Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Socialized swing


Today, the tea party would call this "socialized music."

And if you recognize what "this" is, you're either over 80 or a certified geek.

(No, I am not over 80. Therefore, draw your own conclusion.)

Suffice it to say that during World War II, the government was in the music business in a big way with V-Discs, special recordings of popular music that went to the troops -- and which couldn't be sold or broadcast in this country.

Even during a full wartime mobilization, socialism in popular entertainment only went so far.

Today, this morale-boosting service likely would be performed by the military-industrial complex -- Halliburton Records, anyone? -- and would consist of bad knockoffs of popular acts. These compact discs, sold to the Pentagon for $99.95 per, would contain only eight songs and would tend to fly apart when played.

The first CD to be released would be Melvin Klingman's cover of Cee Lo Green's "F*** You."

1 comment:

(c)2014 Richard L. Kent, Esq. (MichiganSilverback at gmail dot com) said...

Hey, pal, I lived in Halliburton (="Brown & Root") provided housing for two years in Bosnia. It wasn't bad at all, and it was *very* cheap to build (we used local labor). Wouldn't trade my apartment for it, but it beat living in tents big time....