Changing Tunes

CURRENT BOOKS tural and medical technologies, and better gov- into commodities that were “unapologetically ernance (the despots Hitler, Mao, and Stalin commercial and distinctively American.” “have left no important heirs”) have reduced Naturally, such investments had to be pro- the prevalence of wide-scale famines of the sort tected, but not until the landmark Copyright that were so devastating in the past. But Act of 1909 did U.S. law recognize something chronic malnutrition is still widespread, a as intangible as a song as property. Suisman, direct result of income inequalities in many an assistant professor of history at the Univer- societies between a small group of the very rich sity of Delaware (and a DJ on freeform and a large mass of the very poor. It’s an issue independent radio station WFMU in Jersey Ó Gráda fails to seriously delve into. Some- City), does a first-rate job of sketching the times, more focus and less scope can lead to publishers’ role in drafting that legislation. But richer findings. he does not entirely sympathize with the Samuel Loewenberg is a journalist whose writing on malnu- impulses behind the law, which he views as trition and global public-health issues has appeared in The Econo- “fetishizing the composer and the mist, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Lancet. composition” rather than the performance, and granting preferred status to composed ARTS & LETTERS music over interpreted forms, such as traditional folk or jazz. Changing Tunes He describes the boom and bust of the industry that developed around the player piano, the Reviewed by Grant Alden most successful mechanical playback device Inventors ran wild dur- (many variations on the music box were experi- SELLING SOUNDS: ing the years bracketing the The Commercial mented with) to emerge before and compete turn of the 20th century, creat- Revolution in with the phonograph. And he details the ing technology that repeatedly American Music. emergence of the Victor Talking Machine Com- transformed the ways people By David Suisman. pany, founded in 1901, which produced both 78 heard and consumed music. It Harvard Univ. Press. rpm discs (burying Thomas Edison’s recorded 356 pp. $29.95 happened again a hundred cylinders) and the majority of the devices that years later, which makes David Suisman’s lucid made it possible for ordinary people to hear, say, account of the emergence and consolidation of the superstar tenor Enrico Caruso. Finally, in a the music industry particularly welcome. curious counterpoint to Victor’s story, he traces Before the Industrial Revolution worked its the rise and fall of the African-American–owned magic, music was mostly an amateur (or at best Black Swan label, which sought to prosper while semipro) affair, something one played and serving as an instrument of social change and listened to in parlors, at dances and marches, in artistic expression. concert settings, and in vaudeville halls. Songs These stories, all well and carefully told, had been sold as sheet music throughout the 19th expand upon Suisman’s 2003 prize-winning doc- century, but the publishers—printers, really— toral dissertation. As there are few documents to were small, scattered businesses. That slowly analyze and no survivors to interview, he was changed, and by the 1890s sheet music publish- obliged to rely on trade journal puffery, the ers were competing fiercely for market share—for papers of key figures such as gramophone inven- “hits”—paying song pluggers (the term survives) tor Emile Berliner, and, when discussing publish- to sing and place songs with performers in every ing firms, the songwriting manuals of the time. conceivable setting, from department stores to Throughout Selling Sounds there wafts a faint prisons. Thus began the process of injecting pop- odor of disapproval, as if Suisman wishes things ular music into our daily lives, converting songs had gone differently. “On the one hand,” he 108 Wilson Quarterly ■ Summer 2009 CURRENT BOOKS writes, “the recording industry’s vast offerings through the pantheon of cable television could seem like a Whitmanesque celebration of offerings, I have more choices than ever to satisfy the great plurality of talent in American life. On my appetite. And judging from Kathleen Collins’s the other hand, fundamental to the industry’s Watching What We Eat, I am not the only one development was the exploitation and reinforce- mesmerized by chefs who dice and sauté. Few ment of cultural hierarchy.” What he means by cooking show enthusiasts prepare the meals they that, exactly, never quite gets said, and that’s a watch being made, Collins writes, but “these pity, for it might well have led to a fine argument shows prevail because everyone eats, knows on both sides. something about food, and can relate to the Suisman writes extensively about Victor’s endeavor.” aggressive and