THE VALUE OF POPULAR MUSIC An Approach from Post-Kantian Aesthetics A l i s o n S t o n e The Value of Popular Music Alison   S tone The Value of Popular Music An Approach from Post-Kantian Aesthetics Alison   Stone Lancaster University Lancaster, UK ISBN 978-3-319-46543-2 ISBN 978-3-319-46544-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-46544-9 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016954260 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2 016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the pub- lisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover design by Fatima Jamadar Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland P ERMISSIONS Quotations from Michaels (2012), Morley (2014), Savage (2008), Simpson (2013) and Simpson (2014) are reproduced courtesy of Guardian News & Media Ltd., under Guardian Open License terms. The quotation from Katy Guest in T he Independent , 29 July 2012, is reproduced by permission of the Evening Standard. COLLECTED POEMS by Rimbaud, translated by Sorrell (2009), 8 lines from p. 127, are reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press. v A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people have generously helped me as I wrote this book. Several people read drafts of the material at various stages. They include Alexander Bird, Emily Brady, James Connelly, Dan DeNicola, Robin Downie, Andy Hamilton, Susanne Hermann-Sinai, Max Paddison, Chris Partridge, Richard Stopford, and Bob Stern, as well as anonymous readers. My col- league Brian Garvey deserves particular thanks for reading the whole book in draft form and providing many detailed and helpful comments and suggestions. I thank Lancaster University both for providing the sabbatical leave during which I did much of the writing and for funding research assis- tance through the Research Incentivisation Fund within my department, Politics, Philosophy, and Religion. This paid for Richard Leadbeater to read the whole draft manuscript with a musicologist’s eyes, picking up inadequacies in my notation, improving descriptions of songs’ stylistic fea- tures, and prompting me to reconsider parts of my song analyses. I am especially grateful to Richard on all these counts. My greatest thanks of all go to my partner John Varty, with whom I have discussed every song analysis in this book. John has helped me to pick out what is happening in particular songs and suggested many examples and comparisons. Thanks, too, to James Lord for answering some musical queries that came out of my and John’s discussions. The book is dedicated to John, to our daughter Elinor, and to the memory of my parents Hannah and Patrick Stone. vii C ONTENTS 1 Evaluation, Aesthetics, and the Unity of Popular Music 1 2 Tracking Popular Music History with an Aesthetic Map 35 3 Adorno and Popular Music 69 4 Matter and Form in Popular Music 109 5 Rhythm, Energy, and the Body 1 41 6 Meaning and Affect in Popular Music 173 7 Meaning in Sounds and Words 2 13 Conclusion: Popular Music, Aesthetic Value, And Materiality 249 Bibliography 2 55 ix x CONTENTS Discography 2 75 Index 2 79 L F IST OF IGURES Fig. 1.1 L ady Gaga, ‘Paparazzi’, vocal melody and synthesiser, timing ca. 00:39–00:42 8 Fig. 2.1 R amones, ‘Judy is a Punk’, vocal melody, electric guitar, and bass guitar, timing ca. 00:14–00:25 4 8 Fig. 2.2 W ire, ‘1 2 X U’, riff (electric guitar), timing ca. 00:09–00:11 5 1 Fig. 2.3 T he Human League, R eproduction , cover art 5 8 Fig. 2.4 H eaven 17, P enthouse and Pavement , cover art 5 9 Fig. 2.5 T he Human League, ‘Don’t You Want Me’, drum-machine, percussive synthesiser, and bass synthesiser, timing ca. 00:20–00:22 61 Fig. 3.1 B eethoven, Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, First Movement, measures 1–2, fi rst violins 7 3 Fig. 3.2 B eethoven, Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, First Movement, measures 57–66, fi rst violins 74 Fig. 3.3 T he Chords, ‘Sh-boom’, vocal melody and electric guitar, timing ca. 00:06–00:11 83 Fig. 3.4 C huck Berry, ‘Sweet Little Sixteen’, vocal melody and electric guitar, timing ca. 00:13–00:24 8 6 Fig. 3.5 U 2, ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’, vocal melody and electric guitar, timing ca. 00:51–55 and 01:05–01:10 8 7 Fig. 3.6 T he Prodigy, ‘Firestarter’, vocals, electric guitar, bass synthesiser, and drums, timing ca. 00:51–00:58 88 Fig. 3.7 T ubeway Army, ‘Are “Friends” Electric?’, A-section riff (synthesiser) 99 Fig. 4.1 R .E.M., ‘Losing My Religion’, vocal melody, timing ca. 00:17–00:26 and 01:14–01:30 1 23 xi xii LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 4.2 R .E.M., ‘Losing My Religion’, mandolin and acoustic guitar, timing ca. 00:01–00:17 126 Fig. 5.1 M ichael Jackson, ‘Billie Jean’, cabasa, drums, bass guitar, and synthesiser, timing ca. 00:20–00:24 1 44 Fig. 5.2 N ew Order, ‘Blue Monday’, drums, timing ca. 00:00–00:03 147 Fig. 5.3 U 2, ‘I Will Follow’, drums, timing ca. 00:15–00:21 147 Fig. 5.4 T he double backbeat 1 48 Fig. 5.5 T he Motorik beat 148 Fig. 5.6 T he Winstons, ‘Amen, Brother’, drums, timing ca. 01:26–01:28 1 48 Fig. 5.7 N ew Order, ‘Blue Monday’, drums, synthesiser, and bass synthesiser, timing ca. 00:47–00:49 1 60 Fig. 6.1 M adonna, ‘Like a Virgin’, vocal melody, timing ca. 00:38–00:46 177 Fig. 6.2 T he Rolling Stones, ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’, riff (electric guitar), timing ca. 00:00–00:03 1 81 Fig. 6.3 J oy Division, ‘Transmission’, drums, timing ca. 00:14–00:16 1 86 Fig. 6.4 B ruce Springsteen, ‘Born in the U.S.A.’, riff (synthesiser), timing ca. 00:01–00:05 200 Fig. 7.1 U 2, ‘With or Without You’, fi rst riff 217 Fig. 7.2 U 2, ‘With or Without You’, second riff 2 18 Fig. 7.3 U 2, ‘With or Without You’, third riff 218 Fig. 7.4 Neon Neon, ‘I Told Her on Alderaan’, vocal melody, timing ca. 01:11–01:18 227 Fig. 7.5 B uzzcocks, ‘Orgasm Addict’, vocal melody, timing ca. 00:01–00:06 228 Fig 7.6 T he Smiths, ‘This Charming Man’, vocal melody, timing ca. 00:16–00:19 229 Fig. 7.7 L ily Allen, ‘The Fear’, vocal melody, timing ca. 00:21–00:25 2 30 Fig. 7.8 P ulp, ‘Babies’, vocal melody, timing 00:37–00:47 2 37 Fig. 7.9 T he Beatles, ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’, vocal melody, timing ca. 00:11–00:27 238