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Steve Markuson Bassim Hamadeh, CEO and Publisher John Remington, Executive Editor Gem Rabanera, Project Editor Emely Villavicencio, Senior Graphic Designer Trey Soto, Licensing Coordinator Natalie Piccotti, Director of Marketing Kassie Graves, Vice President of Editorial Jamie Giganti, Director of Academic Publishing

Copyright © 2019 by Cognella, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted, reproduced, trans- mitted, or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, includ- ing photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information retrieval system without the written permission of Cognella, Inc. For inquiries regarding permissions, translations, foreign rights, audio rights, and any other forms of repro- duction, please contact the Cognella Licensing Department at [email protected].

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Printed in the United States of America.

All author proceeds are donated to Catskill Area Hospice, Oneonta, New York 13820.

ISBN: 978-1-5165-4792-0 (pbk) / 978-1-5165-2068-8 (br) / 978-1-5165-4512-4 (al) BRIEF CONTENTS

Dedication xiii Preface xv

Chapter 1 Needle Down 1

Chapter 2 Disclaimer 11

Chapter 3 Black and Bluesy 31

Chapter 4 Bells and Whistles 43

Chapter 5 Spoon and Croon 55

Chapter 6 Where the Boys Are 65

Chapter 7 Sophisticated Boom Boom 77

Chapter 8 Copper-tunes 95

Chapter 9 Country and Western 113

Chapter 10 Woodshock 125

Chapter 11 Power Cords and Jackets 137

Chapter 12 19th Nervous Breakdown 145

v DETAILED CONTENTS

Dedication xiii Preface xv

Chapter 1 Needle Down 1 Needle Down 3 Listen Up! 5 Playing the Hits From Yesterday and Today 7 Radio Head 8 Food for Thought 9 Get Cooking 9 Suggested Further Reading 10 References 10 Chapter 2 Disclaimer 11 Rocket Mann 12 That’s My Anthem 12 One Nation Under Construction 13 One Giant Step 14 Soak It Up 15 Jurisprudence 15 Mash Up 16 Bleach Blanket Bingo 17 A Slap in the Race 19 A Cotton-picking Mess 20 Foster Parent 21 Animal Magnetism 22 Castles in the Sky 23 It Do Mean a Thing (If it Ain’t Got That Swing) 24 Our Scat-illogical Society 24 Scat-tastic 26 Richard the First 26 The Sweet Buy and Buy 27

vii Clowning Around 28 Food for Thought 28 Get Cooking 29 Suggested Further Reading 29 References 30 Chapter 3 Black and Bluesy 31 You Don’t Need Booze to Sing the Blues 31 One Notion Under … 32 Mrs. and Mrs. Smith 32 Ethel Octane 33 Highbrow Blues 34 Big Bland 36 Not Really Kosher 37 Do the Leitmotif 39 Food for Thought 40 Get Cooking 40 Suggested Further Reading 41 References 41 Chapter 4 Bells and Whistles 43 The Sidewalks of New York 45 Atsa’ Too Loud! 45 Igor the Barbarian 46 Avant-Garde George 46 Time Waits for No One 47 You Say You Want a Revolution? 48 Dark Shadows 48 Life in the Canyon 49 Working 9 to 5 50 Peas and Carrots … Oh My! 51 Where Credit is Due 52 Food for Thought 53 Get Cooking 53 Suggested Further Reading 54 References 54 Chapter 5 Spoon and Croon 55 Sing for Your Suffer 55 The Sweetest Sound I Ever Heard 56 viii All’s Fair in Love and Flushing Meadows 59 I’ll Be Looking at the Moon 59 Buddy, Can You Spare a Tune? 59 A Living Arrangement 60 Dream Along 61 The Clash 61 My Time is Your Time … 62 Round and Round 62 Boxed Sets 63 Food for Thought 64 Get Cooking 64 Suggested Further Reading 64 Chapter 6 Where the Boys Are 65 Cult of Big Band Balladeers 65 Classical Chops 66 A Band by Any Other Name 67 So Much Salad 69 Band-Aid 69 Altered States 70 Decades of Devotion 71 Girl Talk 73 Silly Love Songs 74 Food for Thought 74 Get Cooking 74 Suggested Further Reading 75 References 75 Chapter 7 Sophisticated Boom Boom 77 Moon-faced and Starry-eyed 79 Cool Jazz 80 Feel the Rhythm 80 Good Morning 81 Take My Radio, Please 82 King David vs. Gotham City 83 Same Chords ... Different Day 83 Doo-What? 84 Exchanging Pleasantries 85 Sugar-Sugar 86

