Thursday, January 30, 2020

Alan Free

Alan Freed and the Payola Scandal Essay In the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, during a time of shifting cultural identity, many Americans who held conservative views found themselves caught in a socio-cultural predicament. The social dynamic of urban communities had begun to change as more African-Americans moved from the Southern United States into the Northern and Western regions of the country. This diaspora meant better jobs and homes for African-Americans and ultimately translated into more spending power among this portion of the population. While many sectors were positively impacted by this increase in African American spending power, participants of exclusionary practices were destined to suffer. An example of this suffering was evident in the music industry where the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) had monopolized the music licensing industry until the Broadcast Music Incorporation was formed and began to provide affordable music licenses to those musicians previously excluded by ASCAP. This development signaled a â€Å"changing of the guard† and the ASCAP found that the change was ultimately not in their favor (Hood-Ancklewicz 3). The individuals who supported and encouraged the proliferation of this social revolution were labeled responsible for the growing lack of â€Å"social stability† and would be contended with under the guise of a quest for morals and justice. In 1959 the House Subcommittee launched an investigation into the existence of rigging in popular game shows and at the urging of ASCAP expanded that probe into the music industry. Given his nonconformist attitude, unapologetic support of rock n’ roll music, interracial dance parties and â€Å"frenzied† stage shows, Alan Freed became the most popular fatality of the payola scandal. Alan Freed was not the only person guilty of accepting â€Å"payola†, but he was among the most visibly linked to the promulgation of rock n’ roll. Alan Freed has been credited with being the first to popularize the title Rock n’Roll in relation to this particular music genre. Additionally, he was the first to encourage integration by hosting wildly successful interracial Rock n’ Roll stage shows with solely African American performers. Freed also made no attempt to control the pandemonium created by his exhilarating lineup of performers, which generally resulted in teens dancing in the aisles, screaming wildly at performers and storming venues for the opportunity to participate by any means necessary. The â€Å"firsts† associated with Freed helped to solidify his image as the Father of Rock n’ Roll and conversely sealed his fate as the scapegoat of the payola scandal. Mainly targeting radio stations and well known deejays and record executives, including Freed, the â€Å"clean cut† Dick Clark and, others linked to the popularization of rock n’ roll music. The payola investigations made radio executives across the nation nervous. Many of the stations began to enact measures to ensure that they would not be implicated in any wrong doing and as a result began to require that their disc jockeys sign disclosure statements, divest themselves of questionable outside interests and cooperate with investigators as necessary. Those disc jockeys that refused to do so were fired. Many deejays resigned some suggesting that payola was as much a part of the system as any other widely held production practice, while others simply confessed to accepting cash and other gifts in exchange for promoting records. Alan Freed refused to sign documents on the moral grounds that doing so would negatively impact his â€Å"reputation for integrity† as a result Freed was fired from the radio station (Segrave 110). Freed admitted that he had accepted valuable gifts but, he explained â€Å"not in front. If I’ve helped somebody, I’ll accept a nice gift but I wouldn’t take a dime to plug a record. I’d be a fool to; I’d be giving up control of my program† (Segrave 80). The end of the payola scandal dawned with Alan Freed disenfranchised from his livelihood. Freed was forced out of the concert promotion business, blacklisted, arrested, fined three hundred dollars and given a six month suspended sentence and though by modern standards this punishment may seem mild, compared to the punishment of other deejays it was among the most calculating and exacting punishments delivered. While some critics argue that the scandal did not end Freed’s career it is clear that â€Å"justice† was not doled out equally among all offenders (Palmer 136). Dick Clark, who was also investigated, was questioned about outside interests that he held with various publication houses, record presses, talent firms, etc. Clark minimized the number of investments reported to the committee, his employers supported his claims that he had divested those interests. Following the investigation it was learned that the claims of divestment were not only false but that Clark had also deflated the number reported to the subcommittee. Clark was ultimately exonerated and never seemed to be in any real danger of losing his livelihood, while Alan Freed was left destitute (Segrave 110). By many accounts Freed’s success in the music industry was instantaneous and was bolstered by the unwavering support of his interracial teen audience. In 1952 when Freed held the Moondog Coronation Ball an estimated 30,000 teens stormed the venue causing the event to be closed down by the local police department. Soon after this incident Freed took his stage shows on tour and was arrested and charged with inciting a riot after a similar occurrence in Boston. Freed moved from Ohio to New York where his success continue to grow exponentially (Palmer 23). Of note among Freed’s perceived â€Å"shortcomings† was the fact that all of Freed’s performers were African-American and even when â€Å"sanitized† versions of African-American songs were available Freed still preferred and continued to promote the original versions (Palmer 136-139). The image of rock n’ roll (leather jackets and sideburns) upset the sensibilities of larger society and as a result when the investigations into payola, a practice that had existed in various formats for years, became public knowledge and the House Subcommittee on Legislative Oversight had the support and the fuel necessary to effect change, Alan Freed became target number one. Rock n’ roll was shunned by the more conservative personalities in American society and as a result was blamed for many societal ills. Few expected the genre to last, disgusted by the lack of perceived merit in the rock n’ roll genre, many of the ASCAP members and conservative American public denied its â€Å"staying power†. In her1956 article for the Miami Herald, Phyllis Battelle quotes an unnamed source as saying â€Å"Perhaps the only hopeful thing about rock n’ roll is that it’s so bad. It cannot endure indefinitely† (Batelle 4C+). This sentiment comforted few Americans while others focused on the reasons why rock n’ roll was not a viable music form. Rock n’ roll on the other hand continued to reinvent itself, to influence and morph into different genres. The influence of rock n’ roll is heard clearly in other genres now and has become as intrinsic to the American cultural legacy as payola in the music industry. Though rock n’ roll waned for a short period of time it ultimately was revived by the British invasion which also revived the folk and RB genres (Hood-Anklwicz 4). Ironically the integrationist mentality that was once a part of rock n’ roll music faded in the early sixties undoubtedly influenced by the newly sanitized radio and broadcast environment, the loss of charismatic personalities such as Alan Freed and the stress of the continuously changing cultural dynamic in American society. Fears like those expressed in segregationist propaganda like the American Nationalist went unfounded as rock n’ roll eventually became racially segregated once more. Dick Clark’s clean cut presentation of rock n’ roll minus the tilting pelvises and gyrations, minus the dancing in the aisles and frenzied pandemonium, minus the leather jackets and sideburns was to become the popular music among whites while African American performers performed for largely African-American audiences (Palmer, 146). Many African American performers of the rock n’ roll era have credited Freed with the breaking of social barriers and have recognized his attempt to encourage integration among young Blacks and Whites. Before concluding that Alan Freed was ultimately made the example for being all things rock n’ roll, it is imperative to note that the practice of payola was never absent from the music industry, it â€Å"has never been and is not now illegal†. The 1960 law passed, did not make the practice illegal but made the failure to report payola illegal (Segrave,vii). While the concept of payola presents an ethical flaw in the system it is nonetheless a flaw that is as inherent to the music industry as is manipulation to the industry of politics. The great professor and historian, Lord Acton, is quoted as saying, â€Å"power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely†. This notion is evident on both ends of the rock n’ roll spectrum on one end Alan Freed was said to â€Å"be drunk with power† (Palmer 23), so much so that he failed to see the danger in overbooking venues, was charged with encouraging riotous behavior among teens and a general failure to realize the detriment that would come to his livelihood if he continued to challenge the prescribed social norms of the 1950’s. On the other end of the spectrum is the American government who continues to support censorship and participate in the creation of scapegoats when suitable to the larger political agenda. Overall, Alan Freed was a trendsetter who was perhaps â€Å"before his time† and thereby was punished accordingly for going against the grain. He lived as the champion of rock n’ roll firsts and died tormented by opportunities unrealized.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Comparing Advertisements by Garnier and Neutrogena Essay -- Adverts, C

