‘Girls, girls, girls’?
The Los Angeles metal scene and the politics of gender in Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.v5i3.243Keywords:
Documentary, gender, heavy metal, Los Angeles, scenesAbstract
Drawing initially on research on the gendering of music scenes this article will suggest that the documentary The Metal Years (1988) depicts a Los Angeles heavy metal scene that, in accordance with popular versions of histories of this scene, is ostensibly male-dominated. However, through subsequent analysis of the film that will focus upon the performances and testimonies of individuals featured within it, together with a consideration of other primary and secondary accounts of this scene, this article will contend that gender relations evident within the text are more complex than they first appear. There are tensions and contradictions apparent within The Metal Years that complicate simplistic dismissals of the scene as sexist and misogynistic. Thus, this article will argue that the film should be regarded as a revealing piece of historical evidence that sheds light on a hitherto under-researched music scene.
References
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Beattie, K. 2005. ‘It’s Not Only Rock and Roll: “Rockumentary”, Direct Cinema, and Performative Display’. Australasian Journal of American Studies 24/2: 21–41.
Bennett, A., and R. A. Peterson, eds. 2004. Music Scenes: Local, Translocal, and Virtual. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.
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Christe, I. 2003. Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal. New York: Harper Entertainment.
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—1999. ‘Scenes’. In Key Terms in Popular Music and Culture, ed. Bruce Horner and Thomas Swiss, 239–50. Oxford: Blackwell.
Cook, N. 1998. Music: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Corner, J. 1996. The Art of Record: A Critical Introduction to Documentary. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Dennis, J. 1985. ‘Groupies’. In Turning On: Rock in the Late Sixties, ed. Ashley Brown and Michael Heatley, 196–98. London: Orbis.
Fast, S. 2001. In The Houses of the Holy: Led Zeppelin and the Power of Rock Music. New York: Oxford University Press.
Fogelson, R. M. 1993 [1967]. The Fragmented Metropolis: Los Angeles, 1850–1930. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.
Gaar, G. G. 1993. She’s a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock & Roll. London: Blandford.
Goffman, E. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books.
—1961. Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books.
Halperin, S. 2010. ‘Too Hot For MTV: Ten Controversial Music Videos That Got Banned’. The Hollywood Reporter, 21 December 2010 [online], http://www.hollywoodreporter. com/news/hot-mtv-ten-controversial-music-64410.
Hesmondhalgh, D. 2005. ‘Subcultures, Scenes or Tribes? None of the Above’. Journal of Youth Studies 8/1: 21–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13676260500063652
Hoskyns, B. 1994. ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams: A Trip Down the Sunset Strip’. Mojo (January) [accessed online at Rock’s Backpages, April 22, 2005]. http://www.rocksbackpages. com/article.html?ArticleID=4255
—2003 [1996]. Waiting for the Sun: Strange Days, Weird Scenes and the Sound of Los Angeles. London: Bloomsbury.
Hotten, J. 2000. ‘Paradise City’. Classic Rock 16, July: 38–46.
Hunter, S. 2004. Hell Bent For Leather: Confessions of a Heavy Metal Addict. London: Fourth Estate.
Kahn-Harris, K. 2007. Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge. Oxford: Berg.
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Shuker, R. 1994. Understanding Popular Music. London: Routledge.
Stahl, M. 2008. ‘Sex and Drugs and Bait and Switch: Rockumentary and the New Model Worker’. In The Media and Social Theory, ed. David Hesmondhalgh and Jason Toynbee, 231–47. London: Routledge.
Strachan, R., and M. Leonard. 2009. ‘Reel to Real: Cinema Verite, Rock Authenticity and the Rock Documentary’. In Sound and Music in Film and Visual Media: An Overview, ed. Graeme Harper, Ruth Doherty and Jochen Eisentraut, 284–99. New York: Continuum.
Thornton, S. 1990. ‘Strategies for Reconstructing the Popular Past’. Popular Music 9/1: 87–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0261143000003755
Unterberger, R., et al. 1999. Music USA: The Rough Guide. London: Rough Guides Ltd.
