The Politics of Youth Culture: Some Observations on Rock and Roll in American Culture

Author(s): Lawrence Grossberg

Source: Social Text, No. 8 (Winter, 1983-1984), pp. 104-126
Published by: Duke University Press
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The PoliticsofYouthCulture:SomeObservations
on Rockand RollinAmericanCulture
LAWRENCEGROSSBERG

INTRODUCTION

ofyouthculturein theUnitedStatesaftertheSecond World

The riseand visibility
War is marked,mostprominently, by the emergenceof rock and roll.' Some have
argued that this reductionof art to commodityis merelythe finalstage in the pro-
ductionof the human subjectas consumer:passive, acriticaland unable to define
politicalopposition.Othershave arguedthat rock and roll, preciselyas a formof
leisure,has a culturalpoliticsbased on its representation of the psychological,cul-
turaland politicalaspirationof youth.The alternativequestionsthatI wishto pose
concerntherelationsbetweentheheterogenoususes and contextsof rockand roll on
the one hand, and the specificity of rock and roll as a culturalformwithits own
evolvingpoliticson theother.Rock and rollis not onlycharacterizedby itsmusical
and stylisticdifferences;itapparentlycan be used in radicallydifferent waysby dif-
ferentfans. Contemporaryculturaltheory-from Williams to Foucault-agrees
upon theneed to locate any particularculturaltextwithina specificreconstruction
of itshistoricalcontext.2 However,how does one describesuch reconstructions and
identify the functionsor effectsof rockand roll withinthem?Furthermore, despite
thediversityof thelocallyproducedeffectsof rock and roll, it seemsto constantly
reproduceitselfas havinga certainunifiedhistoricalidentity.How does one move
beyondthe set of reconstructed contextsto a readingof rock and roll as a cultural
form?
My approachto thesequestionsdependsupon twoassumptions.First,particular
rock and roll textsonlyproduceeffectsinsofaras theyare located withina larger
"rock and roll apparatus" throughwhich the music is inflected.This apparatus
includesnot onlymusicalgenresand practices,but stylesof dress,behavior,dance,
etc., as well as economicand politicalrelations.Second, thepowerof rockand roll
thatis, in itsabilityto produceand organizestructures
is locatedin itsaffectivity, of
desire.But the organizationof desireis alwaysthesiteof a struggleforpower,of a
resistanceto the regimentation of affectiverelations.3The culturalpoliticsof any
momentin thehistoryof rockand rollis a function,then,of theaffectiverelations
existingbetweenthe musicand othersocial, cultural,and institutionalfacts.I will
use "affectivealliance" to describean organizationof concretematerialpractices
and events,culturalforms,and social experiencesinto a structurewhich partly
determines (alwaysin a strugglewithideologicalformations)thehistoricalpossibili-
ties of desire. Thus, not only mustthe effectsof the rock and roll apparatus be
definedcontextuallybut its effectivity is definedpreciselyby its productionof the
of Illinois,Champaign.
teachesEnglishat theUniversity
LawrenceGrossberg
104

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AmericanRock 105

materialcontextwithinwhichits fansuse the music. The rock and roll apparatus

organizesthe disparate pieces of that contextaccordingto certain structuresof
affectiveinvestmentsratherthan throughsemanticrepresentations, experiential
homologiesor emotionalevocations. Hence, such a descriptionof the effectsof
rockand roll is neitherphenomenologicalnor ideological. In fact,thisview of the
affectivefunctioning of rock and roll allows us, not only to examinethe concrete
politicsof particularmomentsof rockand rollbut also, to move beyondsuch con-
textualismto describetheunityof rockand roll. We can identifythe culturalform
withthestructures by whichthe rock and roll apparatushas consistently produced
and positionedits fans withina limitedset of affectivealliances.4
I will suggestfivegeneralcharacterizations of rock and roll framedwithinthe
of
problematic power as theorganization of The firstsuggeststhatthedomi-
affect.
nantaffectivecontextof rockand rollis a temporalratherthan a sociologicalone.
Whileclass, race, gender,nationality,subcultureand even age maybe partlydeter-
minativeof specificaffectivealliances, the emergenceof rock and roll should be
locatedin thecontextof growingup (in theUnitedStatesformypurposes)afterthe
Second WorldWar. The second hypothesiswill propose the particularstructureof
oppositionthatconstitutesone momentof theunityof rock and roll, its particular
affectiveeffectivity.This cannot be sufficiently describedas the constitutionof an
identity or the production of a utopian fantasy.Rather,rockand roll inscribesand
cathectsa boundarywithinsocial realitymarkedonlyby its otherness,its existence
outside of the affectivepossibilitiesof hegemonicalliances. In more traditional
terms,rock and roll inscribesthe particularmark of postwaralienationupon the
surfaceof othersocial structures of difference.Nevertheless,thismarkof difference
-its productionand effects-arenotalwaysthesame. The thirdhypothesissuggests
a way of describingthe range of effectiveboundariesthat rock and roll appears
capable of defining.The fourthhypothesisdiscussesthenotionof cooptation,i.e.,
theprocessbywhichrockand rollis appropriatedintothecontextsof thedominant
organizationsof affectso thatit loses whateveroppositionalforceit mayhave had.
Finally,the last hypothesiswill describethe aesthetic-textual practiceof rock and
roll as a postmodernistone: a practiceof "excorporation" located at the site of
particularculturalcontradictions withinthe hegemony.My conclusionis thatrock
and roll is a formof culturalrebellionand neverof politicalrevolution.5

HYPOTHESIS I:
ROCK AND ROLL IN THE POST-WAR CONTEXT

Anyreadingof rockand rollmustbeginby identifying thecontextwithinwhich

it is to be located and its relationsidentified.The dominantfeaturesare almost
alwaysidentified as sociologicalvariables(i.e., thesociologicalcharacteristics
of the
music's producersand consumers).These variables,whileoftenlocally significant,
mustconstantlyconfronttheirown exceptions.Such sociological descriptionsdo
notprovideconvincingaccountsof theemergenceand continuedpowerof rockand
roll;theymustcontinuallyappeal to an a prioridefinitionof themusicembodiedin
a particularhistoricalmoment.For example,the adolescenceof the rock and roll

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106 Grossberg

audienceis obviouslyan importantdeterminant of the musicitselfas well as of its

culturalpolitics.The frustrations, desires,fearsand resentments of pubertyprovide
muchof theenergyand manyof theconcernsof rock and roll. However,even this
apparentlysimpledetermination is mediatedby otheremotions,experiencesand
events.And whilethefirstaudienceof rockand roll was almostentirelyteenagers,
thisis no longerthecase. Anotherexampleis theplace of class determination. While
the class experiencerepresentedin rock and roll may functionsignificantly in one
context,it maynot functionsimilarlyin all musicor contexts.Attemptsto generalize
Hebdige's readingof punk as working-class musicmustconfront,not onlyFrith's
argumentthatit emergedout of a largelyart school and "bohemian" context,but
also thosecontextsin whichpunkfunctionsin a largelymiddle-classcontextwithout
anyromanticization of theworkingclass. The factthatparticularformsof rockand
roll have specificclass roots or referencesdoes not necessarilydetermineits recep-
tion and social effectsin particularcontexts.On theotherhand, thisis not to deny
thatthefactof (class) originmayhave specificmediatedeffects,particularly through
local iconographies.
Alternatively,ifwe startwiththeassumptionthatrockand rollis relatedin some
way to youth'softenarticulatedexperiencesof alienation,powerlessnessand bore-
dom, can we locate thecontextwithinwhichtheseexperiencesemergeand rockand
roll functionsas a specificresponseconstituting a "youth culture"? Consider the
obvious factthatrock and roll emergedin a particulartemporalcontext,variously
characterizedas late capitalism,post-modernity, etc. The dominantmomentsof this
post-warcontexthave been widelydescribed:the effectsof the war and the holo-
caust on the generationof parents;economic prosperityand optimism;the threat
of instantand total annihilation(the atomic bomb);6 the cold war and McCarthy-
ism withthe resultingpoliticalapathyand repression;the rise of suburbiawithits
inherentvalorizationof repetition;'the developmentof late capitalism(consump-
tion society)withits increasinglysophisticatedtechnologyfor the rationalization
and controlof everydaylife; the proliferation of mass media and advertisingtech-
niquesand theemergenceof an aestheticof images;the particularredistributions of
social knowledgeas a resultof both televisionand increasingeducationaloppor-
tunities;the attemptand ultimateinabilityto deal withthe factof the baby boom;
thecontinuationof an ideologyof individuality, progress,and communication(the
AmericanDream); and, to echo Sontag, an increasinglyrecedingthresholdof the
shocking.The resultwas a generationof childrenthatwas notonlybored(theAmer-
ican Dream turnedout to be boring)and afraid,but lonelyand isolated fromeach
otherand theadultworldas well. The moretheadultworldemphasizedtheirunique-
ness and promisedthemparadise,the angrier,more frustrated, and moreinsecure
theygrew.8
These culturaleffectswerethemselveslocated withinan evenbroaderapparatus
whose significanceis onlynow beingrecognized:theyoperatedin a worldcharac-
terizedby a steadilyrisingrate of changethatdid not allow any appeal to a stable
and predictableteleology.There is in factno sense of progresswhichcan provide
meaningor depthand a sense of inheritance.Both the futureand the past appear
increasingly irrelevant;historyhas collapsed into the present.The ramifications of

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AmericanRock 107

thisfactare onlynow becomingvisibleas we confronta generationthatno longer

believesthattheirlives will be betterthan those of theirparents,even thoughthe
"rhetoricof progress"is stillpresent.Suddenly,"we are obliged to remake from
scratchthefoundationof our taste,as of our politicsand ourverylives. Old waysof
judginglinger(onlyas) unexaminedhabits,comforting defensesagainsttherecogni-
tion of our common lostness."9 As historyloses its sense, it can no longer be a
source forthe values by whichone chooses and validatesone's actions."?
This newsociohistoricalcontextfurther reinforcedyouth'sconvictionof itsown
uniqueness;indeeditdetermined theirdominantgenerationalneedsand perceptions
in thefiftiesand since.If adolescenceis a timewhenone seeksnot onlypleasurebut
also a viable adult identity,
thenthecollapse of thedeep structure of historyunder-
minedthe traditionalmodels. The significanceof Holden Caulfield, JamesDean,
Marlon Brando, and the Beats as culturalheroes lies in theirstruggleto achieve
some identityconsistentwiththis new set of experiences.The Beats' turnto the
model of the black hipsterpointedthe way forthe rock and roll/youthculture.
Rock and roll emergesfromand functionswithinthe lives of thosegenerations
thathave grownup in thispostwar,postmoderncontext.It does not simplyrepre-
sentand respondto theexperiencesof teenagers,or to thoseof a particularclass. It
is not merelymusic of the generationgap. It draws a line throughthatcontextby
markingone particularhistoricalappearanceof the generationgap as a permanent
one. Similarly,class divisionsare reinscribedand realignedas theyare traversedby
theboundaryof postmodernity, of thedesiresof thosegenerationswho have known
no otherhistoricalmoment.Postmodernity is, I shall suggest,not merelyan experi-
ence or a representation of experience;it is above all a formof practiceby which
affectivealliances are produced,by whichotherpracticesand eventsare invested
withaffect.

