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DARK SIDE OF THE TUNE: POPULAR MUSIC AND VIOLENCE This page has been left blank intentionally Dark Side of the Tune: Popular Music and Violence BRUCE JOHNSON University of Turku, Finland Macquarie University, Australia University of Glasgow, UK MARTIN CLOONAN University of Glasgow, UK © Bruce Johnson and Martin Cloonan 2009 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Bruce Johnson and Martin Cloonan have asserted their moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the authors of this work. Published by Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company Wey Court East Suite 420 Union Road 101 Cherry Street Farnham Burlington, VT 05401-4405 Surrey GU9 7PT USA England www.ashgate.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Johnson, Bruce, 1943– Dark side of the tune : popular music and violence. – (Ashgate popular and folk music series) 1. Music and violence 2. Popular music – Social aspects I. Title II. Cloonan, Martin 781.6'4 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Johnson, Bruce, 1943– Dark side of the tune : popular music and violence / Bruce Johnson and Martin Cloonan. p. cm.—(Ashgate popular and folk music series) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-7546-5872-6 (alk. paper) 1. Music and violence. 2. Popular music—Social aspects. I. Cloonan, Martin. II. Title. ML3916.J64 2009 781.64—dc22 2008017011 ISBN 9780754658726 (hbk) Reprinted 2009 ISBN 9781409400493 (pbk) ISBN 9780754699606 (ebk.V) Contents General Editor’s Preface vii Notes and Acknowledgements ix About the Authors xi List of Abbreviations xiii Advisory Note xv Introduction: Musical Violence and Popular Music Studies 1 Bruce Johnson and Martin Cloonan 1 Context: The Sound of Music 13 Bruce Johnson 2 Music and Violence in History 31 Bruce Johnson 3 Technologized Sonority 49 Bruce Johnson 4 Music Accompanying Violence 65 Bruce Johnson and Martin Cloonan 5 Music and Incitement to Violence 95 Bruce Johnson and Martin Cloonan 6 Music and Arousal to Violence 123 Bruce Johnson and Martin Cloonan 7 Music as Violence 147 Bruce Johnson and Martin Cloonan 8 Policy 161 Bruce Johnson and Martin Cloonan Select Bibliography 195 Index 223 Contents General Editor’s Preface vii Notes and Acknowledgements ix About the Authors xi List of Abbreviations xiii Advisory Note xv Introduction: MusicalThis Violence page has and been Popular left blank Music intentionally Studies Bruce Johnson and Martin Cloonan 1 1 Context: The Sound of Music Bruce Johnson 13 2 Music and Violence in History Bruce Johnson 31 3 Technologized Sonority Bruce Johnson 49 4 Music Accompanying Violence Bruce Johnson and Martin Cloonan 65 5 Music and Incitement to Violence Bruce Johnson and Martin Cloonan 95 6 Music and Arousal to Violence Bruce Johnson and Martin Cloonan 123 7 Music as Violence Bruce Johnson and Martin Cloonan 147 8 Policy Bruce Johnson and Martin Cloonan 161 Select Bibliography 195 Index 223 General Editor’s Preface The upheaval that occurred in musicology during the last two decades of the twentieth century has created a new urgency for the study of popular music alongside the development of new critical and theoretical models. A relativistic outlook has replaced the universal perspective of modernism (the international ambitions of the 12-note style); the grand narrative of the evolution and dissolution of tonality has been challenged, and emphasis has shifted to cultural context, reception and subject position. Together, these have conspired to eat away at the status of canonical composers and categories of high and low in music. A need has arisen, also, to recognize and address the emergence of crossovers, mixed and new genres, to engage in debates concerning the vexed problem of what constitutes authenticity in music and to offer a critique of musical practice as the product of free, individual expression. Popular musicology is now a vital and exciting area of scholarship, and the Ashgate Popular and Folk Music Series presents some of the best research in the field. Authors are concerned with locating musical practices, values and meanings in cultural context, and may draw upon methodologies and theories developed in cultural studies, semiotics, poststructuralism, psychology and sociology. The series focuses on popular musics of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It is designed to embrace the world’s popular musics from Acid Jazz to Zydeco, whether high tech or low tech, commercial or non-commercial, contemporary or traditional. Derek B. Scott Professor of Critical Musicology University of Leeds, UK This page has been left blank intentionally Notes and Acknowledgements This research topic has been largely