We are surrounded by advertisements which be found on the television, radio, newspapers, magazines, street hoardings, taxis, buses and through the post. Everything we purchase or watch is advertised. This is a technique used to persuade people to buy their products. Companies use the power of persuasion to lure their target audience into buying the product being promoted. Advertisements are used to make the audience believe they need the product being marketed. Some advertisements are more successful than others and I intend to investigate why, using two examples which promote skin cleansers one by Garnier and the other by Neutrogena. The first advertisement I will anatomise is the Garnier. The Garnier advertisement takes up an A4 page in a magazine. The main picture takes up approximately 60 percent of the page which makes it stand out and shows it is an important ingredient to making the advertisement efficacious. The main picture is split up again but it is not a 50/50 split it is more like 40/60. The smaller picture shows the girl applying the product to her face and the larger picture shows the outcome of using the merchandise. The picture of the product application is smaller as it does not show you how well the product works or what the end result is which is most important. The larger section is of the girl after application, the girl is very beautiful with clear skin, and this may make the target audience want to buy the product because they have the aspiration to have the perfect skin she does. On the picture in white writing is "GENTLY CLEASNSES PORES DEEP DOWN." "LOOK, THERE'S NOTHING TO SEE." it is divided on the two ... ... preferred the Garnier; the reason is it is straight to the point and aesthetically pleasing it is very fresh and informative without the need for a whole chunk of text explaining who uses it, the product speaks for itself. The reason I disliked the Neutrogena advertisement is that its too busy and also it has too much text which will not appeal to its target audience as most teenager do not pay attention to the text on advertisements. At first glance the Neutrogena looks like an article and once read tells you about the life of a dancer which will not really interest many people, even though the point is that the pore range is quick and easy to use there is no need to explain the history of the users life. Therefore to conclude my essay I came to find the Garnier advertisement is a better campaign than the Neutrogena.

