The Scarlet Bi Black, Sept. 29. unit—page 8

Name that tune

Listen to the music .

hy urn Ki'imstein

Piles oi records accent Bruce Hoffman‘s room. Silently these
albums await their chance on his turntable, a chance which will
decide whether or notthcy will be heard on 1(ch l-loiiman, the music
director at KDIC. evaluates most of the 50 or so albums the station
receives each month ills technique of evaluation is direct and to the
point: “I put a record on and it it doesn't sound good within the iirst
lew seconds I boot the whole album.“ railures are stored or given
away. Regarding the quality or what he rates Hoffman simply says,

“Most of it is trash."

Grinnellians care about music.
Just mention a favorite group and
the average student plunges
into a passionate tirade.
Walking through Younker hall,
debating whether or not to attempt
this article, I stumbled into a
heated argument concerning the
decline and fall of Fleetwood Mac
Names like the Grateful Dead and
the Rolling Stones were catapulted
back and forth between neighbors.

Walk into almost any hall, on any
iloor. and you will hear a
cacophonous mix of sounds
ranging irom the Rocky Horror
Picture Show to Peter, Paul and
Mary. Indeed, the spectre of music
haunts Grinnell College.

MOST STUDENTS listen Io
music whenever they can. Turning
on the light and turning on the
radio simultaneously upon en-
tering the room is an acquired
behavioral characteristic oi many
a dorm dweller. The particularly
adept even manage to get an
album on before too much time is
wasted. But at Grinnell, musical
tastes extend beyond the turntable.

Classical music fans express
displeasure at what they consider
an all too apathetic feeling toward
classical music. They cite poor
attendance at Mirecouri Trio
concerts and a lack of classical
programming on KDIC. 0n the
average there is probably about
one classical listener per iloor

YET TlllS HEART” of attention
is not reflected in the record sales
at the bookstore. Lee Nelson.
record distributor to the bookstore,
noted the popularity oi classical
albums here. Last year, he said,
rock sold big in the beginning of the
year, but toward the year's end
classics were actuallv outselling
rock. He expects this trend to
continue this year.

 

Classical music isn't the only
kind that arouses controversy.
Jazz is, needless to say, pervasive
on campus. Jazz listeners take
their music very seriously, and
border on downright hostility to
those uninitiated to the mysteries
of the improvised, The unr
fortunates who aren’t really into
jazz are often apologetic about
their apparent ignorance, Often
one hears, “Yeah, I like it, but l
don’t know much about it."

HOWEVER. TllE JAZZ of
avant-garde Anthony Braxtoii
(who appeared here last spring)
provoked strong reactions by jazz
fans and opponents alike. llis high»
powered irce improvisation
dismayed much oi the crowd, but
as campus musician Greg Fey
described it. the energy trans-
mitted in his improvisation was
its essence,

One layman recalls that when he
first arrived at Grinnell he noticed
a lot oi people icverishly reading
up on the mysteries of jazz so that
thev too could be “with it,"

When it comes to being “with
it." disco rears its ugly head Here
is where musical tastes really
become political. If the mention of
music can start conversations, the
mention oi disco can lead to fights.
Tony Montoya. the resident scion
oi discodeiends his music: “If you
put a list of songs together lpop,
soul, disco) those who would
recognize the titles oi the
progressive disco songs would be
the hippest," For Tony. disco is
what is happening. It is danceable
music which defines its own social
scene. V

"E (‘LAiliis TIIAT people don't
give disco a lair chance, Most don't
give it any. A lot ol people com-

plain about its loud repetitious

 

 

. . Grinnell style

 

beat and its inane lyrics. Some
diehards won‘t even concede that
it's fun to dance to. ”Disco sucks"
is a commonly heard slogan Kurt
Anderson. station manager at
KDlC. put it this \\‘ay' ”Disco is an
amazing and wnndcriul art iorm
that reminds me oi pigs, mud, and
trampling elephants.”

Top rorty music is also much
maligned. but Doc Elliot, resident
top rorty jock at KDIC, maintains
that there are “a lot of closet top
forty fans on campus,"

KUIE‘ is definitely popular,
cspecially among pit dwellers who
can't pick up any other stations.
Most students seem to enjoy the
lare on “the dick." although they
complain about long sets Without
announcements. The station, many
feel, may be a little jazz heavy. but
it seems to be preferred to top
lorty.

Geographically, musical tastes
on campus really don't vary

 

 

 

 

“Deadheads" as well as an oc-
casional John Denver fan can be
found stumbling about in both
loggias

OFF-(AMPUS tastes, of course,
are different. People there take

(Photos by Karl Dukstein.)

some CULTS have only
one member Although it is
rumored that other people time in,
there can he no doubt that Danny
Kadden spins his 73’s oi the swing
era iSaturdays so on KDlCl

“Music is good for

anxiety dttac/es”

—-Plato

(Burling graffiti)

their music a lot more seriously, or
maybe just a lot more, Sometimes
listening up to Six hours a day As
rumor has it offrcampus is ex
tremely Dead. Also, esoterica
reigns. Besides owning a fine
collection of American folk songs
irarel, oftrcampusite Ed Gates
waxed enthusiastic about his
iavorite group. Billy Dan Beercan
and the Nickel Draws (extremely
rare)

Eclecticism is a trademark of
the Grinnell ear. andsas a result,
cults flourish. The most con-
spicuous are probably the “Dead
Heads," They rally around their
cherished bootleg concert tapes
and bongs as their heroes truck on
to eternity Most people agree that
the Grateful Dead are a lot of fun,
and that their jams are exciting,
but some feel that their cult is
overdoing it a bit. One student put
it this way: “overkill "

ANOTHER CULT that flourishes
on heavily freshman floors is that
of the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
The time warp is drilled into the
ears of the faithful and the un~
faithful alike, and those lucky
enough to own the actual album
tgoshi spend most oi their time

recording tapes of It for other‘

would-he devotees oi Frank N
Ful'ter and his crew

Bluegrass and country music
also bloom in select corners oi the
college Aside lrom those who slide
past KuNl‘s Folkways show, some
pcoplc listen to the likes of Flatt
rind Scruggs with a lciyor Mark
Huston. an adamant hillbilly.
ior-cibly maintains-1m the only
one who has any decent musical
tastes on campus,"

 

mostly for himself, But like most
cultists, he is motivated by a

sincere interest In the music,
Asked what he likes about the
music your parents danced to, he
exclaims. “Big Band music is very
neat and Well laid out, You don't
have to get into it too much."

Speaking oi ”getting into it. .
though diminishing, there is still
a strong relationship between pot
and music at Grinnell. Very often,
it a person's tastes change at
Grinnell. you can be sure that pot
had something to do with it.
“Getting high and listening to
some tunes" IS still a favorite
pastime, although hemp is by no
means essential to the enjoyment
of music.

MUSIC DDMINATES life at
Grinnell in a very real way. People
respond to and use music in their
own ways Each person has
developed his or herown tastes and
generalizations violate this his
tegrlty—the avid cultism on
campus proves this However.
when so many people are involved
in such a controversial issue there
are bound to be generalizations.

Junior Dean Robbins reels let
down at the level oi musical
listening done here, For him
"people aren't into anything really
aesthetic; music seems to tilt more
immediate needs " indeed rmany
people grow attached
to music because of its soothing
relaxing qualities as well as ior its
built-in social potential But in
either case. whether as an opiate
or as an aesthetic shot in the arm.
everyone at Grinnell listens in.
tenscly

 

