis of subculture, Raymond Williams, Stuart Hall, Mods, Rockers, nostalgia, Cool Jazz, with a healthy dash of DH Lawrence thrown in for good measure. 

In our next episode we’ll discuss in detail the seminal book Resistance Through Rituals: Youth Subcultures in Post-War Britain.

Books:

William Foote White - Street Corner Society: The Social Structure of an Italian Slum
C. Wright Mills - The Power Elites
Raymond Williams - Culture and Society
Richard Hoggart - The Uses of Literacy 
DH Lawrence - Lady’s Chatterly’s Lover
Stan Cohen - Folk Devils and Moral Panics 
Paul Willis - Profane Culture

Tracklist:
Lennie Tristano - Crosscurrents
Ewan McColl & Peggy Seeger - The Black Velvet Band
The Who - The Kids are Alright
Buddy Holly - Not Fade Away

We’re back from our summer break and getting straight back to business to examine what was going on in the Downtown party scene during the fabled year of 1977. We return to a favourite of the show - Nicky Siano - to hear how the Gallery wound down, check in on what’s happening back at the Loft, and unearth the very first iteration of the Paradise Garage.

Also featured in this episode: a bit more Studio 54 wash-up, the decline of the New York Record Pool, Deleuzian sobriety and more on Jem’s breakdancing.

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

Books:
Jonathan Mahler - Ladies and Gentlemen the Bronx is Burnin

Tracklist:
Salsoul Orchestra ft. Loleatta Holloway - Runaway 
Teddy Pendergrass - The More I Get, The More I Want 
Grace Jones - I Need a Man
Sylvester - Over and Over
C.J. & Co. - We Got Our Own Thing 
Evelyn "Champagne" King - Shame

In this episode Jeremy and Tim complete our mini-series on the opening of Studio 54. They discuss links between underground and mainstream both generally and specific to 1977 NYC, consider the importance of celebrities to the Studio project, and interrogate the velvet rope. We hear about Bianca Jagger’s birthday party, spend more time thinking about Richard Long and his sound system designs, and ask who really is a native New Yorker?

We’ll be away for the summer holidays, but will be back with more music, sound systems and counterculture in September. For now, why not dig into our back archive of bonus episodes on by becoming a patron at patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

Tracklist:

Sweet Cream - I Don't Know What I'd Do 

Olympic Runners - Keep It Up 

Odyssey - Native New Yorker 

Le Pamplemousse – Le Spank 

The Trammps - The Night The Lights Went Out 

In this episode Jeremy and Tim walk us past the velvet rope and into opening night at Studio 54. They introduce us to Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, the two businessmen who owned the club, as well as to the often overlooked Carmen D’Alessio, who’s taste and art world connections were crucial to the look and feel of the party. Through these characters and more we get to learn about the founding of Studio 54.

We also hear discussions on Muzak, eclecticism, returning champion Nicky Siano, and the aesthetics of ‘smoothness’. Tim and Jeremy interrogate the surprising links between Downtown and Midtown, explore how journalists tried to understand the Studio 54 phenomenon, and contemplate whether they even like disco anymore.

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

Tracklist:

The Ritchie Family - Brazil 

Anthony Whyte - Block Party (A Walter Gibbons Mix) 

Chic - Dance Dance Dance 

Santa Esmeralda - Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood 

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the whole thing and hours more exclusive conversation, become a patron at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In this patrons-only episode Jeremy dons his leather jacket to conclude our history of the early days of heavy metal. We hear about how the convergence of space rock, biker gangs, and the fantasy aesthetics of writer Michael Moorcock created an deeply abiding metal culture that would contribute massively to the second half of the Twentieth Century and beyond. Jeremy discusses the success of Warhammer, makes the case for rock opera, argues for the cultural significance of the Lord of the Rings and even has time to unpack metal masculinity, with reference to bands including Led Zeppelin, Hawkwind, Judas Priest and Deep Purple. Rock on!

Produced by Matt Huxley.

Tracklist:

Hawkwind - Silver Machine 

Blue Oyster Cult - Stairway to the Stars 

Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water 

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird 

Thin Lizzy - Whiskey in the Jar 

Kiss - Black Diamond 

Judas Priest - Winter Retreat 

Hawkwind - The Wizard Blew His Horn 

Hawkwind - Kings of Speed 

Judas Priest - The Ripper 

Motorhead - Motorhead 

In this episode Jeremy and Tim discuss the economic and social setting into which Studio 54 opened in 1977. They talk about the differences between midtown and downtown scenes, the antagonism (or lack thereof) between punk and disco, subcultural theory and escapism. 

How did disco become so popular so quickly? The guys explore the commercial phenomenon as it exploded after 1975, including the first Disco Convention in 1976 (with awards ceremony!), the in-crowd vs the suburbs, and an extended meditation on the history and value of gimmick records. Plus: has Jeremy done the Hustle?

