Following up on my last post on drag balls in US and UK history (“An 18th century drag ball in London” @ History is made at night), here’s another repost from the always excellent History is made at night – Mona’s San Francisco: 1940s lesbian club Source: San Francisco Lesbian and Gay History Project ‘She Even Chewed [...]
“An 18th century drag ball in London” @ History is made at night
One of the most popular posts on Pop Culture Transgressions is Queering Pop Music Studies, which discusses my research and writing on the history of transgendered entertainers in African American music. Drag balls were a significant feature of that history that existed since at least the 1880s. (see, “Gender Crossings: A Neglected History in African American Music”). [...]
Short Takes: “Promised Land” — Michele Bachmann, politics & pop music (from History is Made at Night)
Another repost from the always insightful History is Made at Night blog. Promised Land Last week in Iowa, Michele Bachmann launched her bid to become the Republican candidate in the next US presidential election. On the Tea Party far right of American politics, she has a long, lamentable history of anti-gay and anti-abortion activism not to [...]
Short Takes: “Jackie Wilson’s Melisma – 20 notes for the word ‘for’” (from History is Made at Night)
Final repost (for now) from the always insightful History is Made at Night blog. Jackie Wilson’s Melisma – 20 notes for the word ‘for’ ‘The extent to which the music is integrated with the literal meaning in soul is apparent in some of its basic stylistic conventions, the call and response structure, for instance, where a [...]
Short Takes:”Dancing in the Dark – Bert Williams” (from History is Made at Night)
Second in a series of reposts from the always insightful History is Made at Night blog. This entry deals with one of my abiding interests as a scholar, how boundaries of race are maintained, negotiated and challenged in popular culture. It also highlights the power of a “fictional” writing approach to capture the truth of a [...]
Short Takes:”Gadhafi, Dancing and the Communism of Movement” (from History is Made at Night)
First in a series of reposts from the always insightful History is Made at Night blog: Gadhafi, Dancing and the Communism of Movement ‘A moderate revolution is a contradiction in terms, though a moderate putsch, coup or pronunciamento is not. However limited the ostensible aims of the revolution, the light of the New Jerusalem must [...]
Blues Singer Petite Swanson — Crossing the Gender Line in 1940s Chicago
One of my research interests is the largely forgotten history of transgendered performers in American popular music. I thank Ray Astbury for bringing Petite Swanson to my attention, a blues singer in Chicago who recorded four sides for the Sunbeam record company in 1947 (Billboard reported her signing by Sunbeam in March 1947). At the time, Swanson [...]
Is the future of jazz in its past?
THIS IS AN ADDENDUM TO AN EARLIER POST ON DECIPHERINGCULTURE.COM: Regenerating Jazz Is the future of jazz in its past? There’s a lot of talk lately about why jazz has been losing its audience despite decades of efforts to build infrastructure. There is hardly a university music program that does not include a jazz studies [...]
Zombies! The connection between Resident Evil 5, South African xenophobia & global capitalism
Zombies, EVIL ZOMBIES, are a recurrent problem in the Resident Evil series of video games (comic books, films…) but the zombies in Resident Evil 5 created a minor controversy. The Resident Evil 5 zombies are Africans living in a township type setting and some of the scenes do not make a clear distinction between the [...]
Taqwacore updates (courtesy of جون بلوتن)
More on Taqwacore from جون بلوتن (Tales from Bradistan) (1) A short excerpt from AMERICAN ARAB, an in-progress Kartemquin Films documentary by Usama Alshaibi, featuring Marwan Kamel of the Taqwacore band Al-Thawra. (2) Another repost from Tales from Bradistan with some great photos of the Kominas The Kominas Live In Bradistan Following the ending of the taqwacore [...]