HYPOTHESIS 2:
THE EFFECTIVITY OF ROCK AND ROLL

If a culturalhistoryof rock and roll involvesa reconstruction of the various

contextsand affectivealliances withinwhichit is located, it is stillpossible to de-
scribeitsgeneraleffectivity because it is a partof rock and roll's operationto con-
tinuouslyreconstructand reassertits own unity.I have argued that this unityis
determined bythecontextof postmodernity. Unable to reject,control,or evencon-
ceptualizethis reality,it becomes both the source of oppressionand the object/
contextof celebrationand fun. Repelled and angeredby the boredom (repetitive-
ness) and meaninglessness of the contemporary world,youthcelebratesthese very
conditionsin itsleisure(technology,noise, commoditystatus,repetition,fragmen-
tation). Despondencyand pleasure become mutuallyconstitutive.Rock and roll
seeks its place withinand against the verypostmodernity that is its conditionof
possibility."The fact,if true,that rock and roll may not be experiencedin these
termsis less a statementabout rockand rollthanabout itschangingrelationshipto
the hegemony.12
At its most powerful,rock and roll is about survival.Dave Marsh, rock critic,

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108 Grossberg

once said that"Rock and rollwas nevergood timemusic. It was alwaysabout beat-
ingback bad timesand hardluck,about rejectingdespair.And whenyou do it right,
you reallycan't lose."'" In a sense, rock and roll startswithdespair: loneliness,
anger, fear, and frustration. It is partiallyan individualexperience,the resultof
bringingprivateobsessionsand desiresintoa worldwe do not control.'4Obviously,
desiresmay contradicteach otheror theymay contradictreality;in eithercase,
desireremainsunfulfilled.But talkingin such termsremovesdesire-both its pro-
ductionand organization-fromthesocial world.If rockand rollis a responseto an
environment thatis boring,repressive,and crazy,it suggeststhat these structures
coincidewithintheregimentation of desirein thecontemporary world.The sensuous
(kinesthetic)and sensual natureof rock and roll experienceprovidesyouthwitha
materialresponse.It is in thiscontextthatthepenetrating, drivingbeat-often read
as bothsexualand violent-mustbe examined.As Pete Townshendof theWho has
said, "Rock and rollwon'tgetridof yourproblems,butitwillletyou dance all over
them.""
We mightbeginto understandhow rock and roll worksby affirming that it is
above all fun-the productionof pleasures(e.g., in the sheerenergyof the music,
the danceable beat, the sexual echoes) and of "formationsof pleasure."'6 Thus,
rock and roll can nevertake itselftoo seriously.And yet,it is extremelyself-con-
scious; itcontinuouslyreconstitutes and re-encapsulatesitself(e.g., in itsintertextu-
ality,its self-references,its recreationof its historythroughthe incorporationof
"covers").'7 The resultis thatironyand contradiction are the dominantfiguresin
rock and roll's textuality.Rock and roll, to be effective,mustconstantlydeny its
own importanceor meaningfulness; it mustfocusthe attentionof its audienceson
itssurfaces.Its powerlies not in whatit says or meansbut in whatit does withinits
culture.I am not suggestinga disjunctionof lyricsand sounds but ratherthatrock
and rollcannotbe approachedby some textualanalysisof itsmessage.It is notthat
rockand roll does not producemeaningbut ratherthanmeaningitselffunctionsin
rockand rollto organizedesire.The questionof whatthelyrics(and otherrepresen-
tationalfeaturesof the music) contributescan only be addressedin particularin-
stances.When David Susskindasked recordproducerPhil Spectorwhat the mean-
ingof thesong "Da Doo Ron Ron" was, Spectorresponded,"It's not whatI say it
means. It's whatit makesyou feel! Can't you hear the sound of thatrecord,can't
you hearthat?"'8 What both Spectorand his fans knewwas thatthe answerto his
questionwas no.
A boundaryis drawnby the veryexistenceof desires(or more accurately,the
organizationof affect)thatis not available to some. Its oppositionalpower is not
theresultof itsofferinga particulardesirethatthedominantculturecannotaccept,
nor of its calling for the unlimitedrealizationof desire. Rock and roll does not
projectan antinomyof freedomand constraint.Its historyis ratherthedeconstruc-
tion of thatantinomy;it plays withthe relationof desireand the regimentation of
desireby alwayslimitingits own productionof pleasure. Rock and roll's pleasure
servesto marka difference, to inscribeon the surfaceof social realitya boundary
betweenus and them;'9it rearticulatesand recathectsa permanentruptureat the
pointof theintersection of youthand postmodernity. Thismarkof difference is not,

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AmericanRock 109

however,a simpleboundarybetweeninsideand outside,hegemonyand revolution.

It is rathera stratificationof social space. Rock and rolllocates its fansas different
even while theyexistwithinthe hegemony.The boundaryis inscribedwithinthe
dominantculture.Rock and roll is an insider'sart which functionsto positionits
fans as outsiders.This "encapsulation" definesan exteriority for itselfinside the
dominantculturethroughparticularpracticesthatconstituteaffectivealliances. To
use a psychoanalyticmetaphor,rock and roll "incorporates" itselfinto the "belly
of the beast." It is "internalizedbut unintegrated,"includedwithinthe dominant
culturebut "alien to it, inaccessible;... enclosed,entombed,encystedinside."20
Finally,we mustask in whatsensethisboundaryconstitutesa politicalrelation-
shipbetweentherockand rollcultureand thehegemony.The mostcommondescrip-
tionsof rockand roll's powerof affirmation locate it withintheattemptto reconsti-
tutecommunity in the face of industrialmass society.Thus, if rockand roll appar-
entlybeginswithprivatedesires,itcreatescommonexperiencesout of them.21Rock
and rolltransforms thedespairof itscontextintoan embracingof its possibilitiesas
pleasure. But it cannot dismissthe despair. For what rock and roll is inescapably
drawnto is theattemptto findmeaningand value in thehistoricalmomentand in its
own existence.The attemptis, of course,therefusalof thepost-warcontext.And so
rock and roll seeks new formsof identity,new values and meaning; yet it must
alwaysplace theseback intothe contextof a worldwhichunderminesall meaning
and value. The politicsof rockand roll is not theproductionof an identitybut the
constantstruggleagainstsuchidentities,evenas it createsand politicizesthem(e.g.,
the "teenager" constantlyreappearsin the historyof rock and roll as a rebellion
againstolder generationsof rock and roll fans).22
The politicsof rock and roll must be understoodwithinthis tension,caught
betweenthedesireto celebratethenew and the desireto escape it, betweendespair
and pleasure. The politicsof rock and roll arises fromits articulationof affective
alliancesas modesof survivalwithinthepostmodernworld. It does not bemoan the
deathof olderstructures butseeksto findorganizationsof desirethatdo not contra-
dict the realityin whichit findsitself.Rock and roll, at its best, transformsold
dreamsintonewrealities.It rejectsthatwhichis outsideof itsself-encapsulation not
on politicalgroundsbut because theirorganizationsof affectare no longerappro-
priatein thepostmodernworld.It celebratesthe lifeof the refugee,the immigrant
withno roots exceptthose thattheycan constructfor themselvesat the moment,
constructions whichwill inevitablycollapse around them.Rock and roll celebrates
play-even despairingplay-as the only possibilityfor survival(e.g., Elvis' pink
Cadillac, the Beatles' antics,punk's shock tacticsand post-punk'sdissonance). It
does not oppose its own ideologicalrepresentations to those of the dominantcul-
ture;it locatesitselfwithinthegaps and cracksof thehegemony,thepointsat which
meaningitselfcollapses into desireand affect.

