Two and a half years ago, we explored
the early history of Cartoon Network... but it wasn't the only player in the youth television game.
As a matter of fact,
Fred Seibert -- the man responsible for the most inventive projects discussed in that post -- first stretched his creative legs at the network's
truly venerable forerunner:
Nickelodeon.
Founded as Pinwheel, a six-hour block on Warner Cable's innovative
QUBE system, this humble channel struggled for years before Seibert's innovative branding work transformed it into a national icon and capstone of a media empire.
Much has changed since then, from the mascots and game shows to
the versatile orange "splat." But starting tonight in response to popular demand, the network is
looking back with
a summer programming block dedicated to the greatest hits of the 1990s, including
Hey Arnold!, Rocko's Modern Life, The Adventures of Pete & Pete, The Ren & Stimpy Show, Double Dare, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Legends of the Hidden Temple, and
All That.
To celebrate, look inside for the complete story of the early days of the network that incensed the religious right, brought doo-wop to television, and slimed a million fans -- the golden age of Nickelodeon.
(warning: monster post inside) [more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on Jul 25, 2011 -
116 comments
Peter Grudzien lives in New York and makes psychedelic country music or at least used to, since only two albums of his material ever came out,
The Unicorn in 1974, and
The Garden of Love, which is mostly a collection of demos. His songs are varied, ranging from noise music to straight up country, and their subject matters are equally wide-ranging, from strange fare, such as
lyrics about his clone being at Stonewall, to
straight-up love songs. His best known original is probably
The Unicorn, a beautiful song whose
lyrics recast the early 70s New York gay demimonde in terms of a barren zombie-filled wasteland which will be reborn when the titular unicorn is found by the queen. Other songs on YouTube are
White Trash Hillbilly Trick,
New York Town and an instrumental cover of the Georgia Gibbs hit
Kiss Me Another. Finally,
here's a lovely cover of The Unicorn by Calgary folkie Kris Ellestad.
posted by Kattullus
on Nov 21, 2010 -
16 comments
It's All Because. Have you ever had those days where you're wondering just why everything about your life is feeling like it's going down the toilet bowl?
Oded Gross knows, and he will tell you all about it. In a
song.
posted by brownpau
on Jul 26, 2007 -
17 comments
The Scissor Sisters (album art NSFW) seem to be getting the attention of the two primary community-owned radio stations I have bookmarked, to the point of becoming a guilty pleasure. The band is
unapologetically camp riffing or perhaps just
plundering the more popular
glam rock lexicon and of course the music that
we love to hate, disco. Of course, it may be all over. With the recent revelation that the Scissor Sister are favored by
U.K. Tory co-chair Liam Fox they might suffer what the Guardian calls, the Curse of the Thrashing Doves. The wisdom being that while it is kosher for
bands to endorse politicians, it is the kiss of death for politicians to endorse bands. Still, it is interesting to me how things have changed in that the Scissor Sisters are capitalizing on the gay card early in their careers. Melissa Etheridge took
two albums before coping to what had been an open secret.
posted by KirkJobSluder
on Oct 5, 2004 -
14 comments
Tired of your mullet and acid-wash jeans being sneered at in the local gay bar? Wishing that there was someone other than
Rob Halford out in the metal scene?
Pink Stëël is for you, my gay heavy-metal-loving brethen! Be out, be proud, and crank up "We Fight For Cock!"
posted by Katemonkey
on Jul 10, 2003 -
10 comments
Are Jazz And Gay Culture Antithetical? When an American friend of mine told me recently that gay men hate jazz, although that's not my experience in my part of the world, it got me thinking. But the article I found, by Francis Davis, only added to the mystery. Is the audience for Jazz overwhelmingly and creepily white, bourgeois, straight, macho and middle-aged (
which, embarrassingly, just about describes this Jazz fan...)? If it is, why the hell is it? Why are there so few outed
gay Afro-American musicians, for instance? Is there still a "
Don't Ask, Don't Tell" mentality? Or, more interestingly, does it have something to do with Jazz itself? Or even being gay? And what about the other
musical stereotypes (Garland, Streisand et al.) used in caricatures of gay men? Is there anything in them? [
NYT reg. required for main link; atrocious text garbling in the second.]
posted by MiguelCardoso
on Feb 22, 2003 -
31 comments
Texas singer asks lesbian fans to not show affection at her shows A budding folk-rocker who also happens to be a
high school PE teacher has created a stir with an
Aug. 12 email to her fans. "I have had several complaints from bar owners, friends, fans, and potential fans regarding the outwardly show of affection that has taken place at my shows," writes
Michelle Mayfield. "This type of behavior, right or wrong, reflects on me as the artist who has brought you to that club...Please be respectful of the places where I am performing by being aware of the actions that can possibly turn potential fans away from my music or from my future shows." The resulting flap, and Mayfield's
apology, is made more interesting by questions about Mayfield's own sexual preference, which she called "no one's business in the first place."
posted by mediareport
on Aug 26, 2002 -
107 comments
Tooling around today, I happened upon small but burgeoning subculture-
gay Heavy Metal fans. Headbanging and Rainbow Pride stickers may seem like an odd combo until you think of the number of openly gay performers in Hard Rock (Roddy Bottum of
Faith No More, Doug Pinnick of
King's X-a gay
Christian metalhead, and of course the great Rob Halford formerly of the legendary
Judas Preist. I dunno whether this is a large trend or merely people coming out of yet another closet, but it's nice to see metal shaking off it's homophobic image.
posted by jonmc
on Mar 21, 2002 -
17 comments