ix Saturated Fats 88 Bananarama 89 Folk University 90 No Pain, No Grin 90 The “A-peel” of the Banana 91 Moe-town 91 Old Folks at Home 92 Food for Thought 93 Get Cooking 93 Suggested Further Reading 93 References 94 Chapter 8 Copper-tunes 95 Smooth Moves 95 Low Tide 96 Wall of Surf 97 A Shred of Eminence 99 Designer Brands 100 Big Brass Brands 101 On the Beach 101 You Can’t Tell the Players Without a Program 104 She Sells Sea Shells 104 The Loco-motion 106 “Go Granny, Go Granny, Go!” 107 Let’s Go Parking 108 Hey Baby, Nice Kits 109 Food for Thought 110 Get Cooking 110 Suggested Further Reading 110 References 111 Chapter 9 Country and Western 113 Cowboys 114 Super Bachelor 116 Home on the Strange 116 Ragged Beginnings 117 The Final Frontier 117

x A Little Bit Country, a Little Bit Rock and Roll 117 Make Hay While the Sun Shines 118 The Sun Also Rises 120 The Untouchables 121 Food for Thought 122 Get Cooking 122 Suggested Further Reading 122 References 123 Chapter 10 Woodshock 125 A Twist on Ice 126 Positively Great 126 By the Time We Get to Woodstock 128 The Racket’s Red Glare 129 Star Spangled Banner 1969 129 Leading Lady 131 No Place Like Home 132 Not a Redeemable Coupon 133 Food for Thought 134 Get Cooking 134 Suggested Further Reading 135 References 135 Chapter 11 Power Cords and Jackets 137 Obtaining Clothes-ure 138 Not Dead Yet 139 On the Street Where You Leave 140 Form and Function 141 Suite Dreams 142 Food for Thought 143 Get Cooking 144 Suggested Further Reading 144 References 144 Chapter 12 19th Nervous Breakdown 145 The Recording as Historical Document 145 Tell Me, Telstar 146 Rock of Sages 146 This Magic Moment 149 Spastic Fantastic 149

xi A Minimalist Primer 149 Denizens of Darkness 151 Food for Thought 152 Get Cooking 152 Suggested Further Reading 153 References 153

xii “This is dedicated to …

John Remington, Gem Rabanera (for her guidance and straightforward leadership), Miguel Macias (for “covering” my aspirations), Berenice Quirino, and the rest of the team at Cognella for a wonderful opportunity; Diane Paige at Hartwick College; Paul (“PJ”) Crissa and Jem LLC; Cira, “My Best Girl”; Frs. John Rosson and Andrew Cryans; “Mea Culpa”; Norma Rea; Temple “Beth M”; Muscles in Motion Gym (“They ain’t heavy”); The Green Earth “Tree Hugs”; The Markinsons; and “Mother Mary” comes to me speaking words of wisdom, some naughty, some nice.

Special thanks to Monika Dziamka, whose cryptologist-like skills unearthed the true “spirit” of my work.

And to all you tie-dyed-in-the-wool skeptics out there who still don’t believe we landed on the moon.

… the One I Love.”

xiii PREFACE

To the Student

elcome to Rock on the Roll: Serving Up Popular Culture. For the musical decades I present in this book, I try to use the speech and nomenclature of the period to illustrate Whow music incorporated popular language, especially slang, to represent social issues and even technology. I also try to share specific musical examples that represent my points. I feel that history can be best understood by using the language of the period, an area of study that in-and-of-itself is rich with material as any linguist or etymologist will tell you. Therefore, many of the chapter titles and section headers within them use puns, riffs on song titles, and slang of that time. Whenever you come across a phrase or word you’re unfamiliar with, I encourage you to find answers in the text, engage with your fellow classmates, listen to a song that uses these words, and allow yourself to have fun by peeling back the layers and doing more of your own research. This is a tactile text, requiring a scratch-and-sniff approach! I hope you’ll find that the language of music can be just as—or even more—expressive, creative, witty, soulful, emotional, and powerful as the music itself.

