Alt.Pop.Repeat’s blog examining pop culture and the counterculture, subculture and alternative cultures that feed it… and random things we found entertaining!
The real story of who invented the Internet begins in the 19th century. Long before the technology existed to support an interconnected network of computers, there were the futurists, technologists and even writers who were actively dreaming of a world where we were only separated by screens.
Reprinted with permission from Karmacake.com
Defining what pop culture is can be as easy as saying that it is the culture of everyday life. While it is different from country to country, the mechanics of pop culture is pretty much the same, including whether it’s worthy of study. It casts a really wide net, including everything from tabloids to Hollywood films and is distributed through mass media, which gives it incredible influence.
Of all the cultures, pop culture is the most popular culture and it’s influence is unmistakable.
Since the Middle Ages, there has always been some aspects of culture that straddle the line between “high culture” and “pop culture” – William Shakespeare, Chaucer, Jane Austen, but pop culture as we know it today needed some specific conditions in order to give it that mass appeal.
Beginning in the 19th century, the term “popular culture” was coined to describe the culture consumed by the lower class and to distinguish it from “official culture” defined by the higher classes.
Popular Culture was seen as lesser and associated with people with poor education. However, once the Industrial Revolution hit in the 19th and 20th centuries, there was more wealth being distributed, more literacy and more money available to spend on entertainment. Railways introduced travel for pleasure, which created a market for penny fiction and before you know it, this whole cocktail comes together to create the first mass produced pop culture sensation.
According to sociologists, culture consists of the values, beliefs, systems of language, communication, and practices that people share in common and that can be used to define them as a collective. It includes material and non-material things and it’s largely the intangible, but arguably, the most important aspects of our social lives.
Culture is this constant dance between the things and the ideas that define societies. For example, a documentary could change the opinion of a population on the moral implications of their clothing production, which could effect what they buy and where they source it from.
Famous French sociologies Émile Durkheim believed that material and non-material aspects of culture worked together to hold societies together. It gave societies a sense of purpose and reaffirmed the culture they hold in common. Like workplace holiday parties, sporting events, Pride or going out on a Friday night – you know you’re not the only one going, you probably look forward to parts of the rituals, like the stadium hotdogs or the parade.
Ray B. Browne the founder of pop culture studies said that “Popular culture is the voice of democracy, democracy speaking and acting, the seedbed in which democracy grows,” he said in an interview in 2002 with Americana: The Journal of American Popular Culture (1900 to Present). “It is the everyday world around us: the mass media, entertainments and diversions. It is our heroes, icons, rituals, everyday actions, psychology and religion our total life picture. It is the way of living we inherit, practice and modify as we please, and how we do it. It is the dreams we dream while asleep.”
So, yes, it is worth studying. While it’s often considered a superficial or lesser type of artistic expression it is a cultural artifact the provides insight in our living history. Due to pop culture’s massive level of influence, it’s impossible to deny the impression it has on society. It can allow us to understand trends as well as examine the societal & power constructs as well as the moral implications of society and understand trends in culture.
Want to learn more? Then catch up with the latest episode of Alt.Pop.Repeat
Created in the late 40s as a subculture of California surfing, skateboarding has always been a male dominated sport – but here is a short list the most influential women that have helped kick the sport into the mainstream
In 2020, as a population, we stopped spending, socializing and riding subways. Our lives revolved around isolating when only weeks before we were hanging out on patios and travelling. Now that the world is opening up our habits have changed, spending is expected to increase but on what exactly?
Experiences.
There’s no going back to 2019, it’s 2021 and throughout the pandemic Canadians found their way back to the great outdoors checking out activities that combined socializing alongside health and wellness.
NBC reported that nearly one out of every three consumers reported being extremely or very concerned about physical health, and roughly one in four said they were extremely or very concerned about mental health. Since January 2021 searches for horseback riding lessons has increased by 70% in Canada, lending to the trend that people are searching for more outdoor activities that are experiences that are COVID safe and supports overall wellness.
Definitely I can say, I joined in on that trend. On June 22, 2021, I found myself at a stables in Halton, Hills hanging out with some of my favourite people, Raymi The Minx, Nadia Elkaharadly and Sandra Layton and world renowned jockey, Eurico Rosa da Silva grooming and riding horses thanks to Lookahead Sport Horses.
Over the last seventeen years Eurico has worked his way up the rankings at Woodbine Racetrack, detailing his career in his autobiography, Riding for Freedom. Eurico has now expanded his skills into the coaching world as well. Leveraging his own experiences, and his knowledge of the beautiful therapeutic power of horses, Eurico helps equestrians and non equestrians alike achieve their goals and improve their lives. You can read more about Eurico and his work on Canadian Thoroughbred magazine and Horse Sport magazine.
