Late Style, Disability, and the Temporality of Illness in Popular Music

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Singing at Death’s Door: Late Style, Disability, and the Temporality of Illness in Popular Music A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Musicology by Tiffany Naiman 2017 © Copyright by Tiffany Naiman 2017 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Singing at Death’s Door: Late Style, Disability, and the Temporality of Illness in Popular Music by Tiffany Naiman Doctor of Philosophy in Musicology University of California, Los Angeles, 2017 Professor Robert W. Fink, Co-Chair Professor Raymond L. Knapp, Co-Chair This dissertation investigates musical expressions of temporal alterities in works created by popular music artists, identifying their aesthetic responses as their bodies become ill, disabled, and they become more aware of mortality. I propose a critical, hermeneutic, and theoretical method drawn from Edward Said’s appropriation of Adorno’s expression “late style” that I have designated ill style, a form of creativity within a temporality of illness. Late style is discernable in works produced, paradigmatically, at the end of one’s career in “old age,” but late style may also be understood as an influence on artistic output at any stage of life if the subject is experiencing untimeliness and a disruption in access to the communal understanding of futurity and time, a possible consequence of factors other than age. I contend that late style, accelerated by illness, disrupts Western cultural attempts at ignoring precarious and finite nature of existence; the resulting expressions of lateness ask audiences to do the same. I offer a way in which to think more critically about what scholars consider late style, how it functions in popular ii music studies and society, and how it intersects with the fields of disability, gender, queer, and critical race studies, and the social sciences. This work critiques and expands late style as a critical construct, and brings popular music into the lineage of musical traditions where late style has historically been examined. This study focuses on artists for whom late style is contingent upon illness and illness-induced disability, rather than the accepted path of aging and resulting bodily decline. The value of recognizing ill style and the temporality of illness lies in its potential to expand listeners’ understanding of illness as a state inherent to the human condition. If a listener can hear these sounds of illness or suffering in musical works, it helps integrate disability and illness into our concept of normative human experience. iii This dissertation of Tiffany Naiman is approved. Judith Peraino Helen Deutsch Robert W. Fink, Committee Co-Chair Raymond L. Knapp, Committee Co-Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2017 iii For my love and my adventure partner, Margot Garber; in loving memory of Stephen Garber, “the father,” and Lulu, my sweet devoted furry companion. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures and Tables............................................................................................................. vi Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………………….. vii Vita................................................................................................................................................ xii Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………. 1 Chapter I The Voice of Illness and Suicide in the Music of Joy Division…………………………… 25 Chapter II The Rhythm of Chronic Illness: The Fragmentary Late Style of J Dilla………...……..…. 55 Chapter III David Bowie and the Aesthetics of Ending………………….…………….……………… 94 Chapter IV Selling Sex from Over the Hill: Madonna Resists Lateness………...………………….... 147 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………...….... 196 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Microsampling cuts from J Dilla’s “Waves”…………………………….…….. 85 Figure 2.2 BPM and vocal sample table of J Dilla’s “Waves”…………………..………... 86 Figure 3.1 Prayerful David Bowie from “Blackstar” music video (2015)………………... 130 Figure 3.2 David Bowie as huckster from “Blackstar” music video (2015).……………... 131 Figure 3.3 David Bowie “Fashion” music video (1980)………...………………….…….. 132 Figure 3.4 Dancers in attic “Blackstar” music video (2015)…..………………………….. 132 Figure 3.5 Circle of young girls “Blackstar” music video (2015)……………………….... 133 Figure 3.6 Straw men on crosses in the field “Blackstar” music video (2015)………...…. 134 Figure 3.7 City views “Blackstar” music video (2105)………………………………........ 136 Figure 3.8 “The Glorification of the Chosen One” Joffrey Ballet Rite of Spring (1987)….136 Figure 3.9 Circle of young girls fists raised “Blackstar” music video (2015)..………..…. 136 Figure 3.10 Monster/bear/totem figure in fiedl “Blackstar” music video (2015)..……...