OLD SCHOOL .45 Gunfusion

Professor Mikey's Old School

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OLD SCHOOL .45 Gunfusion

The Hit List 1943-1966

Professor Mikey

Apr 18, 2023

^{This title may be a bit off putting, but it is there for a reason. Just by listening to our favorite music from the latter half of the 20th century, we know times have changed.}

^{Most of these songs were recorded in a time when our country had more people than guns. That isn't the case today, and that fact alone makes some of this seem more distant than it really is.}

^{Guns in music are as old as war itself. There was a patriotic glorification that might made right and when the chips were down the guns were drawn.}

^{As the years progressed after World War II, a gun might get pulled in a song about the Old West. The sounds of gunfire might make for a dance beat later on. But as the world changed the role of guns in our music took on a more ominous presence.}

^{There's no politicizing here, just facts about the music and the times they were presented. We are even going to start with a funny song about a guy who's wife is gunning for him because she caught him out drinking beer.}

^{Stick with it if you can. We learn a lot about ourselves by the times in which we live, and the soundtrack only reflects the reality.}

^{So take cover, here comes A high caliber playlist that takes aim on a subject that will break your heart, as the Rolling Stones will soon tell you. Lets start off with a bang as the Japan Ground Self Defence Force Eastern Army Band presents a banging conclusion to Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, complete with real M101 105 millimeter Howitzers.}

^{From out of the west, Marty Robbins and big iron gene Pitney with the theme song to the John Wayne Jimmy Stewart classic the Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and Sting hung his head in 1996. A big hit for Johnny Cash in 1958 is a good lesson for all, don’t take your guns to town which transcends us from the old west in to the new West}^.

^{Harry Chapin was savaged by the critics for what you are about to hear.}

^{No singer/songwriter, not even Rod McKuen, apotheosizes romantic self-pity with such shameless vulgarity. Not only does Chapin write about it obsessively, he will, at a moment's notice, trash his own lumpish songs by bawling in a voice that is both ear-splitting and off-pitch. The most that I can say for this kind of wretched excess is that it is impossible for one to remain emotionally neutral to it. Chapin has the courage of his convictions, and the sheer insistency with which he advertises his case of emotional diarrhea does carry some energy and invoke some sympathy.}

^{— Stephen Holden, Rolling Stone}

^{Artistic choices are made in specific times, and when Chapin recorded Sniper for his second album release in 1972, society wasn’t being held hostage by an inevitable next mass shooting. Chapin’s song refers to the events in Austin Texas of Aug 1, 1966.}

^{A 25-year-old Ex-Marine sharpshooter began the day by murdering his wife and mother with a knife. From there he lugged seven legally purchased guns and a machete in two foot lockers to the University of Texas campus. He fatally shot 3 people in the university’s main building, then made his way up 28 stories to the clock tower observation deck. In 96 minutes he killed eleven more while wounding 31 others before he was shot dead by Austin police. At the time the shocking even was viewed as a an American tragedy. We know now it was only a preamble.}

^{Harry Chapin’s subjects for his story songs were often victims of bad timing and missed opportunities. Harry was a good guy, and his best song was about a father who wished he had spent more time playing catch with his son. He was a humanitarian and a key participant in the creation of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger in 1977. He died at 38 in a car accident.}

^{As it stands Sniper is a horror story of over the top misplaced empathy. Historical note, the victims in the song have fictional names, and Harry doesn’t give the snipers name.}

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^{The first school shooting of the modern era occurred at the Grover Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego on Jan 29 1979x. A bored 16 year old who lived across the street from the school barricaded herself in her home and opened fire as parents arrived to pick up their kids at the end of the school day. Brenda Spencer killed the principal and a custodian while wounding a police officer and eight children. When a reporter asked her why she did it she delivered her now famous reply. “I Don’t Like Mondays.”}
^{” Years after she said she didn’t remember saying it, then wrote an eerie note to Bob Geldolf of the Boomtown Rats, thanking him for making her famous. Her sentence was life with the possibility of parole after 25 years. She just turned 61, still in prison, up for parole in 2025}^.

^{Warren Zevon with the story of Roland the Headless Thompson gunner. A mercenary who lost his head in pursuit of his goals, but kept right on firing.}

^{Today’s Old School Podcast was called Gunfusion. Most of these songs were cautionary tales about firearms, recorded in a time before things got completely out of hand. It’s fascinating to think many listeners heard these powerful tunes for the first time. Situations are never hopeless, scenarios are never inevitable. Listen to this whenever you need comfort or noise, then maybe save it on a hard drive or in a time capsule. Check back in ten years and see what happened.}

This podcast was produced for educational purposes. The music heard in this program resides within the public domain, is licensed through the podcast carrier, or is used within the guidelines of fair use provided for in Section 107 of the copyright act of 1976.

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