Topic 4 - C3 - Cultural Challenge Flashcards
What could it be argued about US culture between 1980-1992?
Could be argued that there was no longer a dominant culture in the US. Young Americans challenged older Americans.
What trends existed within youth culture?
Challenged conservatism over issues such as sexual and social freedoms, drug taking and race.
What was heavy metal characterised by in the 1980s?
- Initially popular with young white malesin the 1970s
- Lacked radio play
- Dominated youth culture in the 80s - lost outisider status
- Popular themes included men victimised by female fatale.
Who were popular Heavy Metal artists in the 1980s?
Van Halen was popular, as was Dokken from 1983
How popular was Heavy Metal in the 1980s?
- MTV promoted it
- HM market share rose from 8% in 1983 to 20% in 1984
- 1988 - 11 of the 50 best selling albums were metal
- Alienated young white male fans, few women or blacks listened to it.
What opposition did Heavy Metal face?
- From the RR and Parents Music Resource Centre.
- 1985 - PMRC pressured MTV to end promotion of HM and its explicit lyrics and videos.
How did MTV respond to opposition to Heavy Metal?
Headbangers’ Ball created specifically for HM by MTV, - 1.3 million viewers weekly.
What controversial themes existed in rap in songs like ‘How We Gonna Make the Black Nation Rise’ (1980)?
Black separatist group - Public Enemy - ‘It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back’ (1988) showed incarcerated black Americans - referenced disproportionate number of young black males in jail
Why was rap ignored by mainstream radio?
- Bigoted - Public Enemy made anti semitic comments
- Sexist - Ice Cube’s hit album in 1980 made continual references to the masculinity crisis - spoke about wanting to kick a pregnant women in the tummy
- Violent - 1988 Fuck Tha Police by NWA (Niggas With Attitude)
Who were the few examples of women in rap and what did they encourage men to do?
Queen Latifah and Salt N Pepa - male rap groups started a stop the violence campaign in 1988.
What made rap more mainstream?
Late 80s, Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer showed how rap was becoming more mainstream
Why was the Parents Music Resource Centre established?
Motivated by sexually explicit lyrics, and lyrics of a violent nature or that glorify drugs and alcohol. Cited songs like Prince’s ‘Nikki’ and Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin’.
Why did the PMRC lack success?
Music industry hard to police and rate lyrics like movies. Thousands of songs compared to hundreds of movies made per year, lyrics also subject to misinterpretation.
What is an example of the PMRC misinterpreting lyrics and having their accusations under investigation from 1985?
John Denver’s Rocky Mountain High wasn’t played on the radio because the PMRC thought it was singing about drugs when it was actually a hymn.
What did 1988 concerns of suicide from the PMRC lead to after a suicide note contained the lyrics from Metallica’s ‘Fade to Black’?
Voluntary rating system due to publicity from several highly publicised suicides.
What influence did Madonna have after her first disco single Holiday?
Had 12 top ten hits in a row between 1984-87. Used controversy to generate sales. Talked a lot about sex, promoted safe sex in her interviews, distributed condoms and performed at AIDS benefits.
Why was Madonna a key target of the PMRC?
- ‘Justify My Love’ (1990) most upset PMRC - hinted at homosexuality and group sex. Banned by MTV - became best sold music video ever.
- 1989 Pepsi advert had Madonna singing ‘Like A Prayer’- video contained religious symbols and Madonna making love to a saint - upset RR and Pepsi dropped their sponsorship.
Which artists aside from Madonna were the PMRC also concerned about?
- Jello Biafra - leader of the Dead Kennedys - arrested in 1986 for distributing harmful material to a minor - young LA girl bought the group’s album and in it contained a poster picturing 10 penises and a vulvae
- ‘As Nasty As They Wanna Be’ (1990) album by 2 Live Crew - first album to be deemed obscene