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148 participate more actively in rock music as the years progressed. As has been mentioned, however, Dawn Selby is an exception to the rule. Her participation in The Third Eye became integral to the band's sound, as was acknowledged in the quote above. In the early years, her role as organist was most significant, but she also proved to be a talented songwriter and composer as she grew older. What is very interesting when considering Selby's contribution on organ, was the experimental nature of her playing, which at times created effects important to the meaning of a song. Such an example is to be found on 'Stagemakers', a track from The Third Eye's album, Searching (refer to cassette, Ex. 21). Here are the lyrics to the song: Stagemakers There is no time to plan a book a day Just mail it up and hope it stays that way the things we do are the things that hold me down Just come in tonight And I'll swear you'll see no-one And the world keeps falling down on me (repeat) Just move it across, just move it over here If you come in tonight there'll be nothing over there Just take it down Please cut along this line Put it back up, and lets hope it will look fine And the world keeps falling down on me (repeat) Instrumental climax (siren effect) I'm going now, I'll leave you to your toil Hanging around will only make it spoil Why should I stay I'm here just to look I think I'll go home, I think I'll write a book And the world keeps falling down on me (repeat) The song begins with a simple introduction by the organ, which plays chords on beats four and one of each bar. As it gets to the end of the second verse, with the reiteration of 'the world keeps falling down on me', the organ introduces a simple four-note descending motif. The motif gradually speeds up until it is barely recognisable, and a siren effect is created. The climax that is developed through this inventive effect is powerful, and
149 in keeping with the cataclysmic nature of the lyrics. The proficiency of technique demanded in creating such an effect is worthy of attention, especially when one keeps in mind that Selby was only in her early teens at the time of recording. Selby's classical background also played an important role in her contributions on keyboard as a band member. The track entitled 'Awakening' on the same album (Ex. 16) contains portions of piano playing that is reminiscent of late romantic piano writing. This song has been discussed in the previous chapter, and reference has been made to the 'unfettered crashing piano chords' which occur in the sections in which the soldier is imagining his homecoming. The piano begins softly with deep bass notes on beat one of each bar, followed by major chords played progressively higher on beats two, three and four of each bar. Each beat is articulated as a semiquaver and a dotted quaver, giving a carefree, happy feel which contrasts strongly with the previous section. This style of piano playing is classically influenced, and demonstrates Selby's flexibility as a performer in the utilisation of a variety of musical genres. In addition to the piano playing discussed, the track also features Selby in an extended organ solo at the end of the first section; This solo is in a blues-influenced style, and is reminiscent of the organ style popularised by The Mamas and the Papas. Thus at an early age, Selby drew from an extensive repertoire of styles with innovation and skill. All-Women Punk Bands Although women musicians did not feature greatly in the first decade of rock in Durban I would like to argue that it was the advent of punk that gave women the chance to enter the realm of performance and composition. As I have stated in my introduction, punk's anti-establishment, 'do-it-yourself' stance made women's entry into the genre far easier than into the mainstream 'rock' world. Punk seemed to reinvent the parameters of popular music, in that musical standards became less important than the message
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Lindy van der Meulen FROM ROCK 'N '
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ABSTRACT This thesis introduces the
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INTRODUCTION Reasons for Research T
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Thus, my twenty year period spans a
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Theoretical Perspectives Broad Theo
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13 rock musicians. Although I never
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18 a culture not different from my
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Chapter 5 20 Chapter Five addresses
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22 The line-up of the band went thr
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24 Africa. Although South Africa (o
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28 venues opened up in Durban which
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31 'sessions', and therefore were i
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33 bills. The separation of populat
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36 a 'golden decade' of opportuniti
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38 would give to South African pop
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49 have caused Durban rock bands to
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52 During this period, the scope fo
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43 57 If you make a jigsaw puzzle,
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62 members. This did not seem to af
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71 Durban Rag concert in early 1984
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75 Usuals played mainly reggae and
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78 The streetrockers played a comme
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80 greatest gift to song - the orga
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Figure 3. 83 The Mods From left to
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Figure 5. 85 Young Fan in a Paper F
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Figure 8 (please turn over). 88 Cro
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Figure 10. 90 Wild Youth and Fans i
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Figure 13. 93 Powerage From left to
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95 CHAPTER 3 ROCK MUSIC IN DURBAN I
Page 107 and 108: 99 government and big business were
Page 109 and 110: 101 Britain, Durban youngsters stro
Page 114 and 115: 106 changing. We were lucky. We cam
Page 118: 110 Nothing really changed I'm glad
Page 123: 11 5 The Workers' resistance moveme
Page 127 and 128: 11 9 a final attempt to regain cont
Page 129: 121 Another song entitled 'System'
Page 133 and 134: 125 use of a maskanda-like guitar r
Page 138 and 139: 130 CHAPTER 4 WOMEN AND ROCK IN DUR
Page 140 and 141: 132 relationship of women to the ge
Page 142: 134 in the workplace [or band] .dO
Page 145: 137 family and band life. In practi
Page 153 and 154: 145 music and bitterly resented the
Page 159 and 160: ..' 151 played by men (bass, electr
Page 161 and 162: Conclusion 153 This chapter has exp
Page 164: and when 156 less formally organize
Page 167 and 168: 159 South Africa). Durban record co
Page 169 and 170: 161 of Warner Brothers) and EMI. Th
Page 171 and 172: 163 Independent Record Companies an
Page 173: 165 local rock was inferior. Accord
Page 178: 170 strike one as particularly ente
Page 181: CONCLUSION 173 CHAPTER 6 This thesi
Page 185 and 186: 2 Cullen, J. 'Bruce Springstein's A
Page 187 and 188: 4 Martin, D. (tiansl V. Morrison),
Page 189 and 190: Newspapers and Magazines The Daily
Page 191: 8 ________• 'Love You A Little Mo
Page 194 and 195: Interviews 11 Baney, Brian, A Stiff
Page 196 and 197: 13 11. Leopard, 'Underestimator', f
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