Yvonne Staples of the legendary The Staple Singers passed away on April 10, 2018 at the age of 80. The Staple Singers were important in helping to write the soundtrack of the civil rights movement. Their music continues to resonate many decades later. The youngest sibling, Mavis, is still going strong. Here is a small sample of ten of their […]
Learn more →“R.I.P. Patriarchy” The following inscription appeared on a tombstone which was featured on the cover of Petra Glynt’s 2017 album This Trip. There is a renaissance of socially conscious female artists who are playing a role in not only trying to restructure a male dominated music industry, but society. Right now we are going to focus on ten women artists […]
Learn more →Back in July 24, 2017, NPR posted a list of the 150 greatest albums by women. Like any list of this magnitude it was a generator of debate. Recently NPR decided to keep the discussion going by inviting music fans to submit their list of ten albums. I decided I would make my voice heard by submitting my list of […]
Learn more →Recently within the music industry there has been increased scrutiny over whether women are being granted equal opportunity. This was highlighted with the Grammy Awards where over the past five years women only made up 9.3 % of the nominees. The lack of recognition has nothing to do with lack of talent or resolve. For example a number of the […]
Learn more →Kurt Cobain was born on February 20, 1967. If he was still alive he would be 51 years old today. Makes you wonder how today’s political climate would affect his music. Even though Cobain didn’t write too many direct protest tunes, much of his music possessed a keen social awareness. He was definitely against the macho attitudes that contributed to […]
Learn more →Back in November 2016 I started writing a book on the historical developments of protest music tentatively titled 500 Songs of Protests. Writing about music’s link to a variety of protest movements while the US election was winding down and then witnessing the aftermath of the results, made for an interesting climate to write about this subject. Within this backdrop there […]
Learn more →In the rich history of the American protest movement, The President of the United States has long been a target of the protest song. Because of the leftist leanings of many musical artists, Republican presidents are more of a target, but Democratic presidents have not been immune to these lyrical attacks either. At times musicians have courted controversy and have even […]
Learn more →On February 1, 2018 Dennis Edward died at the age of 74. Even though he had a stint with The Contours and had some solo success, he was most known as member of The Temptations. He joined them as a lead singer in 1968 at a time when the group was starting to become more edgier and psychedelic with their […]
Learn more →Music has long been a powerful medium to protest the social injustices faced by humankind. For example, many of the anthems of the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s found their roots in the “negro spirituals” of the 1800s and early 1900s. Right now we will consider a list of 10 civil right protest songs recorded during the […]
Learn more →Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15th, 1929 and he was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Considering the inedible impact that the famed civil rights leader had, it should be no surprise that numerous songs have been inspired by him. Here is a list of ten of those tunes. Blues For Martin Luther Kings – Otis Spann (1968) This […]
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