Dress&Culture Rock musicians - Essay Example

Visual Rock Music Stars Dress and Ideology It can be said that 1950s were the times of overwhelming boredom for young people as well as remarkable excitement, dominated by imperious pressures toward traditionalism and accord. According to the studies of professor Richard Aquila (1992: 269-270) these two domineering forces were ruling the decade, reducing the opportunities for being diverse and, thus, downgrading the expressions of new opinions and ideas of the society. It was clear that time for rebellious changes had come, thus a new style in music appeared. The style that brought about change and uproar, with unusual hairstyles, provocative clothing and offensive lyrics. The grownups hated it, the clergy forbade it, still the teenagers yearned for it. Rock n roll that was the style of music that appeared, as you have probably guessed already, during the 1950s drastically changing the popular music and becoming a powerful factor in the development of teenage culture firstly across the American and British nations and then the rest of the world (Miller and Nowak, 1977: 303-307). Superficially, an explanation of this sudden musical flare seems to be quite straightforward (Denisoff, 1983: 55). The conservative and traditional subsistence could not continue forever, especially at times of after war changes. The youth was craving for something new and reactionary in style and format and they succeeded in creating it. Though, the conservative and overwhelmed with boredom society, reacted critically, throwing the aggression towards the young ones. It has been proven in history that every time a bright and scandalous event occurs, it lasts for some time, then disappearing as the years go by. However, the situation with rock and roll was different. Yes, the time passed by and people got more or less used to the novelty of rock and roll, though the situation never turned back to normal (Tosches, 1991: 2). The music did not disappear after a few years of wrath, but stayed on in continuously varying forms and styles. What is more, is that the negative reactions towards rock and roll did not fade away either and the active opposition to it remained (Martin, Segrave 1988, part I). Above I provided some background information on the topic of rock and roll that will help me get closer to the topic that will be dealt with lower. The aim of my study is to examine the relationship between dress and ideology of visual rock music stars. This group was chosen as the visual nature of the group allows for a thorough analysis of the ways in which the beliefs of the group may affect their decisions relating to dress. In the frameowkr of my project, an interview was conducted with members of a rock music group in order to collect primary data on the topic. The interview is used in this study to ascertain the history of the group and the beliefs of the group. The interview was also used to obtain information about how the group’s beliefs have changed over time. The information from the interview is presented here alongside with the relevant current literature to ascertain how the two are interlinked. The interview revealed several things, some of which were expected, but others which were surprising. The interview found that the band did not claim to hold any strong beliefs which related to politics or religion. The band members claimed that their ideology, focused more on having fun, and this was the image that they tried to portray. The band did acknowledge that there are many rock bands which do have strong ideologies. One such example, which they quoted was the British group the Sex Pistols, who were famous in the Punk Rock era of the 1980s. They were as famous for their strong beliefs in anarchy and hatred of the British political regimes as they were for their music. The interview also revealed that the rock group was heavily influenced by other counterpart rock groups. Though, not only other famous rock groups influenced the taken group’s music, but also their dress. For example, it was mentioned in the interview that childhood heroes had been the rock groups of the 70s such as T-Rex. From viewing the photographs of the rock groups it is possible to observe that this has influenced the dress, especially in the early years of the rock band. It would have been the mid-1980s when the band was formed, and they could be seen to be wearing a mixture of bright colors, in a range of shiny fabrics. Many of the clothes were skin-tight and there were large amounts of skin bared. This is clearly very similar to many of the bands from the 1970s. Another hero which was mentioned in the interview was Freddy Mercury, and his style is also echoed in the band’s dress. The dress during this period also seemed to be in keeping with the band’s suggestion that their ideology focuses on having fun. When comparing these photographs with recent ones it can be seen that the dress of the band has developed and improved a great deal. The dress now appears to be more in keeping with the Gothic style, which is predominantly black. Though, there is still an element of the band’s own personality as they clearly adapt the dress to add an element of ‘fun’ to their style. Thus, the conclusion I have drawn from the interview with the rock band was that the change in the band’s dress style appears to clearly reflect the changes which are obvious in other rock bands of the given time. There was a rock band specifically mentioned in the interview that was the Sex Pistols. This band is considered to be an iconic rock band on many levels. Their music was highly controversial and being produced and released independently. That state of things allowed the band a large degree of freedom that many other bands which having signed to corporate brands did not possess. The