Links for the Highly Enthusiastic

Miscellany

The online magazine Slate has a history "columnist," David Greenberg, who does an excellent job of showing why history matters. See an archive of his past articles here.

In1964, the Lyndon Johnson campaign caused a massive stir with the "Daisy" spot. Barry Goldwater was stuck with the label of nutter and campaign advertising was never the same again.

The American Museum of the Moving Image has an online exhibit with every presidential campaign ad ever aired. You can see the Daisy spot and more. Click here.

Music of the 1960s

Folk music and protest music of the 1960s are held up as stereotypical of the era. Bob Dylan -- with songs like "Blowin' in the Wind" -- is seen as the standard-bearer of the folk/protest music. While many believed Dylan sold out when his music became less political, Phil Ochs (Dylan's contemporary) was seen as carrying the torch for political folkies. One of his most pointed songs is "Love me, I'm a Liberal," an attack on liberal politics in the mid- to late-1960s. The song is here, the annotated lyrics are here.

Music of the 1970s

In Bruce Shulman's chapter on authority in the 1970s, he mentions a number of musicians whose work was indicative of the anti-authoritarian trends. One of these was The Clash, whose "Lost in the Supermarket" discusses the alienating aspects of consumerism.

Talking Heads were another group whose music and lyrics spoke to the alienation and anti-authoritarianism of the times. Their songs "Life During Wartime" and "Don't Worry About the Government" are exemplary.

The Clash and Talking Heads were more or less on the left politically (or, perhaps apathetic, in the case of TH). On the other end of the spectrum was C.W. McCall, an excellent example of the outlaw trucker hero as "Convoy."