Now that Trump is going to be president again, what now for music?
[This was my weekly column for GlobalNews.ca. – AC]
The first thing I thought when I awoke Wednesday morning was that there’s now an SNL Curse. Any female U.S. presidential candidate — even one who appears to be cruising to the White House — will ultimately lose the election if she appears on Saturday Night Live. First Hillary Clinton in 2016 and now Kamala Harris in 2024.
I’m curious how music will react to the new Trump administration. Culture is always just downstream from what’s happening in society. Historically, things shift depending on whether the White House (and 10 Downing Street, for that matter) is occupied by a right- or left-wing administration. This correlation between politics and music fits in nicely with my theory of the 13-year pop vs. rock cycle.
When Dwight Eisenhower, a Republican, took over for two terms in the 1950s, American music became a lot more rebellious, manifesting, at least partly in the birth and growth of rock ‘n’ roll. And let’s not forget about the folk movement with its many left-leaning artists finding purchase with progressives.
By the time Republican Richard Nixon took over in 1968, rock had grown very loud, and in some cases, very angry. It was during his first term that metal (Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Steppenwolf et al) was born, and garage rock, a precursor to punk, began to spread (think Stooges, MC5, and The New York Dolls). It was also a golden era of protest music in rock.
