“New
Pop! Manifesto
“As our teen-bongo, Space Age counter-culture
becomes infiltrated by wimpoid TV “mop tops”
in skinny ties and leather pants, it becomes apparent
that the bland sameness of the pop suprastructure is
with us once again. Once-adventurous bands who now opt
for major label contracts are immediately becoming the
robot-slaves of a system that is interested in one thing
only – money. Believe me, wealthy biz-execs who
sit in their air-conditioned penthouses are not contemplating
anarchy and invention. Likewise, the machine-like organizations
they work for could care less about new sounds or new
cultural heroes.
“We must recognize the fact that BIG BEAT music
(next to TV) is the dominant cultural force of our time.
When people buy a record, they are not only plugging
into the music, but into the values & lifestyles
that are implied by that artist. By supporting huge
New Hollywood music corporations, you (yes, you) are
not only allowing middle-aged capitalists to dictate
what goes over the airwaves, but you are giving them
the go-ahead to promote macho pig-fuck bands whose entire
lifestyle revolves around cocaine, sexism, money and
more money. The ‘80s need new sounds, but just
as importantly, they need new cultural heroes.
“Only by supporting new ideas by local artists,
bands, and record labels can the U.S. expect any kind
of dynamic social/cultural change in the 1980s. This
is because the mass homogenization of our culture is
due to the claustrophobic centralization of our culture.
We need diverse, regionalized, localized approaches
to all forms of art, music, and politics. It is important
to remember that bands like Pere Ubu, B-52’s,
Specials, DEVO, Patti Smith, the Voidoids, the Romantics
and Elvis Costello all started on independent labels;
and we all know that fat, cigar-smoking dough-boys at
Warner Bros. Didn’t give a fuck about these bands
until they realized there was a profit involved.
“A few of the aforementioned bands have been able
to maintain a sense of strength and adventurousness
since becoming employees of major corporations. Others
have definitely not (drop dead Patti). The important
thing to remember is this: the most intense music, the
most original ideas…are coming out of scenes you
don’t even know exist. Tomorrow’s pop is
being realized today on small decentralized record labels
that are interested in taking risks, not making money.”
Subterranean Pop, issue #1, Introduction
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