An endlessly entertaining and informative look at how musicals have both reflected and adapted to America's changing mores

An endlessly entertaining and informative look at how musicals have both reflected and adapted to America's changing mores

Heavy music and its subcultures have always been closely related to sex, decadence, and rebellion. Starting with pioneers as The Rolling Stones, Jimmy Hendrix and The Doors in the 1960s, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, AC/DC and KISS in the 1970s, they all have had the unifying pursuit of unattached love, musical success, and drugs, thus coining the timeless slogan “sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll”. Nevertheless, while proclaiming values as personal freedom, sexual liberation, and open-mindedness, the heavy music stays to a greater extent conservative, when it comes to sex and gender issues. Hard rock and all of its forms are considered as “essentially a male form of expression”: there are hardly few women as Patti Smith and Janis Joplin who managed to become “one of the boys” and to reach a cult status in time. In fact, the male connotation in the genre is present over all: starting from the macho look, through the lyrics, actually, the whole rock star attitude. A deviation from this norm embodies glam rock and later glam metal subgenres which beginnings in the 1970s are marked by David Bowie with his high theatricality, the glittering Marc Bolan from T. Rex in the UK and by the controversial Jobriath and New York Dolls, who appeared almost at the same time in the USA. This book analyses various questions, concerning sex, gender and performance in glam rock music using theories from the fields of gender studies, media studies, feminism, and psychoanalysis. The book also discusses the socio-cultural context in which glam rock was born and the colossal shift in sexual politics, which it has brought with itself. Furthermore, the relationship to historical events, postmodern values and consumerism are taken into consideration. From the text: - Glam Rock; - Glam Trouble; - Female and Male Objectification; - Gender Studies; - David Bowie

Popular music may be viewed as primary documents of society, and America's Musical Pulse documents the American experience as recorded in popular sound. Whether jazz, blues, swing, country, or rock, the music, the impulse behind it, and the reaction to it reveal the attitudes of an era or generation. Always a major preoccupation of students, music is often ignored by teaching professionals, who might profitably channel this interest to further understandings of American social history and such diverse fields as sociology, political science, literature, communications, and business as well as music. In this interdisciplinary collection, scholars, educators, and writers from a variety of fields and perspectives relate topics concerning twentieth-century popular music to issues of politics, class, economics, race, gender, and the social context. The focus throughout is to place music in societal perspective and encourage investigation of the complex issues behind the popular tunes, rhythms, and lyrics.

Music has had an unhappy history in the lives of many Muslims. Because religion is so tightly bound up with culture it is not always clear why this should be the case. Nonetheless, music is a sensitive issue for many Muslims and this has to be understood when providing appropriate music education. Music is a compulsory part of the curriculum in the U.K., so it is essential that music teachers understand the relationship between Muslims and music. This book looks at the history and position of music in Islam. It considers music education in Muslim countries, and looks at music lessons in multiethnic classrooms in the U.K. The recommendations about how music lessons can be made more appropriate to Muslim pupils are based on the author's research and experience. She suggests ways to ensure that people are never persuaded to do anything which conflicts with their religion, while extending the opportunity for meaningful music lessons for all pupils. This book is for all principals striving to fulfill their statutory obligations to all pupils, and essential reading for music teachers in multicultural schools.

From Internet censorship to sex and violence on television and in video games to debates over rock lyrics, the effect of media on children and adolescents is one of the most widely debated issues in our society. The Encyclopedia of Children, Adolescents, and the Media presents state-of-the-art research and ready-to-use facts on the media's interaction with children and adolescents. With more than 400 entries, the two volumes of this resource cover the traditional and electronic media and their controversial impact—for good and ill—on children and adolescents.

To many Americans, the 1970s seem a "lost" period, a pale and undistinguished decade compared with the 1960s and the 1980s, just as the presidents of the time -- Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter -- were far less colourful and distinctive than Kennedy, Nixon or Ronald Reagan. In addition, the 1970s were marked by economic recession and a national identity crisis in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, Watergate and the energy crisis. Not even the 1976 Bicentennial celebration was able to break this feeling of collective lethargy and disillusion. Issue 26 of Aarhus University Press's arts and humanities journal "The Dolphin" demonstrates that while the 1970s were indeed rather grey in many respects, they were also a time of reassessment and dynamism in many fields of popular American culture. This point is illustrated by examples from different contexts: Western movies, the National Park Service, self-help psychology, grass-roots activism and popular music.

A highly original, incisive, and spirited examination of the rise, heyday, and decline of American musical theatre.