Big on Friday nights in the ’80s in North Carolina was “beach music,” which I had never heard of before and usually meant oldies that lent themselves to a dance called shagging. (Yeah, I know.) Two of the classics:
These guys were big in Raleigh, even before Crash Davis socked Nuke LaLoosh outside a Hillsborough Street bar.
they were pretty big in New Brunswick too
About ten years ago, Pat DiNizio did a living room tour, and he played at our home in Maplewood. Still one of my most fond musical memories. What a fun afternoon that was.
Such a diverse list. It’s almost like POC didn’t invent all this. What a sham. Hate lists anyway.
it was said in the '80s that the two most segregated aspects of life in the U.S. were churches and music. It's not that much better now, but music in that decade may have been more racially segregated than any time in our history.
Big on Friday nights in the ’80s in North Carolina was “beach music,” which I had never heard of before and usually meant oldies that lent themselves to a dance called shagging. (Yeah, I know.) Two of the classics:
one of my friends was in a band in the 80s in NJ, and an agent wanted to represent them. He was adamant that NC beach music was going to be all the rage in NJ and wanted them to play music for people to shag dance. They declined and took the route of writing their own material (without an agent).
still waiting for that Jersey Shore beach music fad.
Such a diverse list. It’s almost like POC didn’t invent all this. What a sham. Hate lists anyway.
it was said in the '80s that the two most segregated aspects of life in the U.S. were churches and music. It's not that much better now, but music in that decade may have been more racially segregated than any time in our history.
Such a diverse list. It’s almost like POC didn’t invent all this. What a sham. Hate lists anyway.
it was said in the '80s that the two most segregated aspects of life in the U.S. were churches and music. It's not that much better now, but music in that decade may have been more racially segregated than any time in our history.
As a Brit who currently writes themed trivia quizzes which involve music rounds, I've definitely discovered this.
in the sense that playlists for radio stations in the '80s were almost exclusively white artists or black artists, depending on the stations' formats. That WLIR list wasn't unique in the '80s, and you'd be hard pressed to find any non-white artists on it.
I don't know why this is even a question. MTV was so white when it began that artists started directly calling them out on it.
well, "music is segregated" is kind of a very broad statement, so I was wondering what you exactly meant. And you meant that playlists were either mostly white or mostly black. OK.
Your personal taste is your business. I think the point to be made, however, is about exposure. Black artists for the most part did not receive the kind of exposure on MTV, and other outlets, that would have led to a wider audience ( and thus more compensation) in the early 80’s. The Bowie interview reveals that these outlets were not just about meeting the needs of what they decided the audience wanted, but actually went about shaping those tastes by narrowing the playlist. Of course Bowie, and artists like Michael Jackson and Prince blew the lid off their ignorance. Big time.
The complaints about MTV are well documented, and it’s not about what you personally consider “not a big deal” Yes, they eventually changed their format, but were arm- twisted into do so, and that matters. We can gleefully recall the 80’s, I know I do. But some true geniuses, as in real musicians, had to fight to be heard while mediocre pop shlock was reaping the benefits of air time.
my choices reflect a multitude of nights at the Melody Bar in New Brunswick, listening to DJ Matt Pinfield.