Footnotes to the TV series
LORELAI: We could sing.
RORY: Sing?
LORELAI: Yeah, we could sing Anarchy in the UK at the top of our lungs.
Anarchy in the UK is a 1976 song by British punk band The Sex Pistols. It was released as their debut single, and later featured on their 1977 debut album Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols. Anarchy in the UK reached #38 in the UK. It is now regarded as a classic rock song, and highly influential in the development of modern rock.
LORELAI: Okay, I think we just found the first room in the history of the world that would’ve made Liberace say, “Whoa. Step back. No one’s that gay.”
Władziu Liberace, known professionally as Liberace (1919-1987) was an American pianist, singer, and actor. A child prodigy, he had a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordings, television and film. At the height of his fame, from the 1950s to the 1960s, he was the highest-paid entertainer in the world, with residencies in Las Vegas, and an international touring schedule. He was known for his flamboyantly excessive lifestyle, earning him the title “Mr. Showmanship”.
For years, Liberace denied allegations he was homosexual, successfully suing publications that hinted at his sexuality (hence his famous catchphrase: “I cried all the way to the bank”.) He continued denying them, even when his chauffeur and former lover sued him for palimony (it was settled out of court). He died of AIDS, having been diagnosed as HIV positive 18 months previously, with other of his lovers dying of the same illness.
LORELAI: You know, if I was in a rock band touring and stuff, I’d make the bus driver stop at every Haden’s Nut House we pass.
RORY: Wow, your Behind the Music is gonna be really wild.
Behind the Music is a documentary music television series. Each episode, a particular band or musical artist is profiled and interviewed. The show has been broadcast since 1997.
RADIO: Coming up, a three song super set from Hootie & the Blowfish.
LORELAI: Aghhh!!!
Hootie & the Blowfish are an American rock band formed in 1986 by Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim Sonefeld. Their debut album Cracked Rear View (1994) was an instant success, being one of the fastest-selling debut albums, and the #1 album of 1995. They were named Best New Artist at the 1996 Grammy Awards, while their song Let Her Cry was named Best Pop Performance. The band have been on hiatus since 2008.
The band plays what has been described as a middle of the road pop version of blues rock, so are far too mainstream for Lorelai.
A small part of this country song written by Jai Josefs and Roy Brown and sung by George Highfill plays on the radio before Lorelai switches stations. It seems to have been written as music for film and television, and has been included on the soundtracks of other shows, including Supernatural.
Rather unbelievably, there is nothing on New England radio except country music and Christian rock – they are driving through Massachusetts, not Alabama!
LORELAI: Never been in this car for any extended period of time without playing AC/DC … I need my Highway to Hell.
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. They have sometimes been identified as heavy metal, hence the heavy metal-loving Lorelai being a fan, but they see themselves as rock and roll, and are classified as a hard rock/blues rock band. Their first internationally released album was High Voltage in 1976, while For Those About to Rock We Salute You (1981) was their first #1 album in the US. Their most recent album from Lorelai’s perspective is Stiff Upper Lip, released in 2000 and well received commercially and critically. AC/DC have sold more than 200 million records worldwide, making them one of the biggest-selling music artists. Their 1980 album Back in Black is the best-selling album by any band in the world. Regarded as one of the best hard rock bands of all time, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.
Highway to Hell is the lead single and title track from AC/DC’s 1979 album, written to reflect the hardships of constant touring and life on the road. Lead singer Bon Scott, his talent at its peak, was found dead just six months after the song was released, as if to underscore the toll that such a life takes on one. Highway to Hell went to #47 in the US, and #24 in the UK; it went to #1 in the US on re-release in 1992, and in 2012 was the #1 song on digital download. It is regarded as a classic rock song.
LORELAI: And people can evolve together, don’t you think?
LUKE: Maybe.
LORELAI: Yoko and John Lennon did. They just got closer and closer as the years went by. At the end, they had the same face.
John Lennon (1940-1980), mentioned previously and frequently, was an English singer, songwriter, and peace activist who was a founding member of The Beatles, the most commercially successful band in the history of popular music. He and his second wife Yoko Ono, previously discussed, were married in 1969, with the marriage lasting until his untimely death.
LORELAI: Hey, where were you after you broke off from the group?
MICHEL: Oh, I sat at a table with Janet Jackson and Celine Dion. Very nice guys.
Janet Jackson (born 1966) [pictured] is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress who has been a prominent figure in popular culture for thirty years. The youngest of the famous Jackson family, she began her career on The Jacksons variety show in 1976, and appeared on other television shows in the 1970s and ’80s, including Fame, previously mentioned. After signing a record contract in 1982, she became a pop icon in the second half of the 1980s, and a sex symbol in the 1990s; she was one of the biggest recording artists of the 1990s. One of the best-selling musical artists, she holds the record for the most consecutive entries in the US Top Ten singles chart by a female artist, at 18. A long-time supporter of LGBT rights, she received special praise for her 1997 album The Velvet Rope, which spoke out against homophobia and embraced same-sex love. The albums’s second single, Together Again, is a tribute to the loved ones Jackson lost to AIDS, with a portion of sales going to AIDS research. She has received several awards for her charity work on behalf of AIDS education, and suicide prevention among gay youth. She is currently working on a documentary about transgender people.