overlooked in academic studies for reasons we discuss. The debate over violence in popular music has therefore been dominated by the media and sensationalist literature based on or playing to the moral panic reflex. A significant proportion of our sources therefore consists of ephemeral publications such as newspapers and press releases (hard copy and online), often lacking a specific byline or syndicated through news agencies. In some cases it was not possible to provide full detail so the documentation is uneven. We have given all the details we have available. If any detail, such as byline, headline or page number, is missing, it is because it is not available. We have taken care not to base our arguments on any single source of doubtful reliability. Online sources fall into several categories. In general, an online press item carries all byline, title of article, title of newspaper/journal, and full date, where these are all available. Unless otherwise given, the date of the item is also the hit date. In an era of highly sophisticated search engines we have generally not included URLs, unless there is a serious dearth of other reference information for a particular item. While generally retaining a definite article for newspaper titles in the main text for reasons of grammar, we have omitted ‘The’ from footnotes and the bibliography. Some sources are referred to by acronym after the first citation; for example Sydney Morning Herald becomes SMH. Apart from specific footnoted acknowledgements throughout the book, we would like to thank Kalle Aaltonen, Gary Burns, Giana Cassidy, Ian Collinson, Jonathan Isakson, Morten Ove Johnsen, Ville Kabrell, Laura Mitchell, Marcus Moberg, Jonas Ridberg, Mikael Sarelan, Joonas Varjonen. A special note of appreciation to Liz Guiffré (Department of Contemporary Music Studies, Macquarie University, Sydney), for general discussion and unstinting assistance in locating sources. We would also like to thank Sam and Shannon Johnson, both performers and avid music enthusiasts, and son and daughter respectively of Bruce Johnson, for their continuing discussion of the topic. Likewise, Anu Juva (a musician and film music scholar) and her children Johannes and Ida for their conversations on music, and their patience with the authors’ absorption in this work. Martin would also like to thank Claire. In addition to other institutional bases mentioned below, thanks to the Department of English, Media and Performance Arts, University of New South Wales for providing a Visiting Research Fellowship to Bruce Johnson, October 2007– January 2008. Apart from individuals named above from the following institutions, informal conversations with staff and students at the University of Glasgow, University of Turku, Åbo Akademi, Trondheim University of Science and Technology, Macquarie University, Institute of Popular Music at University of Liverpool, have been so wide-ranging that we x DARK SIDE OF THE TUNE: POPULAR MUSIC AND VIOLENCE must assume that we have omitted some names that merited special mention. We can only apologize for the oversight. About the Authors Bruce Johnson is Docent and Visiting Professor, Cultural History, University of Turku (Finland); Adjunct Professor, Contemporary Music Studies, Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia); Honorary Professor, University of Glasgow (Scotland, UK). Martin Cloonan is Convener of Postgraduate Studies, Department of Music, University of Glasgow (Scotland, UK). This page has been left blank intentionally List of Abbreviations ACLU American Civil Liberties Union AIF Australian Imperial Force ASBO Anti-Social Behaviour Order (UK) ASCA Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (University of Amsterdam) ATM Automatic Teller Machine BBC British Broadcasting Corporation (UK) CBS Columbia Broadcasting System (US) CCCS Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (University of Birmingham) CRESSON Centre de recherché sur l’espace sonore et l’environment urbain dB Decibels (measure of volume of sound) DeFRA Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (UK) Dir. Director DIY Do It Yourself DMX US-based company providing engineered sensory environments for retailers Ed. Editor EL External Locus of Emotion (compare IL; see Schubert) EPA Environmental Protection Agency (US) FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation (US) FDR Franklin Delano Roosevelt (US President 1933–45) G8 Group of Eight (international forum for the governments of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, UK, US) Hz Hertz (frequency in cycles per second) IASPM International Association for the Study of Popular Music IL Internal Locus of Emotion (compare EL; see Schubert) IPM Institute of Popular