Who Put the “Pop” in Pop Culture?

The creator of Coca-Cola, John Pemberton, introduced the beverage to the United States in 1885. He described it as a French cola wine nerve tonic, likely taking an idea from a cola wine that had been very successful in Europe around that time, and promoted its medicinal benefits—which included the effects of cocaine1. Coca-Cola no longer has cocaine in it, and we now know that the effects of all that sugar alone can be quite bad for our health, but its fame has endured. The design of the bottle, the logo, the onomatopoeia nature of the name—now that is fame for you, to be so well-known that people can recognize your brand or product with just snippets of information. That kind of recognition (positive or not) is at the heart of pop culture. Every day, those who are in the business of propelling popular culture act as chefs, putting together different ingredients for that next big flavor, enticing people who didn’t even realize they were thirsty or hungry. These chefs are able to manipulate our tastes and desires, at times, even using very clever and sometimes devious methods to work their creations into the social system. There’s nothing really

1 Pendergrast, Mark, For God, Country, and Coca-Cola: The Unauthorized History of the Great American Soft Drink and the Company That Makes It (2nd ed.) (New York: Basic Books, 2000), 34–46.

xv wrong with that as long as no laws are broken, but this book stems from an interest in how some forms of music have been stretched and pushed toward purchase. We’ll explore the idea that if you “read the ingredients label,” you might discover something tasty, surprising, or even off-putting. Similarly, the hot dog on the front cover of this book symbolizes a quintessential aspect of Americana, a staple on our popular “to go” menu. Yet, it is—like most aspects of American culture—not really “American” in that it was adopted from the cuisines of the immigrants who came here. The hot dog represents a distillation of external influences, a jumble of stuff that has created a singular, iconic product. Maybe it should be no wonder, then, that an ice-cold Coca-Cola paired with a fresh hot dog—especially in the summertime during a ball game, on the streets of New York City, or at the beach—is a tasty, classic, and popular experience we love to consume.

Dig in

My approach to teaching this topic might be described as being a dash of the eclectic with a cherry on top. My eclecticism might be due to my years as a performer and operatic actor. I used to draw out the “unusual” in the characters I portrayed in order to move them away from the standard methodologies I had previously learned in school even though these methodologies (like the Stanislavski Method—for anyone who is curious) are valuable in their own right. Often in life, I’ve tried to approach things at a different angle, challenge myself to do something in a more unique way, and venture on the “road less taken.” And so, I’ve chosen to create this book as a way to study music history as it relates to rock and roll, radio, the English language and all its kaleidoscopic representations, and popular culture. You’ll also find in this book recurring sections, such as suggested further reading lists, key terms, timelines, “Food for Thought,” which provides questions, and “Get Cooking,” which provide assignments as a way for you to engage more with the content and expand your knowledge. Popping up in the text are also “Tasty Bites,” which provide more details about particular juicy morsels in each chapter. Bon appetit! Needle Down

Key Terms

Colloquialism Lingo Innuendo Nomenclature Jargon Slang Lexicon Vernacular

Another bride Another June Another sunny honeymoon … —“Makin’ Whoopie,” Gus Kahn, Walter Donaldson, 1928

Hey there, cutes Put on your dancing boots …

—“Come Dance With Me,” Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn, 1959

f you travel outside of America to all of the wonderful countries this world displays like magnetic decals on a travel camper, you’re likely to get out your language Idictionary or pocket phrase book and hone in on some basics so that your fi rst interaction with the natives is not reduced to speaking very loudly in your native tongue (which does not work no matter how loud you are) or pointing and waving like a crazed conductor. The fi rst words of necessity to master in any foreign language are usually “excuse me,” “where is the bathroom?” and “thank you.” But you can bet that even these basics have their own slang alternatives—no matter if you’re in