…. 136 Figure 3.11 Bear/totem figures, Joffrey Ballet Rite of Spring (1997)………....………..…. 137 Figure 3.12 David Bowie 1976 Station to Station era photo-shoot images and “Lazarus” music video image of same pose; David Bowie 1976 drawing tree of life………………………………………………………...……………. 141 Figure 4.1 Rolling Stone and Penthouse Magazine covers of Madonna (1985)………….. 156 Figure 4.2 Tweet by Umami Burger Regarding Madonna kissing Drake (2015)……….... 160 Figure 4.3 Dave Mustaine of Megadeath (1985)……………………………………….… 172 Figure 4.4 James Hetfield of Metallica (1983)……………………………………….…… 172 Figure 4.5 Madonna performing “Burning Up” (2015)………………………………..…. 172 Figure 4.6 Madonna performing “Burning Up”(1985)…………………………….…..…. 173 Figure 4.7 Madonna performing “Burning Up” (2015)………………………………..…. 174 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation began in the back of my mother’s closet. In the August following my first year of grad school, my mother died. While cleaning out her apartment, I discovered in the corner of her closet a three-foot-tall papier-mâché head of David Bowie that I had made in the 9th grade. I was thrilled that it still existed. It brought back all my teenage memories of riding around in my friends’ Volkswagens (they all had VWs), singing as loud as we could to each and every track of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Just two days after I discovered the mask that currently hangs on my office wall, I was accepted to the first conference of my graduate career: the David Bowie Symposium at the University of Limerick in Ireland. It all came together during this time, David Bowie, illness, disability, and death, both personally and in my work. As I conclude this dissertation and my time in graduate school, I am once again confronted with death and grief. My final year in UCLA’s Musicology department began with the loss of a man very dear to me, my father-in-law, Stephen Garber. A relentless cheerleader and an extraordinary mind, his constant encouragement, stimulating conversation, and endless flow of emails with material relevant to my academic interests have been sorely missed. This coupled with the loss of David Bowie at the start of 2016 has added a very poignant ending punctuation to my time as a student. Yet this journey has not been one of only sadness and loss, much more it has been a discovery of love, kindness, and friendship. I am happy to now have this opportunity to thank those who have supported me throughout this endeavor. My co-advisor, Raymond Knapp, has provided generous guidance and support that has extended well beyond the pages of this dissertation and began even before my entrance into the program as a graduate student. Ray was the first to encourage me to pursue musicology, and I will be forever grateful for the fact that his counsel has allowed me to devote myself to a vii vocation and a field about which I am passionate. His engagement with my work and willingness to demonstrate the process of closely reading and analyzing musical forms has elevated my scholarship. Throughout this process Ray has been a nurturing force; his unwavering faith in my ability to actually pull this off, even when I doubted myself, sustained me. In short, Ray has been an extraordinary mentor. Robert Fink, my other co-advisor, has had an impact on my thinking and writing that can be observed on every page of this dissertation. Bob has championed the study of popular music and his commitment to his field is manifested in the dedicated attention he gives to the work of those he advises. Bob has gamely listened to my wild ideas as I worked to identify the line of thought that I wanted to develop and offered brilliant suggestions. During the writing stages, his close edits provided stylistic scrubbing with a healthy dose of good humor. He was able to see the value of my life experiences prior to and outside of academia and how they could help me as an academic. His steadiness as an advisor and mentor has kept this ship afloat and on course. Also, thank you Bob for always hitting the dance floor during my DJ sets—your moves are unmatched. I wish to express very special thanks to Judith Peraino, whose time spent with my work went well beyond the duties of an outside committee member. Judith has contributed enormously to whatever is best in these pages. I wrote always in anticipation of Judith’s response and continue to learn so much from the example she sets in her own scholarship. She has added immeasurably to my life with her wisdom, thoughtful criticism, and friendship. I look forward to continued conversations about David, Debbie, Patti, and Gary, more mix tapes, undiscovered dance-floors, and front rows of shows. viii I want to thank Helen Deutsch, my other outside committee member, for jumping in and guiding me through “late style” and disability

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