| I'd like to ask about the Regal/Kalyptic status of rock music. I know that Agner is of the opinion that rock music is kalyptic, but I have my doubts. I don't claim to have an original idea here because I am just repeating a point that Charlie Gillett made in his classic history of early rock/RnB 'Sound of the City' (1971 - out of print now I fear?). What Gillett says is that the sheer volume of rock music is an element of 'totalitarian control' (a florid phrase perhaps, but you can see what he's driving at). Gillett subsequently gave up rock journalism and moved into world music (and indeed presented a London Broadcasting Corporation world music show for quite a while in the late 1980s). Whether or not Gillett is correct, I can postulate some reasons why loud volume began to be used: a) early 60s audiences were very noisy (Ringo Starr's famous comments about not being able to hear what John, Paul and George were playing because of the noise of the audience seem absurd when one considers how deafeningly loud a modern band can be, but early 60s music was really that quiet by modern standards) b) late 60s audiences got bigger (stadia, festivals, etc - if you're playing to 100,000 people they've all got to hear) c) here I'm getting a bit cynical - loudness is a convenient cover for those who don't actually play very well. Clive James in his memoirs has a vivid description of the first time he heard Cream in 1966 - 'it was a beat that hurt'. This, I think, is quite close to Gillett's attitiude. It's not just in concerts that volume exerts the effect of subjugation (borrowing some of Gillett's rhetoric here, not because I necessarily believe it, just to make my point a more visible target), in north London (and I dare say also in other parts of the world), gang members cruise the streets pounding out music at high volume ('discos that pass in the night') for the purposes of reminding the populace whose territory they are on, and that they'd better do as they are told. A 140 decibel alpha male baboon territorial marker call - nothing kalyptic about that!!!! So that's my thesis - rock music is actually as regal as one could wish for. What do you reckon? Derek | 
Regal and Kalyptic distinctions new - Nick Rose - 1999-07-07
Regal and Kalyptic distinctions new - Nick Rose - 1999-07-13