VH1’s Behind the Music Official Website, http://www.vh1.com/shows/behind_the_music/ series.jhtml.
Walser, R. 1993. Running with the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music. Hanover, NH: Wesleyan University Press.
Weinstein, D. 2000 [1991]. Heavy Metal: the Music and its Culture. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.
Filmography
Cilo, J. (Producer) 2001. VH1 Presents the Eighties, episode 2. USA: VH1 Television (TV film).
Ernst, R. 2006. Get Thrashed. USA: Saigon1515 Productions.
Hickenlooper, G. 2003. Mayor of the Sunset Strip. USA: Caldera Productions.
Spheeris, P. 1981. The Decline of Western Civilization. USA: Nu-Image.
—1988. The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years. USA: New Line Cinema.
—1998. The Decline of Western Civilization Part III. USA: Spheeris Films Inc.
Warren, M. 2006. Heavy: The Story of Metal, episode 3. USA: 441 Productions (TV film).
Discography
Faster Pussycat. 1987. Faster Pussycat. Elektra/Asylum Records.
Great White. 1989. …Twice Shy. Capitol Records.
L.A. Guns. 1988. L.A. Guns. Polygram Records.
Mötley Crüe. 2000 [1987]. Girls Girls Girls (Enhanced CD Edition). Universal.
Poison. 1988. Open Up and Say …Ahh! Capitol Records.
Beattie, K. 2005. ‘It’s Not Only Rock and Roll: “Rockumentary”, Direct Cinema, and Performative Display’. Australasian Journal of American Studies 24/2: 21–41.
Bennett, A., and R. A. Peterson, eds. 2004. Music Scenes: Local, Translocal, and Virtual. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.
Butler, J. 1990. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. London: Routledge.
Christe, I. 2003. Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal. New York: Harper Entertainment.
Cohen, S. 1997. ‘Men Making a Scene: Rock Music and the Production of Gender’. In Sexing the Groove, ed. Sheila Whiteley, 17–36. London: Routledge.
—1999. ‘Scenes’. In Key Terms in Popular Music and Culture, ed. Bruce Horner and Thomas Swiss, 239–50. Oxford: Blackwell.
Cook, N. 1998. Music: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Corner, J. 1996. The Art of Record: A Critical Introduction to Documentary. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Dennis, J. 1985. ‘Groupies’. In Turning On: Rock in the Late Sixties, ed. Ashley Brown and Michael Heatley, 196–98. London: Orbis.
Fast, S. 2001. In The Houses of the Holy: Led Zeppelin and the Power of Rock Music. New York: Oxford University Press.
Fogelson, R. M. 1993 [1967]. The Fragmented Metropolis: Los Angeles, 1850–1930. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.
Gaar, G. G. 1993. She’s a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock & Roll. London: Blandford.
Goffman, E. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books.
—1961. Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books.
Halperin, S. 2010. ‘Too Hot For MTV: Ten Controversial Music Videos That Got Banned’. The Hollywood Reporter, 21 December 2010 [online], http://www.hollywoodreporter. com/news/hot-mtv-ten-controversial-music-64410.
Hesmondhalgh, D. 2005. ‘Subcultures, Scenes or Tribes? None of the Above’. Journal of Youth Studies 8/1: 21–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13676260500063652
Hoskyns, B. 1994. ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams: A Trip Down the Sunset Strip’. Mojo (January) [accessed online at Rock’s Backpages, April 22, 2005]. http://www.rocksbackpages. com/article.html?ArticleID=4255
—2003 [1996]. Waiting for the Sun: Strange Days, Weird Scenes and the Sound of Los Angeles. London: Bloomsbury.
Hotten, J. 2000. ‘Paradise City’. Classic Rock 16, July: 38–46.
Hunter, S. 2004. Hell Bent For Leather: Confessions of a Heavy Metal Addict. London: Fourth Estate.
Kahn-Harris, K. 2007. Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge. Oxford: Berg.
