If Harold Arlen built a reputation for chronicling love on the rocks, Cole Porter gained lasting fame and the adulation of a grateful culture for his celebrations of successful romance. […]
Tag: music
You the Mancini
Successful beyond belief in his chosen trade of making soundtrack music, Henry Mancini also enjoyed good fortune (made one, too) with forays into the pop charts. When he hit, he […]
Throwbacklist Thursday
From Beyoncé to Shonda Rhimes to Laverne Cox, African American women have a higher profile up and down our pop culture than at any time in the past. Of course, […]
Ain’t Valentine’s Day
Love can be hard in real life. It’s always hard in film noir. As the essays in the starry-eyed UIP release Kiss the Blood Off My Hands show, getting involved with guys and/or […]
UIP Holiday James, er, Jams
Recorded music in public places is a leading cause of holiday-related madness, right up there with lack of sunlight. To venture into a mall means exposure to the soaring assault […]
Sa-lute!
At its recent conference in Austin, the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM) recognized the excellence of James Revell Carr‘s Hawaiian Music in Motion: Mariners, Missionaries, and Minstrels. The book is a co-recipient of Alan Merriam […]
Ask the Bolshevik
Meet the UI Press is a recurring feature that delves into issues affecting academic publishing, writing, education, and related topics. Today, industry advice columnist The Bolshevik answers your questions. Dear Bolshevik, […]
Throwbacklist Thursday
Academic publishing often forces one into the unappreciated but necessary job of Killjoy. It comes with the territory of challenging convention and shoveling the cultural/historical b.s. out of the barn. Having […]
Survey Says!: The King Is Dead
This week marks the anniversary of the death (?) of Elvis Presley, a transformative cultural figure of the twentieth or any other century. If you have memories of that afternoon in 1977, […]
Bigger than life: Sinatra’s image at 100
Today our 1915: Whatta Year! series turns to pop culture colossus Frank Sinatra, born on December 12 of that storied year in Hoboken, New Jersey. “Ol Blue Eyes” made his name with his voice, […]
Like a huwwicane
Monday marked the 75th anniversary of Bugs Bunny’s first appearance. Icon and Coyote-level mischief maker, tormentor of ducks and Fudds and violent cowboys, Bugs tapped into all kinds of pop […]
Blues you can’t lose
Today our 1915: Whatta Year! series turns to musician Willie Dixon, born on this date 100 years ago. Dixon brought the term “Hoochie Coochie man” to the mainstream and, oh, yeah, along […]