The Death of the Cool

Hymnen always reminds me of News of the World.

Brian May said that, from about 1977 - 1981, Queen really felt like they 'owned the U.S.', like whatever they did here would work. But by the mid-80's, when they were breaking attendance records on just about every continent, their US label had stopped bothering to release their new albums. Something happened, and the US audience just evaporated. But what?

A decade earlier, in the late 60's and early 70's, Stockhausen 'owned' new music, it's safe to say. Adored by famous rock stars, his concerts drew people that current promoters would kill to get. When the Times reviewed his legendary 1971 performance of Hymnen with the NY Phil, the critic was astonished by the amount of young people in the audience. At a subsequent concert in Alice Tully, again, the Times critic noted how many kids were there with long hair and how much they enjoyed the concert.

One of the great things about being in Kuerten is seeing stuff like these costumes from the battle scene of 'Dienstag'. While I understand in theory why Stockhausen disappeared from the radar in the US, it's tough to understand why shit like this isn't still the epitome of cool:

With eight speakers placed in the corners of the cuboid musical space, the electronic music represents the bombs, missiles and aeroplanes of a battle scene around above and below the audience. The stage is blocked off by a mountain side. Lucifer's troops, in red and black, have trombones and are led by a bass singer. They attack the precipice, revealing it as a camoufaged metal wall, with trumpet bells protruding from within. Michael's fighters have trumpets, their commander is a solo tenor and they wear blue and black. Both sides have a synthesizer and a percussion player, carrying amplifiers and loudspeakers with them. During the fierce battle the metal wall is torn down by welding torches and a crystal wall is revealed. It is clear that Luzifer's forces wish to demonstrate that there is no world beyond the wall.

As John McCain would say, "That's crazy...crazy exciting!"