HYPOTHESIS 3: THE POLITICS OF ROCK AND ROLL

At thispoint,twoquestionscan be usefullyraisedtogether:thepoliticalpossibil-
ities of rock and roll's cathexisof a boundary,and the desire for a descriptive

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110 Grossberg

vocabularyfor distinguishing "genres" withinrock and roll. In fact, one of the

importantdeterminants of thesignificance of a particularformof rockand rollis its
relationship to other forms of rock and roll. At any moment,thereare a distinct
numberof genresof rock and roll existingwithina historicallyevolvingsystemof
styles.Thus, a readingof rockand rollmustfinda way to talkabout thesystemof
internaldifferences which,operatingboth synchronically and diachronically,con-
stitutesits possibilitiesas a unique culturalform.
The mostcommonlyobserveddivisionwithinrock and roll (and its fans) is be-
tweenthepunk(violent,sexual,and emotional)and thepoet (critical,sensuous,and
intellectual).Thesecorrespondroughlywiththeimagesof working-and middle-class
life.In thepopularrockpress,23 theconcernis oftenwithmusicalstylesand linesof
influence.However,it is difficult to see how rockand roll can be circumscribed by
any musical characteristics. The fragmentation of themusichas to be complemented
by an appreciationof the heterogeneity of listeningpractices:styles,contexts,and
functions.For example,thesame musiccan be used by different groups(e.g., new
wave); different stylescan be used forsimilarfunctions(e.g., dance or drugmusic);
and different groupswithina commonstylemayyethave different audiences(e.g.,
Beatles,Ramones,REO Speedwagonand dB's all use pop conventionswhileHeart,
Styx,and AC/DC areall "heavymetal" bands). Thereis not"onlyone wayto rock."
The diversityof rockand rollcan be describedby specifying thewaysin whichit
has cathecteda boundarybetweenThem and Us throughits history.Once again, I
am forcedto abstractfromits concretehistoryof organizinglocal effectivealli-
ances. I do notclaimeitherthattheseformsof inscription belongexclusivelyto rock
and rollor thattheylimititsfuturepossibilities.I proposeto constructa two dimen-
sional schema:thehorizontalaxis specifiesthevariousstructures bywhichrockand
roll differentiatesitsculturefromtheother;theverticalaxis describesthe different
affectivestatusesrock and roll has assignedto its own existence.
Rock and rollhas producedthreeformsof boundaries:oppositional,alternative,
and independent.(There is a fourth-coopted-which I will describein the next
section.)Oppositionalrockand rollpresentsitselfas a directchallengeor threatto
thedominantculture,perhapsevenconfronting the powerof the dominantculture
withitsown power:"we wanttheworldand we wantit now." Alternativerockand
rollmountsonlyan implicitattackon thedominantculture;thefactof itsexistence
impliesa potentialsubstitution forthe hegemonicorganizationof desire:"we want
theworldbut on our own terms." Independentrock and rolldoes not presentitself
as a challenge,eitherexplicitly or implicitly, to thedominantculturealthoughit may
functionas such. It apparentlyexistsoutsideof itsrelationto thedominantculture;
it does not wantthe world. It seeks to escape, to definea space whichneitherim-
pingesupon noris impingedupon bythehegemony:"we wantour world." Without
recognizingthesestructures of difference, whateveraffirmations rockand roll may
produceare likelyto be describedindependently of theparticularhistoricalcontext.
While it is possible that some music may consistentlyproduce the same positive
affectsacross different contexts,theeffectsof theaffirmation are bound to change
as theirparticularrelationto the dominantcultureare differentially cathected.
Whatthenis thenatureof theaffirmative affectof rockand roll? I have argued

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American
Rock 111

againstseeingit as the representation of identities;the subject-positionsarticulated

by rockand roll are oftenmultipleand contradictory. Rather,it definesparticular
affectivestatuses,thoseit assignsto itsown structures of desire,forits own culture.
By describingitselfas a particularstructuration of affect,rockand rolllocatessocial
subjectsin a nonrepresentational space. One can identifythreesuch self-cathexes:
visionary,experiential,and critical.
Visionaryrock and roll projectsitselfas a utopian practice.Its power derives
fromitsclaim to be a stablestructure of desire.The particularrock and rollculture
livesout thepossibilityof a momentof stabilityin thefaceof changeand regimenta-
tion.Whethertherealaudiencesucceedsin actualizingitsutopianpossibilityand the
particularcontentof thevisionis onlysecondary.It reifiesitsown affectivealliance.
Experientialrock and roll is more modest;it projectsitselfas a temporaryrespite,
merelya viable possibilityin thepresentcontext.It valorizesits own affirmation of
changeand movement.It celebratesthebehaviorsand imagesof itsown youthcul-
tures,equatingits affectivealliancewiththerock and roll apparatusitself.Such an
affirmation tendsto be neitheras optimisticand pretentiousas thevisionary,nor as
pessimisticand self-destructive
as the critical.Finally,a criticalaffirmation denies
thatit can produceeventemporaryspaces withinwhichthe audiencemightcontrol
and makesenseof itslife.By rejectinganypossibilityof stabilityand value-includ-
ing the valorizationof changeitself-it merelyaffirmsand valorizesonly its own
negativity.All thatcan be affirmedis thepracticeof critique,thedeconstruction of
all affectivealliances,includingthatproducedby its own inscriptionof the differ-
ence betweenThem and Us. The affectiveallianceof criticalrockand roll is a self-
reflexiveaffirmation of difference,a decathexisof any affirmation.
The differences betweenthesethreeaffirmations maybecomeclearerif we con-
siderthewayin whichrepresentations of love functionin each of them.In visionary
rockand roll,love functionsgenerallyas a universaland stablevalue constitutive of
identityand community.In experientialrock and roll,it oftenservesthe same con-
stitutivefunctionbutitis love in itsconcretesensuality,as real and oftentemporary
relationshipsratherthanany transcendental, abstractform.Finally,in criticalrock
and roll,love is a purelyphysicaleventwithlittlevalid emotionalcontentand which,
in the end, is merelyanotheraffectivetrap set by the hegemony.25 If one seeks
examplesof thesethreecategories,I am temptedto assignmost "acid rock" (e.g.,
GratefulDead, thelaterBeatles) to the first,the bulk of mainstreamrock and roll
(e.g., Chuck Berry,the earlyBeatles, Bruce Springsteen)to the second, and punk
and post-punk(e.g., Sex Pistols, Gang of Four, Pere Ubu) to the third.
The matrixof "stances" thatthesetwo dimensionsgenerate[see diagram]de-
scribesthe possibilitiesof an affectivepoliticsofferedby rock and roll. It is not a
descriptionof musicalstylesnor of a group's intentions.Further,no groupor style
can be stablylocated withina category;groupscan play witha numberof stances
simultaneously (e.g., Clash). The affectivestanceof particularmusicis, as I have
emphasized,locally produced. It may depend on a wide rangeof determinants in-
cludingtheimageof theband and different degreesof knowledgeof thelyrics(rock
and roll fansoften"float" in and out of thelyrics).Fans of different musics(e.g.,
punkand heavymetal)oftenplace a greatweighton whatappearsas minutemusical

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112 Grossberg

NEGATION
Oppositional Alternative Independent Co-opted
TomRobinson GratefulDead DavidBowie VillagePeople
Band(lateseventies)Beatles (earlyseventies) TedNugent
.3 seventies)
2 JimiHendrix (latesixties) Yes (mid-late
3 (latesixties) (mid-seventies)
z
o Doors ChuckBerry Beatles BobbyVee
E (latesixties) (mid-fifties) (earlysixties) (latefifties)
BruceSpringsteen Ramones Blondie OhioExpress
x (mid-seventies) (mid-seventies) REO Speedwagon(mid-sixties)
(lateseventies)

Dexy'sMidnight RollingStones JoyDivision GaryNuman

Runners Contortions
(sixties-seventies) Devo
TonioK SexPistols (lateseventies) (eighties)
U Clash (mid-seventies)
(lateseventies)
GangofFour
(lateseventies)

differencesto outsiders.The waysin whichone listensto music,as wellas themusic

one listensto, is a productof alreadydiffering and oftenantagonisticaffectivealli-
ances. Thus, whiletheemergenceof folk-rock(e.g., theBeatle's RubberSoul) rede-
finedthe listeninghabitsof particularaudience fractions(one has to listento the
lyricsin newways),itis doubtfulthatyoungerkids listeningto AM radio foundthe
musicmakingthe same demandson them.
Whatthismatrixmakesobviousis thatdifferent stancesare availableas resources
at differenttimesand thatsome of themmaydominateor definethestrugglesboth
withinthemusicitselfand betweentheyouthcultureand thehegemony.The power
of thisapproach, however,dependson what it allows one to say about particular
examples.In thediagram,I have includedwithineach categoryexamplesof groups
whosemusicmightbe generallyassociatedwiththatparticularaffectivefunction.I
have further specifieda timeframeand, wereI to be moreprecise,I would have to
includesomedefinition of a particularfractionof theyouthculture.Giventhelimi-
tationsof space, I willlimitmyselfto makingan observationabout threeexamples.
First,considerthe music of the GratefulDead as it existedfor the so-called
counterculture in thesecondhalfof thesixties.Quite obviously,thismusicprojected
a visionof a utopianworldwhichservedas an alternativeaffectivepossibilityto the
dominantculture.The Dead werea "live" band forwhomrecordsweresimplyan
ineffectivemedium.The experienceof a Dead concertwas preciselythatof releasing
one's inhibitionsin the contextof a new structureof affectiverelations.One was
neverafraidof gettingrippedoff,and I have oftenheardwomensaythattheDead's
weretheonlyconcertsat whichtheyfeltcomfortabledancingwithstrangers.Now
considerthe followingdilemmawhichhas been disputedrecently:theDead are still

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around; theystillhave a fanaticalfollowingand most importantly, contemporary

