Educational Media Reviews Online

“The basis of good rock and roll has always been black music,” says journalist Charlie Braxton in this video. But black rock musicians have a difficult time thriving in a genre that is essentially their birthright. Electric Purgatory explores this dilemma and the reasons behind it.

The video contains interviews with members of Living Colour, Fishbone, God Forbid, 24-7 Spyz, Burnt Sugar, and other black rock groups, plus music writers and others involved with music. It includes performance footage of the groups and archival material featuring black rock pioneers Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Jimi Hendrix.

Despite the rich legacy of their forebears, black rock groups find it difficult to get air play on the radio or to have success with major record labels. Radio stations market to specific niches, and black musicians are automatically put into a rhythm and blues or rap pigeonhole. Black rock groups don’t fit into these pigeonholes, and so they don’t get played.

The recording industry is also very narrow-minded, those interviewed say. Industry people are mostly concerned with marketing and the image of an act. When a marketing plan based on stereotypes and assumptions about what audiences want can’t be easily generated, the industry throws up its hands. The groups aren’t signed because of this, or if they are, record companies aren’t interested after the novelty of signing a black rock group wears off. Even Living Colour, which had a hit song with “Cult of Personality,” found out that their record company was interested in them only as long as they continued to churn out songs in the same vein as their hit.

African Americans make up a very small portion of the audience for black rock groups, and the industry is reluctant to promote the acts widely to white audiences. Some in the video think there is a fear of black rock groups becoming too successful and “taking over” what has been the domain of whites. One musician wondered if the key to success for black rock groups was for them to have a token white member, pointing to the success of Rage Against the Machine.

In the face of industry indifference, black rock groups have decided to take matters into their own hands. A Black Rock Coalition has been formed to assist groups and help them deal with the business aspects of music. To address the paucity of African Americans in their audiences, black rock bands are encouraged to play at street festivals and other venues where their music can be heard by inner-city youth. Musicians interviewed said they’ll keep plugging away, playing the music they want to play, despite the obstacles.

This video itself is a way to get the word out. It’s intended for general audiences and is a good fit for public libraries, but academic libraries will also find it of interest for their African American and popular studies collections.