1 2 ROCK ON THE ROLL: SERVING UP POPULAR CULTURE

another English-speaking country. Good luck finding a gas station in London when everyone uses “petrol.” We have many words for “bathroom,” but a foreigner visiting the U.S. probably wouldn’t think to use the terms “john” or “can.” Slang terms and “made-up-isms” are also products of many cultures trying to communicate and getting each other’s languages mixed up. The word or phrase becomes so mispronounced that the malapropism turns into the new standard. Americans are quite skilled in creating slang in this way. Immigrants living on the Lower East Side of Manhattan coined lots of great phrases that might seem as though they’ve always been in our language. For example, “buddy” likely comes from the Jewish word “bubelah.” Many terms have even become so frequently used that they’ve been officially added to our dictionaries even being honored as a word or phrase of the year. The word “fuck,”1 which has now established its place as an all-round modifier in our language and can be used in myriad ways, comes from sixteenth century Germanic origin, possibly influenced by the Swedish word “focka” and Dutch “fokkelen” and whose meaning has roots in the verb “to strike.” So, it was probably easier for Lower East Siders, as it was and is for many people in general, to just slide into a brand-new word rather than try to properly pronounce an existing word. This way, the wonderful “melting pot” of our culture also stewed up some flavorful phrases into our lexicon.

TASTY BITE In 2017, the “Word of the Year” as determined by Oxford Dictionaries was “youthquake,”2 a term that was actually first coined by Diana Vreeland in 1965 while she was editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine. The term, then and now, describes the powerful influence young people can have to trigger significant political, social, and cultural changes in the world.

Slang has been around for millennia, and there are probably even some slang hieroglyphic references on the walls of King Tut’s burial chamber (“Tut” being the nickname or slang term for Tutankhamun since most people have a hard time remembering or pronouncing the full name correctly). Besides being the product of cultural clashes or confusion, slang is also often created as a way to skirt around terms that society might think of as vulgar, provocative, or offensive. The topic of sex, for example, has provided a wealth of slang added to the English—or to any language’s—vernacular. Just think of the many terms we have for our anatomy alone in the context of sex! The phrase “makin’ whoopie” can be traced to its origin in the 1920s. American radio commentator Walter Winchell, who was also the rapid-fire radio gossip columnist of his time, was famous—and infa- mous—for creating all sorts of slang terms, which he used to spice up stories, especially about the “rich and famous” and “hoods.”

1 “fuck,” Oxford English Dictionaries, accessed September 15, 2018, https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/fuck. 2 Oxford University Press, “Word of the Year 2017 is …” Oxford Living Dictionaries, Oxford University Press, accessed September 15, 2018, https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/word-of-the-year/word-of-the-year-2017. Chapter 1 Needle Down 3

To marry was to “merge” or be “lohengrinned,” to divorce was to be “renovated,” or “phfft,” to expect a child was to be “infanticipating,” a baby was a “blessed event,” and debutants were “debutramps” … “[M]aking whoopee” began as a Winchellism for sex.

—Gerald Nachman, Raised on Radio, p. 411

The term “rock and roll” in-and-of itself is slang, too, as a euphemism for sex. The term had long been used within African American communities and by musicians, such as Trixie Smith and the Boswell Sisters. However, Alan Freed,3 during his time working as a DJ in Cleveland in the 1950s, was considered the first person to use the term as a way to describe the new music evolving from R&B, coining a new musical genre. The two song lyric snippets at the start of this introduction are bursting with slang phrases that folks from these generations grew up with and are likely to know, understanding the often-seduc- tive, funny, cheeky, or even political hidden meanings used by these talented wordsmiths. Listeners would have initially heard these songs on the radio, their record players, at high school dances, or sung on the “silver screen” in musical shorts or in Broadway shows. To be “in,” you adopted the current slang so that you, too, could be “malt shop” cool and “hang” with your “main squeeze.” "Politically Correct" had not been invented during these times and so many of the words and phrases are not concerned with how they are received in private or public culture.

Needle Down

“Needle down” is a term used in the radio DJ world to begin your show by putting the record arm down on the record and starting the music. The term “DJ,” by the way, also comes from Walter Winchell, who coined the term “disc jockey” in 1935. The phrase is a combination of disc, referring to disc records, and jockey, a person who operates or directs the movements of something. Winchell used the term to describe radio announcer Martin Block,4 who was the first radio personality of this genre to obtain star power (Figure 1.1). His Make Believe Ballroom show became very popular, and Variety magazine solidified the term “disc jockey” in reference to Block in an issue published in 1941.

