ColloquiumLecture
10November2015,4:30-6:00p.m.
RmLG01,HuiYeungShingBuilding,ChungChiCollege,
TheChineseUniversityofHongKong
“ANuggetIfYouDugIt!”:MusicRevivalism,Retronostalgia,andtheTransnationalGarageRockScene
ProfessorJoséVicenteNeglia,UniversityofHongKong
JoséVicenteNegliaisanAssistantProfessorofMusicat
the University of Hong Kong. He holds a PhD in
ethnomusicology from The University of California,
Berkeley, where he completed a dissertation on
undergroundrockcultureinTokyo,Japan.Hisresearch
interests include sound and sensory studies, cultural
memory, and issues of cultural production in
contemporarypopularmusic.Dr.Negliawasarecipient
of the Japanese Government Monbukagakusho
Scholarshipfrom2011to2013,andhehaspresentedat
meetingsoftheInternationalAssociationfortheStudy
of Popular Music, the International Council for
Traditional Music, as well as chapter meetings of the
SocietyofEthnomusicology.
Thetendencytothinkofpopcultureasmovingalongalineartrajectoryofnoveltyandinnovation
masksamorecomplicatedculturallogicatworkinthecaseofpopularmusic,wherepastmusics
eitherpersistatthefringesofthepopculturelandscape,ordisappearonlytoreappearyearslater
as“revivals”.Inthecaseofrockmusic,inparticular,thelateralexpansionofundergroundmusic
intoavastterrainoflocalsceneshasenabledpastmusicstoliveonasnichecultures,sustainedby
fans who peddle in the memorabilia, ephemera, and vintage goods of bygone days. Recent
scholarshiponmusicrevivalism, however,haslargelyoverlookedpopularmusicrevivals,instead
tending to limit the study of revival phenomena to folk, heritage, and traditional musics. In this
paper,Iask,howdotheparametersofrevivalismchangewhendiscussingpopularmusicrevivals?
Howdopopularmusicscomplicatethewell-wornmodelsofrevivalism,whicharesogroundedin
notionsoftraditionandheritage?
Thispaperexploresthesequestionsbydrawingontheexampleofgaragerock,agenreof
popularmusicrootedinthesoundandstyleof1960srockandroll.Garagerockbeganinthe1970s
intheUnitedStateswithinnichecommunitiesofrecordcollectorsandcriticswhosoughttorevive
obscure,amateurrockandrollmusicofthemid-1960s.Todaygaragerockcontinuestoflourishas
a particular niche in underground rock, with thriving scenes in such urban centres as New York,
London,andTokyo.Inthispaper,Iseektohighlighttheparticularmodesofretro-nostalgiathat
undergird garage culture. I argue that the role of retro-nostalgia in pop culture more generally
challengesustorethinktheconceptofrevivalismasananalytictoolinmusicscholarship.