trendsetting marketing Television cooking shows have their roots in ear- campaigns (the record company was the largest lier, widely distributed radio programs in which advertiser in the United States in 1923), and its actresses playing homemaker personalities such as highly effective efforts simultaneously to brand Betty Crocker disseminated recipes and kitchen Caruso (signed to an exclusive contract in 1904) tips. The advent of television in the 1940s, which and its label. Only in passing does Suisman note allowed for glorious visuals of what was prepared, that Victor’s elite Red Seal imprint was consider- brought food shows new popularity. Revered cook- ably outsold by its more pedestrian labels— book author James Beard hosted the first program, whose catalogues included Tin Pan Alley’s plenti- I Love to Eat, which began airing in 1946, but Julia ful offerings—and that Caruso made most of his Child dominated the art form from her debut in fortune singing to the public, not recording for it. 1962 with The French Chef series. For decades she As new technology makes the possession of was a fixture on public television, cheerfully educat- songs ever more transitory, not to mention ing viewers about French cooking. functionally free, working musicians are turn- Now food shows run all day long on their own ing again to live performance as their principal cable channel, the Food Network, which claims income source. And consumers—some of to reach 98 million homes. The shows themselves whom have owned Beatles songs on 45s, eight- have evolved beyond simple recipe instruction to tracks, LPs, and CDs, and now as MP3 files cooking competitions, travel programs, and other and cell phone ringtones—are still mulling the mouthwatering forms of entertainment. The costs and benefits of technology in delivering reality television show Ace of Cakes takes viewers music to their ears. behind the scenes of a Baltimore bakery, and Secrets of a Restaurant Chef features a vivacious Grant Alden was the founding coeditor and the art director of No Depression magazine. host who demonstrates how to translate restaurant dishes into home-cooked recipes. Food for the Eye Collins, reared on food television and edu- cated in library science, brings to the table a Reviewed by Renuka Rayasam wealth of personal experience and research. She Even in high school, I mined television and print archives to uncover was a cooking show devotee. WATCHING fascinating gems about television cooking-show My brother and I spent our WHATWE EAT: pioneers. On the set, Beard invented modern ele- summer vacations in a state of The Evolution ments of food styling still common in food pho- of Television delicious torture, watching tography, using ink to emphasize the veins in Cooking Shows. programs such as Death by Roquefort cheese and substituting mashed pota- By Kathleen Collins. Chocolate, salivating over deca- Continuum. toes for ice cream. The producer of The Galloping dent desserts we never made 278 pp. $24.95 Gourmet, which first aired in 1969, was host Gra- ourselves. Today, flipping ham Kerr’s wife, Treena. Completely uninter- Summer 2009 ■ Wilson Quarterly 109 change someone's tune. to change the manner of a person, usually from bad to good, or from rude to pleasant. The teller was most unpleasant until she learned that I'm a bank director. Then she changed her tune. "I will help change your tune by fining you $150," said the judge to the rude defendant. See also: change, tune. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. Â© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. change (one's) tune. To alter one's approach or attitude. See also: change, tune. Changing Tune is the third studio album and major label debut by English rock band Lower Than Atlantis. Preceded by the non-album single "If the World Was to End", the band went on their first ever headlining tour in the UK in January 2012. Lower Than Atlantis released "If the World Was to End" as a single in January 2012. The song was produced by John Mitchell, who bassist Dec Hart and drummer Eddy Thrower had known for longer than the rest of the band. Following this, they went on their first... Showing footage of concerts and interviews showcasing the work of Changing Tunes, a registered charity that uses music teaching, rehearsing, recording, performanceÂ We met Sharon when she was a prisoner in HMP Eastwood Park. After release she regularly performed at our public events and spoke about the her experiences in prison and the difference Changing Tunes made to her life. Sharon has since become a trustee of Changing Tunes. This is her story. This video was funded by the Weavers' Company. Changing Tunes. UK. The music in this section showcases the talents of some of the men and women we have worked with, helping them realise their potential as songwriters and musicians.

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