Celine Dion (born 1968) is a Canadian singer. First becoming a star in the French-speaking world as a teenager, she gained international recognition in the 1980s when she won the 1982 Yamaha World Popular Song Festival, and the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, where she represented Switzerland. In 1990, she released her first English-language album, Unison, establishing her as a star in North America and the rest of the English-speaking world. She has had several #1 hits, including My Heart Will Go On, and The Power of Love, and has won five Grammy Awards; Dion is the best-selling Canadian musical artist. She is a resident performer in Las Vegas, and is the highest-paid, receiving $500 000 per show. Michel getting along well with a drag queen dressed as Celine Dion seems to be the beginning of his obsession with the singer. Although Celine Dion does have a gay following, her inclusion seems to be in tribute to Yanic Truesdale, who plays Michel, as they are both French-Canadians.
This 1983 pop song by British new wave band Culture Club plays at the drag club after True finishes. It is the song that Michel dances to, after saying that he had to “shake his thing”.
Church of the Poison Mind was the lead single from Culture Club’s most successful album, Colour by Numbers. It was a hit around the world, and went to #10 in the US, and #2 in the UK and Ireland.
The lead singer of Culture Club, Boy George, is gay, and cross-dressed as part of his 1980s stage persona, and Church of the Poison Mind is about Christianity’s attitude to homosexuality.
While trying to discover if Max is “worthy” of Lorelai, Christopher asks what his CD collection is like, and gives an “Uh oh” when told he has “kind of a general collection”. Christopher thinks that means “a dozen soundtracks”, and “a generic fifty”. (I can feel Daniel Palladino’s own musical judgements contributing to this section – Palladino was the writer for this episode).
Unfortunately for Max, all Christopher’s derogatory assumptions about Max’s musical tastes turn out to be on point, with Lorelai unable to defend her fiance in any serious way. It may seem shallow and silly, but Christopher’s criticisms of Max’s CD collection seems to make quite an impression on Lorelai (even though she had earlier criticised Christopher’s musical tastes). Is Lorelai so immature that Max’s CD collection is a real problem, or is she clutching at any excuse to dump him?
The Beatles, previously and frequently mentioned, were an English rock band formed in 1960, with their classic line up being John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the most important and most influential band in history, and are the best-selling band of all time, with sales of over 800 million worldwide. They have had more #1 albums in the British charts and sold more singles in the UK than any other act, and are the best-selling musical act in the US. They have received seven Grammy Awards, an Academy Award for Best Original Score (for the 1970 film Let it Be), and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards for songwriting. The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, with the individual members inducted between 1994 and 2015.
Bob Dylan, born Robert Zimmerman (born 1941) is an American singer-songwriter who has been influential in popular music and culture for more than five decades. He is most famous for his 1960s folk anthems of the Civil Rights Movement and anti-war protests such as The Times They Are A–Changing, and Blowing in the Wind. One of the best-selling musical artists all all time, he has received numerous awards throughout his career, including eleven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe, an Academy Award, The Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, The Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Alanis Morissette (born 1974) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter known for her emotional singing style, giving her the title of “Queen of Alt-Rock Angst”. She brought out two dance-pop albums in Canada in the early 1990s, but gained mainstream success after moving to the US with her 1995 album Jagged Little Pill, which sold more than 33 million copies, won the Grammy Award for Best Album, and is her most critically acclaimed work, with hit singles such as Ironic and You Oughta Know. I think this is the “first album” which Lorelai says many people bought in a knee-jerk reaction, including Max, it seems.
David “Dave” Matthews (born 1967) is a South African-born American singer-songwriter, best known as the lead singer of the Dave Matthews Band, formed in 1991. During the early 2000s, his band sold more tickets and made more money than any other act in North America, and nearly all their studio albums have gone to #1 in the US. Matthews has also brought out solo albums, and won two Grammy Awards. Lorelai says “a couple of his things are good”, but I’m not sure which “things” she means, or even whether she means a couple of his albums or a couple of his songs.
Buena Vista Social Club is a group of Cuban musicians established in 1996 to revive the music of pre-revolutionary Cuba. The group’s self-titled album was released in 1997, rapidly making them an international success, with performances in Europe and the US. Wim Wenders made a documentary about them called Buena Vista Social Club, and when it came out in 1998 it received critical acclaim and sparked a revival of Latin American music, helping to increase tourism to Cuba.
Eithne Ní Bhraonáin, anglicised as Enya Brennan, and known as Enya (born 1961) is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. Her music career began in 1980 when she joined her family’s Celtic band Clannad, and left in 1982 to pursue a solo career. She has numerous top-selling and critically acclaimed albums, with her 2000 album A Day Without Rain, and its lead single, Only Time, experiencing a great success in the US after the September 11 attacks in 2001, making it the best-selling New Age album of all time. Enya is Ireland’s most successul solo act, and has won seven World Music Awards, four Grammy Awards, and an Ivor Novello Award. She is also known for writing and performing the song May It Be for the 2001 film, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
In general, Christopher is putting down music that experienced sudden mass popularity, so that many people jumped on its bandwagon. How this differs from the very popular bands which he and Lorelai favour is not particularly clear, and his music snobbery may seem rather hypocritical. He also doesn’t seem keen on world music.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 