Re: PBS Rock and Roll

Joe Spaeth (jspaeth@unm.edu)
Fri, 29 Sep 1995 10:56:40 -0700

In regard to my original post saying that the series left me a little flat,
perhaps I wasn't in a very good mood the evening of the "funk" episode.
I've also watched the whole series and generally liked it. They
concentrated a lot on the artists who influenced the future artists of
their genre. That aspect is extremely interesting, and I have gained some
new insights from watching the series.

And, no, I didn't expect them to cover EVERYBODY who ever had a release
that I liked. But, after watching the segment on funk, you could come away
believing that P-funk was the only band after James Brown out there doing
original funky material!

And, yes, the series is called "rock and roll." But it has been in large
part, especially the segments on the 50' and 60's, a chronical of POP
music. So,in as much as funk crossed over into pop, I sort of expected to
see it covered. However, the major crossover groups (including major
contributors such as Earth, wind, and fire; Marvin Gaye, and Isaac Hayes)
were barely even mentioned. There was a 10 second cut of Isaac Hayes. I
know it would be unrealistic, but I could have listened to that for the
whole hour.

Don't misunderstand me...I have really enjoyed the series. It is hard to
produce a documentary covering 4 decades of an artform and its influences.
The subject, by its nature, is very subjective. And they have done an
admirable job!--J Spaeth