More "Summer of Love" crapola. I tell you, we're going to be absolutely sick and tired of this before all the boomer geezers get this out of their system:
The hippie movement bloomed like a kaleidoscopic flower during the Summer of Love.
To be young and part of the counterculture in 1967 was to be tuned in to a revolution that called for you to drop out of the conventional world.
"There was that sense that any boundary -- whether it was rules or government or what your parents wanted you to do -- forget it; it's free thinking, free spirit," said Glenn Gass, an Indiana University music professor who teaches a Beatles course at the Bloomington campus.
Yeah, man, no boundaries. And now he teaches a college-level Beatles course.
Comments
Just the fact that IU Bloomington offers a Beatles course for credit should be enough to reconsider any alumni donations.
...And to think my high school ART teacher (a refugee from the Hungarian revolt of '56) used to LOVE to play side 2 of ABBEY ROAD during class (for motivation)....
THAT man was ahead of his (or our) time!
;)
B.G.
Mainly to Tim Zank:
Most universities (from UC San Diego to Harvard) offer popular music history courses now. Indiana U. is hardly unique at all in that respect.
While it is true that students may receive art credit for taking the course, they must still satisfy the rigorous requirements of their majors. While I myself would like to see kids take courses in *fine* arts, I don't really see the harm in letting them take a course about the Beatles to satisfy an arts course requirement.
Jeez, talk about sounding like a crusty bunch on Dutch uncles. It puts the lie to the statement people get more open minded the older and wiser they get.
Actually Andrew, it shows no such thing. My smart ass remark was meant to illustrate the Beatles may have been a pop culture phenomenom responsible for changing POPULAR music and the music business, but they weren't exactly Bach & Beethoven. I grew up on the Beatles, and I loved them and their music, but I also realize it's not the stuff of genius.
The other half of my smartass remark was to merely point out the preponderance of "fluff" courses in todays' college experience.
And why was it not "the stuff of genius?" It moved people, changed generational mindsets, and continues to influnce how we think and interact to this day.
Bach and Beethoven could be genius, but how do they influence American society in 2007? You'd be hard-pressed to say they have more influence on culture in America than the Beatles. In Europe, I'll grant you that. Not here.
In 1979, at the University of Wisconsin, as part of my Masters program, I took an elective "fluff" class in ballroom dancing. Comes in handy to this day with social graces, not to mention some of the dance fits in well with formal, classical music.
Andrew
"And why was it not "the stuff of genius?" It moved people, changed generational mindsets, and continues to influnce how we think and interact to this day."
Well, because you can make that same argument for rap and Garth Brooks too.
I think the terms "artist" and "genius" have been overused to the point they no longer mean the same thing they once did.
My comment wasn't about the quality of the music, merely the fact that someone teaching a college course about the music he grew up on isn't exactly stretching his boundaries. Nor are people who wallow in nostalgia. And, by the way, stay off my lawn, sonny.
Hope life is treating you well, Leo.
Andrew
Livin'the dream, Andrew.