When we were [recording 'Supa Dupa Fly'], we didn't listen to the radio, we didn't watch videos, so we didn't hear nor see. We created a sound that we didn't even know we were creating. We didn't know what was hot, so we just was creating music. I wish I could get back to that space of not seeing or hearing. | | | | Hurdle-punk: English punk-rocker Frank Carter at the Firenze Rocks festival, Firenze, Italy, June 14, 2018.
(Alessandro Bosio/LightRocket/Getty Images) | | | | | |  | "When we were [recording 'Supa Dupa Fly'], we didn't listen to the radio, we didn't watch videos, so we didn't hear nor see. We created a sound that we didn't even know we were creating. We didn't know what was hot, so we just was creating music. I wish I could get back to that space of not seeing or hearing."
| | | | | | rantnrave:// The phrase "love it or leave it," newly relevant (in paraphrased form) in the cruel, toxic summer of 2019, has floated around American politics since at least as far back as World War II, but was widely popularized 49 years ago by a country song. MERLE HAGGARD's "THE FIGHTIN' SIDE OF ME," which rendered the sentiment as "if you don't love it, leave it," is a blistering, belligerent anti-anti-war song that topped the BILLBOARD country chart for three weeks and scraped the bottom of the pop chart, too, at a time when Vietnam War protests were at a fever pitch. The KENT STATE shootings would happen less than half a year later. Musically speaking, it's one of Haggard's early masterpieces, a tough, compact and catchy pearl of West Coast country songcraft. Lyrically, it's well-crafted, heartfelt, divisive and despicable, telling anti-war activists that the singer doesn't mind them "standing up for things that they believe in" but he does mind them living in the same country as him. I respect you; now leave. He calls them "squirrelly" and complains that they "preach about some other way of living," all of which sounds strangely familiar half a century later. "The Fightin' Side of Me" wasn't the single Haggard wanted to release in January 1970, though. Following up "OKIE FROM MUSKOGEE," the red-state anti-drug anthem that became his signature song—much to his chagrin—he wanted his next single to be "IRMA JACKSON," an interracial love song about a couple kept apart by the social mores of the same country that loved "Okie From Muskogee." He was itching to play against type. He cared about civil rights. But CAPITOL RECORDS said no. It wasn't on brand and, the label feared, it might be a few years ahead of his audience. So, forced to double down on an image he didn't want, Haggard ended up playing to the worst impulses of at least part of his audience while gifting the country with one of the ugliest sentiments of the times, a sentiment that has proved remarkably enduring. Love it or leave it indeed. Attach it to a good melody and great-sounding guitars and it can be strangely seductive. Haggard endured, too, but he changed with the years. He became an enthusiastic marijuana consumer and came to treat his anti-drug anthem, which remained a calling card, as a piece of satire. His audience generally went along with that. But he was an avid supporter of the military and his anti-peacenik anthem remained closer to his heart. He defended it to the end. I've listened to enough Haggard over the years to know the harshest judgments within that song don't represent the man he became. He was a better patriot than that, a proud citizen and chronicler of a complicated, ever-changing America. But the songwriter doesn't always get final say over what the song says. Once he lets it out into the world, it's the world's to decide, for better or worse... This is the most wonderful music nerd video I've seen in at least seven or 11 minutes: "Playing a 7/11 polyrhythm inside a 7-Eleven on July 11th at 7:11 for 7 minutes and 11 seconds"... This is a BLACK KEYS, um, masterclass... MAKING THE BAND, it's back... STUBHUB issues a half-million bucks worth of blackout refunds. | | | - Matty Karas, curator | | | |  | Omaha World-Herald | | With music sales not matching the levels of the previous generations, Omaha-born band 311 is following the lead of other artists and working to create a brand beyond its music. | | | |  | The New York Times | | After the rapper was gunned down in Los Angeles, city leaders embraced him as a peacemaker. But he was also under investigation. | | | |  | Vox | | With a disco sample and drum machine house music took over the globe. | | | |  | The Atlantic | | A new wave of online creators is here. | | | |  | Genius | | The rom-com 'Someone Great' helped the singer-songwriter earn a star-making moment. | | | |  | Music Business Worldwide | | New York-based Colleen Theis is a key management figure at The Orchard -- the Sony-owned distribution and services company working with BTS, Jorja Smith and more. | | | |  | The Ringer | | More than 15 years ago, a young indie folk artist set a course to traverse the United States of America through song, accruing acclaim, a fan base, and lots of anticipation along the way. Or did he? | | | |  | Trapital | | Dan Runcie breaks down why Cardi B has held out on a major tour, why she's on the festival circuit instead, and whether her model is one that other rappers can follow. | | | |  | MUSIC • TECHNOLOGY • POLICY | | Sometimes big corporations slip up and show us what they really think of us, and this was one of those times. But what's Spotify's plan? | | | |  | ADWEEK | | The company blocked 10 billion bot purchase attempts last year. | | | | | The New York Times | | Listen to the sound of rock gobbling pop culture. | | | |  | Daily Dot | | The songwriter is 'amused, flattered, and relieved' by the meme. | | | |  | Pitchfork | | She leads a new generation of female hip-hop artists who are crafting catharsis from rage. | | | |  | The Washington Post | | On his new album -- and onstage -- the songwriter is exploring a new kind of lyrical friction. | | | |  | Hypebot | | Attorney Chris Castle sits down with Micahel Brandvold and Jay Gilbert on the Music Biz Weekly Podcast to talk about Pledgemusic. Castle offers his insights into when the current debacle started, why it may have happened and what could happen next including bankruptcy and administration. | | | |  | Soundfly | | Got 10 minutes to learn about the history of the drum kit as we know it today? We talk about how individual drums, players, and genres helped the kit evolve. | | | |  | NPR Music | | GoldLink joined All Songs Considered from the BBC in London to discuss his latest album, "Diaspora," rapid gentrification in D.C. and what he's learned about the universal black experience. | | | |  | Marie Claire | | The artist, who's ready to drop long-awaited new music, redefined hip-hop vocally and visually. Here, she discusses her superstar legacy. | | | |  | Revolver | | Deicide, Death, Morbid Angel, Obituary and more tell the story of one of heavy music's most game-changing movements | | | |  | The Outline | | Justin Kuritzkes' debut novel 'Famous People' explores the smooth-brained inner life of a contemporary pop star. | | | | |  | | YouTube | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | © Copyright 2019, The REDEF Group | | |
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