entire stance which was adopted by the group was “anti-establishment”. It is for this reason that the Sex Pistols selected their dress. They aimed to take the clothes which were seen as socially acceptable at that time and transform them into a dress code, which would be highly controversial. It was not only the clothes which the Sex pistols altered in an attempt to shock, moreover, they also adopted hairstyles such as the Mohican, died their hair dramatic colors, and decorated their bodies with tattoos and piercings. Other rock bands at the time did not possess the same levels of freedom, and as a result, their images were far more controlled by the record label and have not been so distinct. Goshert (2000) suggests that although the majority of modern bands would not consider themselves to be ‘punk’ bands, they are still heavily influenced by the ideology of bands such as the Sex Pistols. For example when the photos of the band interviewed were inspected it would be possible to see some elements of ‘punk’ dress in their early photos. The destruction of denim clothes and the placement of controversial mottoes on the clothes are both key characteristics of the ‘punk’ era. Although this appears to lessen over the years, there is still evidence that the underlying ideologies remain. For example in both the interviewed band and other bands which are in the public eye at the present time, there is an attempt to some extent to dress in a controversial manner. One prominent modern example would be in bands and artists such as Good Charlotte and Marilyn Manson. The Goth look which is adopted has now become fashionable among teenagers, in much the same way as ‘punk’ was in the 1980s. The focus on black is in itself a term of statement, although perhaps the most controversial element is the use of heavy make-up, from eyeliner to the pale facial foundation on the male personalities. What is more, is that the heavy use of make-up by current rock bands appears to be a statement in which the artists are attempting to show their male dominance in spite of how they may look. Den Tandt (2004) suggests that the image which rock groups put forward is heavily influenced by the advent of music television such as MTV. Den Tandt suggests that the image of the modern rock band expresses male dominance and control. The whole image of the rock star is based on the supposed ideology that the rock musician embodies a stark contrast between rebellion and the disciplined skill present in their music. As it can be understood from the interview rock bands get influenced by their counterparts’ styles and attitudes easily as well as the rock musicians put a lot of effort in creating the desired visual images. In fact, there is nothing surprising about it, because the music is about sensual transcendence, it is about hysterical sounds and implausible visual excitement. As the lights go up and the band hits the stage, the first impression is not only what the musicians are playing, but what they are wearing. From the presented information as well as the interview, it is clearly understood that the supreme values of rock and roll as a belief system can be summed up in the phrase “sex and drugs and rock and roll”. According to this ideology, the life of a rock and roller lays within consuming drugs, engaging into relationships with the groupies, and playing guitar music “from the heart”. Rock and roll as well as the dress code of the musicians is all about disobedient individualism, intoxication, rebellion, shocking, idealistic teenage nihilism, manliness, inconsistency, and promiscuity (Miller, 1997). Our choice of clothes and represents the way we want to be perceived by others. Thus, the revolutionary gear of rock musicians tells us something about them. They want to be seen and perceived as bad and evil, moreover, their whole culture is rooted in the opposing of the social order. Rock and rollers are detestable and obnoxious, they use the burning of flags and religious symbols as a signs of their transcendental principles, they use swastikas, they wear black leather outfits, they put their hair up in Mohacs, and include demonic imagery in their lyrics. They seem to be hateful and loathsome people… Though, there may be another way of looking at them. They may be perceived as the modern-times pirates, who nobly and steadfastly reject the dominant values of the world, same way as the old times pirates rejected the maritime trade laws. Bibliography 1. Aquila, Richard. The Homogenization of Early Rock and Roll. Americas musical pulse. Popular music in twentieth-century society. Westport, Connecticut; London: Greenwood Press, 1992: 269-281. 2. Brown, Charles T. The Rock and Roll Story. From the Sounds of Rebellion to an American Art Form. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1983. 3. Den Tandt, Christophe. “From Craft to Corporate Interfacing: Rock musicianship in the age of music television and computer-programmed music.” Popular Music and Society 27, no. 2 (June 2004): 139-160. 4. Denisoff, R. Serge. Sing a song of social significance. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1983. 5. Goshert, John C. “Punk after the Pistols: American music, economics and politics in the 1980s and 1990s.” Popular Music and Society 24, no. 1 (Spring 2000): 85. 6. Hibbett, Ryan “What is Indie rock?” Popular Music and Society 28, no. 1 (February 2005): 55-77. 7. Martin, Linda, and Segrave, Kerry. Anti-rock. The opposition to rock and roll. Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Books, 1988. 8. Miller, Douglas T., and Marion Nowak. The fifties. The way we really were. Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1977. 9. Tosches, Nick. Unsung heroes of rock and roll. The birth of rock in the wild years before Elvis. London: Secker and Warburg, 1991. Read More