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Drugs in the music industry essay
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Throughout the years celebrities have been accused of drug abuse. Many will deny it and blame it on the media, but for one rocker this was not so. Anthony Kiedis, lead singer of the American band Red Hot Chili Peppers, was blatant about his drug addiction. He even wrote a book about his life called Scar Tissue. Throughout his life there were ups and downs that shaped him to be who he is today. It is not the drug abuse that fascinates me about Kiedis but it is how he overcame who he was back then to whom he is today. When analyzing Anthony Kiedis’ life, his childhood, early band years, the present day rocker, and whom he has influenced, including myself, must be broken down. Due to his struggle and high off of life, Anthony Kiedis is considered to be one of my favorite celebrities and hopefully others will see his inspiration.
On November 1st, 1962 a boy was brought into the world. Who knew that this seven and half pound and twenty-one inch long infant would grow up to be one of America’s top rockers? However, before the fame and glory dawned upon Kiedis, there was the drug world. Anthony started his first years of life living with his mother, Peggy Nobel. He would keep in touch with his father through letters and phone calls. While Anthony lived in Michigan with his mother, his father was living in L.A., California. Then in sixth grade Anthony only twelve years old moved to California with his father. His father, John Kiedis, was the first to introduce Anthony to marijuana, cocaine, and heroin. By the time Anthony was fourteen he was already doped up on coke and flying high with his love of Mary Jane. Not many people realize that John Kiedis was the infamous drug dealer to the band Led Zeppelin and Alice Cooper. It is no wonder ...
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...d combined them together to generate a completely different sound that the world had not heard of before. I would without hesitation call Anthony Kiedis an American Rock Legend.
Anthony Kiedis had broken the rules and shot up all the lies but in the end he has proven to be a true rocker. Throughout his childhood, early band years, and present day Hollywood stardom, Kiedis has influenced teens, bands, and even myself through his struggles and music. This Grand Rapid turning California artist has came a long way from the smoking a joint with his father to his best friends death all the to performing on stage at the Grammy Awards in 2007. Many of Hollywood’s greatest stars have possibly tasted a little bit of Anthony Kiedis’ life but they would never admit to it like him. But I guess that is just Hollywood and as Anthony Kiedis would put it, “it’s Californication”.
In the book High Price, highly credible author and neuroscientist, Dr. Carl Hart explains the misconceptions that everyone normally has about drugs and their users. He uses his own life experiences coming from a troubled neighborhood in Florida. The book consists of Hart’s life growing up with domestic violence in his household and the chance he had to come out and excel academically. He talks about the war on drugs and how within this war on drugs we were actually fighting the war with the wrong thing.
Schinder, Scott and Andy Schwartz. Icons of rock : an encyclopedia of the legends who changed
David Sheff starts the story of his family with Nic’s birth and goes all the way long to the present days when his son had survived several years of drug abuse, rehabilitations and relapses. Sheff confesses that his son started to use different kinds of drugs when he was very young. At the age of 11 he would try alcohol and some pot. “In early May, I pick Nic up after school one day …When he climbs into a car I smell cigarette smoke. I lecture him and he promises not to do it again. Next Friday after school…I am packing an overnight bag for him and look for a sweater in his backpack. I do not find a sweater, but instead discover a small bag of marijuana.” (Sheff, 200...
“Just Say No!” A statement that takes us deep into yet another decade in the history of the United States which was excited by controversies, social issues, and drug abuse. The topic of this statement is fueled by the growing abuse of cocaine in the mid 1980s. I shall discuss the effects of the crack cocaine epidemic of the mid 1980s from a cultural and social stand point because on that decade this country moved to the rhythms and the pace of this uncanny drug. Cocaine took its told on American society by in the 1980s; it ravaged with every social group, race, class, etc. It reigned over the United States without any prejudices. Crack cocaine was the way into urban society, because of its affordability in contrast to the powdered form. In society the minorities were the ones most affected by the growing excess of crime and drug abuse, especially African Americans; so the question was “Why was nearly everybody convicted in California federal court of crack cocaine trafficking black?” (Webb: Day 3). The growing hysteria brought forth many questions which might seem to have concrete answers, but the fact of the matter is they are all but conspiracy in the end, even though it does not take away the ambiguity and doubt. I will take on only a few topics from the vast array of events and effects this period in time had tended to. Where and who this epidemic seemed to affect more notably, and perhaps how the drugs came about such territories and people. What actions this countries authority took to restore moral sanity, and how it affected people gender wise.
The Cocaine Kids focuses on the lives of eight Latino and black young cocaine dealers in New York City from 1982 to 1986. This...
When first reading “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, it may initially seem that the relationship between musicians and drugs is synonymous. Public opinion suggests that musicians and drugs go hand and hand. The possibility lies that Sonny’s passion for jazz music is the underlying reason for his drug use, or even the world of jazz music itself brought drugs into Sonny’s life. The last statement is what the narrator believes to be true. However, by delving deeper and examining the theme of music in the story, it is nothing but beneficial for Sonny and the other figures involved. Sonny’s drug use and his music are completely free of one another. Sonny views his jazz playing as a ray of light to lead him away from the dim and dismal future that Harlem has to offer.
