In Reply to: RE: Decisive influence upon stereo buyers posted by lord addleford on October 10, 2014 at 20:55:26:
And I don't need peer-reviewed research because the fact of the matter is that hi-fi companies were frequent advertisers in Playboy from 1956 on through the time I cite as the changeover from stereo to home theater. Companies that buy ads in the wrong media often don't stay in business.
But there actually is some peer-reviewed research I am aware of that indeed does cite chapter and verse for the strong linkage between the urban/indoors ethos of Playboy (versus the suburban/outdoors ethos of Esquire), hi-fi, and Hefner's particular vision of "the life well lived."
From JSTOR:
“ 'Turn it down!' she shrieked: gender, domestic space, and high fidelity, 1948-59”
Keir Keightley
“Popular Music,” Vol. 15, No. 2. (May, 1996), pp. 149-177.
“Popular Music” is currently published by Cambridge University Press.
# # #
I attach only two pages, in the spirit of Fair Use. Yes, that study ends at 1959 but by then the die was cast as far as Playboy's embrace of both hi-fi and jazz as signifiers of Hefner's ideals of modern male life.
Perhaps there is more research that is on point but I am more than satisfied that my thesis holds water, and more to the point so is JA, and he matters a lot more than you do. And I have discussed my thesis with academics in American Civilization and Musicology, and nobody has ever said, "You are barking up the wrong tree."
The book that someone has to write is about how Hefner, I believe, did more than anyone else during the years when Rock was in its ascendency to keep Jazz on life support, so to speak--one of the few instances in which Hefner consciously took a position that was uncool by the prevailing standards of the time. And perhaps it was Hef's continued showcasing of relics like Mel Tormé that was the chink in Playboy's armor that let Guccione's Penthouse come into the cafeteria and eat Hef's lunch... .
Have a nice day.
jm
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Follow Ups
- No, it would not, because you have an attitude problem that has lasted more than 4 hours - John Marks 09:34:26 10/11/14 (5)
- RE: No, it would not, because you have an attitude problem that has lasted more than 4 hours - lord addleford 13:01:14 10/11/14 (4)
- RE: Baby Boomer kids of the 60s and 70s... - genungo 08:34:42 10/12/14 (0)
- Was that remark really necessary? - M-dB 04:44:00 10/12/14 (0)
- The hippies and revolutionaries got far more media attention than their numbers or importance merited - John Marks 14:48:50 10/11/14 (1)
- The best-selling Playboy edition was the November 1972 edition, which sold 7,161,561 copies. - John Marks 14:53:34 10/11/14 (0)