"Deadheads" stilldescribethecontextof a concertin thesame basic visionaryterms
thatwereused overtenyearsago. Yet manyof theDead's olderfans,and manyfans
withstrongpoliticalcommitments are quite criticalof the Dead today. How does
one make senseof thissituation?I suggestthatthe solutionlies in recognizingthat
the Dead stillproducea visionaryalliance but thatit is no longereffectiveas an al-
ternativeboundary.Instead,it inscribesits difference as an independentone which
presents no threatto thedominant culture and hence, serves onlyas a formof escape
ratherthanas an effective politicalchallenge.Indeed, with the Dead's turnto coun-
tryrockin theearlyseventies,theirutopianrepresentations have movedprecariously
close to liberalindividualism.
A secondexampleworthdiscussionis Bruce Springsteen,a rock and roll musi-
cian who has a fanaticalfollowingamongbothcriticsand fans.For manyof Spring-
steen'sfans,hismusicis both oppositionaland experiential.Ratherthana visionof
utopianlife,itoffersus a senseof movementand energywhichis embodiednot only
in thelyrics(withtheirdominantimageof driving)but also in themusicwhichoften
"drives" one forwardas if in flight(especiallythroughthe use of the saxophone).
Thereis an explicitattackon the dominantculturewhichleaves us no alternatives
butto run.Therewas, however,a significant changein his musicand audiencewith
thereleaseofSpringsteen's mostsuccessfulalbum, TheRiver.His popularitysoared,
the album topped the chartsand even produceda hit single,and he sold out large
concertvenues around the country.Springsteenhad become a "rock superstar."
But as his audiencegrew,it changedand fragmented. Many of the pre-Riverfans
feltuncomfortable withthenewerones and sometimesresentedthembecause they
did not use and respondto Springsteen'smusic in the same way. The River does,
indeed,sound and feeldifferent, and forhis newerfans,the musicwas experiential
and independent.It is a reaffirmation of theirvalorizationof fun and excess as a
formof escape. It providesa space withinwhichtheyare in temporarycontrolof
theirlives.While older fanstendto emphasizeSpringsteen'slyrics,theseseem less
importantto thenewer(oftenyounger)fans.In fact,thereis a clearaffective tension
coded into the musical textof The River itself,which often definedthe favorite
songsof thevariousaudiences.In thetermsof mymatrix,themusicmovesbetween
a critical-oppositionalstanceand an experiential-independent one. This contradic-
tionhas been noted by some criticsas a tensionbetweenoptimismand pessimism;
Springsteen himselfhas describeditas realismand idealism.In thiscontext,Spring-
steen'slatestalbum,Nebraska,functionedto reconcilethesecontradictory moments
only by alienatingitselffromthe optimismof The River and the musical codes of
rock and roll.
The pointis thatrock and roll fans,like culturalcritics,tendto expectthatthe
same musicwill have the same functionforthe entireaudierce. We tendto forget
thatthereis no stableand homogeneousrock and roll audience exceptthatcreated
by theeconomicsectorof thedominantculturethroughits marketingpractices.To
expectdifferent fractionsof theyouthcultureto use the musicin the same way, to
expectthe music to articulateonly one affectivepossibilityis to cooperate in the
occlusionof the power of rock and roll. The best rock and roll always allows dif-

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114 Grossberg

ferentaudiencesto locateitwithintheirown affectivealliances.The affectivepower

of themusicwillvarywiththecontextintowhichitis inscribed,potentiallyeffecting
specificreorganizations.
Finally,I wantto addressbrieflythequestionof the currentpopularityof revi-
vals of musicalgenres:forexample,therevivalof pop and thesound of the British
invasionwhichbeganin thelate seventies.It is truethatrockand rollhas a particular
senseof itsown historicityand thatit oftenseemsto returnto thathistoryto recap-
turea lostsenseof affectivepower.But at itsbest,thatrecuperationof its rootsalso
involvesa transformation. Thus, theBeatlesin theearlysixtiesrecapturedthepower
of earlyrock and roll but did so by transforming it both musicallyand affectively
(from an to
alternative an independent boundary). This raiseswhatis perhapsthe
mostdifficultquestionin rockcriticism(especiallywithintermsof my "affective"
readingof rock and roll): how one articulatesthe difference betweenrock and roll
witha real senseof energyand defianceand rockand roll that functionsas a weak
imitation,merelya commodity(e.g., compare20/20 and the Knack).26 The ability
to identifytheeffectsof particularrevivalsdependsupon the priorabilityto make
suchdiscriminations. Similarly,whenwe considerthe currentrevivalof acid rock,
we facethedangerof glossingovertheaffectiverupturewhichthatmusicproduced
in itstime.The musicis beingmarketed,and oftenfunctionsas a way of returning
to some imaginarymomentwhenrockand roll was devoid of despairand political
implications,whenitwas merelyfun.Such questionspointto themoregeneralissue
of the "cooptation" of rock and roll.

HYPOTHESIS 4: THE COOPTATION OF ROCK AND ROLL

Discussionsof cooptationusuallyfocuson thetechniquesbywhichrockand roll

has been exploitedand transformed by theeconomicsystemand thevarious"ideo-
logical stateapparatuses," especiallythemass media. By the end of the fifties,the
youthmarketwas recognizedas an enormoussourceof consumerexpenditure.The
sheernumbersof the baby boom generationmade thema potentialeconomic and
politicalthreatwhichhad to be incorporatedinto the dominantculture.According
to mosthistoriesof rockand roll,thisprocessof exploitationand incorporationhas
been going on since the earlyfiftieswhenrock and roll apparentlybecame a com-
moditywhichcould be produced,marketed,and consumed.But itis also apparently
truethat each timethishas happened, rock and roll breaks out of that coopted
stance and reaffirmsits affectivepower, creatingnew sounds and new political
stances.Such historiesof rockand rollsee itas a cycleof cooptationand renaissance
in whichrock and roll constantlyprotestsagainstits own cooptation.
This readingis reinforced by theviewthatthe cooptationof new sounds,styles,
and stancesseemsto take place at an increasingly rapid rate. We seem today to be
caughtin a situationin whichthevastmajorityof therock and roll audienceis inca-
pable of makingthe distinctionany more:
aroundwithmyfriends
Sitting one night,I remember
sayingthatinsteadof beingthe
triumphofourlives,rockandrollmight It hadgivenus a senseof
bethegreattragedy.
so richand radicalthatnothingcouldeverfeelas intense-andthenthe
possibility

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AmericanRock 115

worldwentbackto business as usual,leavingus stranded....As mass-media folkcul-

ture,rockandrollwasalwaysan anomaly.Sincethedirection of massculture is toward
morecontrol andlessspontaneity, therecordindustry hasworkedceaselesslyto suborn
rockbackintothestatusquo ofentertainment, andsucceeded. Nearlyeverybandthat
stillthinks
rockandrollwasmeantto changeyourlifenowlaborsunderthecontradic-
tionofcreating a popularculture thatisn'tpopularanymore.Yettheycan'tgiveup the
dreamofmaking as biga difference
as ElvisortheBeatles,becausetheirmusicdoesn't
makesenseanyotherway.If suchgrandambitions are meaninglessto themassaudi-
ence,theattempt is tragicforthem;insofaras we givecredence to theirambition,it's
tragicforus.27
This ratherpessimisticreadingof thehistoryof rockand rollassumesthatit moves
betweenfolkand mass art. In orderto challengesuch views,we need to recognize
thatthereare two meaningsof rockand roll as product(or commodity):musicand
records.Althoughgood rockand rollis oftenproducedlocally,even out of a local
community witha set of sharedexperiences,its audienceis alwaysmore inclusive.
The notionof community (and henceof "folk art") is problematicwhenappliedto
youthcultureforthe so-calledcommunityof rock and roll cannotbe definedgeo-
graphically.But the notion of communityis a spatial one: everydayface-to-face
interaction has been assumedto be the dominantdeterminant of sharedexperience
and thecriterionforcommunity.But if temporality has replacedspatialityin defin-
ingtherock and rollaudience,thenthemusicrequireswidespreaddisseminationto
be shared among the membersof its appropriateaudience. The musical product
mustbe reproducedas an object (e.g., a recordor concert)ifit is to be available to
thosewhomit addresses.The musicmustvoluntarilyenterinto various systemsof
economicpracticesand hence,accept its existenceas apparentlymass art.
This suggestsa verydifferent understanding of cooptationand a different read-
ingof thehistoryof rockand roll. The problemwiththe "folk"/"mass" art view
of cooptationis thatit definesit in purelyeconomicterms,as if it were simplythe
resultof strategiesimposedon rockand roll fromwithout.It assumesthatrockand
rollis cooptedwhenthe demandsof the economicsystemsof productionand distri-
butionare allowed to definethe productionof the musicas well as of the object.
While such viewsare partiallycorrect,theyignorea numberof characteristics of
cooptation in rockand roll. First,theyignorethe factthatmass distributionis a real
part of rock and roll. The appropriateaudience for any particularmusic cannot
alwaysbe definedahead of time. Second, theyignorethe factthatthe questionof
cooptationis raisedand answeredat specificmomentswithintherock and roll cul-
ture. It is a distinctionfans make.
In fact,thenotionof cooptationallowsus to see clearlytheexistenceof rockand
roll at theintersection of youthcultureand thehegemony.Ratherthan assuminga
homogeneityof eitherexternalstrategiesor of internaldifferentiations, we can
begin with an analysis of the concrete forms cooptation has assumed at various
pointsin the historyof rock and roll. We can distinguishtwo major differences
constitutedwithinrockand roll: an affectiveand an ideologicaldefinitionof coop-
tation.The firstinvolvesa differentiation between"authentic"and "coopted" rock
and rollbased upon theaffectivepowerof themusicitself.The second differentiates

