The Dangers of Beboppism

[Randy Twizzle]

It's 1950, do you know where your children are?

[Spontooneous]

Astonishing. And not astonishing.

Change "bebop" to "hiphop," alter the details about clothing, and you could easily imagine this being published today.

[Randy Twizzle]

Bebop behavior will not be tolerated.

[Joe G]

Astonishing. And not astonishing.

Change "bebop" to "hiphop," alter the details about clothing, and you could easily imagine this being published today.

And perhaps 30 or 40 years from now they'll be using hip-hop music in Cadillac commercials to appeal to upper-class consumers.

[JSngry]

From the description of the dress, this sounds like it's from the time when "be-bop" ahd come to mean early Rock & Roll.

[A Lark Ascending]

And perhaps 30 or 40 years from now they'll be using hip-hop music in Cadillac commercials to appeal to upper-class consumers.

I wonder if there'll be internet forums where people complain about the dumbing down of music and worry over why young people don't listen to hip-hop any more.

[sjarrell]

Q-Tip: "Back in the day when I was a teenager/before I had status and before I had a pager/you could find the Abstract listening to hip-hop/My pops used to say it reminded him of be-bop/I said now daddy don't you know that things go in cycles?..."

Indeed they do.

[sjarrell]

And perhaps 30 or 40 years from now they'll be using hip-hop music in Cadillac commercials to appeal to upper-class consumers.

The world became a stranger place a couple years back when the TV tried to sell me an SUV using the Buzzcocks "What Do I Get".

[Chrome]

And perhaps 30 or 40 years from now they'll be using hip-hop music in Cadillac commercials to appeal to upper-class consumers.

Have you seen the TV commercial with Snoop Dogg shilling for cell phones?

[Randy Twizzle]

From the description of the dress, this sounds like it's from the time when "be-bop" ahd come to mean early Rock & Roll.

Both of the stories are from November 1950.

[JSngry]

That's still feasible, although maybe a little less so. R&B was beginning to find an audience among whote teens by then.

[vanbeat]

Thanks for posting those, Randy. Nothing like a good JD threat story. I'm sure there are clippings around from that era that make the obvious connection between Bebop and the Reds, though they may have been covered by the anti-Beat pieces.

I remember an article in the local paper (suburban LA) several years back during the gangsta rap fervor about a police raid and confiscation of "gang paraphernalia", with a shot of a cop sternly holding up a pair of baggy Dickies.

By the way, speaking of commercials, has anybody seen the Range Rover spot that uses the Sonics "Have Love, Will Travel"? I've been working with Rover lately on some licensing issues, and from my experience I can't imagine those stiffs ever understanding the appeal of something like the Sonics. Not sure how I feel about the use, but there's not much you can do at this point.

I thought it was cool to hear Coltrane's "My Favorite Things" on some dept. store commercial this holiday, though, and I seem to remember "Ascension" or something similar used in one of the Miller beer "Macro Brew" spots a few years back. Still baffled by that one...

[7/4]

I seem to remember "Ascension" or something similar used in one of the Miller beer "Macro Brew" spots a few years back. Still baffled by that one...

Ascension?

[vanbeat]

I'm sure that's what it was. I had just bought "The Major Works" a couple weeks before and was really digging my first experiences with the a-g, then lo and behold... I commented on it on the BNBB at the time, and I seem to recall someone there seeing/hearing it as well. I saw it two or three times out here, and I thought it was brilliant, if not baffling, just wondering how many viewers would know what it was. It was some guys shooting hoop in an urban court, duotone, grainy, etc. Anybody know what I'm talking about? This was maybe '97 or '98, no later. Hell, maybe it was Brotzmann...

[Dan Gould]

I'm sure that's what it was. I had just bought "The Major Works" a couple weeks before and was really digging my first experiences with the a-g, then lo and behold... I commented on it on the BNBB at the time, and I seem to recall someone there seeing/hearing it as well. I saw it two or three times out here, and I thought it was brilliant, if not baffling, just wondering how many viewers would know what it was. It was some guys shooting hoop in an urban court, duotone, grainy, etc. Anybody know what I'm talking about? This was maybe '97 or '98, no later. Hell, maybe it was Brotzmann...

More importantly, you're another refugee from Board Krypton, so who the heck are you? I used to be the Gene Harris Fanatic ...

[vanbeat]

I had the same handle over there. Didn't post a whole lot, though I was on for three years or so. Most of my communication with members was through wanting/looking for, trades, etc.

Oh yeah, hey Lon!

van

[Jazzmoose]

I remember an article in the local paper (suburban LA) several years back during the gangsta rap fervor about a police raid and confiscation of "gang paraphernalia", with a shot of a cop sternly holding up a pair of baggy Dickies.

Classic!

[cooltrane]

Interesting article.

I can understand why they did that, the be-bop style was new to the schools and they wanted to keep everything the same and make sure they have control over the sudents.

however be-bop is the Shizzniz, and should never die!

I am all about jazz and be-bop, but I don't go as far as dress it.

I wear diesel baby!

I'm a sexy sexy cat.

[couw]

I'm a sexy sexy cat.

Maine coon?

[Brad]

Actually that article is a little bit weird because by 1950 it was old news but maybe it was just penetrating there.

[JSngry]

Saddle shoes and ducktails?

I'm still leaning towards it being "be-bop" of the early crossover R&B type.

[vanbeat]

Yeah, the date seemed a little late in the game for me too, but that says nothing. 1950 seems a bit late for Bebop and l too early for R&R, so I suppose "hipsters" could fill it. Almost like reading "gen X" today. As if it wasn't dated at the time, but you still see it. What's next? Comic books?

[Jazzmoose]

Whoa, you missed the boat there; comic books caught shit back in the fifties. Check out histories involving the book Seduction of the Innocent, the Kefauver hearings in Congress and the beloved E.C. comics.

[JSngry]

And R&B was beginning to find a teen audience by 1950. A small one, to be sure, but it was mixed in with some other stuff. "Be-Bop" is one of those terms that can mean totally different things to different people.

For the R&B/jazz "bebop" thing, see the scene in Blackboard Jungle where the teens bust up a Bix 78 and then groove on some Stan Kenton. But you know they were digging Red Prysock & Bull Moose Jackson too.

[vanbeat]

The comic books remark was joke... I know about E.C. and Wertham,and Mad covered a lot of the pre-RnR JD threat material in the first couple years, like the "Starchie" piece.

I was familiar with the phrase "be-bop" before the music, as my grandmother used to describe certain kids around town as "rockabilly" or "be-bop", when they were certainly neither in my opinion, although I didn't know what either meant at the time. I just thought it meant like "teeny-bopper" or something.