Love is the Message: Dance, Music and Counterculture Love is the Message podcast

In this episode Jeremy and Tim complete our mini-series on the opening of Studio 54. They discuss links between underground and mainstream both generally and specific to 1977 NYC, consider the importance of celebrities to the Studio project, and interrogate the velvet rope. We hear about Bianca Jagger’s birthday party, spend more time thinking about Richard Long and his sound system designs, and ask who really is a native New Yorker?



We’ll be away for the summer holidays, but will be back with more music, sound systems and counterculture in September. For now, why not dig into our back archive of bonus episodes on by becoming a patron at patreon.com/LoveMessagePod



Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.



Tracklist:



Sweet Cream - I Don't Know What I'd Do 

Olympic Runners - Keep It Up 

Odyssey - Native New Yorker 

Le Pamplemousse – Le Spank 

The Trammps - The Night The Lights Went Out 

In this episode Jeremy and Tim walk us past the velvet rope and into opening night at Studio 54. They introduce us to Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, the two businessmen who owned the club, as well as to the often overlooked Carmen D’Alessio, who’s taste and art world connections were crucial to the look and feel of the party. Through these characters and more we get to learn about the founding of Studio 54.



We also hear discussions on Muzak, eclecticism, returning champion Nicky Siano, and the aesthetics of ‘smoothness’. Tim and Jeremy interrogate the surprising links between Downtown and Midtown, explore how journalists tried to understand the Studio 54 phenomenon, and contemplate whether they even like disco anymore.



Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.



Tracklist:

The Ritchie Family - Brazil 

Anthony Whyte - Block Party (A Walter Gibbons Mix) 

Chic - Dance Dance Dance 

Santa Esmeralda - Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood 

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the whole thing and hours more exclusive conversation, become a patron at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.



In this patrons-only episode Jeremy dons his leather jacket to conclude our history of the early days of heavy metal. We hear about how the convergence of space rock, biker gangs, and the fantasy aesthetics of writer Michael Moorcock created an deeply abiding metal culture that would contribute massively to the second half of the Twentieth Century and beyond. Jeremy discusses the success of Warhammer, makes the case for rock opera, argues for the cultural significance of the Lord of the Rings and even has time to unpack metal masculinity, with reference to bands including Led Zeppelin, Hawkwind, Judas Priest and Deep Purple. Rock on!



Produced by Matt Huxley.



Tracklist:
Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven 

Hawkwind - Silver Machine 

Blue Oyster Cult - Stairway to the Stars 

Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water 

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird 

Thin Lizzy - Whiskey in the Jar 

Kiss - Black Diamond 

Judas Priest - Winter Retreat 

Hawkwind - The Wizard Blew His Horn 

Hawkwind - Kings of Speed 

Judas Priest - The Ripper 

Motorhead - Motorhead 

In this episode Jeremy and Tim discuss the economic and social setting into which Studio 54 opened in 1977. They talk about the differences between midtown and downtown scenes, the antagonism (or lack thereof) between punk and disco, subcultural theory and escapism. 



How did disco become so popular so quickly? The guys explore the commercial phenomenon as it exploded after 1975, including the first Disco Convention in 1976 (with awards ceremony!), the in-crowd vs the suburbs, and an extended meditation on the history and value of gimmick records. Plus: has Jeremy done the Hustle?



Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.



Books:
Sarah Thornton - Club Cultures: Music, Media and Subcultural Capital

Anthony Hayden-Guest - The Last Party

Thomas Delany - Times Square Red, Times Square Blue



Tracklist:

Rick Dees and his Cast of Idiots - Disco Ducks 

Van McCoy - The Hustle 

Carol Douglas - Midnight Love Affair 

Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band - Cherchez La Femme 

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full thing and a whole lot more, go to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.



In this patrons-episode Jeremy raises a devil’s horn salute to the gods and demons of heavy metal. He explores the etymology of the genre term, excavating its shared roots with acid rock, and explaining how heavy metal compliments our story here on LITM. With reference to Easy Rider and the misconceived ‘end of the ‘60s’, we hear about how biker culture, the legacy of the blues and changing regimes of accumulation contributed to the anguished intensity expressed in the music of Led Zeppelin, King Crimson and Iron Butterfly. 



Jeremy also explores noise, feedback and distortion as the new aesthetic tools of metal, questions why people in the late 60s would want to explore occult and black magic ideas, and finishes with a deep dive on Black Sabbath, asking: was heavy metal an expression of the blues for white guys who’s dad’s worked in the car factories of Birmingham?



Join us next time for pt. 2.



Produced by Matt Huxley.



Books and Films:

Easy RiderRobert Walser - Running with the Devil: Power, Gender and Madness in Heavy Metal Music



Tracklist:

Steppenwolf - Born to be Wild 

Blue Cheer - Summertime Blues 

The Who - My Generation (Live 1968) 

Led Zeppelin - Dazed and Confused 

Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love 

King Crimson - 21st Century Schizoid Man 

Iron Butterfly - Easy Rider (Let the Wind Pay the Way) 

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath 

Black Sabbath - Paranoid 

Black Sabbath - War Pigs 

In the final episode of our three-parter on punk, Jeremy and Tim stick a pin through their ears and make their way down the Kings Road for the release of Anarchy in the UK. We hear about the mercurial Malcolm McLaren, Situationism, Symbolism and SEX in discussion with the Pistols project. We uncover why John Lydon knows what he hates but not what he wants, how a prime-time curse word scandalised Britain, and ask who wasn’t at the Manchester Free Trade Hall the night the Sex Pistols played.



Elsewhere in the episode we dig deeper into what constituted punk as a structure of feeling, contrasting authenticity with irony and asking: how serious really is all this? With Blondie, John Waters, Rimbaud, the Mercer Street Arts Center and Patti Smith. Never mine the bollocks, here’s Love is the Message…
Produced by Matt Huxley.



Tracklist:New York Dolls - Personality Crisis

Patti Smith - Horses

Blondie - X Offender



Books:Frith & Hall - Art into Pop