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116 Grossberg

"authentic" and "coopted" rockand rollin theparticularuses of the musicbased

upon its ideologicalrepresentations.
I have arguedthatthereis a real senseof despair,anger,and frustration in rock
and roll and thatthe rawnessand drivingpower of this energyis inscribedinto a
boundaryseparatingthe rock and roll fan fromothers.Thus, rock and roll is not
merelycathartic;it neitherovercomesnor merelyexpressestheseemotions.Rock
and roll becomes coopted-"complacent"-when it loses that initialsense of its
own struggleagainstsomethingand thus,is no longerable to cathecta boundary
encapsulatingits fans. For example,the practiceof coveringsongs (i.e., playinga
songthathas previouslybeenrecorded),albeitan essentialpartof rockand roll,has
oftenbut not alwaysresultedin whatcan onlybe describedas musicdeprivedof its
affectivepower.
On the otherhand, thereis some rock and roll that differentiates its audience
fromthoseoutsideitsaffectivity butwhichis, at thesametime,essentiallyconserva-
tive.This occursmost commonlywhenthe termsof its affirmation are definedby
theideologyof the dominantculture.Let me describethesetypesof rock and roll
thathave been rejectedas "inauthentic"by large segmentsof the audience at par-
ticularmoments.Disco was seenas cooptedutopianmusicthatprojectsa communi-
ty of artificially constitutedidentitieswhereeach individualbecomes only a com-
modity.28 The formof heavymetalknownas "cock rock" is oftenrejectedbecause
it constitutesa communityof males by reaffirming and exaggerating male sexuality
and violence.29And older rock fans oftenreject so-called "teeny-bopper"rock
("high school rock," "bubblegummusic") because it apparentlyreducesrock and
rollto mereteenagefun.And sincebeinga teenageris a normalstagein growingup,
boththedespairand thepleasureof rockand roll are somethingone will outgrow.
Thus cooptationno longerappears only as an externalaction perpetratedupon
rock and roll-a hegemonicstrategywhichis at best reflectedin thejudgmentsof
rock and roll fans. It is ratherone formby whichrock and roll producesits own
history.Rock and roll constantlymarksdifferences withinitselfjust as it marksthe
difference of itsaudience. Cooptationis themode by whichrock and roll produces
itselfanew,rejectingmomentsofitspast and presentin orderto all themorepotently
inscribeits own boundary.Coopted rock and roll is no longercapable of inscribing
itsdifference or thatof its fans,but thisis an affectivechargemade fromone posi-
tionwithintherockand rollapparatusagainstanother.It indicatesan affectivereal-
liance,a cathexisof one boundaryand a de-encapsulationof one audienceposition.
It is not necessarilyan alterationof the aestheticor ideologicalconstitutionof the
text,but theproductionof new affectiveallianceswithinthe rock and roll culture.
This entailsa verydifferent readingof the historyof rock and roll. Ratherthan a
cycle of authentic and cooptedmusic,rockand rollexistsas a fractured unitywithin
whichdifferences of authenticityand cooptationare definedin the constructionof
affectivealliances and networksof affiliation.These alliances are always multiple
and contradictory. Thus the "cooptedness" of a particularformof rockand roll is
a historically unstablejudgment;it changesin responseto developmentswithinthe
changingmusicaland politicalpossibilitiesof rock and roll as well as betweendif-
ferentaudience fractions.

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AmericanRock 117

But theproblemof thecommoditystatusof rock and roll stillhauntsthe argu-

ment.If rock and roll is a commodity,how can it seriouslydifferentiate
itselffrom
the dominantcultureand fromhegemonicculturalpractices?The answerto these
questionsrequiresa discussionof the particularpracticeby which rock and roll
appears as a commodityand, at the same time,as a cathexisof difference.30

HYPOTHESIS 5: THE PRACTICE OF ROCK AND ROLL

Whilemanycommentators have describedrockand rollas watereddown rhythm

and blues(or moreaccurately,a synthesisof blues and whitehillbillymusic),I have
arguedthatthe factof itsproductionand receptionby whiteyouthinvolveda real
transformation of its musical roots. It located themwithina different,emergent
historicalformation,whosecontoursI have describedin termsclearlymeantto echo
theaestheticof postmodernpractice:a denial of totalityand a subsequentemphasis
on discontinuity, fragmentation, and rupture;a denial of depth and a subsequent
emphasis on the materiality of surfaces; a denial of teleologyand a subsequent
emphasison changeand chanceso thathistorybecomesbothirrelevantand thevery
substanceof our existence;a denial of freedomand innocentself-consciousness and
a subsequentemphasison context,determination, and theintertextuality of discur-
sive codes.
The questionis whetherthe postmodernistfragment,even when it accepts the
inevitabilityof its existenceas a commodity,is somethingotherthan a commodity.
The commodityas such is determinedby a representation of totality;it signifiesa
fragmentation only in the context of a totalizingimpulse. But postmodernpractice
deniesany such totalizingimpulse.We mightsay thatthe object in late capitalism
functionsin two contexts:an ideological aestheticand a structuralaesthetic.The
formerdescribesthe way the object is represented;postmodernfragmentsare ap-
propriatedintothecontextof the commodityby definingthemin purelyeconomic
or aesthetic(avant-garde)terms.The "structuralaesthetic" describespostmodern
practiceas a demystification of thecommodity,itsaestheticreductionto a fragment
sans contextor significance,a signifierwithouta signified.The object withinlate
capitalismthenexistsin the space of thecontradiction betweenthesetwo practices:
an ideologicalmystification whichturnsitintoa commodityand a structural demys-
tificationwhichreturnsit to the materialcontext.3'
I can now tryto specifytheparticularformof postmodernpracticethatcharac-
terizesrock and roll as an appropriationof hegemonicpracticesinto its own dis-
courses.If theresponseof thehegemonyto resistanceis throughpracticesof incor-
poration,32 thenthepowerof rock and roll lies in its practiceof "excorporation,"
operatingat and reproducing theboundarybetweenyouthcultureand the dominant
culture.Rock and roll removessigns,objects, sounds,styles,etc. fromtheirappar-
entlymeaningfulexistencewithinthedominantcultureand relocatesthemwithinan
affectivealliance of differentiation and resistance,producinga temporarily impass-
able boundarywithinthedominantculture.Rock and rollis a formof bricolage,a
uniquelycapitalistand postmodernpractice.This practiceis a formof resistancefor

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118 Grossberg

generationswithno faithin revolution.Because its resistanceremainswithinthe

politicalspace of the dominantculture,its oppositionis only a "simulacrum" of
revolution.Rock and roll's resistance,itspolitics,is neithera directrejectionof the
dominantculturenor a utopian negation(fantasy)of the structures of power. It
plays with the verypractice that the dominant culture uses to resistits resistances:
and
incorporation excorporation in a continuous dialecticthat reproducesthe very
boundaryof resistance.
Thereis anotherway in whichrockand rollplayswithcontradictions: itsuse of
musicaland aestheticsensibilities whichit findswithinthe dominantculture.Rock
and roll's developmentand continuedarticulationseemto dependupon its seeking
out and exploitingthe contradictionsamongstresidual sensibilities,and between
theseand postmodernpractice.Rock and roll oftenworksby fusingtwo musical
traditions(e.g., blues and hillbillyin the fifties).Furthermore, at any point in its
development, thereare conflicts between alternative of
ways integrating thesetwo
traditions:in the fifties,the conflictbetweenrockabillyand northernstreetcorner
music;in themid-sixties, theconflictbetweenfolk-rockand a harder,moreviolent
drugrock in themusicof, e.g., theDoors or theVelvetUnderground;in the seven-
ties,theconflictbetweenwest-coastmellowrockand midwesthardrock,etc. Thus,
rockand roll's practiceinvolvestheway in whichit locates itself(as excorporative,
as celebratingand fleeingpostmodernity) at the site of the contradictionsbetween
more traditionalaestheticsensibilities:naturalism,romanticism,and modernism.
Thus, whilerock and roll is determinedby its postmodernpractice,creating"an
aestheticsof the fake,"33postmodernismhas rarelydefinedits dominantsurface
sensibility.In orderto explicatethisidea, I wantnow to examinethreemomentsin
the historyof rock and roll.
Many commentators have pointedto theromanticism of earlyrockand roll-in
its populism,its searchforcommunityand its focus on sensationand emotionas
opposed to reason and intellect.This romanticregisteris certainlyan important
sensibilityin muchrockand roll,but it does not sufficiently accountforits history.
Earlyrock'n' rollwas notsimplyromantic;itwas located at thejunctureof roman-
ticismand naturalism.Like naturalism,it painted a supposedlyrepresentational
pictureof theworldand likeromanticism, it respondedintuitively and emotionally.
Like romanticism,it soughtto constitutea new structureof social relationships
while,likenaturalism,thetermsin whichitsoughtsuchcommunities of feelingwere
takenfromtheirimmediateconcreteenvironment withoutappeal to any transcend-
ing term.
In themid-sixties,theverydefinitionof rockand roll (both musicallyand ideo-
logically)changedwiththe emergenceof a folkmusic(and jazz) based acid rock.
This musicwas made possiblebystartingwiththebasic sound/ideologyof rockand
rolland imposingon thata new secondarycontradiction:acid rockis located at the
junctureof romanticismand modernism.It is quite noticeablethata greatdeal of
acid rock (especiallyifwe excludethemoreviolentgroups)sounds radicallyunlike
anything thatcame before:itis oftenslower,quieter,morecontemplative. It brought
togethera romanticfolkculture(fromtheearlysixties)and a self-conscious,experi-
mentalmodernistsensibility. Justas thefifties conjunctionwas made possiblebythe
coexistenceof black and whitecultures,romanticism and modernismintersectedat

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AmericanRock 119

themomentof a convergenceof an explicitsociopoliticalcritiqueand a drugculture

emphasizingmysticismand sensuous consciousness.The counterculture's (and its
music's) search for community, its concern for concrete events, its utopian opti-
mism,itssensuousness,itsfocuson lifestyle and itsalmosttranscendental mysticism
certainlylocate it withina romanticsensibility.Yet its concernfor artisticexperi-
mentationand formalinnovation(whicheventuallydeterioratesinto a concernfor
technicalvirtuosity), itssenseof its verylifestyleas a constantexperiment, its pro-
pensityforabstraction,itsapocalypticrhetoric,itspluralisticabsence of any defin-
ing styleand its rejectionof traditionalconventions,its surrealisticand antirepre-
sentationalimpulses(withtheresultingformalisms), itsdesireto see beyondillusory
surfacesto thedeeperstructure, itsinjunctionto self-consciousness and its focuson
subjectivity,mind, and consciousness were all decidedly modernist. Furthermore, it
made aestheticsthedeterminant of reality.Like modernism,it was overwhelmedby
theworld;yet,it maintaineda senseof its own poweras artand lifestyle.It was art
thatwas able to imposemeaningand structureon the repressiveworldof chaos; it
was art that was transcendent.Acid rock and its cultureaestheticizedrealityand
attemptedto makelifestyle intopolitics.But thetranscendence and powerof artwas
itselfdetermined bythecounterculture's mysticalromanticism. The eruptionof acid
rockplaced itbetweentheromanticvisionof itsgoal and a modernistperceptionof
artand reality.34 But theacid culture,like all modernists,assumedthatthe message
sentwas thesame as themessagereceived;theyfailedto see thatmodernismrenders
communicationa problematicphenomenoneven thoughit is unable to articulate
thatproblematic.By failingto negatethe signifiedbehindthe surfaceof the signi-
fiers,the counterculture was easily coopted througha varietyof strategieswhich
convertedits aestheticinto a commodityof fashion.
The "new wave" of thelate seventiesarticulatedrockand rollas theveryidea of
a juncturalcontradiction,35 thusproducingwithinits own discoursecontradictions
betweennaturalism,romanticismand modernismon the one hand, and postmod-
ernismon theother.Whilenew wave refersto a broad movementcharacterizedby
(1) a generalrejectionof the economicpracticeswhichhad engulfedand reshaped
rock and roll;36(2) a simultaneousrejectionand incorporationof mainstreamrock
and roll styleswithinits own discourses;and (3) a similarlyambiguousnegationof
thedominantculture,whereby"post-punk" refersto particularmusical and affec-
tivealliances withit. As JohnPiccarella has written,"A vision underliesthe ele-
gance and outrageousness-theartistsare horrifiedby the seductionof the flesh
turnedto image and identitydeterminedby fetisheven as theycelebrateit."37
New wave began withtherecognitionthatthe possibilitiesof rock and roll had
been apparentlyexhausted.It respondedwitha numberof strategiesforreclaiming
boththemusicalstylesand affectivepoliticalstancesof rock and roll. It continued
to go back to itsown traditionsas rockand roll,but it treatedthemas ruinswhose
repetitionreproducesthemas different. Reproductionbecomesa mode of material
transformation just as Borge's PierreMenard rewrites Don Quixoteby reproducing
it word forword. New wave understoodthatif thecontextis determining, thenthe
contextuallydeterminedeffectsmustbe different. The resulthas been a prolifera-
tionof revivals,genreexercisesand attemptsto revitalizethestylistic conventionsof
rock and roll.

