Hair

Musical – book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot

Nope, I did not see Hair‘s original Broadway run in the 60s. I never saw a touring production, though I know someone who toured Europe as part of the cast. That sounded pretty cool as he had to be about twenty when he did it and that was my age.

I heard the musical mentioned in the same breath as Oh! Calcutta! as stage productions of questionable value. They both featured nudity, after all. My recollection was that some sort of sideways comment was found in the pages of Time magazine. It took me a while to put together the slew of hit songs on my radio with the musical. I could not believe a current band would cover songs from a Broadway show. That was supposed to be music on the oldies station.

I saw the movie adaptation in ’79 or ’80, but that only raised more questions. Nothing seemed so objectionable anymore, did it?

Anyway, by the time of the 2009 Broadway revival, I knew enough to like the show. Serendipity meant I was in Manhattan with family. We decided to try and see a show and ended up with same-day tickets to Hair. As we waited for the show to start and I looked at my teenage son, only then did I remember those comments about the content from my youth.

Naturally, the nude scene passes in a moment- don’t blink. Of course, such condemnation for so little is a useful tactic. From a promotional side, you may manage to drive some sales to the curious. Moreover, any publicity is good publicity.

On the other hand,

Hair is driven by commentary on race and sex and politics and… Everything about the poster warned people that it was a “psychedelic” musical. This was the counter-culture in all its glory, right here on Broadway. Every bit of nervousness in an Op-Ed contributor could be summarized with a simple reference to the squalor that had taken over the great theaters of our nation.

Basically, more publicity.

And silliness, of course. We don’t argue these days so much about the appropriateness of a multi-racial cast portraying our founding fathers, commenting on similar issues as Hair.

By the time our art reaches the universal consciousness that it can suffer reference in national discussions, it has been co-opted, I fear. The Book of Mormon, Hamilton, Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, and much of Shakespeare barely cause ripples as far as provoking real discussion about the issues that are openly addressed on stage.

We go to the theater for entertainment. For the most part, we like a little intelligence in our art (really, we seem to), so we accept “issues” in our drama. But we are so inured to acting and staged stories that we automatically divide ourselves from the issue.

I think the merit ends up being the parts that slide in below the surface. The politics and the music styles of Hamilton may mean less than being encouraged to see the other in the familiar. For me, Hair was one more step toward recognizing that art transcended era.

What’s it all about?

You’ve Got to Check This Out is a blog series about music, words, and all sorts of artistic matters. It started with an explanation. 168 more to go.

New additions to You’ve Got to Check This Out release regularly. Also, free humor, short works, and poetry post irregularly. Receive notifications on Facebook by friending or following Craig.

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Neuromancer

Book written by William Gibson

The only cyberpunk book you ever need to read! The science fiction novel that changed science fiction forever! Exclamation points are fun!

The truth is that many, many works cannot withstand the torrent of praise that powers promotion, so it is always wonderful when a book holds its own with its reputation. Published in 1984, I had little chance of reading it then as I was living in a small town in southern Ohio with no nearby bookstore carrying current science fiction. We had Walter Tevis and Daniel Keyes in the flesh, but that was as close as we got to speculative fiction.

I had to get to Boston before a copy of Neuromancer got into my grimy paws. I was in the happy throes of rediscovering my love for the genre, powered by a job and a salary that made my book shelf grow onto window sills and coffee tables.

The thing about that rediscovery is the strange fact that sometimes art just grabs you like the best roller coaster ride. For me, science fiction offered the best pay-off. I had so much to find among used books, from Kuttner and Kornbluth to Adams and Silverberg. Then, recent classics started slipping through, with everyone talking about cyberpunk. Bruce Sterling, Rudy Rucker and a few others kept being mentioned. I worked at MIT in computer science, so you can imagine the cult of adoration. (Strangely enough, the other affinities revolved around baseball and country music.)

