Dear Henrik, this is such a fantastic essay. The way two separate learning processes have contributed to a behemoth of musical excellence and expression is a wonderful story or movie waiting for you to pen down. This reminds me of an experiment done in India, probably sometime around 2005 (?) , a group set up PCs in a box without any instructions in an economically disadvantaged section. Within a week, kids had self taught themselves on how to use it and were passing the learning.
Opportunity is a huge blessing, as it seeds possibilities.
This is a fun documentary. There's no Part 1, but there's parts 2-6 about the Swedish pop miracle, where you get to see many of the guys you write about in action.
Nice. Fun to get a glimpse of how Shellback has passed it on to people to, with wolf cousins.
Also, the theory behind the success being Jantelagen is pretty funny. I made friends with the granddaughter of the guy who wrote Jantelagen a while back, which feels almost mythological for a Swede.
Great piece. Many such examples exist. The Homebrew Computing Club was one,
"From the ranks of this club came the founders of many microcomputer companies, including Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs (Apple Computer), Harry Garland and Roger Melen (Cromemco), Thomas "Todd" Fischer (IMSAI Division, Fischer-Freitas Company), George Morrow (Morrow Designs), Paul Terrell (Byte Shop), Adam Osborne (Osborne Computer), and Bob Marsh (Processor Technology). John Draper was also a member of the club, as was Jerry Lawson (creator of the first cartridge-based video game system, Fairchild Channel F).[13] Li-Chen Wang, developer of Palo Alto Tiny Basic and graphics software for the Cromemco Dazzler, was also a club member, and Lee Felsenstein was moderator of the club meetings.[14][self-published source] Steve Inness was a primary designer of one of the early cell phone touch screens as well as a business partner with John Draper.[15][16][unreliable source?] Liza Loop was also an early member and the first woman to join.[17]"
"The San Francisco Writers Workshop is one of the oldest continuously running writing critique groups in the United States, meeting every Tuesday night, except for major holidays, since 1946. Successful published authors who first workshopped their books in the group include Khaled Hosseini,[1] David Henry Sterry, Aaron Hamburger, Joe Quirk, Michelle Gagnon, Kemble Scott, Tamim Ansary, Erika Mailman, Zack Lynch, Zarina Zabrisky, and Ransom Stephens.
Tamim Ansary moderated the workshop for twenty-two years until his retirement in 2015. Currently, the workshop is moderated by Kurt Wallace Martin, Judy Viertel, James Warner, Monya Baker, and Olga Zilberbourg. The workshop is free and open to all interested writers and genres, providing a forum to share work-in-progress and receive constructive critiques from other writers. The group meets at Noisebridge, in San Francisco's Mission district."
Somewhat different, but more broadly evidence of the SF Bay area in general as a "scene" in the 60s, is the human potential movement, with Esalen as its hub,
Michael Murphy and Dick Price founded the Esalen Institute in 1962, primarily as a center for the study and development of human potential, and some people continue to regard Esalen as the geographical center of the movement today.
Aldous Huxley gave lectures on the "Human Potential" at Esalen in the early 1960s. His writings and lectures on the mystical dimensions of psychedelics and on what he called "the perennial philosophy" were foundational. Moreover, his call for an institution that could teach the "nonverbal humanities" and the development of the "human potentialities" functioned as the working mission statement of early Esalen.[9]
George Leonard, a magazine writer and editor who conducted research for an article on human potential, became an important early influence on Esalen. Leonard claims that he coined the phrase "Human Potential Movement" during a brainstorming session with Michael Murphy, and popularized it in his 1972 book The Transformation: A Guide to the Inevitable Changes in Humankind.[11] Leonard worked closely with the Esalen Institute afterwards, and in 2005 served as its president.
Combine the human potential movement and the music scene in the 60s and 70s with the tech scene in the 70s, and the SF Bay area comes across as extraordinarily generative in that period.
Do you have a sense for why SF? What were the preconditions? Was it just a lucky gathering of people (I think that case might be made for early semiconductor industries in SF), or where their structural / infrastructural reasons why SF could get these scenes of the ground?
A few precursors: 1). A frontier town since the 49ers came for the gold rush, known for gambling and prostitution early on. Becoming an international port no doubt supported the "sin city" and associated renegade aspects along with far more cultural diversity than in most of the US. 2). Stanford, UC Berkeley, and defense spending gave birth to the early semiconductor industry. By the 1950s there were already several electronics companies based near Stanford hiring their grads. 3). Being a navy port, SF was known as a gay culture hub very early on - certainly post WW2 (adding their own spin on the frontier town spirit). The Navy discharged gay sailors and many stayed. Early gay bars created their own "scene." 4). The "Beat" poets moved from Greenwich Village to SF, with City Lights Bookstore, opened in 1953, becoming a hub. Certainly Greenwich Village and SF were the two centers of Bohemian culture in the US by that point. The intellectual and cultural aspects of the Beat movement, including drug use and exploring Eastern religions, etc. were definitely precursors to the hippy culture of the 60s, which was largely centered in SF. So by the 1960s the combination of renegade culture, lots of well educated people, money from defense industry, and an unusual mix of cultures (large Asian population, gay population, bohemians from across the US and the world attracted to Beat scene) had gotten to critical mass. Lots more to unpack in that story, but those are some of the elements of it. Nothing like what you outline in Sweden, but the physical existence of the college campuses, gay bars, and Beat hangouts, including City Lights, no doubt gave people lots of time to talk and bond. Then the other movements later sprang from those cultural predecessors.
