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Watts, C. A. (2016). Nothin' But a Good Time: Hair Metal, Conservatism and the End of the Cold War in the 1980s. Ph.D. thesis, University of South Florida, Ann Arbor.
Abstract: This dissertation offers a cultural history of the 1980s through an examination of one of the decade’s most memorable cultural forms—hair metal. The notion that hair metal musicians, and subsequently their fans, wanted “nothin’ but a good time,” shaped popular perceptions of the genre as shallow, hedonistic, and apolitical. Set against the backdrop of Reagan’s election and the rise of conservatism throughout the decade, hair metal’s transgressive nature embodied in the performers’ apparent obsession with partying and their absolute refusal to adopt the traditional values and trappings of “yuppies” or middle-class Americans, certainly appeared to be a strong reaction against conservatism; however, a closer examination of hair metal as a cultural form reveals a conservative subtext looming beneath the genre’s transgressive façade. In its embrace of traditional gender roles, free market capitalism, and American exceptionalism, hair metal upheld and worked to re-inscribe the key tenants of conservative ideology.
Historians have only recently turned an analytical eye toward the 1980s and by and large their analyses have focused on the political and economic changes wrought by the Reagan Revolution that competed America’s conservative turn over the course of the decade. This study adds to historical understandings of the decade’s political history by telling us how non-political actors—musicians, producers, critics, and fans—shaped and were shaped by the currents of formal politics. Though heavy metal music and the rise of conservatism seem to share little common ground, by putting these two seemingly disparate historiographies into conversation with one another, we gain a clearer picture of the breadth and depth of conservatism’s reach in the 1980s.
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Podoshen, J. S., Venkatesh, V., & Jin, Z. (2014). Theoretical reflections on dystopian consumer culture: Black metal. Marketing Theory, 14(2), 207–227.
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Yang, Z. (2019). Build an Active Foundation for Heavy Metal Subculture Community Success in Contemporary Society. Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, Ann Arbor.
Abstract: Since the first album that Black Sabbath released in 1970, the 50-year-long history of heavy metal music makes it has developed into a diversified but controversial subculture all over the world. Even though several big names, such as Metallica, Iron Maiden or Judas Priest, have gained commercial success and mainstream exposure, most of the heavy metal bands, fans and communities are still far from a stable status. The market scale is threatened by poor social acceptance and incorrect stereotypes and is too limited to develop an operational model for heavy metal music communities as mature as mainstream music production in this current state. The goal of this thesis is to: 1) explore the core value of heavy metal subculture and design an organizational strategy to strengthen the connection between various roles within the community. The research was divided into three parts. The first part is the quantitative research on the development of heavy metal music in different regions, shows the regional trends of heavy metal subculture. The second part is the qualitative evaluation of heavy metal albums’ covers and lyrics, and documentary films about heavy metal music. The third part is the interviews with record shop owners. The first part Borrowing the CIS (Corporation Identity System) from the business field, the data collected during the second stage could be categorized into visual identities, communication identities, and behavior identities. The data collected from interviews are organized into a system map to show the current organizational strategy. The conclusion, this thesis proposes a new type of organizational strategy that supports the local heavy metal subculture community, in order to help stabilize the market and strengthen connections of community members through participation in it. Furthermore, inspired by the proposed strategy, more universal strategies and guidelines for other types of subculture are discussed.
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Minore, G. (2021). Producir metal. Autogestión, independencia, mainstream. In E. Scaricaciottoli, & G. Minore (Eds.), Para cruzar mil senderos: Primeras jornadas de debate por una nueva cultura pesada en el metal argentino y latinoamericano (pp. 27–32). Buenos Aires: Clara Beter Ediciones.
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Pattison, L. (2012). Nocturnal Transmissions The Selling and Distribution of Black Metal. In T. Howells (Ed.), Black Metal: Beyond the Darkness. Black Dog Publishing.
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Sinclair, G., & Dolan, P. (2015). Heavy metal figurations: Music consumption, subcultural control and civilizing processes. Marketing Theory, 15(3).
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Pérez, M. V. C. (2016). Evolución de la simbología utilizada en la comunicación publicitaria del Hard Rock al metal y su relación con el entorno social. Ph.D. thesis, Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid.
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Schedelmann, A. (2008). Heavy Metal: eine Anleitung zum schwermetallischen Erfolg. Ph.D. thesis, Universität Salzburg, Salzburg.
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