Abstract
AbstractAuthenticity is a key concept in the evaluation of rock music by critics and fans. The production of fakes challenges the means by which listeners evaluate the authentic, by questioning central notions of integrity and sincerity. This article examines the nature and motives of faking in recorded music, such as inventing imaginary groups or passing off studio recordings as live performances. In addition to a survey of types of fakes and the motives of those responsible for them, the article presents two case studies, one of the ‘fake’ American group the Residents, the other of the Unknown Deutschland series of releases, purporting to be hitherto unknown recordings of German rock groups from the 1970s. By examining the critical reception of these cases and taking into account ethical and aesthetic considerations, the article argues that the relationship between the authentic (the ‘real’) and the inauthentic (the ‘fake’) is complex. It concludes that, to judge from fans’ responses at least, the fake can be judged as possessing cultural value and may even be considered as authentic.
Highlights
Little consideration has been given to the aesthetic and cultural significance of the inauthentic through the production of fakes in popular music, except for negatively critical assessments of pop music as ‘plastic’ or ‘manufactured’ (McLeod 2001 provides examples from American rock criticism)
Are these fake groups? Do they have an existence beyond their presentation in recorded form? What does it mean to speak of ‘real’ or ‘fake’ groups? Is a fake group capable of producing authentic music? Before we are able to address questions such as these asked by listeners, we must first address the notion of authenticity as a central concept in the reception of rock music
Moore (2001, p. 199) draws our attention to both their distinctiveness and their connectedness when he argues that the authentic relates to intimacy and immediacy and is ‘what we trust because it issues from integrity, sincerity, honesty’
Summary
Little consideration has been given to the aesthetic and cultural significance of the inauthentic through the production of fakes in popular music, except for negatively critical assessments of pop music as ‘plastic’ or ‘manufactured’ (McLeod 2001 provides examples from American rock criticism). In the second half of this paper I will examine questions of aesthetic value and cultural significance as revealed by the critical reception of fans and critics to two types of fake: the American group the Residents; and a particular set of recordings the provenance of which is highly contested, the Unknown Deutschland series of CD releases and related LP reissues.
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