Lewis, J. 1992. ‘From Equality to Liberation: Contextualizing the Emergence of the Women’s Liberation Movement’. In Cultural Revolution? The Challenge of the Arts in the 1960s, ed. Bart Moore-Gilbert and John Seed, 96–117. London: Routledge.
—1993. ‘Being Discovered: The Emergence of Female Address on MTV’. In Sound and Vision: The Music Video Reader, ed. Simon Frith, Andrew Goodwin and Lawrence Grossberg, 111–31. New York: Routledge.
McLeod, K. 2001. ‘ “*½”: A Critique of Rock Criticism in North America’. Popular Music 20/1: 47–60.
Negus, K. 1996. Popular Music in Theory: An Introduction. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Nichols, B. 1991. Representing Reality: Issues and Concepts in Documentary. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
Quisling, E., and A. Williams. 2003. Straight Whisky: A Living History of Sex, Drugs, and Rock’n’Roll on the Sunset Strip. Los Angeles: Bonus Books.
Rhodes, L. L. 2005. Electric Ladyland: Women and Rock Culture, 1965–1975. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Romney, J., and A. Wootton. 1995. Celluloid Jukebox: Popular Music and the Movies since the ’50s. London: British Film Institute.
Roscoe, J., and C. Hight. 2001. Faking It: Mock-documentary and the Subversion of Factuality. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Sawhney, D. N. 2002. ‘Journey Beyond the Stars: Los Angeles and Third Worlds’. In Unmasking L.A. Third Worlds and the City, ed. Deepak Narang Sawhney, 1–20. New York: Palgrave.
Shank, B. 1994. Dissonant Identities: The Rock’n’Roll Scene in Austin, Texas. Hanover, NH: Wesleyan University Press.
Shuker, R. 1994. Understanding Popular Music. London: Routledge.
Stahl, M. 2008. ‘Sex and Drugs and Bait and Switch: Rockumentary and the New Model Worker’. In The Media and Social Theory, ed. David Hesmondhalgh and Jason Toynbee, 231–47. London: Routledge.
Strachan, R., and M. Leonard. 2009. ‘Reel to Real: Cinema Verite, Rock Authenticity and the Rock Documentary’. In Sound and Music in Film and Visual Media: An Overview, ed. Graeme Harper, Ruth Doherty and Jochen Eisentraut, 284–99. New York: Continuum.
Thornton, S. 1990. ‘Strategies for Reconstructing the Popular Past’. Popular Music 9/1: 87–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0261143000003755
Unterberger, R., et al. 1999. Music USA: The Rough Guide. London: Rough Guides Ltd.
VH1’s Behind the Music Official Website, http://www.vh1.com/shows/behind_the_music/ series.jhtml.
Walser, R. 1993. Running with the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music. Hanover, NH: Wesleyan University Press.
Weinstein, D. 2000 [1991]. Heavy Metal: the Music and its Culture. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.
Filmography
Cilo, J. (Producer) 2001. VH1 Presents the Eighties, episode 2. USA: VH1 Television (TV film).
Ernst, R. 2006. Get Thrashed. USA: Saigon1515 Productions.
Hickenlooper, G. 2003. Mayor of the Sunset Strip. USA: Caldera Productions.
Spheeris, P. 1981. The Decline of Western Civilization. USA: Nu-Image.
—1988. The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years. USA: New Line Cinema.
—1998. The Decline of Western Civilization Part III. USA: Spheeris Films Inc.
Warren, M. 2006. Heavy: The Story of Metal, episode 3. USA: 441 Productions (TV film).
Discography
Faster Pussycat. 1987. Faster Pussycat. Elektra/Asylum Records.
Great White. 1989. …Twice Shy. Capitol Records.
L.A. Guns. 1988. L.A. Guns. Polygram Records.
Mötley Crüe. 2000 [1987]. Girls Girls Girls (Enhanced CD Edition). Universal.
Poison. 1988. Open Up and Say …Ahh! Capitol Records.
Published
2012-01-25
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Hassan, N. (2012). ‘Girls, girls, girls’? The Los Angeles metal scene and the politics of gender in Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years. Popular Music History, 5(3), 243-263. https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.v5i3.243
