E02: Happiness is Just Around the Bend – Living in NYC 1975

Listen to the full episode here:

In this episode Jeremy and TIm continue to examine the dynamic environment of New York City around the 1975 Fiscal Crisis, contrasting pessimistic and optimistic accounts of the time: was the Big Apple a depressed town cut off from the rest of the country, or a city enjoying its own cultural renaissance? Or both?

We hear about the early emergence of Neoliberalism, the cybernetic revolution, and the affect and aesthetics of Heroin. Tim and Jeremy introduce some early electronic music outfits, spend time on the singular sound of Suicide, discuss artistic representations of alienation, and introduce us to the downtown 'Loft Jazz' scene. Plus, Richard Hell and Morton Subotnick.

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.  

Tracklist:

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - Bad Luck ft. Teddy Pendergrass
The Main Ingredient - Happiness is Just Around the Bend
Morton Subotnick - Silver Apples of the Moon 
Suicide - Dream Baby Dream
Suicide - Rocket USA
Suicide - Keep Your Dreams
Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Blank Generation
Kalaparusha - Jays

Books:
Jane Jacobs - The Death and Life of a Great American City
Michael C. Heller - Loft Jazz: Improvising New York in the 1970s