What you speak of here - making music from a place of ego to try deliberately to impress - ensures the making of music which celebrates lies instead of truth. We can literally receive a direct transmission of truth from music which comes from a place of personal honesty. Sharing this with fellow musicians is a high art. Out music says so much about us.
Oh! I don't agree at all. Or: I guess it depends on how much you love the people you are trying to impress. When I write trying to make my friends excited and delighted - that's when I push myself to surprise and expand myself.
But writing to spark delight in ourselves and in others is not to impress in an ego sense but to tell a kind of truth. But no you can’t start a fire without a spark. I work with musicians and watch the process with never ending awe. When we inspire real true fellow musicians and listeners we know we have done something real and truthful.
I agree! I've been working as a producer on an album lately (strange side hustle for an essayist, but they wanted to take a more narrative approach and thought I could help) and it was super fascinating!
I can so identify. I am an essayist or content creator and work in music production which has been a day job of sorts for many years. I moonlight occasionally as a drummer.
This a fascinating dive into Swedish compositional history. I was moderately distracted by Beatle Sir Paul McCartney being described twice as Paul McCarthy when his legendary songwriting was compared to Max Martin’s, though.
Dear Henrik, this is such a fantastic essay. The way two separate learning processes have contributed to a behemoth of musical excellence and expression is a wonderful story or movie waiting for you to pen down. This reminds me of an experiment done in India, probably sometime around 2005 (?) , a group set up PCs in a box without any instructions in an economically disadvantaged section. Within a week, kids had self taught themselves on how to use it and were passing the learning.
Opportunity is a huge blessing, as it seeds possibilities.
Thank you again for a superb piece
Shirish
This is a fun documentary. There's no Part 1, but there's parts 2-6 about the Swedish pop miracle, where you get to see many of the guys you write about in action.
https://www.youtube.com/@leighhutton3549/videos
Nice. Fun to get a glimpse of how Shellback has passed it on to people to, with wolf cousins.
Also, the theory behind the success being Jantelagen is pretty funny. I made friends with the granddaughter of the guy who wrote Jantelagen a while back, which feels almost mythological for a Swede.
I feel like everyone chalks everything down to Jantelagen, but who am I to criticize. I'm no better than anyone else.
lol!
Great piece. Many such examples exist. The Homebrew Computing Club was one,
"From the ranks of this club came the founders of many microcomputer companies, including Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs (Apple Computer), Harry Garland and Roger Melen (Cromemco), Thomas "Todd" Fischer (IMSAI Division, Fischer-Freitas Company), George Morrow (Morrow Designs), Paul Terrell (Byte Shop), Adam Osborne (Osborne Computer), and Bob Marsh (Processor Technology). John Draper was also a member of the club, as was Jerry Lawson (creator of the first cartridge-based video game system, Fairchild Channel F).[13] Li-Chen Wang, developer of Palo Alto Tiny Basic and graphics software for the Cromemco Dazzler, was also a club member, and Lee Felsenstein was moderator of the club meetings.[14][self-published source] Steve Inness was a primary designer of one of the early cell phone touch screens as well as a business partner with John Draper.[15][16][unreliable source?] Liza Loop was also an early member and the first woman to join.[17]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homebrew_Computer_Club
See also the San Francisco Writers Workshop,
"The San Francisco Writers Workshop is one of the oldest continuously running writing critique groups in the United States, meeting every Tuesday night, except for major holidays, since 1946. Successful published authors who first workshopped their books in the group include Khaled Hosseini,[1] David Henry Sterry, Aaron Hamburger, Joe Quirk, Michelle Gagnon, Kemble Scott, Tamim Ansary, Erika Mailman, Zack Lynch, Zarina Zabrisky, and Ransom Stephens.
Tamim Ansary moderated the workshop for twenty-two years until his retirement in 2015. Currently, the workshop is moderated by Kurt Wallace Martin, Judy Viertel, James Warner, Monya Baker, and Olga Zilberbourg. The workshop is free and open to all interested writers and genres, providing a forum to share work-in-progress and receive constructive critiques from other writers. The group meets at Noisebridge, in San Francisco's Mission district."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Writers_Workshop
For more of a "scene" proper, the Haight Ashbury music scene of the late 60s,
Several bands exploded from the San Francisco scene as the Bay became the new capital of the peace and love movement.
