HOT: Vibrating Music Rumor Debunked
With all of the recent lunatic conspiracies emerging from the far-rightwing cesspool of emboldened racists and gullible idiots, you can practically hear the long, incredulous sighs behind the impossibly patient writing on rumor-debunking website Snopes. One of the latest pieces to ooze exasperation isn’t political, though. A theory on social media rumor inferring obnoxious wedding-reception staple “Electric Boogie (Electric Slide)” is about a sex toy was given legitimacy after a troll “news site” made up a quote from the songwriter confirming the song was based on a girlfriend who rebuffed him sexually in favor of a vibrator she named “electric slide.” In response, a legit reporter did contact the songwriter (Bob Marley colleague Bunny Wailer, weirdly enough), who vehemently denied the story. Snopes expounded further on the song’s history, yet somehow refrained from clarifying that the lyrics are utter nonsense.
WARM: Grammys to Get Longer
Like other televised awards shows, producers of the Grammys desperately try to keep its show on schedule by doing things like hustling winners off-stage once their speeches hit the “Who else…” mark. But a recent change promises to add additional time to future shows — at least as much as it takes to say 12 additional names. Starting next year, the Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist categories will feature eight nominees instead of the usual five. The expansion comes after last year’s dude-centric ceremony (only one woman won in categories presented on TV), which caused the Grammys’ to commission a committee to help ensure more not-men were nominated.
COLD: Manilow as Loitering Deterrent
Playing high-brow music to annoy people so they don’t hang out too long has been a common business strategy for years. From blasting opera and Classical music in Canadian and British subway stations to cranking Vivaldi down a couple of blocks of Cincinnati’s Short Vine district, weaponizing music to deter loitering and crime must be effective because it keeps happening. But it’s not just Classical music. The Rite-Aid drugstore chain is testing a slightly different approach to shoo panhandlers and homeless people sleeping in cars in store parking lots. A Rite-Aid in California put a twist on a tactic used at a nearby 7-Eleven that blared Country music to break up lot parties — alongside Classical tunes, Lite Pop superstar Barry Manilow’s music plays 24/7 over its loudspeakers. While not admitting the callously pandering to the lucrative Manilow superfan market, Rite-Aid did confirm it was testing the method to appease frightened customers.
This article appears in Jun 27 – Jul 4, 2018.