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

Books:

Anthony Hayden-Guest - The Last Party

Thomas Delany - Times Square Red, Times Square Blue

Tracklist:

Rick Dees and his Cast of Idiots - Disco Ducks 

Van McCoy - The Hustle 

Carol Douglas - Midnight Love Affair 

Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band - Cherchez La Femme 

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full thing and a whole lot more, go to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In this patrons-episode Jeremy raises a devil’s horn salute to the gods and demons of heavy metal. He explores the etymology of the genre term, excavating its shared roots with acid rock, and explaining how heavy metal compliments our story here on LITM. With reference to Easy Rider and the misconceived ‘end of the ‘60s’, we hear about how biker culture, the legacy of the blues and changing regimes of accumulation contributed to the anguished intensity expressed in the music of Led Zeppelin, King Crimson and Iron Butterfly. 

Jeremy also explores noise, feedback and distortion as the new aesthetic tools of metal, questions why people in the late 60s would want to explore occult and black magic ideas, and finishes with a deep dive on Black Sabbath, asking: was heavy metal an expression of the blues for white guys who’s dad’s worked in the car factories of Birmingham?

Join us next time for pt. 2.

Produced by Matt Huxley.

Books and Films:

Easy Rider
Robert Walser - Running with the Devil: Power, Gender and Madness in Heavy Metal Music

Tracklist:

Steppenwolf - Born to be Wild 

Blue Cheer - Summertime Blues 

The Who - My Generation (Live 1968) 

Led Zeppelin - Dazed and Confused 

Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love 

King Crimson - 21st Century Schizoid Man 

Iron Butterfly - Easy Rider (Let the Wind Pay the Way) 

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath 

Black Sabbath - Paranoid 

Black Sabbath - War Pigs 

In the final episode of our three-parter on punk, Jeremy and Tim stick a pin through their ears and make their way down the Kings Road for the release of Anarchy in the UK. We hear about the mercurial Malcolm McLaren, Situationism, Symbolism and SEX in discussion with the Pistols project. We uncover why John Lydon knows what he hates but not what he wants, how a prime-time curse word scandalised Britain, and ask who wasn’t at the Manchester Free Trade Hall the night the Sex Pistols played.

Elsewhere in the episode we dig deeper into what constituted punk as a structure of feeling, contrasting authenticity with irony and asking: how serious really is all this? With Blondie, John Waters, Rimbaud, the Mercer Street Arts Center and Patti Smith. Never mine the bollocks, here’s Love is the Message…

Tracklist:
New York Dolls - Personality Crisis

Patti Smith - Horses

Blondie - X Offender

Books:
Frith & Hall - Art into Pop

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the whole thing and much more besides, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

Earlier this month UNESCO added Berlin techno to its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage, a register to recoginize and safeguard important traditions, practices and expressions. This news was met with consternation from music fans over how this honour completely overlooked the birthplace of techno, Detroit. For this patrons-only episode, Jeremy and Tim react to the news by pulling out a dozen or so of their favourite Detroit techno cuts to discuss.

We hear about the ‘Belville Three’, post-Fordism, Alvin Tofler and the relationship between Chicago and Motor City. The guys dwell on the aesthetic of coldness and futurity that characterised much of the Detroit sound, folding in the Panthers, jazz and unidentified flying objects into records from Underground Resistance, Carl Craig, Drexciya and Theo Parish. Plus, we hear one of the first records Jeremy ever bought, memories of squat parties past, and a de rigour David Mancuso cameo.

Tracklist:
Model 500 - No UFOs
Rhythim Is Rhythim - It Is What It Is
R-Tyme - R-Theme
Underground Resistance - The Theory
The Martian - Star Dancer
K-Hand - Starz
Innerzone Orchestra - Eruption
Innerzone Orchestra - Bug in the Bass Bin
The Aztec Mystic - Jaguar
Drexciya - Birth Of New Life
Carl Craig & Pepe Braddock - Angola (Carl Craig Mix)
Theo Parish - Falling Up
Innerzone Orchestra - People Make the World Go 'Round

In this episode we continue our trio of episodes on Punk by examining some crucial mid-70s proto-Punk antecedents. Via the lean funkiness of Dr Feelgood Jeremy and Tim explore the interesting British formation of pub rock, with its R’n’B roots and distinct danceability. This leads to a discussion on the slipperiness of Rock’n’Roll as a term and its tensions with ‘rock’ proper. We also hear an early influence on Post-Punk and meet the influential Stiff Records at its foundation.
In the second half of the show we make a second encounter on the show with the Ramones, and ask: what were they really up to? Authenticity, performance, historiography and hagiography all come under the microscope as we lead to the first definitively British Punk record: New Rose by The Damned.
Join us next time for Blondie and the Sex Pistols.
Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

Tracklist:
Dr Feelgood - She Does it Right
Dr Feelgood - Keep it Outta Sight
Nick Lowe - So It Goes
The Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop
The Saints - (I’m) Stranded
The Damned - New Rose