What Can Political Rock Do? A Discussion Based on the Example of the Tom Robinson Band 1976-1979
Que peut faire le rock politique ? Une étude de cas : The Tom Robinson Band (1976-79)
Abstract
Left wing rock1 musicians and fans tend to believe that rock music changes the world; left wing journalists believe that the media change the world, and left-wing teachers believe it is education. So far, so human. But is it possible to analyse the political effects of rock processes and products? This article will explore this topic with reference to one rock group, the Tom Robinson Band, which came to promine nce briefly in the late nineteen seventies. 2 The Tom Robinson Band proposed fast-paced mainstre am rock music, not in any real sense “underground” but mixed it with very clear stances, both in lyrics and in activism, on political issues such as racism, abort ion rights, unemployment, and fables about evolutionary insurrections. They released two albums - Power in the Darkness and TRB Two, before disbanding to move onto other projects. In this analysis, I will be looking not only at the “message” conveyed in the repertoire, if indeed such vocabulary is appropriate, but also at the experiences proposed by the song.
Cet article vise à poser la question “Que peut faire le rock politique ?” à travers une étude de cas. Il s’agit du groupe the Tom Robinson Band, actif entre 1977 et 1979, au moment où le punk rock déferlait sur l’Angleterre et que Rock against Racism mettait en pratique une approche originale aux rapports entre création artistique et militantisme politique. Ni contre-culture marginale, ni Charity Rock produit dans les stades, le répertoire et les méthodes de Tom Robinson valent le
détour. Notre approche met le côté participatif de la musique populaire au centre de l’enquête, afin d’explorer les effets éventuels du rock politique sur l’individu.
Origin : Explicit agreement for this submission
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