GRATEFUL DEAD - The Golden Road
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE - White Rabbit
STEVE MILLER BAND - Space Cowboy
BIG BROTHER & THE HOLDING COMPANYPiece of My Heart -
CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL - Run Through the Jungle
MOBY GRAPE - Murder In My Heart For the Judge
SANTANA - Oye Como Va
BEAU BRUMMELS - Laugh, Laugh
BLUE CHEER - Summertime Blues
CHOCOLATE WATCH BAND - Are You Gonna Be There (At the Love-In)
COUNTRY JOE AND THE FISH - Fixin' To Die Rag
CANNED HEAT - Going Up the Country
SCOTT McKENZIE - San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair)
IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY - White Bird
QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE - Fresh Air
SLY & THE FAMILY STONE - Everyday People
https://playlistresearch.com/article/haight.htm
Somewhat different, but more broadly evidence of the SF Bay area in general as a "scene" in the 60s, is the human potential movement, with Esalen as its hub,
Michael Murphy and Dick Price founded the Esalen Institute in 1962, primarily as a center for the study and development of human potential, and some people continue to regard Esalen as the geographical center of the movement today.
Aldous Huxley gave lectures on the "Human Potential" at Esalen in the early 1960s. His writings and lectures on the mystical dimensions of psychedelics and on what he called "the perennial philosophy" were foundational. Moreover, his call for an institution that could teach the "nonverbal humanities" and the development of the "human potentialities" functioned as the working mission statement of early Esalen.[9]
George Leonard, a magazine writer and editor who conducted research for an article on human potential, became an important early influence on Esalen. Leonard claims that he coined the phrase "Human Potential Movement" during a brainstorming session with Michael Murphy, and popularized it in his 1972 book The Transformation: A Guide to the Inevitable Changes in Humankind.[11] Leonard worked closely with the Esalen Institute afterwards, and in 2005 served as its president.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Potential_Movement
Combine the human potential movement and the music scene in the 60s and 70s with the tech scene in the 70s, and the SF Bay area comes across as extraordinarily generative in that period.
Do you have a sense for why SF? What were the preconditions? Was it just a lucky gathering of people (I think that case might be made for early semiconductor industries in SF), or where their structural / infrastructural reasons why SF could get these scenes of the ground?
A few precursors: 1). A frontier town since the 49ers came for the gold rush, known for gambling and prostitution early on. Becoming an international port no doubt supported the "sin city" and associated renegade aspects along with far more cultural diversity than in most of the US. 2). Stanford, UC Berkeley, and defense spending gave birth to the early semiconductor industry. By the 1950s there were already several electronics companies based near Stanford hiring their grads. 3). Being a navy port, SF was known as a gay culture hub very early on - certainly post WW2 (adding their own spin on the frontier town spirit). The Navy discharged gay sailors and many stayed. Early gay bars created their own "scene." 4). The "Beat" poets moved from Greenwich Village to SF, with City Lights Bookstore, opened in 1953, becoming a hub. Certainly Greenwich Village and SF were the two centers of Bohemian culture in the US by that point. The intellectual and cultural aspects of the Beat movement, including drug use and exploring Eastern religions, etc. were definitely precursors to the hippy culture of the 60s, which was largely centered in SF. So by the 1960s the combination of renegade culture, lots of well educated people, money from defense industry, and an unusual mix of cultures (large Asian population, gay population, bohemians from across the US and the world attracted to Beat scene) had gotten to critical mass. Lots more to unpack in that story, but those are some of the elements of it. Nothing like what you outline in Sweden, but the physical existence of the college campuses, gay bars, and Beat hangouts, including City Lights, no doubt gave people lots of time to talk and bond. Then the other movements later sprang from those cultural predecessors.
What you speak of here - making music from a place of ego to try deliberately to impress - ensures the making of music which celebrates lies instead of truth. We can literally receive a direct transmission of truth from music which comes from a place of personal honesty. Sharing this with fellow musicians is a high art. Out music says so much about us.
Oh! I don't agree at all. Or: I guess it depends on how much you love the people you are trying to impress. When I write trying to make my friends excited and delighted - that's when I push myself to surprise and expand myself.
But writing to spark delight in ourselves and in others is not to impress in an ego sense but to tell a kind of truth. But no you can’t start a fire without a spark. I work with musicians and watch the process with never ending awe. When we inspire real true fellow musicians and listeners we know we have done something real and truthful.
I agree! I've been working as a producer on an album lately (strange side hustle for an essayist, but they wanted to take a more narrative approach and thought I could help) and it was super fascinating!
I can so identify. I am an essayist or content creator and work in music production which has been a day job of sorts for many years. I moonlight occasionally as a drummer.
This a fascinating dive into Swedish compositional history. I was moderately distracted by Beatle Sir Paul McCartney being described twice as Paul McCarthy when his legendary songwriting was compared to Max Martin’s, though.
Corrected it. Thank you!