Music is a vital part of human cultures around the world, and archaeologists often find the remains of ancient musical instruments in their excavations. For example, copper and reed panpipes are sometimes found in Ohio Hopewell contexts. Within anthropology, a whole field of study (ethnomusicology) is devoted to the cross-cultural study of musical instruments, the music they produce, and how they are integrated into various cultures (ancient and contemporary).
Tennessee archaeologists and other stripes of archaeologists tend to be music lovers, and these archaeologists always seem to enjoy a very wide range of music. Therefore, just to spice things up around here, the Archaeology in Tennessee blog has decided to provide its readers with a daily URL link to a You Tube or other video musical item posted somewhere on the worldwide web. This is a special musical item selected especially for your listening enjoyment each day. If you like the item with all your heart, I would also encourage you to go to your favorite music outlet and purchase the record album where this item resides. Musical artists have to make a living too, just like archaeologists, and this is why record companies allow the posting of music videos on You Tube and other web outlets (advertising and marketing).
The first song by Iggy Pop perfectly describes many of the college archaeology students I knew in the 1970s and early 1980s here in the southeastern United States.
The second song by the Talking Heads is the theme song for the new Amazon Prime streaming TV series entitled Hunters. It is the fictional story of a group of highly talented Jewish vigilantes who hunt for and kill Nazi war criminals. You might think of it as the lovable NCIS: Los Angeles team gone super bad and sadistic. Al Pacino is the star of the show.
One of the things I most appreciate about the Talking Heads is the musical genius of Ms. Tina Weymouth. Over a long period of reluctant consideration, she finally joined the group. Why was she reluctant? The early 1970s was a time when American rock music was dominated by men, often not very nice men, and she was concerned that a woman in an otherwise all-guy rock group would be treated badly by her male group members, male musical peers, and the male musical media—and she would eventually stick out like an unwelcome sore thumb.
Tina joined the Talking Heads anyway, as their bass guitar player, and became the chief contributor to the unique instrumental musical sound of the talking heads. In other words, musically speaking, Tina Weymouth did the same thing for the Talking Heads that Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham did for the unique musical sound of Fleetwood Mack. In this respect, Tina was a brave and pioneering woman in American rock music. The unique musical sound of the Talking Heads was way ahead of its time, and Tina Weymouth will be remembered as a musical genius in the rock genre. If you women archaeologists out there are looking for a female rock musician to admire, look no further than Tina Weymouth. Like the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo astronauts, Tina Weymouth had all the right stuff and she applied it with excellence. Please give today’s selections a click and enjoy them just like an archaeologist would enjoy them:
Iggy Pop——-Real Wild Child (Wild One)
Archaeology in Tennessee 