ROCK 'N' ROLL 101

MSUM professor releases 2nd book on rock culture


By ERIC HAHN

Like a scholar in conversation, MSUM philosophy professor Theodore Gracyk keeps his opinions about artists separate from their cultural significance. 

But like a true Sex Pistols fan, he can fire off Sid Vicious and punk trivia better than most of the 22-year-olds at Ralph's Corner.

That combination of philosophical curiosity and being in the middle of a culture fixated on pop icons fuels his search for music's social importance. 

In his latest book on popular music, I Wanna Be Me, Gracyk argues you are what you listen to, but the context in which you listen affects that identity. 

Bands or artists carry the torch for certain looks, ideologies and social sects.  "What interests me, and what a lot of this book is about, are the points where people cross over in the sense of they combine elements of previously distinct styles and create new types of identities, and are able to indicate them to people" he said. 

"A silly example would be if you're into the goth look, but you're wearing pink tennis shoes with it, you're making a very different statement," he added. 

To Gracyk, identity is a cross between the American ideals of capitalism and individuality. 

Through record company advertising, the life and image of the artist become just as or more important as the music. 

"The whole thing is a commercial business and game," he said. "That's why you and I know who these [national artists] are and
why we're listening to them and not local live acts. 

And it's why we think it matters what's going on in the larger picture. If it wasn't a commercial game, we wouldn't know anybody in our immediate vicinity." 

Born to rock

Unlike many early rock theorists and intellectuals, Gracyk has actually been to a rock concert and has seen a few rock trends come and go first hand. 

He grew up near San Francisco in the 1970s, a musical Mecca at a time when the Haight-Ashbury scene was drying up and punk was about to rise. 

"Music was always a big thing, and I lived in a place where I could see a lot of bands very easily," Gracyk said. 

Bob Dylan was the first artist to shake him up. Elvis Costello and David Bowie were some of his later favorites, and at his first rock concert he saw the Eagles in 1974. 

In graduate school, specializing in 18th century and art philosophy, Gracyk noticed scholars considered aesthetic principles for visual art and classical music above popular music. "A lot of the stuff people were theorizing about art applied equally well to everyday life," he said. "That's what a big part of the book's about: the ongoing denial that a lot of this stuff works in exactly the same way." 

Gracyk's arguments for popular music have not been shunned in the academic circles. In fact, he said, some see them as a welcome change. 

"There have been no barriers whatsoever," he said. "People are far more interested in talking about this these days than they are interested in talking about Beethoven, Wagner or anybody like that." 

He said as generations of sociologists and philosophers raised on rock come of age, the music's nuances and intricacies are detected by people who know it. 

"What's simple in basic structure so that it becomes highly accessible is nonetheless very complex in terms of what it can indicate, particularly about identity," he said. 

Volume volumes

His first book, Rhythm and Noise, came out in 1996. Just as the name says, it contends rock music's use of noise and rhythm in live and recorded music is as viable and complex as accepted types of music. 

I Wanna Be Me purposely shares its title with the B side of the 1976 Sex Pistols single "Anarchy in the UK." 

Gracyk said he chose that title because the song is about how Johnny Rotten and the boys were having trouble maintaining their identity and integrity in the media. 

He said artists, like fans, borrow from "paradigm" artists for their style and identity.  "They're all retro," he said. "The Stones were retro in their day. All success depends on finding the balance between that retro element." 

One of the biggest paradigms discussed in the book is Led Zeppelin.  "You get whole different schools based on the same set of recordings," he said. "There's this whole hippie-dippy side of Led Zeppelin, then there's this other masculine side. 

They have these facets and are able to be a touchstone for a lot of different groups because of a lot of different varieties within them." 

Dr. Rock

Among the classes Gracyk teaches are Philosophy of Art in the fall and High Culture/Low Culture, which compares popular art to elite art, in the spring. 

He said students find the philosophy of art class helpful. Visual artists take it to learn about 20th century art movements, musicians take it to mull over the broader, less technical aspects of their art. He also hits upon some of his theories on popular music.  "They're also interested in working out what their view of art is," Gracyk said. 

MSUM senior and art major Mandy Kraft said seeing Gracyk's and other people's ideas on art helps her with her painting.  "It makes me think about what I've done in the past," Kraft said. "It doesn't affect how I paint. It makes me reflect." 

Being a rock writer has its pet peeves for Gracyk. For example, don't ask him what his favorite current bands are. 

"I hate that question," he said. "Everybody asks that and I hate it, because I'm just as likely to be listening to something that's 25 years old as I am to something that's recent." 

However, as one gets older the identity crisis he writes about recedes. And that's an advantage. "I'm not indicating to my peers with my music," he said. "I don't have that function. I can go on what I like." 

Gracyk will be reading 3 p.m. Nov. 27 in the MSUM Bookstore, where the 304-page book is available for $22.95.

Philosophy professor wins music book award 

By TERI FINNEMAN
News Editor

As one of the few philosophy professors in an organization dominated by musicians, Ted Gracyk never expected to win the 2002 International Association for the Study of Popular Music U.S. Book Award.

Gracyk's book, "I Wanna Be Me," was chosen along with author Gary Giddins' "A Pocketful of Dreams," to be honored at the IASPM conference last weekend.

"I feel very honored to be in his company, to be judged equally to his recent book and not a runner up. For me, it's a big thrill," Gracyk, an MSUM professor, said. Any book published in 2001 with popular music as its topic was eligible for the competition. Gracyk said his press's publicity department at Temple University Press nominated his book for the contest.