TASTY BITE Walter Winchell (1897–1972) was an American journalist and radio broadcaster. He is considered the forefather of gossip columnists, and his wit and keen eye for detail in news and social trends led him to produce all sorts of fun terms, some of which we still use today. He’s credited with coming up with “scram” (to leave quickly, to get away), “giggle water” (alcohol),

3 Oxford, “Word of the Year 2017 is …” 4 “Martin Block,” National Radio Hall of Fame, accessed September 15, 2018, http://nationalradiohalloffame.com/martin_block.htm. 4 ROCK ON THE ROLL: SERVING UP POPULAR CULTURE

FIGURE 1.1 DJ Martin Block (standing) meets with musician Stan Kenton at the WNEW studio in New York, circa 1940.

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Martin_block_stan_kenton_wnewedited.jpg.

“G-man” (an FBI agent or government worker), and “pushover” (someone who is easily influenced or persuaded).

The on-air banter of radio personalities of this period, for the most part, save, perhaps, for Walter Winchell himself, was that of the benevolent and slick announcer who gave the radio audience as much information about the music as musical entertainment itself. DJs of the 1950s rock and roll period transitioned to a more energetic, manic presentation, often yelling over the top of background sound effects to underscore a feeling of excitement. But these velvet-voiced radio impresarios of the 1940s spoke very smoothly and elegantly. With their unabrasive, poetic demeanors, they Chapter 1 Needle Down 5 painted scenarios with their voices, scenes that emanated out of your living room with the artistic aplomb of a Renaissance master, the kindness of your silver-haired grandfather, and the defined preciseness of an Army training video. Radio shows of the 1930s and 1940s, in particular, created a personal connection with listeners, bringing families together to enjoy or be informed by a broadcast as one unit. These shows and their hosts helped create a national bond that survived the darkness of the Great Depression, World War II, and the collective fears and anxieties of daily life in a rapidly changing world (Brewster 2014).

TASTY BITE Martin Block (1903–1967) hosted the very popular radio show Make Believe Ballroom for an incredible span of 20 years from 1934 to 1954. The show began as a way to fill in air time with music while the show’s station, WNEW in New York, waited for news about the Lindbergh kidnapping trial. Block, inspired by a show with the same name that had been hosted by Al Jarvis in Los Angeles, pretended with his listeners that he was broadcasting from an actual ballroom, with top dance bands from across the country performing in real time. Block was inducted in the Radio Hall of Fame in 1988.

Listen Up!

When we listen to an original recording of anything, we are there at the moment of its inception, with the original artist or historical event that centered round it. The emotional impact is lost if we do not consider the passage of time as important to the value of the incident rather than the incident itself. Digital recording and “enhancement” have really done dastardly deeds with respect to the original sound of old recordings. “Cleaning things up” is not necessarily the greatest respect we can have for a work of art. That’s because the individual doing the cleaning is probably an expertly trained technician who is skillful at dial-twisting but may not necessarily be sympathetic to the “moment” captured in the recording, especially if this person did not live through that particular period. Music history professors in the future will be able to create fine and instructive lectures, but individuals who actually existed within the time frame will always be declining in number. History glosses over events like it does to a Medieval manuscript, and those who believe that the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and other prolific bands of their decades actually had time to enjoy their youth will discover that their productive noses were constantly tethered to the grindstone by record executives who needed their “pound of flesh” with six new songs on each side of the next LP, posthaste. John Lennon himself said that because of the Beatles, he and his fellow bandmates never experienced youth. The pressure to keep delivering, keep making money, keep satisfying the appetites of their fans was immense. Those of us in the Baby Boom Generation know that we were born prior to many of the modern conveniences that are now in danger of controlling our lives (rather than us being in control of these conveniences; Figure 1.2). Oh, the days of the smell of a fresh mimeograph, the machine replaced by the photocopier! Peter Allen’s and Carol Bayer Sager’s “Everything Old is New Again” is a great 6 ROCK ON THE ROLL: SERVING UP POPULAR CULTURE

FIGURE 1.2 This family from 1957 sits and listens to the radio together, a common hobby back then.