After the experience we sat and talked with Louise Masek, Eurico’s friend and the woman behind Look Ahead Sporthorses. Louise’s stables are unique in that she breeds, trains and keeps horses that compete in shows and races as well as providing equine therapy, both physical and mental, Louise and Eurico collaborate on a powerful and unique practice that was wonderful to experience.
The power of equine therapy was definitely felt. We spent the day forgetting about vaccinations and the pandemic while connecting with the horses. What was interesting to learn was Equine therapy, also known as Equine-Assisted Therapy (EAT), is a treatment that includes equine activities and/or an equine environment in order to promote physical, occupational, and emotional growth in persons suffering from ADD and Anxiety.
Overall, the availability of horseback riding and experiencing equine therapy up close was really profound and I’m now going back to do more sessions with Louise – Hopefully with Chrissy in tow when she’s back in town. However, while Chrissy’s been in L.A. she also hit the horseback with her own excursion. So if you didn’t think it was a trend before, it sure is now!
If you’re checking out some experiences beyond the patio let us know in the comments below!
The loud voices of disabled creators are starting to emerge in pop culture and it’s difficult to not pay attention. I sat down with Steve for an interview to discuss his work and accessibility in the gaming industry.
You can fit the mold if you break it first.
Wondering what happened to Coolio? Besides rapping, acting, and making amends he’s up to a lot, including running for office…
We’re back and unboxing more moments that define pop culture with bigger guests, more conversations and a killer season 2!
The mixtape to Hip Hop is like memes to the Internet. If you’re here you might have heard us reference the Flow 93.5 Mix CD in our latest episode – well, here’s a little primer on the mixtape, Flow 93.5FM and the most famous mixed CDs to get distributed across Canada – The Flow Case.
If you haven’t heard our latest episode on Hip Hop featuring DMC from Run DMC, definitely go check it out by clicking here.
Let’s jump back into it…
Before 1983, hip hop was not aired on TV (and definitely not MTV) and it wasn’t played on the radio. The only places you could access it, was at shows, in the parks and on mixtapes – because mainstream media wasn’t ready to accept hip hop as a viable cultural product that was worthy to be sold.
The vinyl record is probably most closely associated with hip hop, but it’s not very portable, expensive and hard to produce. In a pre-Internet era, for young artists, the mixtape was instrumental in getting the sounds of new artists out in the world. Cassettes were small, stealthy and could easily be duplicated – they were pretty much ideal. And, as a result, mixtapes became the distribution platform of choice for the hip hop community – a bit of a tradition.
So when Flow 93.5FM was the first black-owned radio station in Canada to play black artists got their license to air – they also began to release their own mix CDs – The FlowCase. The CDs were distributed to anyone and it provided an infrastructure that started to highlight artists whether they were signed or not. This meant, anyone who wasn’t a privileged DJ would have access to the artists – and it also meant that artists could get heard outside of Toronto as the CDs travelled across the country.
Here’s pics of the URBAN FLOWCASE VOLUME 9 – the same one that Chrissy owns… we don’t have immediate access to it right now, but when we do, we’ll try and make a copy so you can hear the tracks!
A little piece of Canadian hip hop history!
The beginnings of mixed martial arts (MMA) in mainstream was on November 12, 1993 with the UFC 1 – the day fighting changed forever. On the surface, it was a series of controversial match ups featuring no-holds barred sparring between two fighters with no rules and no referees. To this day, the stigma of those early fight still exists, regardless of the evolution of the sport or even popularity of it globally. Which, arguably, has always existed whether it was formalized as MMA or UFC or any other name that might exist for the sport.
mixed martial arts didn’t just appear in 1993. It never went away, it just evolved.
The earliest form of mixed martial arts is found in ancient Greece. In 648BCE Pankration was it at The Olympic Games. The martial training of Greek armies was the most popular event at the ancient Olympics. Audiences loved the brutal combat that combined wrestling, boxing and street fighting in matches with very few rules – two rules infact – no biting and no eye gouging. Fighters could kick an opponent when they were down, and the match wouldn’t end unless a participant acknowledged defeat or was rendered unconscious.
By modern sensibilities this sounds similar to MMA, it was a sport that featured wrestling, striking and ground fighting, and like the sport today, it was controversial and subsequently banned, along with the Olympic Games, by Roman conqueror Theodosius I in 393 CE.
That wasn’t it, there was always a version of mixed martial arts. Romans had gladiators who fought in type vs. type combat – similar to UFC 1. Except for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu vs Sumo, it was sword vs. trident. Gladiator fights were promoted, just like MMA and people would flood in to watch theatrical exhibition that has an element of showmanship to it.
The point that I’m making here is that mixed martial arts didn’t just appear in 1993. It never went away, it just evolved. Even though there are a myriad of styles that mix martial arts like Savate in France, Bartitsu in England, Vale Tudo in Brazil, and the list goes on, but in terms of the beginnings of mixed martial arts as we know it, there are major contributing factors to the rise in popularity.
