A look at music torture … light-hearted (and not light-hearted) after the jump …
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I have often joked about music becoming torture. Whenever we were on a family drive as a kid during the Yuletide season, and I heard the dogs barking Jingle Bells on the radio, I would ask my mother to turn-it-down …. whereupon, she would crank-it-up, instead. That was music torture, I felt. And so, I would like to illustrate some examples of music torture we can laugh about …. others, not so much.
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The late Jim Nayder used to have his Annoying Music radio show — not only showcasing singing efforts by those who shouldn’t (such as Leonard Nimoy) — but also categories like “When Good Singers Go Bad” — playing Placido Domingo over-singing John Denver’s tune Annie’s Song… as if it were a challenging aria.
Jim Nayder (1954-2013)I recall reading about Bruce Janu— who in 1992 was a twenty-four year-old high school teacher (in suburban Chicago) among whose duties was monitoring after-school detention. As a means of both entertaining himself (and making things unpleasant enough to deter recividism) … he established the Frank Sinatra Detention Club — for kids more attuned to rap and heavy metal music:
They are prohibited from doing homework, writing letters, sleeping or talking. They can sing along if they want, but Janu says no one wants to sing.
A spokesperson for Sinatra is surprised the teenagers do not like the music. 'I think you will find that a lot of kids would like to go to that detention,' Susan Reynolds said.
More than twenty-five years later, Bruce Janu still teaches (appearing to share our political viewpoints) and — while it appears that he no longer has detention monitoring among his duties — at least in the past, he routinely placed Sinatra extra-credit questions on exams and even had Frank Sinatra homework tokens.
Mr. Sinatra’s Detention ClubA year earlier than the establishment of the above music torture, Doonesbury had a series of strips about Mike Doonesbury’s concern over drug dealers operating on his street. He told Zonker of his idea to place stereo speakers in his window to blast them away when he cranked-up the music. Here is just one example of what the means of torture he decided upon:
To give a much more recent example: when customers of a Rite Aid pharmacy in San Diego complained about panhandlers and loiterers sleeping outside the store, management came-up with a solution …. start playing Barry Manilow songs on outside loudspeakers, virtually around the clock.
Looks like He Made ItOn a more serious note: perhaps the most notorious example of music torture used not as a lark was the 1989 invasion of Panama by the administration of Bush the Elder, leading to Manuel Noriega taking sanctuary in the Vatican’s embassy in Panama City. For three days (until the Pope requested that it end), he was bombarded with loudspeakers blaring “I Fought The Law” by The Clash, “Panama” by Van Halen, U2's “All I Want Is You”, and Bruce Cockburn's “If I Had A Rocket Launcher” … which led to his surrender six days later. Ten years later, the Drew Carey Show used “Panama” as a way to get Drew and friends to leave the house.
Manuel Noriega (1934-2017)Apparently, the origins of using music torture go back to the 1950’s, as a way to counter Soviet “brainwashing”. It’s a depressing topic that I will not go into detail about, with its apparent use at both Gitmo as well as Abu Ghraib prisons.
In popular culture, even classical music is not spared: A Clockwork Orange uses Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony as a torture device, and the film Apocalypse Now sees a helicopter squadron using Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries as an adjunct to their attack on a Viet Cong village.
James Hetfield of Metallica has been quoted as saying he is proud that his band’s Enter Sandman is used “against enemies of the US”. Fortunately, that is a distinct minority view: with many musicians pushing back on the use of their music for torture, with the initiative Zero dB set-up to pursue action on their behalf.
Let’s close with a song that is often close-to-the-top of the annoying songs lists you see in many places. I have two separate lists: one for children’s/novelty songs (Barney’s “I Love You”, the Teletubbies “Say Eh-oh”, and the aforementioned Singing Dogs) and the other for serious tunes (“Feelings” is on top of that list).
Many include the 1968 song MacArthur Park— yet I think the song is saddled by the over-the-top hit single by the late Irish actor Richard Harris. While this is not one of his better tunes: I prefer this version by the song’s composer, Jimmy Webb— who is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and sometimes tours as a storyteller, plus playing solo versions of his hits such as “Wichita Lineman”, “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”, “Galveston”, “Didn’t We?”, “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress”, “Up, Up and Away” and “The Worst that Could Happen” among others.
So if you have not heard this song in decades … have a listen to this version by its composer. It may not change your mind about the song: but might be less torture.
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From my T/C colleague cohenzee:
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In the diary by m2c4 about the bizarre trip to the Kremlin by several GOP senators and one congresswoman — Adriana A notes the composition of this particular group of lickspittles … and hopes that the passage-of-time will not excuse them.
And in the front-page story about how the talented yet right-wing actor James Woods (who was a Communist Party member while in college) was publicly given his walking-papers by his agent via Twitter, RhodeIslandAspie notes the relatively short distance it is to go from far-left to far-right, while quaoar expresses anxiety over whether the Hollywood star may be subject to the same unfair treatment like a certain outcast Harvard law professor.
And lastly: yesterday's Top Mojo - mega-mojo to the intrepid mik ...... who rescued this feature from oblivion:
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