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120 Grossberg

What separated"post-punk" fromthe restof the new wave was, not only its
self-consciouspost-modernism but its refusalof the categoryof rock and roll. It
attemptedto explodeits historyby deconstructing it, by decodingand disruptingits
conventionsand formswhilenew wave recoded themwithina new context.The
resultwas a self-consciousperipheralization of the music.39Further,post-punkis
characterizedby an overwhelming senseof despair,futility,anger,and paranoia in
thefaceof reality(modernism),a denialof anythingapartfromthatconcretereality
(naturalism),a rejectionof the possibilityof orderand community(a rejectionof
romanticism),and finally,the recognitionthateven pleasureis suspect.The post-
modernemphasison themateriality of surfaces,on fragmentation and on reflexivity
has produceda musicof extremes:both rejectingand buildingabsolutelyupon a
base of technologyand virtuosity;a music built upon images of mechanismand
chaos; a formallyminimalistmusic whose apparentcontentis an almost random
collectionof discretefacts;a musicthatis almost entirelyself-referential and yet,
thatnegatesitselfas art in favorof its existenceas materialreality;a music that
distrustsits own impulses;thatvalorizesthe unconsciousover eitherconsciousness
or experience;and finally,a musicthatrefusesto confrontrepressionin its totality
(or assertthatthereare any solutions),choosinginsteadto detailmomentsof local
power and desire.40
If modernismattemptsto make realityinto art, postmodernismattemptsto
make rock and roll into everydaylife. It reassertsthe referentiality of naturalism
because all of realityis or can be partof itsdiscursivesurfaceand thatis all thereis.
Ratherthan being crypticand intellectual,it is explicitlysurrealand materialist.
Rather than communicating an emotionalinnerresponseto outer phenomena,it
describesthephenomenaand leavestheinterpretation unsaidbecause interpretation
itselfcannotbe trusted.41The resultis a musicthatis oddly detachedand yetfuri-
ouslyenergeticand affective.Whilepost-punkdeniesor at least distrustsemotion,
its veryattemptto producea discoursewhichdoes not depend upon emotionis a
powerfulemotionalstatement(e.g., TalkingHeads, Elvis Costello,and the droning
vocals of JoyDivision).And finally,post-punkhas no faithin itspowersas art; it is
and mustbe suspicousof itself,and so it mustconstantlyrefuseto locate itself,to
become an art or stylewhichcan be made into a commodity.
If modernismtriedto substituteart for politics and reality,postmodernism
makes politicsand the realityof everydaylifesubstituteforart. Up untilrecently,
however,post-punkseemsto have largelyavoided a confrontation withthe roman-
tic search for a reconstructed community;it has been describedas music which
produces an ever increasingsense of alienation and isolation. But its attemptto
articulatea restructured body inevitablyled it to the question of postmodernalli-
ances, and hence,to replaceitselfwithinthebroaderpossibilitiesof "new wave." In
a varietyof musicalstylesand affectivestances,in the Clash's politicizedrock and
roll, in Talking Heads' turnto Africanpolyrhythms as a representation of new
social relations,42in theNew Yorkavant-garde's(e.g., GlennBranca,PeterGordon,
and LaurieAnderson)fusionof romanticism and futility,
and albeitproblematically,
in the "New Romantics,"rockand roll has returnedagain to its originalsecondary
contradiction:naturalismand romanticismhave reemergedin the formof the re-
flexivematerialismof a self-consciously postmodernist rock and roll.

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AmericanRock 121

CONCLUSION: THE 80s

I have arguedthatthe affectivepoliticsof rock and roll dependsupon its par-

ticulartemporalcontext.Rock and roll describes"how a life lived in continual
motionmightideallysound to someonehalfin love withand half oppressedby his
It appears thatthecontextwithinwhichrockand roll worksfor
stateof affairs.""43
thenew generationsof youthis changing:the promiseof a boomingeconomyhas
been replacedby the threatof continuousrecession;the dominanceof the baby
boom's attemptto deal withresponsibility and "middle age"; rock and roll as a
symbol of rebellionhas been replaced withits statusas nostalgia.Youth todaycon-
frontsa generationof parentswho werethemselvesweanedon rockand roll; it is no
longera stigma,a pointof antagonism.The centrality of musicin the affectivelife
of youthseemsto be givingwayto a new mediumand a new sound: video-computer
technology.While theycontinueto listento rock and roll, it has recededinto the
backgroundof theiraffectivelives. Rock and roll is no longerable to constitutea
powerfulaffectiveboundarybetweenits fans and those who remainoutside of its
culture.Youth today seemsto have a more temporaryand fluidexperienceof the
generationgap. Perhapshistoryhas taughtthemthatone cannotlivein celebration
of postmodernity; theyseek insteadto celebratemomentsof possiblestability.Sur-
vival forthisnew youthseemsto demandadaptationto and escape fromthe hege-
monyratherthana responseto the historicalcontextwithinwhichtheyfindthem-
selves.
These movesaway fromrockand roll have been reinforcedbythe emergenceof
punkand post-punk.Punk called intoquestiontheaffectivepowerof rockand roll
and its abilityto resistincorporation;post-punkmade any affectiveinvestment
suspect.If everything is up forgrabs,thencommitment itself,evento rockand roll,
is onlyanotherstyle.
Rock and roll in theeightiesis not merelyfragmented;it is constitutedby three
vectorsfighting againsteach other.First,commercial(MOR) music merelyrepro-
ducesthesurfacestructures of existingstylesdespitethefactthattheyhave lost their
affectivepower.Second, newwave rockseemsto reaffirm pleasureas resistancebut
cannot escape its own desireforcommercialsuccess,and thus,its own complicity
withthe dominantculture.Third,post-punkseeksto articulatea pleasureand ca-
thecta boundarythatno longercoincideswiththerockand rollculture.These three
directionsin rock and roll have createda situationin whichthe affectivealliances
surroundingeach, and thus theiraudiences, have littlein common. There is no
centeraround whichtheycan exist,no pointat whichtheycan intersect.
The resultof thesedevelopmentsboth withinand outsideof the music is that,
apparently,rock and roll no longergenerallyservesthe affectivefunctionsI have
described.For theyoungergenerations,as well as formanyof the baby boomers,it
has become backgroundmusic which,even as leisure,can provideno challengeto
the dominantorganizationsof desire. The resultis that new alliances are being
formedand theculturaland politicalramifications of thismomentin thehistoryof
rock and roll may be as powerfuland interesting as those whichemergedwiththe
"birth" of rock and roll in the fifties.Whetherit is the "death" of rock and roll
remainsto be seen.