Without the legacy of the Gracies, bringing their style of Brazilian Jiu jitsu to America, and their willingness to combat anyone of any fighting style to try and prove it’s effectiveness – we would never have had UFC 1. Without Bruce Lee, popularizing martial arts in film there may never have been audiences raised to love martial arts. Without video games like Mortal Kombat, the inspiration for UFC 1 would never have happened.Without Jim Arvanitis, a Greek-American from New England who made it his life’s mission to revive pankration, the MMA may never have formalized as a modified version of pankration. And, of course, without Dana White, the former president of the UFC, and the creation of the reality series on Fox Television, all of that foundational work, would have been completely overlooked by the mainstream.
The beginnings of mixed martial arts is a combination of history, timing and influence of pop culture that lead to it developing into the world’s third most popular sport. And it’s also the topic of our episode “The Art of the Fight” featuring MMA Champion and UFC Fighter, Elias Theodorou. We talk about the experience of the sport, the beginnings and even explore how the perceptions of the sport between me and Chrissy differ.
Tune in!
Eddie Van Halen died and he’s the type of vanguard that is so alt.pop to us – but don’t call it hair metal.
The impact of Van Halen can never be underestimated. Before their debuted album, rock music was pair down punk of Ramones, gothic British blues of Black Sabbath, Midwestern progressive rock of Kansas and the pagan rock of Led Zepplin – after Van Halen we had the driving power rock that inspired the hard rock sound that dominated stadium performances throughout the 80s.
Eddie Van Halen changed music. Forever.
Eruption. One word that represents 1 minute and 42 seconds of untamed guitar-playing technique that is considered one of the greatest rock guitar solos of all time. The joke is, the song nearly didn’t make it on the album, producer Ted Templeman overheard it while he was rehearsing for a live show. The engineer just happened to be recording so Templeman had it go on the record. Ironically, Eddie didn’t think it was good enough.
Although, one-handed tapping (hammer-ons and pull-offs) was standard guitar technique, “Eruption” introduced two-handed tapping to the mainstream popular rock audience – almost like playing a guitar like a piano. Eddie Van Halen popularised this soloing option throughout the 1980s and was highly influential in re-establishing hard rock as a popular genre after punk and disco – mostly because he elevated the role of electric guitar in rock music.
Van Halen’s sound is driving, technically flawless and upbeat, exactly what you imaging rock would sound like if it was born in Los Angeles in the 70’s. And, even though Van Halen isn’t “hair metal band” (pop-oriented heavy metal with a distinctive visual image from living in a post-MTV era), they did create the blueprint for the genre that inspired hundreds if not thousands of derivative rock bands that dominated the charts and stadiums all around the world in the 1980s.
Over the years, Van Halen continued to evolve and deliver. Regardless of who was singing, David Lee Roth to Sammy Hagar, it didn’t matter, because it was always Eddie Van Halen and his Frankenstrat that fronted that band.
Rock-on in Peace, Eddie Van Halen.
1 year ago we announced that we were going to be working on a new show called, Alt.Pop.Repeat. It was a project that looked at how counter culture turns into pop culture – basically a fun thing we do when we spend literal hours on the phone together.
A year to the day, we are announcing that Alt.Pop.Repeat has been picked up for U.S. distribution with L.A. based, Dash Radio!!!!
You can catch our first show “Is Punk Dead? with Bif Naked” airing at 12pm PST (3pm EST) this Friday, August 21st and on repeat Saturdays at 8PM PST (11PM EST)
Dash Radio was founded by Scott Keeney a.k.a DJ Skee (Los Angeles’s number 1 DJ), Dash Radio is a commercial free digital radio platform with a community of over 450 plus personalities across 80 plus stations and is the largest all original digital audio broadcast platform in the world to date. With curated channels by Snoop Dogg, Kylie Jenner, Lil Wayne, Tech N9ne, Borgore, B-Real of Cypress Hill, and others; Dash Radio also has dedicated genre music channels to pop, rock, Latin, talk radio, world, hip-hop, country, jazz and classical, faith & gospel, world, decades, and electronic dance.
We are excited to be exposed to over 16M potential new listeners, to work with an accredited media outlet that will open a host of new opportunities to us and to be apart of the family built by the unstoppable visionary in digital broadcast – DJ Skee.
We’re so excited!
If you want more info or follow us for more content join us on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook!
For fun, here’s a little trip down memory lane when we went and visited the Dash Radio studios in Los Angeles early 2020!
The word paranormal is a non-scientific designation that classifies, pretty much anything that lives outside of what we know to be true – but does it include UFOs and Aliens?
We said goodbye to the McHotel for a one of a kind stay in the footsteps of the Golden Age of Hollywood…
We have really focused a lot on how our world is rapidly changing for the better. However, that journey is paved with an incredibly important story that we feel needs to be told without distraction.
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