The Roman Senate shuts down the celebration of the Bacchanalia, having a set of injunctions that strangely prefigure the Conservative Government's legislation against raving.
1347
An outbreak of St Vitus' Dance hits the fourteenth century's equivalent of the headlines in Germany. Historians remain undecided on whether the outbreaks, which occurred over seven centuries, were a form of political protest, mass hysteria or a prototype of the flash-mob.
1856
Wagner reads Schopenhauer's The World as Will and Representation. Its nihilistic outlook and adoration for music as a 'universal language' inspires Wagner as he composes The Ring Cycle.1888
Nietzsche throws a strop at Wagner, complaining that his music made his body hurt and his ideas were suspiciously Christian.
1915
Edison's 'tone tests' confuse audiences by comparing live singing to pre-recorded songs. They can't believe it's not live.
1939-1944
Both sides in WWII employ songs in an attempt to demoralise the enemy or inspire their troops. The song Lili Marlene becomes the centre the focus of an escalating music war, with Goebbels banning it in Germany.
(The Use of Music in Psychological Operations, SGM Herbert Friedman)
1963
The executive secretary of the Alabama White Citizens Council, declared: 'The obscenity and vulgarity of the rock and roll music is obviously a means by which the white man and his children can be driven to the level of the nigger.'
1968
Janis Joplin embarrasses herself in Memphis when she appropriates soul music at the second annual Stax-Volt Yuletide Thing. In front of a predominantly black audience, she reveals her lack of understanding of the music's tropes, presenting a under-rehearsed band on a bill where most of the acts could do precise dance routines.
(Little Girl Blue, Alice Echols)
1972
Pavel invents the personal stereo, and spends the next thirty years suing Sony. Their Walkman popularises the idea. leading to the horrific site of Cliff Richard on roller-skates in his video for Wired for Sound. Cliff's tune however, does express the freedom of Walkman users, who now can now soundtrack their daily lives.
(Filmic Cities, Michael Bull)
1983
Philip Tagg tries to explain to psychotherapists that heavy metal is a natural response to disempowerment in urban youth. Fortunately, they understand that noise is omnipresent in society when they go outside and cross a road, recognising that making more noise is a predictable strategy, a bit like shouting to be heard.
(Subjectivity and Soundscape, Motorbikes and Music, Philip Tagg)
1990
Milli Vanilli get caught out for miming, and have their Best New Artist Grammy taken back.
1993
Eric Clapton becomes the toast of MTV, as the music station backs 'authenticity' over pop. The subsequent rise of grunge could be attributed to this same sensibility.
(Liveness. Auslander)
1999
Eminem plays with multiple identities and loss of self through his Slim Shady releases. Despite his explicit examination of fantasy ('will the real Slim Shady please stand up?'), his persona is mistaken for his personality by worried Guardian columnists, who are delighted to find a rapper they can accuse of misogyny without being accused of being racist. Sadly, Eminem soon forgets he was joking and becomes a wife-beater in real life.
1993
American magazines get worried about 'slam-dancing,' part of the plastic punk culture that arrived in America a good thirteen years after the rest of the world was bored with it.
(Rules of Rebellion, William Tsitos)
1994
The Criminal Justice Act is passed, in an attempt to halt rave culture. Brilliantly, it put an embargo on repetitive beats in public, which led Autechre to invent a deliberately glitch-based rhythmic style, which quickly denuded them of listeners.
2005
Pope Benedict says that rock concerts are cultic and in opposition to Christianity. Meanwhile, Tom Araya out of Slayer proclaims his Christian faith whenever he isn't screaming lyrics about death and satan.
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