From ‘Dead End Streets’ to ‘Shangri Las’: Negotiating Social Class and Post-War Politics with Ray Davies and the Kinks

Gildart, Keith

doi:10.1080/13619462.2012.703009

Cited by 20 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…For instance, O 'Brien et. al (2016) found that musicians are likely to be originally drawn from higher professional and higher managerial social class positions, while other research suggests that the music industry encourages popular musicians to present themselves as being from the working classes (Fox 2004;Harkness 2014;Hawkins 2010;Jones 2013;Morra 2014;Petersen 1997), with such positions generally celebrated in popular music (Gildart 2012;Harkness 2014;Hesmondhalgh 2013;McDonald 2008;Palmer 2014;Power et. al 2012;.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Literature on the cultural workforce of music production contains some findings that initially appear contradictory. For instance, O’Brien et al (2016) found that musicians are likely to be originally drawn from higher professional and higher managerial social class positions, while other research suggests that the music industry encourages popular musicians to present themselves as being from the working classes (Fox, 2004; Harkness, 2014; Hawkins, 2010; Jones, 2013; Morra, 2013; Petersen, 1997), with such positions generally celebrated in popular music (Gildart, 2012; Harkness, 2014; Hesmondhalgh, 2013; McDonald, 2009; Palmer, 2014; Power et al, 2012, 2016). Indeed, Wiseman-Trowse (2008) even went as far as to suggest that social class becomes a way of conveying ‘meaning’ through music.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally they found that a disproportionate number of musicians hailed from higher professional and higher managerial original social class positions. Social class is a regular theme in the lyrics of some music genres and, in contrast to theatre, selective dimensions of working-class culture are celebrated in popular music (Gildart, 2012; Harkness, 2014; Hesmondhalgh, 2013; McDonald, 2009; Palmer, 2014; Power et al, 2012, 2016). Indeed, Wiseman-Trowse (2008) found social class to be ‘performed’ through the actions and managed identities of musicians.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A ‘Different Class’? Homophily and Heterophily in the Social Class Networks of Britpop

2017

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Social network analysis is increasingly recognised as a useful way to explore music scenes. In this article we examine the individuals who were the cultural workforce that comprised the ‘Britpop’ music scene of the 1990s. The focus of our analysis is homophily and heterophily to determine whether the clusters of friendships and working relationships of those who were ‘best connected’ in the scene were patterned by original social class position. We find that Britpop’s ‘whole network’ is heterophilic but that its ‘sub-networks’ are more likely to be social class homophilic. The sub-networks that remain heterophilic are likely to be united by other common experiences that brought individuals in the network to the same social spaces. We suggest that our findings on Britpop might be generalised to the composition of other music scenes, cultural workforces and aggregations of young people. Our study differs from research on, first, British ‘indie music’ and social class which focuses upon the construction, representation and performance of social location rather than the relationships it might shape and second, the pioneering social network analyses of music scenes which currently lack explicit emphasis on social class.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A ‘Different Class’? Homophily and Heterophily in the Social Class Networks of Britpop

2017

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“…The song is evocative of Lancashire Wakes Weeks and the image of Blackpool in the Gracie Fields' film Sing As We Go. (Gildart 2012) 'Autumn Almanac' celebrates working class mass leisure while also gently mocking the conformity it engendered. George Formby had struck a similar note a generation earlier, in his 1944 song recounting an excursion with his real-life wife Beryl, at a time when wartime rationing was still in place.…”

Section: Turn Attention Those We Mention Seasonal Attraction Beckonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Blackpool in Film and Popular Music

Mazierska¹

2020

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The link between the popular music history of Blackpool and its status as a seaside holiday resort are illustrated by an episode from its recent efforts to re-invent itself, one which touches on a number of recurring themes. In 2009 Frank Barrett, the travel editor of The Mail on Sunday, voiced his indignation about a Blackpool tourist board promotional video, intended to modernise the image of the town. The video, aping the imagery and style of arthouse film, appears at first to be to set in a Parisian café before its true location is revealed.In lamenting the promotional campaign Barrett makes reference to the popular music history of Blackpool. The film, he complains: attempts a sort of French cinema arthouse take on the seaside resort. At first glance, you might think that Blackpool is making a pitch for the French tourist market. In fact, the French aren't really keen on holidaying anywhere outside France (thank God, you might say)… Rather than indulging in smart arty films, Blackpool ought to be concentrating on celebrating its core values: harking back to the glory days of George Formby, Gracie Fields and Albert and the Lion. (Barrett 2009) Perhaps predictably for a feature writer on a publication noted for its flag-waving nationalism, Barrett's ire is aroused by the thought that the campaign might have been appealing to the French. But the issue of class is also implied: Barrett suggests that Blackpool's arthouse pretensions might indicate that the town had ideas above its station. In invoking the popular music of pre-war Blackpool, Barrett's critique brings together some of the persistent themes and anxieties in postwar musical references to the town: nostalgia, Englishness, class, decline and the notion of the 'fake'. Nostalgic Nationalism: freedom, conformity and declineBlackpool has been referenced within popular music for the best part of a century. Its place in popular culture derived originally from its success as a place for tourism and entertainment.In the 1930s 'glory days' that Barrett invokes, Blackpool was the most popular resort in Britain, with an estimated 7 million visitors to the resort each season (Walton 1998). It is the very success of Blackpool in the first half of the twentieth century as a place of leisure and entertainment that has led to the vein of nostalgia that runs through postwar references to the town in popular music. The three popular music references cited by Barrett involve artists

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“…A series of articles certain to attract the attention of many historians are to be found in a special issue of Contemporary British History . This issue was devoted to the role of postwar youth culture and popular music, and interested readers will find Gildart discussing the social and political impact of the postwar consensus as explored through the music of Ray Davies and the Kinks. Osgerby explores how the portrayal of skinheads and motorcycle gangs in lurid 1970s novels reflected broader media constructions of Britain as a nation beset by social and political crisis.…”

Section: Post‐1945mentioning

confidence: 99%