Source: https://www.loc.gov/item/2014647922/.

1920s-style tune though it was created in 1974. It is enriched with Ragtime-like underpinnings and a view into days gone by. Similarly, Paul McCartney’s “Martha My Dear” and “Your Mother Should Know” give us a Magical Mystery Tour into days of old where lyrics were maligned with melancholy abbreviation, endearing contractions, and the “thee” and “thou” more likely to appear in the Bible. Many of these songs became favorites at funerals and weddings though they’ve taken on more modern translations to sustain their longevity. One such song is “I Love You Truly,” which has been sobbed through at weddings since the late 1800s. Modification is not necessarily medication, and many times, the original sentiment of a song was wrung out of it as though it were an old wash rag rather than a complex musical tapestry. Pop and Broadway composers John Kander and Fred Ebb made a resounding statement with their song “Coffee in a Cardboard Cup,” which not only referenced a time period, but personalized the owning of your own java and the sadistic pleasure of burning both your hand and mouth that today’s Styrofoam does not benevolently permit. Chapter 1 Needle Down 7

TASTY BITE Written and directed by the Beatles, Magical Mystery Tour5 was a made-for-TV film that aired on the BBC on December 26, 1967, and depicted the band’s psychedelic adventures. The accompanying music included hits such as “I Am the Walrus” and “Hello Goodbye.”

An original work may be in danger of disappearing, like the frescoes on the walls of the Sistine Chapel, so, of course, we must preserve them for others. But preservation attempts need to sustain the original masterpiece and not “remaster” it. Renovation, inevitably, introduces some amount of change, whereas the goal of recreation is authenticity, bringing back to life what was already there, a song with all of its originally recorded hisses and booms and even background noise that tells us something about the place and the people involved in the event. Then again, maybe the original thing needs to disappear to really make its historic statement, like the dodo bird.

Playing the Hits From Yesterday and Today

I was a DJ myself in the early 2000s at the heyday of the Pop Diva Era that included singers like Celine Dion. I had been working for a couple of years at the radio station WCDO in upstate New York when I took my place behind the microphone for the 6 pm-to-midnight shift every Saturday. My on-air persona was Little Stevie, a take on the “jocks” of 1950s rock. Don the DJ, who had the noon-to-6pm shift, left and locked the outside door to the street, and I sat alone in front of the console like a penitent in a confessional awaiting my confessor. The five minutes of news from the top of the hour was beginning to dissolve, and I was quickly organizing my console dials, getting myself ready to launch my show. The station was no longer using records, but it did have a library of them to use for commercial backgrounds. The music I was to play was on reel-to-reel tape and CD. An electric clock in the control room told me what time it was, and a printed schedule on the wall in front of me was segmented with pie-shaped areas that designated where I was required to play certain reels and CDs and when I had a few moments to fill with my personal DJ-ing. As a DJ, I felt I had an obligation to play the music with reverence and respect since the artists on the recordings I played had put their music down on vinyl during time periods that my high school American history classes had taught me were ripe with many kinds of social conditions. The pop and rock music blasting through the speakers referenced the social and political issues facing the artists of their time, and even the simplest rock ballad, such as “Heartbreak Hotel” by Elvis, took me back to the time period of its inception. As a DJ, I had to keep my earphones on for the entire shift, except if there was a long enough song that was queued up to play next, a song like “American Pie” by Don McLean or “MacArthur Park” by Richard Harris. Still, I had to be alert to know when the song was ending or if there was any issue with the sound quality. Most people think it would be a lot of fun to be a DJ, but giving shout-outs to your friends over the air is unprofessional and usually stymied by the amount of regimentation and coordination that

5 The Beatles, Magical Mystery Tour, 1967, album, https://www.thebeatles.com/album/magical-mystery-tour. 8 ROCK ON THE ROLL: SERVING UP POPULAR CULTURE

playing records requires. The timing of the songs, which genre of songs to be played, and the com- mercials and public announcements that have to be inserted into the program are controlled and organized with surgical precision. This is mainly because of the first Payola Scandal where early rock DJs usurped their own freedoms and literally paid the price themselves. Everything has to be done within a limited time span—sometimes just seconds—to make the whole on-air presentation flow with perceived nonchalance and professionalism. There is really little opportunity to ad-lib, and once you define your on-air style and are recognized for your persona, your moments of improvisation become more and more confined as to what the listening audience expects you to say and how they expect you to say it. Songs, too, became shortened with their radio-edit versions. During the days of Winchell and Freed, the radio personality was able to be more talkative, more natural, more con- versational, and less bound to advertiser expectations. Now the regulations are more military issue.

