Fall 2007 Recitative

Shouting Out Loud: Women in Punk Music By Caroline O’Meara (WS ’88–93) When punk developed in New York City in the mid-1970s, several women played promi- All my life I have been surrounded by women nent roles: Patti Smith, Debbie Harry of making music. My mother is a Junior Blondie, and Tina Weymouth of the Talking Conservatory Camp alumna, and my years at Heads. Nevertheless, New York punk rock Walden overflowed with female role models. generally distanced itself from politics, For my friends and me, women writing music including the feminist movement. By the were not female composers, they were simply early 1980s, however, the initially male-heavy composers. When I became a music major in genre had changed as many all-female and college, composing and studying music histo- mixed-sex American bands began to record ry, this situation changed so quickly I almost and tour, from the B-52’s to ESG (a group of didn’t notice. When I graduated college in the teenage sisters from the South Bronx). late 1990s, the music department had a single female faculty member, a world-renowned In 1976, punk took off in the U.K., and from opera historian. By this time, this its beginning British punk culture was inequity seemed almost normal to me, always more socially and politically Recitative despite the number of highly talented engaged than its American cousin. female graduate student composers and British punk feminism was most close- musicologists. Yet, when I began my ly related to the branch of feminism Vol. 13 No. 2 | Fall 2007 graduate work in musicology, I knew devoted to women succeeding on male that two of the topics I wanted to terrain, from the political stage to the work on were women making music rock stage. (Margaret Thatcher did not and popular music. Since then, I have count). In my work, I’ve looked at the found that these two research interests music of a band called The Raincoats, a often intersect. mostly-female punk band most active in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Writing about popular music as a musi- Raincoats understood their music in cologist certainly includes discussing terms of punk’s opposition to mainstream lyrics and social context, and analyzing musical music and performance values, but they wanted content. But for me it is ultimately, and essen- to deploy punk for productive, feminist tially, about the people who make it, the people means. Critics and other musicians at the who perform it, and the people who listen to it time described their songs not only as “femi- and incorporate it into their lives. That is why I nist,” but as somehow enacting gender, am not as interested in long, complicated rock embodying femininity. In other words, it wasn’t tracks composed by artists referencing classical just the topics they chose — traditions — although I find The Raincoats’s songs con- this scholarship fascinating Recommended Listening fronted topics such as body enough — as I am in the sim- Various Artists, D.I.Y: Blank image (“Odyshape”) and date plicity of punk rock. Generation — The New York Scene (1975–1978) rape (“Off Duty Trip”) — but My work is about more than The Raincoats: Odyshape the music that they wrote and being able to hear that the ESG: South Bronx Story performed that sounded femi- Ramones’s “Blitzkrieg Bop” The B-52’s: The B-52’s nine to listeners. For example, uses only four chords. After all, Various Artists: New York Noise their songs often avoided the what makes punk so powerful Blondie: Parallel Lines strong backbeats of much rock is neither the virtuosity of the X-Ray Spex: Germ-Free Adolescents music, instead featuring stut- performers nor the complexity Talking Heads: 1977 tering rhythms that came from of their harmonies. In music Patti Smith: Horses British punk’s interest in theory classes, I had learned The Slits: Cut Jamaican reggae music. Their how to analyze and value music re-imagined rhythm section based on the ways it fulfilled principles such as often embodied the nervous energy and uncer- Life After Walden...................... page 2 organicism, but common analytical tools like tainty of their lyrics, sung by voices often Schenkerian analysis can become problematic wavering and fluctuating expressively. Preserving Our Castles when applied to Chopin Preludes, not to men- in the Air ................................ page 2 It’s when my work as a music historian crosses tion the Sex Pistols. So, the challenge in over into looking at broader cultural and social JCC Corner................................ page 3 writing about popular music can be deciding movements that it becomes most interesting which analytical tools to use for each new work Better Living Through Music: to me. Bringing together musical and histori- you tackle. It’s often about intellectual flexibility Spotlight on Fay Griscom ..........page 4 cal analysis not only explains what “feminine” and an open mind. Donor Spotlight: meant in popular music in the late 1970s and Charles and Jean Nauert............ page 4 I became interested in studying punk rock early 1980s, but also the development of Sympathetic Vibrations ............ page 5 because the genre’s enthusiasm for musical women’s participation in popular music as a Walden Recipe.......................... page 5 amateurism provided a one-of-a-kind space for whole. Women in punk worked hard to gain women to fully participate in the rock dis- access to the rock stage, paving the way for the Reunion ............................ pages 6 & 7 course. If “anyone can make music,” that women (and men) that followed. Contributors to meant (even) girls could. Of course, punk was The Walden School .......... pages 8 & 9 Caroline O’Meara received her Ph.D. from the not the only social movement of the 1970s University of California, Los Angeles, in 2006. News and Goods .......... pages 10 & 11 that encouraged, even demanded, that women She currently lives with her husband in Chapel Alumni Spotlight: get out of the house and onto the (metaphori- Hill, North Carolina, where she is working on a Lance Reddick ........................ page 12 cal or literal) stage. At times, however, it was book project based on her dissertation. the loudest. Life After Walden: An Update from the Field By Molly Pindell before heading south to Mexico for the Day of quartet with friends and in the school’s game- the Dead. In December Freya travels to India to lan. One of Lee’s favorite things about On the last night of Walden’s 2007 Young work in an orphanage for three months. Then Swarthmore is the beauty of the school’s cam- Musicians Program, we sang our final Good she’s off to Thailand to ride elephants, stay in a pus. Says Lee, “We’ve had lots of bright and Night Music with nine graduating seniors. Buddhist monastery, and learn the sunny weather, and I’ve spent a Although we will miss all of them greatly, we basics of Thai language, culture, lot of time exploring the arbore- are pleased to send them off into the world and cooking. tum that is also our campus.” with Walden’s blessing. This fall we caught up with each student for a personal report. Michael Garrido reports, “I am At Stanford, Andrew Linford is loving USC like a tall, green tree.” performing on a variety of instru- At Bard College, Erica Ball continues to pur- He is planning to major in theatre ments. He takes cello lessons, sue her dual passions, music and running. She and is involved in an assortment of plays in a viola quintet, and has studies composition with Joan Tower and is extracurricular activities, includ- Erica Ball, Andrea Grody, taken up the tenor sax so he can working on a piece for Da Capo Chamber ing pledging Beta Theta Pi, and Ilana Rainero-de Haan play in the school’s marching Players. Erica is a member of Bard’s cross-coun- joining CIRCLE (Critical Issues in band. In addition to music, try team and she plans to travel to California in Race, Class, and Leadership Education), and Andrew’s coursework includes classes in January to run the Carlsbad Marathon and dancing and performing in cul- French, Linear Algebra, and “The American qualify for the Boston Marathon. ture shows for Nikkei and Troy Memory of the Civil War.” Brayden Cleary is enjoying his Philippines (a Japanese and At Bucknell Cliff Reilly continues to play freshman year at Duke. His courses Philippino student group, respec- hand bells, with the Rooke Chapel Ringers. He include Intro Psychology, Intro tively). Michael misses Walden, also sings with the school’s newest a cappella Economics, History of the but says he now has “a wider per- group, Beyond Unison. His Walden training is Americas, and a class entitled ception of inspiration and coming in handy; Cliff was awarded a $5,000 “Framing the Immigration opportunities for collaboration scholarship from the hand bell ensemble for his Debate.” Outside of the classroom, Jen Rosenfeld and everywhere.” Andrew Linford rhythm and sight-singing skills. Cliff reports, Brayden is teaching local Durham Andrea Grody is a freshman at “I’m generally happy here, although it’s not kids how to play tennis and will be joining the Princeton University, where she is studying even close to Walden.” Ultimate Frisbee team. He’s also looking for- composition. She has also lined up ward to an exciting Duke basketball season. Jen Rosenfeld is a freshman at a series of auditions for both a cap- UCLA, where she hopes to dou- Freya Waley-Cohen has elected to do a bit of pella and musical theatre groups on ble major in music and film.

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