PRESSED BETWEEN THE PAGES OF MY MIND: TANGIBILITY, PERFORMANCE, AND TECHNOLOGY IN ARCHIVAL POPULAR MUSIC RESEARCH Rebekah Burchfield A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August 2010 Committee: William Schurk, Advisor Scott Magelssen Graduate Faculty Representative Vivian Patraka Donald McQuarie © 2010 Rebekah Burchfield All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT William Schurk, Advisor Acknowledging the unique ontological nature of sound recording, this project seeks to outline a framework for working with archival sources in popular music scholarship. The proposed theoretical lens combines influences from cultural studies, historical audience studies, and performance studies in order to encourage a broader appreciation of the popular music archive and the identity-making cultural practices surrounding the popular music archive. Such an endeavor requires the acknowledgement of three theoretical considerations: technology, performance, and tangibility. To illustrate the breadth of readings that this approach to the popular music archive can yield, each chapter uses source material from the Music Library and Sound Recordings Archives at Bowling Green State University. Chapter Two analyzes the contents of rock promotional materials and argues that these technologies of representation code rock music according to semiotic markers of masc ulinity, whiteness, and mythic America. Chapter Three argues that themes of inclusion and exclusion in punk fanzines work to unite individual, localized scenes into a translocal scene that transcends time and geographical boundaries through shared narratives and common values. Chapter Four examines the construction of audience identity through teen-oriented artist biographies and argues that such technologies of representation police (female) fan behavior through narratives of “proper” fandom. Chapter Five explores themes of physical separation and reunion through the American Top 40 Long Distance Dedication segment and argues that the iv format’s affective qualities are inextricably bound to physical embodiment and common physical vulnerability. The project concludes with a revisiting of the concepts of tangibility, performance, and technology in the age of the digital archive through brief case studies of the iPod, the play count, and the ubiquity of Auto-Tune in contemporary popular music. Ultimately, the project makes a case for an active music archive: taking technology, tangibility, and performance into consideration allows for archival scholarship in popular music to be as lively as the music itself. v For my dedication, I would like to take a cue from Céline Dion, who, during her A New Day stage show in Las Vegas, dedicated the song “If I Could” to “all the parents and children of the world.” As fourfour blogger Rich Juzwiak pointed out, THAT’S EFFING EVERYBODY. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my committee members for all their wonderful support. First and foremost, I am deeply thankful for Bill Schurk and his agreeing to go on this weird and wacky adventure with me. I stand by my assertion that the people of the Music Library and Sound Recordings Archives are treasures among treasures. I also thank Susannah Cleveland and Patty Falk for making everything in the collection so accessible to me. I very much appreciate the wonderful contributions and guidance of Vicki Patraka and my grad rep, Scott Magelssen. Finally, I would like to thank Don McQuarie for being so involved and invested in my project even as he was getting ready for retirement. I wish him many happy years of fulfillment outside the academy, which shouldn’t be too difficult to do since he’s already agreed to play keyboards in my band. Ok, and I have to thank my mom now. THANKS, MOM. YOU MADE IT INTO ANOTHER ACKNOWLEDGMENTS PAGE. Thank you especially for the 700 or so times you asked me if I had either a) started my dissertation or b) finished my dissertation. I love you. And I finished it, ok? This project could not have been completed at the glacial pace it was without the tireless procrastinatory efforts of Bethesda Softworks (Morrowind, Oblivion, and, yes, Fallout 3), Lionhead Studios (Fable II), and NCsoft (City of Heroes). Hundreds of hours of my life, you guys. I have been incredibly privileged to go through this doctoral program with the coolest group of people I have ever known. Thanks especially go to Roz Sibielski and Kelly Watson for the coffee work dates and their attendant feedback, suggestions, venting, and commiserating. I am incredibly proud to be getting this degree with you and all the awesome people in our 2006 vii cohort. Cohort, I love you. No really, I do. I love you more than I love ketchup. I love you more than I love Coheed and Cambria. I love you more than I love classic wrestling. Whether you have already finished, are finishing now, or have yet to finish, I am proud to be associated with such a fine group of people and look forward to celebrating all our professional and personal accomplishments in the future. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the vital role that Will Malone has played and continues to play in my life. Malone, you are definitely the kind of wrestler I want in my Royal Rumble. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1 Music Is a Thing: the Archive, Tangibility and the Ontology of Recorded Sound ............................................................................................................ 3 Performance in Materials, Performance of Materials ................................................ 10 Archival Materials as Technologies of Representation ............................................. 13 Speaking through the Traces: Literature Review of Notable Archival Music Studies ............................................................................................................ 15 Methodology: Institutional Details, Sampling Technique, Methods of Analysis ...... 21 “Ruffians in Ripped Jeans’”: Identity and Genre Performance in Rock Press Releases ............................................................................................................ 24 “What Was I Sniffin’”: Rants, Raves, and Scenes in Punk Fanzines ........................ 25 How to Behave for Your Fave Rave: Policing Fan Behavior in Teen-Oriented Artist Biographies ............................................................................................................ 27 Empathy, Embodiment, and the Long Distance Dedication ...................................... 29 “Feels Good When You Palm It”: Digital Consumption and the Internet Archive ... 30 CHAPTER II. “‘RUFFIANS IN RIPPED JEANS’”: IDENTITY AND GENRE PERFORMANCE IN ROCK PRESS RELEASES ............................................................... 36 Rock Narratives in a Unique Collection: The Bio-Files Archive .............................. 37 Performance, Authenticity, and the Semiotics of Genre ............................................ 40 Findings by Theme: Press Releases and Place—America and Rock Music ............. 43 What about Phoenix? Press Releases and Place, Part 2: Rock and Region ............... 47 ix If You Can’t Fuck or Fight to It… Rock and Roll Ideology in Press Releases ......... 51 “We’re Not about Making an Issue of It’”: Female Artists in Rock Press Releases ............................................................................................................ 55 Let’s Go See That White Kid Rock! The Absence of Blackness in Rock Press Releases ............................................................................................................ 58 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 60 CHAPTER III. “WHAT WAS I SNIFFIN’”: RANTS, RAVES, AND SCENES IN PUNK FANZINES ........................................................................................................... 65 Zines, Scenes, and Teens of All Ages ........................................................................ 66 Sampling Method and Themes .................................................................................. 71 Get Off Your Ass and Do Something! Activity versus Apathy................................. 72 Way Too Confusing and Yes, Cliquey: Inclusiveness versus Fragmentation ........... 76 Ain’t Gonna Give a Dime to Some Sleazy Club Promoter: Community Building versus Scene Exploitation ..................................................................................................... 81 Little Grubby Sid Vicious Wannabes: Substance versus Style ................................. 86 Conclusion: The Local, the Translocal, and the Offense ........................................... 90 CHAPTER IV. HOW TO BEHAVE FOR YOUR FAVE RAVE: POLICING FAN BEHAVIOR IN TEEN-ORIENTED ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES ........................................... 98 Power, Disciplinary Practices, and Feminist Concerns ............................................. 99 Mrs. Consumer to Seventeen to 16: The Gendering of the Teen Music Audience .... 102 “‘This Is Bad.’”: Prescribed Fan Behaviors ............................................................... 109 “I’ll Look Good for Bobby”: Encouraged Femininity ............................................... 114 “Forbidden Fruit (of the Loom)”: Rebellion and Sexuality ......................................