"The book is about the way that we use the music we listen to [in order] to express our own identities and to give us an opportunity to imaginatively explore other identities," Gracyk said. "[I wrote it because] I listen to a lot of music and I'm a philosopher and tend to analyze whatever I do."

Gracyk said his interest in popular music is a bigger part of his philosophy studies, as he also studies theories about art and music.

"Popular music of the last 40 years is, in many ways, different from other music that people have listened to," Gracyk said. "If you start keeping record of the music you're exposed to, you'll soon find out that the overwhelming amount of [it] is recorded. We have a freedom with music that previous generations never really had."

Gracyk said he realized during graduate school that no one was talking about how the music of the time was interesting in its own way.

"I go to conferences in philosophy and people are talking about music and all they're talking about is 19th century composers," Gracyk said. "That seems to be a pretty limited thing to think about if you want to think about music."

Gracyk said growth is occurring in the amount of books published about popular music, many of which are written by members of the IASPM. Besides the annual conference, the group also publishes the "Journal of Popular Music Studies." "This is an organization where there's a lot of publishing," Gracyk said. "Hopefully, the result [of winning the award] will give my book a higher profile." Gracyk's first book, "Rhythm and Noise: An Aesthetics of Rock," was released in 1996 and another book is in the works. Gracyk said growing up in San Francisco during the late 1960s and the 1970s influenced his ideas.

"It was, musically, a very, very dynamic place at that time," Gracyk said. "There was just a lot of music happening both at the club level and at the big level." Gracyk also received MSUM's Academic Affairs Excellence Award for Research Activity in 2002 and a class at the University of Maryland will study his first book in January.

"I'm the topic of their study. That was kind of gratifying," Gracyk said. "The guy who's going to teach it has been e-mailing me questions."

Junior Theresa Duval said she took Gracyk's aesthetics of music class and likes his unique teaching style.

"He's a very interesting and energetic professor," Duval said. "It [the class] had more class discussion than you see in most lecture classes. It had a lot of opinion in it, too, just because of the topic discussed."

Duval said the class was part of the honors program and reading "I Wanna Be Me" was one of the best parts of class.

"I think it brought music appreciation down to a level that the students were able to identify with," Duval said.

Finneman can be reached to crusher69@hotmail.com.

Photo by Greg Kreller

by Harvey A. Mireles November 12, 2002

The Philosophy Colloquium Series welcomed a discussion on philosophy, politics and "Wayne's World" Monday evening to about 100 Tech students in the English lecture hall.

Acclaimed pioneering "rock 'n' roll philosopher," Professor Theodore Gracyk, a professor of philosophy at Minnesota State University, brought his lecture "Wayne and Garth and the Politics of Identity" to the campus. He was the first and remains the leading authority on the philosophy of rock music.

The lecture touched on one of the chapters in Gracyk's latest book, "I Wanna Be Me: Rock Music and the Politics of Identity." His newest publication was recently selected a co-winner of the 2002 International Association of the Study of Popular Music and was selected as one of last year's top books by the Library Journal.

Gracyk's book discusses the effects popular culture has on the individual.

"The idea is based on how we, as a culture, go about interpreting art," Gracyk said.

He said when people discuss popular culture, many make "bad assumptions" when interpreting it.

"When people view popular art and fine art, most audiences think there is a difference," he said.

Gracyk said when people deal with pop culture, like the way Wayne and Garth do in "Wayne's World," they are able to apply it to their everyday lives.

"Getting meaning through pop culture is much more complex than most think it is," said Gracyk.

He has been studying and researching his idea of philosophy of rock 'n' roll music for about 10 years.

Gracyk said his primary reason for entering the field of philosophy of art stems from his desire to know more than the average rock fan.

"I was tired of how many stupid things people would state about rock music and the superficial things that people would say that don't get challenged," he said.

Aaron Meskin, associate professor of philosophy at Tech, said he was really excited to have Gracyk speaking for the Philosophy Colloquium Series.

"Gracyk's ideas are very worth while," Meskin said. "I'm very sympathetic that we should take rock and films seriously as forms of art."

Meskin said he first met Gracyk and heard his work at conferences. He said they have known each other for about three years.

"Getting the money, working with Ted's schedule was how we were able to bring him to Tech," Meskin said.

The Tech Department of Philosophy, Tech's Fine Arts Doctoral Program and the College of Visual and Performing Arts sponsored the event.

"Ted is the leading philosopher of rock music," Meskin said. "He's the man of philosophy and rock 'n' roll."

Daniel Nathan, associate professor of philosophy at Tech, said he believes Gracyk brings an important and extraordinarily unique view among philosophers.

"We invite speakers from around the country and around the world," Nathan said. "The speakers range all different types of philosophy, including legal, ethics and arts."

He said the committee who selects the guest lecturers looks for speakers who "cross diplomacy interest."

"We want (the speakers) to show how philosophy is a part of other parts of our lives," Nathan said.

Gracyk said he believes the most gratifying part of his research has not been the awards but the responses he has received from those who follow it.

"Two years ago I created a Web site, and since then I've received an e-mail a week from those with ages ranging from high school students to college students to college professors," he said. "It's kind of fun."

Recently, two additional philosophers have published books about the philosophy of rock. Gracyk said the total number of professors in this field is now at four.

"It's very gratifying that some are teaching my philosophy," Gracyk said. "The general field of studying popular music is a growing interdisciplinary field."