If the Beatles of 1963 were the arrival of modern rock, 1966 was the year it moved into its second phase. I think of 1966 as a year of pregnancy. The momentum built by the British Invasion and the American Response signaled support from the record companies and sureness from the artists, as …
During the summer of 1919, two expatriated dadas living in Zurich were bored. Hans Arp (1886-1966) and Tristan Tzara (1896-1963) spiced things up by fabricating a duel between them. They planted the story in Swiss newspapers and falsely reported that fellow dadas Francis Picabia, Oskar Kokoschka, and Walter Serner were at the duel as …
Dead Beatles The play of children and the play of ensemble improvisers like the Grateful Dead share numerous co-identifying qualities. Definitions of play and improvisation precede a comparison of the Dead and the Beatles. These two bands have been exhaustively described, but herein is a focus on the quality of play and the play ethos …