Influenced British Rock and Metal Culture from 1964-1980
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University of Huddersfield Repository Hale, Cohen How cocaine influenced British rock and metal culture from 1964-1980 Original Citation Hale, Cohen (2020) How cocaine influenced British rock and metal culture from 1964-1980. Masters thesis, University of Huddersfield. This version is available at http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/35410/ The University Repository is a digital collection of the research output of the University, available on Open Access. Copyright and Moral Rights for the items on this site are retained by the individual author and/or other copyright owners. 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For more information, including our policy and submission procedure, please contact the Repository Team at: [email protected]. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/ How cocaine influenced British rock and metal culture from 1964-1980 By Cohen Hale A thesis submitted to the University of Huddersfield in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MA by Research (Music, Humanities and Media) The University of Huddersfield 2019 - 2020 1 Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... 3 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 4 2. Methodology ......................................................................................................................................... 6 3. Literature Review .................................................................................................................................. 8 3.1 British Rock and Metal Culture and Drugs’ Relationship with Other Musical Cultures ........................................................ 8 3.2 Subcultures............................................................................................................................................................................. 9 3.3 Cocaine’s Effects on the Brain and Creativity ..................................................................................................................... 11 3.4 Evidence of Cocaine Use Among Musicians ....................................................................................................................... 17 3.5 Evidence of Cocaine Use Among Audience Members ........................................................................................................ 18 3.6 Evidence of Cocaine References in Music ........................................................................................................................... 19 4. The Rise of Cocaine in Rock Culture ..................................................................................................... 20 4.1 A History of Cocaine ........................................................................................................................................................... 20 4.2 Social Psychology of Drug Use ........................................................................................................................................... 21 4.3 Conformity and Social Roles ............................................................................................................................................... 24 5. Subcultures and Cocaine ..................................................................................................................... 28 5.1 Blues-Rock........................................................................................................................................................................... 29 5.2 Glam-Rock .................................................................................................................................................................. 30 5.3 Punk ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 33 5.4 Heavy Metal ......................................................................................................................................................................... 37 6. Cocaine’s Effects and How It Can Be Used as a Creative Substance ................................................. 39 7. Musicians and Drug Abuse ................................................................................................................. 48 8. Cocaine in the Music and Its Effects .................................................................................................. 52 8.1 Eric Clapton – Cocaine (1977) ............................................................................................................................................. 52 8.2 David Bowie – Station to Station (1976) ............................................................................................................................. 56 8.3 Ian Dury – Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (1977) .................................................................................................................. 64 8.4 Black Sabbath – “Snowblind” (1972) .................................................................................................................................. 66 9. Audiences and Drug Use..................................................................................................................... 74 9.1 Festivals ............................................................................................................................................................................... 74 9.2 Likeness ............................................................................................................................................................................... 78 9.3 Risk for Fans ........................................................................................................................................................................ 79 10. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 90 References ................................................................................................................................................... 92 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................................................. 92 Discography ............................................................................................................................................................................. 112 Videography ............................................................................................................................................................................ 115 2 Abstract This dissertation determines the possible effects of cocaine on British rock and metal culture between 1964 and 1980. Via historical research, there will be an exploration of the relation- ships between cocaine and British rock and metal artists active during this period and their audiences, and an evaluation of the psychosociological reasons for such attitudes and behav- iours. This thesis identifies cocaine’s relationships within several iconic rock subcultures and proposes the effects that cocaine may have had on them. By understanding the effects that cocaine has on the mind and body, this research also determines any possible effects that this may have on the music, particularly regarding creativity and productivity. By doing so, this dissertation identifies the effects this may have had on the British rock and metal culture. A musical analysis evaluates how cocaine has been represented in music and performance. The analysis is comprised of four case studies: Eric Clapton’s “Cocaine” (1977); David Bowie’s “Station to Station” (1976); Ian Dury’s “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll” (1977); and Black Sabbath’s “Snowblind” (1972). This thesis also evaluates the effects that this may have on listeners and audiences, particularly the possible positive and negative effects that this may have on their influence to buy music that references cocaine. 3 1. Introduction This dissertation seeks to understand how cocaine has influenced British rock and metal culture between 1964 and 1980. This period is of interest because it encompasses the time between the start of the first and second British Invasion. The British Invasion was a movement involv- ing British bands who visited America aiming to spread awareness of their blues-rock fusion to American audiences (Perone, 2009: 5-6). The Beatles started this movement in 1964 (Lebo- vic, 2016), and the second British Invasion became popular in the 1980s (Paese, 2016). Pres- ently, there has been little academic attention on this topic. It is commonly accepted that drug use has had a close relationship with rock culture. Music’s relationship with drugs has included jazz music and cannabis,