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say Essay

Question 1. Describe how the story is structured to influence your response to the text. Question 2. Describe one of the story’s major settings. How is it constructed and what is its significance to the story and its ideas? North America is the major setting in this book. North America holds a lot of new technology and everything is new and spectacular to him, the trains, the enormous rock sculptures and an endless farming field are examples of this. There is also a bad side to this place; there are huge cities of factories and tall buildings with thick smoke coming out of each building. But above all, best place was California, where there were a strong sunlight, the Sierra Mountains and the seacoast. Along the way he had met and shook hands new people, which had different cultural backgrounds to him. This setting is constructed in a way that the more the grandfather travels the more he liked it and wanted to make the ‘New World’ his home. This setting shows that the cultural barrier can be broken and people should go out and see the world and meet new people to develop more familiarity of the world they live in. Question 3. How are you positioned to respond to the major character/s of the story? What values are represented through them? Question 4. Describe the extent to which language and graphics are successfully used together to shape your response. Discuss with close reference to at lease two examples. In the Grandfather’s Journey, there are a few pages where the graphics and the text connect together to give the reader a better understanding of situation. At the beginning (on page 4) the text was ‘My grandfather was a young man when he left his home in Japan and went to see the world†. On this page it shows the grandfather in Japanese clothes and the background had very dull colours because he is still in the ‘Old World’. On the next page it shows the transition to the ‘New World’. The background colours have changed from dull to bright and he had changed into European clothes. The wave that looks very unsteady shows the ‘New World’. All this happens when you want to ‘see the world. On page 17, there is a picture of the grandfather’s daughter holding a pram with a European doll sitting in it. The text that goes with the page was ‘As his daughter grew, my grandfather began to think about his own childhood. He thought about his old friends’. In the picture the author shows the contrast between the Asian girl and the European girl using different clothing and the cultural difference (seen through the colours of the hairs). When compared, the grandfather began to remember how his old friends in Japan were when they were little. This illustrates ‘†¦think about his own childhood. He thought about his old friends.’ Question 5. Discuss the attitudes and values of the text and your personal response to these. Question 6. Describe at least one link you can make between this book and another/other texts you have read or viewed. How do the texts compare in terms of the ideas presented and how do you respond to these ideas? One of the pages in this book makes us realise that we often label Japan as the enemy in World War II, whilst they were also the victim and had also suffered a large amount of devastation. In the film Pearl Harbour, one of the scenes was Japan bombing Pearl Harbour. This only shows the negative side of Japan, where they were attackers, but it did not show them as the victims suffering from the disaster. This movie is persuading the audience to blame Japan for the damages of the war, where Japan had to go through the emotional breakdowns and physical injuries. Even though the book tells us not to blame Japan for the damages and the movie shows us that Japan was the enemy in World War II, there is still a link between the two texts and that is after a war majority of the participating countries will have, no matter large or small, havocs. I think, because of this, we should not blame a certain country for the occurrence of the war, and should not blame any country since the countries that participated are both enemies and victims of the war.

Monday, January 6, 2020

Education System Is Not Flawed By Paulo Freire s Letter...

When it comes to the topic of education, most of us will readily agree that education system is flawed in the ways the students are learning. However, this agreement usually ends with the question of â€Å"how problematic is the education system?† Whereas most are convinced that our education system is not flawed, but is actually improving due to technological advances. Contrary to this belief, Paulo Freire’s article, â€Å"The Banking Concept of Education,† he advocates that the school system is oppressing the student’s critical thinking abilities because they are being taught to simply accept what they are learning from their teachers. While a similar occasion is addressed in Martin Luther King’s, â€Å"Letters from Birmingham Jail,† as he writes to the white moderate about the white missionaries encouraging Black oppression. In Freire’s article, he uses a term called â€Å"banking education† to illustrate the teacher-student relationship at any time inside or outside of school. The communication between teacher and student is almost nonexistent. He describes the students as empty containers that are sitting in a classroom patiently waiting for the instructor to deposit knowledge into their brains. According to Freire, â€Å"The capability of banking education to minimize or annul the students’ creative power and to stimulate their credulity servers the interest of oppressors, who care neither to have the world revealed nor to see it transformed† (Freire 2). He argues that this type of teaching