The song remains the most basic unit of modern pop music. Shaped into being by historical forces—cultural, aesthetic, and technical—the song provides both performer and audience with a world marked off by a short, discrete, and temporally demarcated experience. One-Track Mind: Capitalism, Technology, and the Art of the Pop Song brings together 16 writers to weigh in on 16 iconic tracks from the history of modern popular music. Arranged chronologically in order of release of the tracks, and spanning nearly five decades, these essays zigzag across the cultural landscape to present one possible history of pop music. There are detours through psychedelic rock, Afro-pop, Latin pop, glam rock, heavy metal, punk, postpunk, adult contemporary rock, techno, hip-hop, and electro-pop here. More than just deep histories of individual songs, these essays all expand far beyond the track itself to offer exciting and often counterintuitive histories of transformative moments in popular culture. Collectively, they show the undiminished power of the individual pop song, both as distillations of important flashpoints and, in their afterlives, as ghostly echoes that persist undiminished but transform for succeeding generations. Capitalism and its principal good, capital, help us frame these stories, a fact that should surprise no one given the inextricable relationship between art and capitalism established in the twentieth century. At the root, readers will find here a history of pop with unexpected plot twists, colorful protagonists, and fitting denouements.
Author(s): Asif Siddiqi
Series: Ashgate Popular and Folk Music Series
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 308
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Series Information
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
List of Figures
List of Contributors
Acknowledgments
One-Track Mind: An Introduction
Notes
Bibliography
1 Le Grand Kallé and African Jazz—“Indépendance Cha Cha” (1960)
Introduction
Power
Évolués and Bills
Networks of Power
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
2 Gerald Wilson—“Viva Tirado” (1962)
Notes
References
3 Moby Grape—“Omaha” (1967)
The Cut
Origins
The Signing
The Recording
Capitalism
Monterey Pop, Skip’s Magnetism, and Bad Behavior
Wow and the Beginning of the End
Covers
Coda
Notes
References
4 Led Zeppelin—“Immigrant Song” (1970)
Viking Medievalisms and the Afterlife of Classic Rock
Background
Zeppelin’s Influences
Zeppelin and the Legacy of Masculinist and Viking Medievalisms
Viking Metal and the Cinematic Afterlife of “Immigrant Song”
Conclusion
Notes
References
5 David Bowie—“Rebel Rebel” (1974)
Notes
References
6 Donna Summer—“I Feel Love” (1977)
Notes
References
7 X-Ray Spex—“Oh Bondage! Up Yours!” (1977)
Context
The Press Reception
Poly in Person
The Legacy of the Song
Notes
References
8 Prince—“When You Were Mine” (1980)
I
II
III
Notes
References
9 Neil Young—“Transformer Man” (1982)
Transition and Transformation: Rust, Re-Ac-Tor, Reprise
Transformation and Translation: Vocoder as Voice and Veil
Transmission: Music From Another World
Transcript
Transaction and Transgression: The Geffen-Young Courtship
Transcendence
Transfigures: Computer Coda
Notes
References
10 The Replacements—“Unsatisfied” (1984)
Notes
References
11 NWA—“F- Tha Police” (1988)
Historical Context of “F- Tha Police”
“F- Tha Police”
The Afterlives of “F- Tha Police”
“F- Tha Police” in the Age of Black Lives Matter
Notes
References
12 Salt-N-Pepa—“Shoop” (1993)
To Shoop Is to Articulate Desire, and to Act On That Desire
To Shoop Is to Take Charge, to Take Control
To Shoop Is to Succeed On Your Own Terms
Conclusion
Notes
References
13 Hanson—“Mmmbop” (1997)
Bubble Gum, Pop, and Cassette Tapes
In an Mmmbop, They’re Gone
Hanson Love/Hate IRL and Online
From the Middle of Nowhere to the Middle of Everywhere
You Have So Many Relationships in This Life, Only One Or Two Will Last
Conclusion
Notes
References
14 Elton John—“Candle in the Wind 1997” (1997)
The Hollywood Star
The Princess of Wales
The Legacy
Notes
References
15 LCD Soundsystem—“All My Friends” (2007)
That’s How It Starts
It Comes Apart
Conclusion
Notes
References
16 MIA—“Paper Planes” (2007)
Introduction
Sampling History
Missing in Action
History
Notes
Bibliography
Index
