EMP 2008 Pop Conference — Saturday panels and presentations
Oh my sleeping head. Here was the Saturday schedule. Again, here are my VERY scattershot thoughts on it all as it happened:
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Kara Attrep, “She Yoko-ed the Band” — “don’t Yoko my band!” T-shirts as emblem of the destroyer of male genius. Her voice is the key and core of the metaphor of Onoism. Become a Yoko by being marginal, creative, married to another artist who often dies. Clara Schumann is an early example — someone who brought Robert “down.” Born rich, Yoko learned from Mom and went through WWII then moved to NYC and started loft shows in the sixties, was part of Fluxus, performed at Carnegie Hall, confused the hell out of the NY Times. Work was in demand and well respected, divorced and remarried and met John in London. From there her public identity changed while John felt more like a true artist with her in NYC. In 1973 she described the feeling of how other musicians regarded her as an “other” which felt strange in the “melting pot” of the studio. Dick Cavett clip is played — WEIRD dynamic, but both John and Yoko crush and twist it. She met John as “another artist.” Post 1980 accusations continued and intensified. She did benefit from the connection but still struggles to this day. Courtney Love comparison noted — no race but class issues instead, how the estate is handled. Mary Parks, Ayler’s last girlfriend, gets a lot of “blame” for his late sixties shift in sound and focus, even though the focus was on spiritual love. Adjectives listed about their voices — screeching, wailing etc. Clips of all three played — Yoko “AOS,” Hole’s “20 Years in the Dakota,” Parks (as Mary Maria)’s “Oh! Love of Life” w/ Ayler. Hearing outside of context they don’t sound as alien as their critics say. “Yes I’m a Witch” as statement of defiance (praise a wizard, burn a witch). (Q&A covers Parks a bit more, some discussion about her rare interviews).
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