Popular culture drain during Republican administrations

[Paragon]

OK, my memory doesn't go back that far, but I think back to the 12 years of Reagan/Bush, and all I see is a lot of shitty 80's movies and shittier 80's music.

Clinton's 8 years gave us grunge and alternative music hitting the mainstream, "the Latin explosion", and some of the best films since the 70's.

Now here we are, three years into the Chimp Administration, and what've we got? Shit-hop like Nelly and P. Duddy, and boy-band and Barbie pop all over the charts and MTV.

Yes, there are exceptions to every rule and I'm sure someone will post some examples. But I still think I'm onto something here, generally.

[spooky3]

1. Well, I loved the early 80s music, but maybe that was before

Reaganism really took hold.

[Deja Q]

2. Reaganism hijacked "Born in the USA" and crashed it up liberalism...

x(

[demnan]

3. I'm an old fogey - - -

but the best popular music ever done was in the sixties. I'm sure you know the groups and the music. Sure we had a lot of bubble gum on the radio and all but I remember being 6 years old with my first little transitor radio and groving to Stevie Wonder and the Supremes.

The following year (1964) the Beatles came to Washington D.C. and my brother shook John Lennon's hand. Music went into a stratisphere of originality, meaning and protest, you had Bob Dylan, the Byrds after that.

And the Temptations, and all the blues groups after that.

Did JFK have a real influence on young culture? I'll leave that to you to decide.

[FauxNewsBlues]

4. Vapidness

There seems to be a certain pop culture slant in that direction when the pubbies take over. A good sign for us next year would be something avante guarde taking over the culture again. Nirvana exploded right when the economy was going in the tank, and Bush 41 was starting to lose his Iraq War poll ratings.

[underpants]

5. Actually great music is made in times of turmoil/world change

Early 60's (JFK/civil rights movement/coming out of the 50's) black artists and not their derivatives are presented to the white community.

Late 60's (Nixon/Vietnam) incredibly diverse music was made.

Turn of the 80's into the 90's (BushI/end of the cold War/computer age begins)re-emergence of actually rock music (Pearl Jam/Nirvana/REM/alternative getting real air play).

Of course this was in the day where local bands could get play and grow on local stations, those days seem to be gone. This is an incredible time of change and war and yet the music that gets the most play is subdued and comforting. It a "remain calm all is well" type thing.

[Paragon]

7. OK, maybe I should've said mediocity is perpetuated by Repubs, then

Pain (or better yet, the response to it) is what makes all truly great art, great comedy, etc...

[RandomKoolzip]

6. This can be debated both ways.

One can point to the groundwork done by amazing post-punk bands like the Dead Kennedys, The Minutemen, and Black Flag (and dozens of others)during the Reagan Administration, all of whom flew in under the radar and ended up influencing any and all good rock music from the mid-80's on. And during the Nixon years, of course, there were hundreds of fantastic rock, funk, and reggae musicians making great music. Rock and Roll hit the big time under Ike. In fact, one could argue that the oppressive environment inculcated by a Republican administration foments artistic flowering. Trouble is, you gotta go underground to find the good stuff during Repub rule, whereas during Dem rule (late 70's/Carter/punk, mid-90's/Clinton/alternative, mid-60's/LBJ/psychedelia) the good stuff explodes into the mainstream. This theory also ignores all the great films made when Nixon was president, and all the shitty films made when CLinton was President. Plus, rock started disappearing from the airwaves, replaced by bubble-dance-pop circa 1997, four years before Bush's first day in office.

Also, we'd be ignoring all the crap that existed contiguous to the good years (disco, house, techno, bubblegum, etc.). So I throw my hands up whenever I hear people discussing this, because, there are no real answers to this question, just bemused and amusing speculation.

[DBoon]

8. Going back

Rock and roll had its start (IMHO) in 1951, when Bill Haley recorded "Rocket 88". During the Truman Administration (though one could argue that early R&R showed its best 1954-1956, during Ike's regime).

Late '50's a doldrum. Payola scandal, synthetic tean hearthrobs like Fabian. R&R was "cleaned up". Ike years.

The British Invasion, Folk-Rock, San Francisco Rock, and influential blues rockers (Cream, Hendrix) were during the Johnson years.

Early to mid-70s, overblown bombastic progressive rock, disco, aging '60s icons producing second rate material (well ok I overstate, and this was the advent of Bowie and glam). Nixon/Ford.

The early days of punk and new wave (CBGBs, Sex Pistols, Clash, etc.) were during the Carter years.

[izzie]

9. A gov. that wishes to control your brain does not produce .

Look at history

[AntiCoup2K4]

10. When American pop music has turned to total shit....

...why not do the same thing they did when American cars turned crappy... Go to Japan.

www.electriceelshock.com

These guys played at "Bands Against Bush" yesterday here in Olympia and they kick serious ass - even if you can't understand what they're singing. (Lyrics mostly in Japanese and even the English lyrics are heavily accented)

Most energy I've seen in a three piece band around here since a little band called Nirvana played their early shows.

[mitchum]

11. The best American movies ever were made during the Nixon and Ford...

administrations. 80s movies would have sucked anyway without Reagan in office, since the decade came after the whole "Star Wars" blockbuster garbage shift.