Lately, I have been really diggin' into the 60s, 70s and 80s punk-rock scene. And as I have been researching...it hit me, like a freight train!
Why don't I know more about some of these bands from way back when?! Why (shamefully to say) have I never heard of them?! Bands like Blondie, Television, the Gun Club, X, The Blasters and etc. Why?! Why haven't I heard of them before?!
Then I had another thought. Why aren't these bands and more specifically why isn't music history taught in school?
You may argue that there is classes in college and some high schools, middle and elementary schools that teach music history, but I mean actual music history.
I had a music class all through elementary school, like most youngsters do, but I only learned the basics of reading music, how to sing and we played a lot of limbo, musical chairs and heads-up 7up.
Why was I not taught who were the founding musicians, artists or bands of creating, defining and revolutionizing genres? For example, Television was one of the founding bands of the punk-rock genre. Why was I not taught stuff like that?
The history of music should be, in my opinion just as important as American or world history.
I mean for goodness sakes music can make political statements and change people, concepts, perceptions and motivate people to do things. Music can change the world.
Look at Woodstock. Woodstock is a big part of American history.
It has been said that, "Woodstock was more than a moment in time, but a way of being in the world."
So, why is Woodstock not taught in schools?
Why is music not taught in schools?
Why? Tell me why?!
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