Revolution Televised.pdf

58 What You See Is What You Get
of Benson in Chicago led to the rise of black deejays ensconced in
the oral tradition.
A listener up on his black history might have realized that these
nighttime motor mouths were very much the inheritors of the black
oral tradition that spawned Br’er Rabbit, Mr. Mojo, and other rural
tricksters created by Afro Americans during their forced vacation in
the “New World.” Yet for all the cornpone some laid on listeners,
they were often as urban as the corner of Lennox and 125th Street.
The combination of these elements tapped into African American
traditions and created a sense of community for the black audience. 6
As the appeal of these announcers and the popularity of the
music grew, white radio stations that had previously denied access
to black announcers sought to move into the R&B market and
began to hire blacks as consultants to help white deejays sound like
the black deejays. The influence of black music was officially recognized
with the release of the 1971 Harvard Report, which stated:
The fact that 30 percent of the top 40 is composed of records which
have “crossed-over” from soul stations underscores the strategic
importance of soul stations as one of the most effective vehicles for
getting on to the top 40. . . . In sum soul radio is of strategic importance
to the record companies for two principal reasons: first, it provides
access to a large and growing record-buying public, namely,
the black consumer. Second, and for some of the record companies
more important, it is perhaps the most effective way of getting a
record to a Top 40 playlist. 7
This report concluded what black people had known for a long
time: that their music and culture as a whole not only had influence
but also were constantly absorbed and co-opted by the mainstream.
Even with the paradoxical nature of these situations, it was evident
that black music and black style were continuing to make a major
impact on American society. 8
Other venues of absorption and co-optation included the film industry.
In the mainstream venue, independently produced films such
as Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971), Shaft (1971), and
Superfly (1972) made strides toward a more empowered African
American filmic image. Yet many of the films of the Blaxploitation
movement that followed, although providing the audience a cul-