University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016 University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2015 'Feels like we only go backwards': nostalgia and contemporary retro rock music Nicholas Russo University of Wollongong Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses University of Wollongong Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. The University does not authorise you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site. You are reminded of the following: This work is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this work may be reproduced by any process, nor may any other exclusive right be exercised, without the permission of the author. Copyright owners are entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. 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For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] ‘FEELS LIKE WE ONLY GO BACKWARDS’ NOSTALGIA AND CONTEMPORARY RETRO ROCK MUSIC A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree Doctor of Philosophy from University of Wollongong by Nicholas Russo, BA (Hons) LLB School of the Arts, English and Media 2015 CERTIFICATION I, Nicholas Russo, declare that this thesis, submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy, in the Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts, University of Wollongong, is wholly my own work unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged. The document has not been submitted for qualifications at any other academic institution. Nicholas Russo 20 April 2015 i TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATION ......................................................................................................................... i TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................. ii LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... ix 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 STRUCTURE OF THESIS ........................................................................................... 6 SECTION I: SETTING THE SCENE ........................................................................................ 12 2 A RECENT HISTORY OF RETRO ROCK ....................................................................... 13 2.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 13 2.2 FROM THE ROCK AND ROLL FIFTIES TO THE SWINGING SIXTIES ............ 15 2.3 THINKING OF HAPPY(ER) DAYS: THE FIRST ROCK AND ROLL REVIVAL AND THE EMBELLISHED 1950S RETRO AESTHETIC ...................................... 19 2.4 ‘RETROMANIA’ AND THE GARAGE ROCK REVIVAL IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM ........................................................................................................... 30 2.5 THE PRESENT STATE OF THE PAST IN CONTEMPORARY RETRO ROCK .. 34 2.6 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 40 3 NOSTALGIA AIN’T WHAT IT USED TO BE ................................................................ 41 3.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 41 3.2 THE CHANGING FACE OF NOSTALGIA ............................................................. 42 3.3 THE USES OF NOSTALGIA .................................................................................... 50 3.4 MUSIC AS MEMORATIVE SIGN – MUSIC AS AESTHETIC CODE .................. 54 3.5 INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN NOSTALGIA AND POPULAR MUSIC STUDIES .................................................................................................................................... 57 3.6 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 66 4 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................. 67 4.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 67 4.2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................................................ 68 4.2.1 Objectivity, Subjectivity and Reflexivity ............................................................ 71 4.3 RESEARCH METHODS ........................................................................................... 76 4.3.1 Composition, Sound and Music .......................................................................... 81 4.3.2 Performance Analysis ......................................................................................... 84 4.3.3 Semiology and Album Covers ............................................................................ 86 ii 4.3.4 Interviews and Talk ............................................................................................. 88 4.4 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 91 SECTION II: “DOING SOMETHING THAT’S BEEN DONE” .............................................. 93 5 ‘THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME’: COMPOSITION AND SOUND IN CONTEMPORARY RETRO ROCK RECORDINGS ....................................................... 94 5.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 94 5.2 THE COMPOSITION AND SOUND DIVIDE ......................................................... 96 5.3 COMPOSITION ....................................................................................................... 101 5.4 SOUND ..................................................................................................................... 110 5.4.1 The Phonographic Staging Model ..................................................................... 112 5.4.2 The Phonographic Staging of Sound in the Contemporary Retro Rock Recordings of Tame Impala .............................................................................. 115 5.5 CONCLUSION: A CONTINUUM OF DERIVATIVENESS FOR CONTEMPORARY RETRO ROCK RECORDINGS ............................................. 122 6 DEAD OR ALIVE: PERFORMING CONTEMPORARY RETRO ROCK ..................... 125 6.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 125 6.2 DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN LIVE AND RECORDED MUSIC ...................... 126 6.3 RAUCOUS RAWNESS AND RETRO ROCK – THE FROWNING CLOUDS AT THE ESPLANADE HOTEL – 19 NOVEMBER 2011 ............................................ 130 6.4 PERFORMING THE RECORDING – TAME IMPALA AT THE SYDNEY OPERA THEATRE – 1 JUNE 2010 ....................................................................................... 141 6.5 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................... 157 7 SEEING IS RELIVING: CONTEMPORARY RETRO ROCK ALBUM COVERS ....... 160 7.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 160 7.2 ALBUM COVER DESIGN AND THE 1960S ........................................................ 162 7.3 PRE-SGT PEPPER DESIGN .................................................................................... 166 7.3.1 Text Signs ......................................................................................................... 167 7.3.2 Photographic Portraiture ................................................................................... 172 7.4 POST-SGT PEPPER DESIGN ................................................................................. 182 7.6 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................... 196 8 TALKIN’ ‘BOUT