Throughout “Chasing the Scream” many intriguing stories are told from individuals involved in the drug war, those on the outside of the drug war, and stories about those who got abused by the drug war. Addiction has many social causes that address drug use and the different effects that it has on different people. In our previous history we would see a tremendous amount of individuals able to work and live satisfying lives after consuming a drug. After the Harrison Act, drugs were abolished all at once, but it lead to human desperation so instead of improving our society, we are often the reason to the problem. We constantly look at addicts as the bad guys when other individuals are often the reasons and influences to someone’s decision in
Williams, Terry. 1989. The Cocaine Kids: The Inside Story of a Teenage Drug Ring. New York: Da Capo Press.
Drug in the American Society is a book written by Eric Goode. This book, as the title indicates, is about drugs in the American Society. It is especially about the misuse of most drugs, licit or illicit, such us alcohol, marijuana and more. The author wrote this book to give an explanation of the use of different drugs. He wrote a first edition and decided to write this second edition due to critic and also as he mentioned in the preface “there are several reason for these changes. First, the reality of the drug scene has changed substantially in the past dozen or so years. Second much more information has been accumulated about drug use. And third, I’m not the same person I was in 1972.”(vii). The main idea of this book is to inform readers about drugs and their reality. In the book, Goode argued that the effect of a drug is dependent on the societal context in which it is taken. Thus, in one society a particular drug may be a depressant, and in another it may be a stimulant.
At first glance, "Sonny's Blues" seems ambiguous about the relationship between music and drugs. After all, the worlds of jazz and drug addiction are historically intertwined; it could be possible that Sonny's passion for jazz is merely an excuse for his lifestyle and addiction, as the narrator believes for a time. Or perhaps the world that Sonny has entered by becoming involved in jazz is the danger- if he had not encountered jazz he wouldn't have encountered drugs either. But the clues given by the portrayals of music and what it does for other figures in the story demonstrate music's beneficial nature; music and drugs are not interdependent for Sonny. By studying the moments of music interwoven throughout the story, it can be determined that the author portrays music as a good thing, the preserver and sustainer of hope and life, and Sonny's only way out of the "deep and funky hole" of his life in Harlem, with its attendant peril of drugs (414).
In the 1950’s country rock and rock in general was a new style of music that was unheard of, with artist like Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and Jerry Lewis. In the 1970’s the Eagles country rock sound became very popular and when country rock faded in the mid 1970’s, bands like R.E.M. and Los Lobos became popular in the 1980’s because of their songs sounded similar to the country rock songs in the 1950’s and 1970’s. In the 1980’s and 1990’s country rock audiences were any race that enjoyed a country and rock sound that was popular during the 1980’s and 1990’s. Many different forms of country rock came because of the country rock era, with outlaw country singers like Willie Nelson and alternative country singers like Dave Alvin that is similar to country
Drug usage demonstrated how Americans lived a rebellious life style. Drugs would be used for medical and non-medical reasons. Consequences of the unbridled use of drugs cannot be measured precisely (The Sixties in America). This displayed how Americans no longer were concerned about the consequences for their actions. Drugs can take a big toll on one’s body if over used too much. During the 60s, non-medical consumptions tended to be confined largely to the artistic and minority communities (the Sixties in America). With many citizens in poverty, they would reach out to drugs as a method to get their minds off of their circumstances. Artist would use drugs as a way to further enhance their ideas for an artistic demonstration. Drug consumptions woul...
Drugs are used to escape the real and move into the surreal world of one’s own imaginations, where the pain is gone and one believes one can be happy. People look on their life, their world, their own reality, and feel sickened by the uncaringly blunt vision. Those too weak to stand up to this hard life seek their escape. They believe this escape may be found in chemicals that can alter the mind, placing a delusional peace in the place of their own depression: “Euphoric, narcotic, pleasantly halucinant,” (52). They do this with alcohol, acid, crack, cocaine, heroine, opium, even marijuana for the commoner economy. These people would rather hide behind the haze than deal with real problems. “...A gramme is better than a damn.” (55).
Beginning with the late 1960’s counterculture in San Francisco, music and drugs will forever be inter-linked. Hippie bands such as the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers, and Phish are associated with marijuana, mushrooms, and LSD. Modern electronic “rave” , or club music is associated with MDMA or Ecstasy. When one thinks of rock and roll, sex and drugs immediately come to mind. While the use of drugs is not essential for the creation or performance of all new music, it was certainly in important factor for the counterculture music of the late 1960’s. While some of the most important and influential music was made with the help of psychoactive drugs, it was often to the detriment of the artist. Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and countless other tremendously talented artists had their lives cut short due to drug use. Drugs were most often good for the music, but deadly for the music makers.
...liams (in person) First hand account of drug trafficking, use, abuse, effects, and treatment in a Washington State male correctional facility.