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122 Grossberg

NOTES
The authorwishesto thankthefollowingpeople fortheirhelp: CaryNelson,Van Cagle, CharlesLau-
fersweiler,LarryShore, Jon Crane, Jon Ginoli, Simon Frith,lain Chambers, Dave Marsh, and the
studentsof mycoursesat the University of Illinois.
1. I use theterm"rock and roll" to includepost-waryouthmusic. The use of "rock and roll," "rock
'n' roll," and "rock" to distinguish differentmusicalstylesor historicalperiodswould onlyconfusethe
rhetoricof my argument.Further,it occasionallyleads to fruitlessif not paradoxical positions: e.g.,
RobertPalmer, "When Is It Rock and When Rock 'n' Roll? A CriticVenturesan Answer," New York
Times,August6, 1978, Section2.
2. The besttheoreticalstatementof thispositionin relationto rock and roll are Simon Frith'sSound
Effects:Youth,Leisureand thePolitics of Rock 'n' Roll (New York: Pantheon,1981) and Iain Cham-
bers' "Pop Music: A TeachingPerspective,"ScreenEducation, 37 (1981), 35-46. For theimplicationsin
the practiceof readingeventsof youthculture,see Dick Hebdige, Subcultures:The Meaning of Style
(London: Methuen, 1979), "Object as Image: The Italian Scooter Cycle," Block 5, 1981, 44-64, and
"Posing.. .Threats, Striking... Poses: Youth,Surveillanceand Display," SubStance,37/38(1983),68-88.
3. See LawrenceGrossberg,"Experience,Signification and Reality:The Boundariesof CulturalSemi-
otics," Semiotica,41 (1982), 73-106, forthe basis of thispositionin a readingof the worksof Michel
Foucault, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari.
4. See LawrenceGrossberg,"Teaching the Popular," Journalof AestheticEducation, forthcoming;
and "If Rock and Roll Communicates,Why Is It So Noisy?" (paper deliveredat the meetingof the
International AssociationfortheStudyof Popular Music, ReggioEmilio, Italy,September1983). In the
presentpaper,I shallcontinueto use "rock and roll" to referto theentire"rock and roll apparatus," as
well as to the music itself.The particularsense should be clear fromthe context.
5. I shall use theterms"hegemony" and "dominantculture" interchangeably to referto the process
bywhichcomplexrelationsof powerare maintainedand adjustedin responseto historicalpressuresand
theresistancesof specificgroups.It is an evolvingsetof practicesbywhichrealityis historically organized
-invested withparticularstructures of meaning,value, and affect-whichthenconstitutethe limitsof
the "natural." It is theongoingproductionof theconsentof thepopulationto the representational and
affectiveparameterson thepossibilitiesof livingthatorganizetheexistingstructures of power. It is inter-
estingto notethatbothrockand rollfansand criticsseemto privilegeit in a unique way: not onlyis it an
inappropriatetopicforacademicinvestigation buttheveryact of suchscholarshipis takenas a real threat
to the existenceof rock and roll. This argumenthas been made to me recentlyby two of the leading
Americanrock and roll critics.
6. See JimCarroll, The BasketballDiaries (New York: Bantam, 1980), fora vividdescriptionof the
effectsof the atomic bomb on youthin the postwarcontext.
7. The use of repetitionnot only distinguishesrock and roll fromothermusicalforms,but different
formsof rock and roll mayuse repetitiondifferently. See JonPareles, "The Police Blow TheirCover,"
Village Voice,January14-20,1981, p. 87.
8. Rock and roll is repletewith"teenage anthems" thatexpressthesefeelings.IggyPop's "Lust for
Life" and "I'm Bored," Lou Reed's "Rock and Roll Music," and Alice Cooper's "Eighteen" and
"Teenage Lament" are just a fewof the morepowerfulones.
9. PeterSchjeldjahl, "AppraisingPassions," Village Voice,January7-13, 1981, p. 67.
10. The idea of theirrelevanceof historyis oftenpresentedin conjunctionwiththerejectionof aging
and the valorizationof youth:"Hope I die beforeI getold" (The Who). It does occasionallyget articu-
lated straightforwardly: "Time is but a joke, changeis all we understand"(Todd Rundgren),or more
recently, "History's Bunk" bytheGang of Four. JohnLydonof Public Image Ltd., said in an interview
(Esquire,September1981,p. 83), "I'm tiredofthepastand eventhefuture'sbeginning to seemrepetitive."
11. At its most basic level, the volume(what some would call the noise-and in some contemporary
rockand rollitdoes involvetheuse of "noise") of rockand roll represents an act of rebellionagainstthe
repressionof desire.As BarryHannah observes,"They wantto make war out of peacetime"(Ray [New
York: Knopf, 1980],p. 47). Rock and roll was alwayssupposed to elicitreactionsof disgustand hatred
fromparentsand thoseoutsideits culture:"I picked up the guitarto blast away the clouds/ But some-
body in the nextroom said 'Turn thatdamn thingdown' " (Alice Cooper).

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AmericanRock 123

12. "The timescall forsimple-mindedness and the simplequestionis this: does the musicoppose or
acquiesce? The Britishbelieve (and the evidencesupportsus-REO Speedwagon!) that the American
rock audience has givenup, lain down, lets the future-no future-dance all over it. When American
rockisn't actuallycheeringReaganismon (booing the blacks, losers,womenand gays offstage) it is in
retreat,thevolumeup, thedoors locked, a noise to block out the sound of what's goingdown outside.
WhiteAmericanpopular musichas neversounded so selfish,seemedso irrelevant, and thisisn'tjust my
Marxistconceit" (Simon Frith,"Trash Across the Water," New YorkRocker, September1981, p. 8).
Whileitis truethatrockand rollhas servedto socializeyouthas consumers,thisdoes notmitigateagainst
the possibilityof its embodyingformsof politicalresistance.Many of the criticsof rock and roll (and
mass culturein general)writefroma transcendental positionwhichunderminestheattemptto deal with
popular music concretely.Adorno, for example, accepts the canonical definitionsof art, cultureand
creativity while,at the same time,definingoppositionas necessarilyutopian.
13. Dave Marsh, Reviewof SylvainSylvain,Rolling Stone, #315,April 17, 1980, p. 57.
14. This is adapted froman idea originallyproposed by JimMiller.
15. The Who in TheirOwn Words,compiledby Steve Clarke (London: Omnibus, 1979). This idea is
common withinthe rock and roll culture: "Like all great rock 'n' roll theypromisesex, truth,the
future-and make you want it now! Their passion's an achingaffirmation, a defiantblast of love and
angerin the teethof reality"(Graham Locke, "Creature fromthe Noordzee," New Musical Express,
July11, 1981).
16. As SimonFrithhas argued,no funis innocentand freeof sociopoliticalentanglements. See "Music
forPleasure," ScreenEducation, 34 (Spring,1980), pp. 50-61.
17. Rock and rolloftenconsciouslyrefersto othersongswithinitsown tradition,makingtheproblem
of plagiarismparticularly difficult:e.g., themusicof Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds,or StiffLittleFin-
gers' "Barbed Wire." Thereare manysongsabout rockand roll(e.g., "Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay,"
"It's Only Rock and Roll," "Rock Is Dead"). The historyof rock and roll has been marked by a
continuousseriesof revivals.Further,a groupis initiallyidentifiedas muchby the non-originalsongs it
plays as by itsown music.All of thesegive rock and roll a unique textureas a genreof popular music.
18. GreilMarcus, "Who Put theBomp in theBomp De-Bomp De-Bomp?" in GreilMarcus, ed., Rock
and Roll WillStand (Boston: Beacon, n.d.), pp. 6-27.
19. Dick Hebdigesees rockand roll as markingdifferencebut he locates it withina different context
(class culture)and sees it operatingin a different by creatingidentities.
space (representational),
20. CaryNelson,"The Psychologyof Criticism,or WhatCan Be Said," in GeoffreyH. Hartman,ed.,
Psychoanalysisand theQuestionoftheText(Baltimore:JohnsHopkinsUniversity Press, 1978),pp. 57-58.
21. "[I]t is hard formostrockcriticsto understandthecentraldifference betweensubculturalpolitics
hereand [in England]: In Britain,you have a nationof conformists strugglingto findany expressionof
individualism(and alwaysdoingitin gangs),whilein America,you have a nationof individualslurching
towardcommunity(and also always proceedingin singlefile)." Personal correspondencefromDave
Marsh. Anotherdifference betweenthetwocountriesis that,ifrockand rollis alwaysa responseto bore-
dom and alienation,in theUnitedStatesitis in the contextof relativeeconomicluxurywhilein England,
it is in the contextof relativeeconomicdeprivation.
22. The identityof the "teenager" was producedlargelythrougheconomicand mass communication
practices,as well as in rock and roll. For thisgenerationwas not the TV generation:it was not their
medium,theydid notcontrolit,identify withit,or defendit as theirown. Whethercorrectlyor not, rock
and roll was seen by youthas theirown, whiletelevision,film,and advertisingwere more like foreign
intrusionsor foundtechnologiesthatcould be appropriatedand transformed. Much of the musicin the
fiftiesdealt explicitlywithwhatit feltlike to be a teenager("Why Must I Be a Teenagerin Love?") and
oftenattemptedto legitimatethe feelingsof teenagers(e.g., "Not Too Young to Get Married," or the
myriadsongsabout teenagelove endingin death: e.g., "Leader of thePack"). Compare theWho's "My
Generation"withGenerationX's "Your Generation"("Your generationdon't mean a thingto me") or
the Deadbeats' "Kill the Hippies."
23. The bestpopular historiesof rock and roll are CharlesGillett,The Sound of the City(New York:
Dutton,1970),and The RollingStoneIllustratedHistoryof Rock and Roll, ed. JimMiller(2nd ed., New
York: Random House, 1980). On rockcriticism, see PerryMeisel, "Neon Dream, Rock Reality," Village
Voice,January21, 1980, p. 44ff;and Greil Marcus, ed., Stranded(New York: Knopf, 1979).

