The 1980s: Popular Music and Culture

Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference
New York University
Faculty of Arts and Science
Department of Music
24 Waverly Place, Room 220
28 February - 1 March 2003

Friday (28 February): 6 - 8:30pm

6:00 Conference Introduction and Welcoming Remarks
Wynn Yamami, New York University

Theory/Technology
Chair: Christopher Ariza

6:15 It Sounds So Eighties: The Use of Sound Recording Technology in the 1980s
Bernd Gottinger, State University of New York, College at Fredonia

6:45 Where's the Beat?: Metrical Ambiguity in the Introductions of New Wave Pop Songs
Kathy Biddick, Florida State University

7:15 Intimacy, Transcendence, and Iconicity in the Man-Machine of 1980s Synth Pop
Amy Frishkey, University of California, Los Angeles

Keynote Presentation
Introduced by Gage Averill, Department Chair, New York University

8:00 Three Songs by R.E.M.
Fred Maus, University of Virginia

Saturday (1 March): 10am - 11:45pm

Icons/Gender/Race
Chair: Michael Birenbaum Quintero

10:00 "Transformation": Being Black and Female in Rock's White World
Christian Wikane, Northeastern University

10:30 Rhythm Nation: Janet Jackson Gets Down on the One
Monica Hairston, New York University

11:00 "She blinded me with science": Technology, Androgyny, and Mass Media in 1980s Music Culture
Sarah Williams, Northwestern University

Video Presentation

11:30 TBA: Audio/Video Presentation
Ryan Dorin, New York University

Lunch Break

Saturday (1 March): 1:30pm - 5:30pm

Tributes/Attributes
Chair: Ryan Dorin

1:30 Big in Japan: Orientalism, Camp, and Cultural Anxiety in Pop Music of the 1980s
Griffin Woodworth, University of California, Los Angeles

2:00 Textu(r)al Undercoding and the Music of the Rock Band Rush: String Quartets, Death Metal, Trip-Hop, and other Tributes
Durrell Bowman, University of Alberta

2:30 Black Futurism in 1980s Electro
Thomas Nesbit, Boston University

Re-readings
Chair: Jason Oakes

3:30 Getting Beyond: Spin Magazine in the Late 1980s
Kevin John Bozelka, McGill University

4:00 Clash: Ephemeral Gender Politics of Eighties-Influenced Club Spaces in New York
Clay Drinko, New York University

4:30 Fear of the Police State: Cold War Politics, Dystopias and New Wave Music
Stephan Pennington, University of California, Los Angeles

5:00 Concluding Remarks
Wynn Yamami, New York University

Drinks/Dinner/Activities (TBA)