TASTY BITE The Payola Scandal6 began in 1958 and exposed DJs who were getting paid by music executives to play specific songs on the radio as a way to influence public perception. The term “payola” comes from “pay” mixed with “ola,” which comes from Victrola, an early radio model known as a phonograph. The word “Victrola” became synonymous with the word “radio,” and “payola” can refer, in general, to a bribe given to a broadcast whether it is a radio, television, or other type of broadcast.

Radio Head

Radio, since its public debut in the early 1920s, has been a “theater of the mind.” The listener is trans- ported into a world that enables his or her own understanding of what is coming out of the speakers. Radio is really the foundation of the entertainment industry for it allowed the greatest number of people to journey to their favorite venues without having to leave their homes. The history of mass media from motion pictures to today’s high-tech earbuds echoes what radio provided to the American public when it first started. Over the last several decades, from the“War of the Worlds”7 broadcast in 1938, Edward R. Murrow’s “This is London” telecasts in 1940, and the plethora of podcasts available today, radio has continued to assert its seminal presence as a sort of loving grandparent, always having the patience to wait out the frivolities and fickleness that define every new decade.

Tasty Bite In 1938, American actor, writer, and director Orson Welles broadcast on live radio his “War of the Worlds,” a fake news segment about aliens invading earth. Many listeners did not realize the story was fake, however, and panicked. Find a recording online. Would you have been fooled?

6 The Beatles, Magical Mystery Tour. 7 “War of the Worlds,” March 23, 2008, podcast, http://www.radiolab.org/story/91622-war-of-the-worlds/. Chapter 1 Needle Down 9

American journalist Edward R. Murrow8 broadcast live from London during The Blitz, Nazi Germany’s airstrikes in England during 1940 and 1941. He provided, in extraordinary detail, what life was like for Londoners being continuously bombed, trying to survive World War II. He began his shows by saying, “This is London,” and he ended them by saying, “Good night, and good luck,” which became the title of the 2005 movie about Murrow starring David Strathairn and George Clooney.

I believe radio broadcasting will always be around—it is the most honest, personal, and emo- tionally satisfying “Land Where the Good Songs Go,” as Jerome Kern identifies it. Cell phones are really just personal radios, with music sourced from the ether we call wifi, and, in a way, they vary little from when radio stations carried your favorite radio shows through telephone wires and into your room. Ok, so old-timey radios weren’t able to take photos of you and your friends, but they were friends to you and yours.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

1. Think of the DJs, radio hosts, or even podcast hosts you listen to in whatever genre you like best who have a talent for coming up with slang. What slang have you noticed these people come up with? Do you ever use these words or phrases in your own communication? Has the slang been used or even modified by other listeners? 2. Think about the bands you listen to most often. Can you find slang from older music incorporated into these songs? What contemporary slang terms are used? What’s now out of style, terms a modern band is unlikely to use? 3. Have you ever created your own slang, maybe with friends or at work? How do you use it?

GET COOKING

1. Slang terms often build off of each other. Give an example of evolving slang. 2. Find at least three different types of radio shows, local or national, focused on music. Listen to each one for at least two episodes, and describe them. What do you like about them? What do you dislike about them?

8 Bob Edwards, “Edward R. Murrow Broadcast from London (September 21, 1940),” Library of Congress, accessed September 15, 2018, https://www.loc.gov/programs/static/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/murrow.pdf. 10 ROCK ON THE ROLL: SERVING UP POPULAR CULTURE

3. Find the complete lyrics to one of the songs mentioned in this chapter. Follow along as you listen to the song, then, write out the slang terms. Can you deduce the meanings to some of the terms? If so, write them down. For the terms you are unsure about, find the definition. Check the ones you thought you knew—were there any surprises?