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124 Grossberg

24. Withthedevelopmentof new wave and avant-garderock, the "no-wave" groups(Teenage Jesus
and the Jerks,DNA, etc.), the jazz-punk fusionof JamesChance and the Contortions,JamesBlood
Ulmer and Material, the dissonantjazz of the Lounge Lizards and the liltingsounds of the Durutti
Column and the Love of Life Orchestra,the dissonanceand discordanceof Pere Ubu, Half-Japanese
Band, Clock DVA, etc., and the experimentalism of Brian Eno, Fred Frith,Glenn Branca, etc., it is
impossibleto recognizeany musicalparameters.Even the most sacrosanctfeature-the beat- can be
violated. The responsethatthesebands are no longerplayingrock and roll is based on an ahistorical
readingof rock and roll.
25. The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love" is theclassic exampleof thetranscendental imageof love in
visionaryrock. Bruce Springsteen'ssongsprovidenumerousexamplesof a more concreteimage of love
in experientialrock: "The screendoor slams/Mary's dresswaves/ Like a visionshe dances across the
porch/As theradio plays/Roy Orbisonsingingforthelonely/Hey that'sme and I wantyou only/Don't
turnme homeagain/I just can't face myselfalone again/Don't runback inside/Darlingyou knowjust
what I'm here for/So you're scared and you're thinking/ That maybewe ain't thatyoung any more/
Show a littlefaith/There'smagicin thenight/You ain't a beauty,but heyyou'realright/Oh and that's
alrightwithme" ("Thunder Road"). Examplesof the rejectionof love in criticalrock abound in post-
punk: "Love willgetyou like a case of anthrax"(Gang of Four); "SometimesI thinkthatlove is just a
tumor/You've gotto cutitout" (Elvis Costello); "We got no feeling/We gotno love/We got nothingto
say/We're theloversof today" (The OnlyOnes); or JoyDivision's "Love Will Tear Us Apart." Johnny
Rottenof the Sex Pistolswentso far as to say "What is sex anyway.Justthirtyseconds of squelching
noises."
26. Both20/20and theKnack are Californiagroupsthatreleaseddebutalbumsin 1979; bothattempt-
ed to recreatethepop sound and sensibilityof the earlysixties.20/20 was greetedwithcriticalacclaims
whilethe Knack was almostuniversallyassaulted by the critics,and yetit was the Knack's album that
became a best-seller.
27. Tom Carson, "The David JohansenStory," Village Voice,July8-15, 1981, p. 49.
28. In comparisonto therejectionof disco in themid-seventies, thecurrentdiversityof funkstylesand
theiracceptanceby a broad audienceis quite interesting: the streetsounds of rap (GrandmasterFlash),
the experimentalfusionsof George Clinton,dance music (Earth, Wind and Fire, Defunkt),the white
synthesizedfunkof the Human League, CultureClub, and theTom-TomClub, the funk-jazzfusionof
JamesWhiteand theBlacks, and Material,and thepunk-funkof theBush Tetras. One mightalso point
to the continuedpopularityof reggaeand the recentinterestin Africanmusic.
29. "Heavy metal" beganin theseventiesas partof a responseto theacid rockof thecounter-culture,
and the singer-songwritermellow("wimpy") sound that followedit. It is hard-driving, loud, rhythmic
musicwithlongramblingguitarsolos. Althoughthemusicstartedwithgroupslike Led Zeppelin,Cream,
and JimiHendrix,it quicklytook on a particularly sexual and violentimage-in its lyricsas well as the
appearanceand actionsof theband members.The lyricsare generallyabout partying(drinking,fighting,
and sex) and womenare reducedto objectsof lustand/orviolence.Van Halen, Ted Nugent,and AC/DC
are itsleadingrepresentatives.
An interestingdevelopmentoccurredin themid-seventies withtheappear-
ance of moremiddle-of-the-road and "art" heavymetalgroups(e.g., Rush, Queen, Journey,Styxand
evensomeincludingwomen:Heart,Pat Benatar).More recently, REO Speedwagonhas broughttogether
heavymetaland pop conventions.I am uncertainwhetherthis music is utopian or experientialfor its
variousaudiences.One mustalso account fortheexistenceof femaleheavymetalfans,especiallyof that
musicwhichis played on AM radio. At one level,as manyfeministshave pointedout, the musiccom-
municatesan obvious message of self-hatred.Yet on anotherlevel, the music organizesan affective
alliancein whichthesefemalefansare located in a positionof affectivepowerover men. It is a contra-
dictionwhichneeds to be further explored.
30. These questions,and thediscussionto follow,are theresultof personalconversationswithFredric
Jameson.
31. While postmodernfragmentsemphasizedetermination and chance, the commodityexistsin the
contextof a supposedliberalsocietywhichemphasizesfreedomand individuality. If bothappear to deny
history,thelatterdeniesitin theformof a traditionwhichlimitsus whiletheformerdeniesit as an escha-
tologywhichis able to give meaningto our actionsand lives.
32. See RaymondWilliams,Culture(n.p.: Fontana, 1981).

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AmericanRock 125

33. The termis Paolo Prato's. For an interesting discussionof the similaritiesbetweencontemporary
rockand rolland themovementsin Germanartearlierthiscentury,see GreilMarcus, "The Shock of the
Old," New West,March 1981.
34. The mostimportantdocumentof thismovementis theBeatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club
Band. Its apocalypticfaithin the power of rock and roll and its utopianismof love and individuality/
community reoccurtogetherthroughout theacid rockmovement.The experimentalism of thesound was
achievedbytakingfolkrockand makingitintoa self-consciousartform.Even the musicalexceptionsin
thecounterculture reemphasizethisconjuncturalstructure.The VelvetUndergroundopposed themselves
to both moments,rejectingromanticutopianismin favorof a violentoftenself-destructive subculture
and rejectingartin favorof energyand emotion.The Doors on theotherhand oftenrefusedtheromanti-
cismbutretainedmuchof thefaithin artand experimentation. This contradictionis exemplifiedagain in
the acid rock revivalof XTC, JoyDivision,Teardrop Explodes, Echo and the Bunnymen,etc.
35. The relationshipbetweenpunk,post-punk,and new wave is difficult to specify.It maybe thatthe
onlyrelationsbetweenpunkand new wave are theirself-consciousness, theirrejectionof therock main-
stream,theiroppositionto the hegemony,and theircommon roots in glitterrock. While post-punk
distrusts emotion,punkand new wave use it straightforwardly. Whilepost-punkredefinespolitics,punk
eitheracceptedit (the Clash), transformed it into a question of survival(the Buzzcocks), or embraced
nihilism(RichardHell and theVoidoids), and new wave tendsto avoid it entirely.While punk and new
wave reconfirm theirfaithin rock and roll,post-punkproblematizesit. While new wave and post-punk
are self-consciousof theirmodes of production,punk tendedto see itselfas recapturingthe simplicity,
energy,and angerof rockand roll. If post-punkmakesstyle(and aesthetics)intorebellion,punkand new
waveunwittingly perhapsmade rebellionintostyle.See GreilMarcus, "Wake Up!", RollingStone, June
24, 1980,pp. 40-44; "Anarchyin theU.K." in The RollingStone IllustratedHistoryof Rock and Roll,
pp. 451-63.
36. See Greg Shaw, "IndependentAmerica," New YorkRocker, May 1982, pp. 17-19; and Jon Sav-
age, "The Punk Process," The Face, November1981, pp. 48-51.
37. JohnPiccarella,"Fashion's FutureFusion Conventions," VillageVoice,January14, 1980,p. 70.
38. Thus, whenvariousnew wave and post-punkmusiciansuse varioustraditions(e.g., Joe Jackson's
use of "jive jazz," Lounge Lizards' use of swing,the SwingingMadisons' cover of "Volare," or the
Cramps' miningthe traditionof B-gradehorrormovies), it is not nostalgia but a way to explode the
categoryof rock. "I've beenquoted a lot as saying'I likeboringthings.'WellI said it and I meantit. But
thatdoesn't meanI'm notboredbythem.Of course,whatI thinkis boringmustnot be thesame as what
otherpeople thinkis, sinceI could neverstandto watchall themostpopularactionshowson TV, because
they'reessentiallythesame plotsand thesame shotsand thesame cutsoverand overagain. Apparently,
mostpeople love watchingthesame basic thing,as longas thedetailsare different. But I'm just theoppo-
site:ifI'm goingto sitand watchthesame thingI saw thenightbefore,I don't wantit to be essentially the
same-I wantit to be exactlythe same. Because themoreyou look at thesame exactthing,themorethe
meaninggoes away, and thebetterand emptieryou feel" (AndyWarholand Pat Hackett,Popism: The
Warhol'60s [New York: Harcourt,Brace, Jovanovich,1980], p. 50).
39. By a "deconstruction"of rock and roll, I am referring to the attemptby "post-punk" to isolate
and negatethevariousconstitutive conventionsand clichesof rockand roll. Such musictendsto be con-
frontational,intentionallyinaccessible,oftendissonantand alienating.To varyingdegrees,thefollowing
are all involvedin such a project:minimalists (in whichtherhythm functionsas pulse ratherthan back-
beat: e.g., ThrobbingGristle,Kraftwerk, RobertFripp); punk-jazz(e.g., DNA) and sound-noiseexperi-
ments(e.g., Pere Ubu, The Residents,Half-JapaneseBand). On the otherhand, new wave triesto "re-
construct"rock and roll througha self-consciousreintegration of various conventionalcodes into the
music.Reconstructed rockand roll tendsto be moreaccessibleand consonant,alienatedand "post-con-
frontational."It includesvariousstyles:the"extendedminimalism"of TalkingHeads and JoyDivision;
newwave pop (e.g., XTC, Brains);funkjazz (e.g., Material,JamesBlood Ulmer); variousself-conscious
"posers" (e.g., Lounge Lizards, SwingingMadisons); and experiments self-consciouslyredefiningthe
functionsof rockand roll (e.g., BrianEno's ambientmusic). Thereare also groupswhichexistbetween
the two: e.g., P.I.L., Gang of Four, Suicide, Raincoats.
40. The music of the Gang of Four, Au Pairs, Red Crayola, and Talking Heads could all serveas
examples. The political critiqueis presentedby a descriptionof concretecircumstancesratherthan

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126 Grossberg

throughany global statement.Thus, in Fear of Music, Talking Heads detail but neverstatetheirpara-
noia. This repoliticizationof rock and roll has extendedoutsideof new wave itself:recentalbums by
David Bowie-Scary Monsters-and PeterGabriel-Peter Gabriel-seem to politicizetheirvision only
throughdetail. There are obvious exceptionsto this and some groups do presentgeneral anthemsof
rebellion(e.g., Jam's "Going Underground")but even theytendto focustheirpoliticalcritiquein more
concreteterms.OtherrecentexamplesincludetheSpecials' "Ghost Town," theBushTetras' "Too Many
Creeps," and Bow Wow Wow's "W.O.R.K."
41. I am gratefulto Sally Greenforthispointand forthecomparisonwithearlyrockand roll on this
issue. Talking Heads' "Life DuringWartime" is an excellentexampleof this.
42. One of themodesof productionof post-punkinvolvesthe use of polyvalentstructures: e.g., "har-
molodics" fromOrnetteColeman,and polyrhythms fromAfricanand Arabianmusicaltraditions.When
combinedwithdissonance,randomness,and assymetry, it resultsin a dense, almost three-dimensional
sense of form.For example,listento the musicof Public Image Ltd. TalkingHeads' album, Remain in
Light,uses thesetechniquescombinedwithinterlocking and overlappingvocals to createa musicaland
social responseto a worldcharacterizedby "the gentlecollapsingof everysurface" ("The Overload").
Ratherthanretreating intoparanoia,theirmusicseeksto acceptand existin sucha world: "I'm walking
a line/Divide and dissolve" ("Houses in Motion"), to "Find a littlespace so we can move in between"
("Born Under Punches").
43. JamesHunter,"Think to the Beat," Village Voice,October21-27, 1981, p. 71.

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