World building

is a longstanding tradition in science fiction. Of course, that’s true of all fiction, but the difference is in scale. Tatooine is a bit larger than Nero Wolfe’s brownstone, for example. Arguably, cyberpunk is another exercise in world building, albeit driven by current experience of the world and not reading other science fiction. While it is madness to suggest these wonderful books (Neuromancer, Islands in the Net, Wetware and Zodiac) were created without awareness of any other work, they did move toward a new style and a new vision. That’s how the world actually changes-knowledge moves us, not ignorance.

A few years later while living in Cleveland, I got word that Gibson and Sterling would be visiting a local bookstore in support of The Difference Engine. My wife and I went, expecting a bit of madness and long lines. I brought my beat-up copy of Neuromancer and felt awkward, as I do at this sort of thing. A card table sat there and the store was relatively empty.

Gibson and Sterling wandered in and sat down. They chatted with one another. I think a handful of us went over. I bought the new collaboration despite having little money as it did not look like too many would be sold. Both authors brightened considerably. Their minder from the store looked almost gleeful as he led me to the counter where they gave me a commemorative t-shirt which was embossed with the book cover. It’s not Neuromancer, but it’s pretty damn cool.

What’s it all about?

You’ve Got to Check This Out is a blog series about music, words, and all sorts of artistic matters. It started with an explanation. 169 more to go.

New additions to You’ve Got to Check This Out release regularly. Also, free humor, short works, and poetry post irregularly. Receive notifications on Facebook by friending or following Craig.

Images may be subject to copyright.

Horowitz in Moscow

Piano recital recording of pieces by Mozart, Rachmaninov and others performed by Vladimir Horowitz

In 1985, anyone with a passing interest in classical music rediscovered Vladimir Horowitz. Even legitimate followers must have assumed that he was over and done. Coming off a decade of facing addiction and mental illness, he had left eighty behind and looked ready for retirement. He started playing publicly again, clean and sober, and the world fell at his feet.

I want to say that Horowitz’s life would have been better if society had been more accepting of homosexuality or if treatment for mental illness and addiction were more available. I wasn’t there, but he comes across as a person who would have been difficult to corral in any way. He was going to be hard on those around him. The truth is that he obtained help during his lifetime. I don’t care how late it came, because the courage to fix yourself deserves attention and praise whenever it happens. In this case, it occurred in the public eye.

Let’s consider it given that Horowitz made a connection with his audience in 1985. Many of his older recordings started finding their way onto radio playlists. He topped the charts for a year. Horowitz was basically Pink Floyd and Michael Jackson rolled into one powerhouse classical pianist. He had been world famous earlier in his life, but nothing in those days compared to the communication tools available in the 80s.

In truth,

Horowitz only had four years to enjoy it all before he died. From the outside, those years look good for him. Perhaps better than most, he was able to enjoy the acclaim and the opportunity to practice his art.

I’m tempted to turn all this into a lesson on the temporal nature of fame because that’s what’s supposed to happen here. I have no idea how many people run around thinking about late Horowitz recordings anymore. He’s got a pretty good following on Facebook. Many of his recordings remain available. But do we really dig out Thriller or Dark Side of the Moon all that often?

Yet, here’s the thing. For a few minutes back in 1985, a big part of the world paused and listened to an old man play some beautiful music on the piano. A lot of us checked out the local classical radio and dug around in discount bins for the first time because we realized that some of this stuff might be for us. We raised our heads out of our comfortable holes like prairie dogs scouting for nearby sustenance and considered some new possibilities. None of this benefited Horowitz directly, but it did some mighty good for a world that can always have the horizon pushed back a little further.

What’s it all about?

You’ve Got to Check This Out is a blog series about music, words, and all sorts of artistic matters. It started with an explanation. 170 more to go.

New additions to You’ve Got to Check This Out release regularly. Also, free humor, short works, and poetry post irregularly. Receive notifications on Facebook by friending or following Craig.

Images may be subject to copyright.