CoLors …
This is a Voyage into Sound
inst. of change (ELECTRIC GUITAR)
the players
THE INSTRUMENTS OF NOISE.
The Original Color of Sin (BLUE)
Electric Purgatory
I bet you never heard music like this by Spades.”
“There Goes The Neighborhood”
Ice-T
(((x)))
—yZ.
The Fate of the Black Rocker
Why is rock music, descended from African-American blues and R&B, almost exclusively white today? And why are Black Rock N Roll bands shunned by both the music industry and Black, Hip-Hop-focused audiences?
These are the questions Raymond Gayle tries to answer in his documentary film, “Electric Purgatory.” Gayle’s exploration of the subject is intriguing, if only partly satisfying.
“Electric Purgatory” presents an episodic mix of interviews and concert clips, that might focus too much on the whining about the presumably race-biased corporate music business, rather than on the quality of the music in the performance video.
After recapping blues progenitors and successful early black rock ‘n’ rollers (including performance footage of Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Jimi Hendrix), the film notes a widening gap between black rockers and commercial success. Acts like Sly Stone and Prince mixed Disco, Funk, and Soul with Rock, but they were exceptions amid growing divisions between genres.
Musicians from Living Colour, Fishbone, the Roots, and other bands speak more about the industry being the problem, rather than the listeners. But they do recognize that Black Rock N Roll bands are given little attention by Black audiences today.
Electric Purgatory: The Fate of the Black Rocker
A Payback production.
Produced by Marc Newsome.
Executive producer, Raymond Gayle.
Directed, edited by Raymond Gayle.
WITH:
Fishbone
God Forbid
Doug Pinnick
Cody ChesnuTT
24-7 Spyz
Burnt Sugar
Vernon Reid
Adam Falcon
Jimi Hazel
Sara Hill
Greg Tate
The Whites are moving in, they’ll bring their next of kin.”
“There Goes The Neighborhood”
Busboys
(((g-rated)))
“Did You See Me?”
Busboys
(((g)))
“Minimum Wage”
Busboys
(((g)))
“Niggaz Can’t Sang Rock N Roll”
Mother’s Finest
(((r)))
“Niggaz Groove”
Mother’s Finest
(((r)))
“There Goes The Neighborhood”
Body Count
(((x)))
dave.
“Freedom of (Pornographic) Speech”
Ice-T
(((x)))