PERFECT IS DEAD: KAREN CARPENTER, THEODOR ADORNO, AND THE RADIO; OR, IF HOOKS COULD KILL

In Dialectic of Enlightenment (an L. A. story if ever there was one), Adorno and Max Horkheimer use the parable of Homer's Sirens to theorize sonic experience in capitalist society, the only options being dogged sublimation (the rowers' stopped-up ears) or beauty without consequence (Odyss...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Criticism (Detroit) 2008-03, Vol.50 (2), p.219-234
Main Author: Lott, Eric
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adorno, Theodor Wiesengrund (1903-1969)
Aerospace industry
Aesthetics
Anorexia nervosa
Auditory system
Carpenter, Karen
Commercial music
Cultural industries
Dialectic
Music
Musical aesthetics
Musical performances
Popular culture
Popular music
Radio
Singers
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Summary:In Dialectic of Enlightenment (an L. A. story if ever there was one), Adorno and Max Horkheimer use the parable of Homer's Sirens to theorize sonic experience in capitalist society, the only options being dogged sublimation (the rowers' stopped-up ears) or beauty without consequence (Odysseus strapped, motionless, to the mast);2 it is tempting to suggest that by the time the Carpenter family moved to Downey, California, in 1963, the agon of Odysseus and the Sirens had been reduced to the upbeat oblivion of surfers and the Beach Boys. (Since the song in its entirety closes the album, the placement of this little excerpt out front, an interesting packaging move in its own right, makes the record go in a self-enclosed circle, ending where it begins.) The cordoned-off "classical" pia no- and -strings segment that opens the group's dolorous cover of the Beatles' "Ticket to Ride" could have given Adorno the fatal heart attack he suffered the year they recorded it; nor is the band above studio tricks such as the overamplified closed hi-hat strikes that begin each verse of "Superstar," only to recede deep into the mix.\n Food becomes delicious and gratifying. ...
ISSN:0011-1589
1536-0342
1536-0342
DOI:10.1353/crt.0.0064