I Doth Protest Too Much

So PBS has been running a 60's theme all week. In fact, they're calling it "60's Week." I've already talked about the two days of Dylan: No Direction Home. Last night was a documentary on the early Beatles and mainly about Pete Best. I didn't watch it. After that, though, a history of protest music came on. It was called "Get Up Stand Up" and was hosted by Chuck D of Public Enemy fame.

I like Chuck D. -- Public Enemy had a fresh vital sound bolstered by brilliant political lyrics and provocative stances (such as the implied threat to the governor of Arizona in "By the Time I Get to Arizona"), but the group -- and political rap in general -- were soon displaced in the public imagination by nihilistic gangster rap.

The special however suffered from a lack of focus. It started with Joe Hill - fair enough - and went through Guthrie and Pete Seeger - a national treasure who has survived quite a bit - on to the 1960's. At that point the show lost direction. Everything apparently became protest music after the 1960's: David Bowie's gender bending performance became protest music; benefit concerts like Live Aid became protest music; the entirety of punk rock became protest music. NO NO NO NO.

Live Aid did not protest anything: it was awareness raising and fund raising. Punk rock in and of itself was no more a protest than any other youth movement before or after, and if that's your definition of protest music, then Elvis Presley becomes protest music. I don't think so.

Even more astounding was the weak selection of protest from the hip hop genre. For instance, Public Enemy has an amazing collection of political cuts: "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos," "Party for Your Right to Fight," "Burn Hollywood Burn," and the seminal "Fight the Power" are just a few that are more powerful and appropriate than the two tracks highlighted in the show: "911 Is a Joke" and "Give It Up."

Billy Bragg, perhaps the seminal English protest singer of the 1980's, was skipped over in favor of Simple Minds and UB40. Huh? He was interviewed but none of his music mentioned...I suppose it pisses me off more because BB is one of my favorite artists.

Anyway, I've watched more TV this week than I usually watch in three weeks (M-F that is -- with college football season ongoing, I watch as much as possible on Saturday). I might watch a bit more tonight. It's The 60's: The Years That Shaped a Generation tonight...