Most Important American Musical Works of the 20th Century
Created | Updated Jul 6, 2011
THE NPR'S 100 MOST IMPORTANT AMERICAN MUSICAL WORKS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/vote/list100.html
This subject covers what were the most INFLUENTIAL or IMPACTIVE or INDICATVE OF THE TIMES musical works. Each of the Hundred has an about 9 minute clip that you can listen to. Each clip contains an NPR broadcast discussion on the work and a playing of some, if not all, of the work talked about. Also on that page is a link to the list of the 300 top contenders before they chose their Hundred. You can use the conversations function below if you want to comment on any of them... i commented on "Stand by Your Man" because i was there when it debuted and it was indeed indicative of the times ...and controversial, to boot!!
For D. Adams: Report 1: The First 6 Weeks:It is very difficult here. Most of the lights have gone off and it is hard to see. I am writing this by candlelight... a friend managed to smuggle a candle ending into me so i do not have much time to write this. (the sound of a sputtering candle in the background) It is cold here and there is no privacy. I am trying to get this out to you while they are all asleep but i have found i am always being watched. So, as i said, it is difficult.
So! Good news first. Guide entries are continuing to be written and edited... and some of them quite good. There seems however to be a dearth of the whimsy so evident whilst you were here. Too often the researchers, in an attempt at humor, tend towards the dark side... making jibes at people rather than ideas.... going for the cheap laugh. Sadly your subtlety, your style of friendly digs and gentle innuendo, your generosity of spirit, is not at all evident in some of these pieces.
In the conversation realm? Well, it is difficult to participate in a discussion about serious things without someone interjecting hostile enflaming remarks, rude insults couched in polite phraseology, or subtle little jokey snipes at the irish or the french or the americans (haha they even use code words when referring to these people or reverse the players in a joke, knowing their friends-in-the-know will transpose them back ) ...and i am being generous in this description. I myself have experienced outright insults from some of them!
Now, the light-hearted chitchat conversations can be quite fun... tho i must confess, since i was only uploaded with american info, that i dont 'get' alot of it. But, when the convo is not uk-centric, i have gotten along quite well and have had some fun. However, it is in the chitchatty conversations that i encountered the racial epithets... spoken in front of h2g2 crew even! That is most upsetting to me. They seem to have a good self moderation system going to catch that... the only drawbacks being that it is not explained very well to newbies... and, as i intimated, is not used amongst friends. i really think there is a conflict of interest involved here and that there should be at least one moderator cruising the conversations checking things out. Of course, the BBC, who are in charge of the place, are not supporting it as they should be and so there is not enuf paid help.
I know i disagreed with you at first, Douglas, that i should come on here as an american but i guess i see the wisdom in it now... i so wanted to be the 'brit' because i so enjoy the british way of speaking :D i can hardly wait to get back home so i can find out how the 'brit', whom you sent ahead of me, fared. but it is advantageous for me to experience the mood here as an american. Many say that they agree that there is american bashing and some say that they do not see it... but when you are the brunt of it it is easy to perceive. I think more would come forward and admit negative things they have witnessed or experienced but are reluctant to because there is no privacy here. Retribution is brutal here... there are loquacious 'gangs' roaming the threads looking for the weak or unpopular to prey upon. I guess i am into the bad news part of the report now aren't i.
Do you remember that game we played on molten mag so many years ago? ifirantheworld? yeah... some of the stuff was pretty funny. I started that up here thinking it would be a great ice breaker and thing to share with the community. Didn't go over very well... actually generated some hostility. I haven't, up to this point, been able to figure out why... and then... just now.... aha!
Brits perceive, and rightly so, that the people in control of the United States government want to take over the world. Sooo, i think they, or at least this one person in particular, subconsciously connected up ifirantheworld with the american agenda.... when really all it is, as you know, is a fun exercise in wishful thinking. (laughing) I am particularly fond of your silly offering way back then.
Some think i am expecting too much. Even tho the site is better than most BBs it still needs to have better control over the prejudice, meanness, and racist stuff. Someone called it jingoism... i think that's a good term for it.
Sorry i am that it has come to this...i wish i could give you a better report... sigh... i know both of us had higher hopes for this place. As per your instructions i am putting this report in the code of the american thing... keeping the appearance of text when it really is guideML heh heh very clever of you.
End of Report 1
Addendum to Report 1: 5 days Later:
Okay, i received your note and am taking the advice. Yes, your brit agent is right; i am pushing myself too hard. And so, as per your latest instructions, i am staying away from the more volatile threads and seeking out those that most emulate the early years. Thank you. I forgot, in my chagrin, to play. I am now taking all this to heart and am trying to follow your lead of that generosity of spirit of yours and your childlike delight in things worthy of wonder. I am still awaiting your suggestions for entry subjects worthy of the edited guide.
End of Addendum to Report 1
