Category Archives: Popular music
Korla Pandit’s universals
The son of an Indian Brahman and a French singer, Korla Pandit (born John Roland Redd, 1921–98) performed on Hammond organ and piano on Los Angeles television three times a week from 1949 to 1951. In every program he wore … Continue reading
Filed under Curiosities, Popular music
Elton John’s décor
When Elton John returned to London in 1991 after six weeks in an addiction recovery center it was essential to establish a new home that was free of associations with his former compulsive behavior. He rented Queensdale Place, fell in … Continue reading
Filed under Architecture, Popular music, Resources
Virtual Assyria
The ancient land of Assyria, long divided among modern nations, lives again—in cyberspace. Exiled around the world, Assyrians have established an Internet homeland, Nineveh on line. This portal links to many other Assyrian websites and hosts articles about Assyrian concerns. … Continue reading
Filed under Asia, Popular music, Resources
Bumble boogie
Bee imagery has long been a prominent element in song titles and lyrics. Bumble boogie: 100 years of bee imagery in American sound recordings—A discography by William L. Schurk and B. Lee Cooper (Popular music and society XXXIV/4 [October 2011] … Continue reading
Filed under Animals, Jazz and blues, Popular music, Resources
Punk & post-punk
In 2012 Intellect launched Punk & post-punk (ISSN 2044-1983; EISSN 2044-3706), a journal for academics, artists, journalists, and the wider cultural industries. Placing punk and its progeny at the heart of interdisciplinary investigation, it is the first forum of its kind … Continue reading
Filed under New periodicals, Popular music
Odes to obesity
“Odes to obesity: Images of overweight men and women in commercial sound recordings—A discography” by William L. Schurk and B. Lee Cooper (Popular music and society XXXIV/2 [2011] pp. 237–246) explores more than 200 commercial sound recordings that address obesity themes … Continue reading
Filed under Humor, Popular music, Resources
Insects in rock ’n’ roll cover art
Insects in rock ’n’ roll cover art is an article and an online database by Joseph R. Coelho, who teaches in the Biology Program at Quincy University. The article, which can be read online here, was published in American entomologist … Continue reading
Filed under Animals, Nature, Popular music, Resources, Science, Visual art
John Philip Sousa, violinist
While the composer of iconic marches is famous for directing the U.S. Marine Band and his own world-famous ensembles, John Philip Sousa’s early life as a violin prodigy is relatively unknown. A sickly child, Sousa was home-schooled, and from the … Continue reading
Filed under Curiosities, Instruments, Popular music, Romantic era
Love in the top 100
On this Valentine’s Day, let’s look at an article that analyzes the 100 most popular songs between 1958 and 1998 for performer demographics and expressions of love. In the 1990s women and black artists recorded more hits than in earlier … Continue reading
Filed under Black studies, Curiosities, Popular music, Women's studies
Silvio Rodríguez and disappearance
On 31 March 31 1990, in the early days of the newly restored democracy in Chile, the Cuban cantautor Silvio Rodríguez staged a concert in Santiago de Chile’s Estadio Nacional for an audience of 80,000 people. Accompanying him were the … Continue reading
Filed under Politics, Popular music, Reception
