''If You're Not Dead, Play'' is a 2005
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
rock music
Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...
documentary
A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
, a
Western Reserve Public Media
WNEO (channel 45) is a non-commercial educational television station licensed to Alliance, Ohio, United States. It is simulcast full-time over satellite station WEAO (channel 49) in Akron, Ohio. Both are member stations of PBS and jointly bran ...
/ PBS production and the sequel of ''
It's Everything, And Then It's Gone
''If You're Not Dead, Play'' is a 2005 PBS rock music documentary, a Western Reserve Public Media/ PBS production and the sequel of ''It's Everything, And Then It's Gone''.
This was also written and directed by Phil Hoffman (American filmmaker), ...
''.
This was also written and directed by
Phil Hoffman. It provides the follow-up explanation of how the
Akron Sound
The Akron Sound refers to the independent music, largely new wave and punk rock, coming out of Akron, Ohio, in the late 1970s.
In the late 1970s, following the international success of local band Devo, talent scouts combed the city. Soon, several ...
came to be with the second wave of
Ohioan punk rock
Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
and
new wave music
New wave is a music genre that encompasses pop music, pop-oriented styles from the 1970s through the 1980s. It is considered a lighter and more melodic "broadening of Punk subculture, punk culture". It was originally used as a catch-all fo ...
bands who emerged in the 1980s, including
Chi-Pig
Chi-Pig was a new wave power trio hailing from Akron, Ohio that formed in 1977.
History
Before Chi-Pig
During the 1960s and 1970s, Susan Schmidt (daughter of Marjorie H. Schmidt of The Co-eds) and Deborah Smith were active in several area ban ...
,
Unit 5
Unit may refer to:
General measurement
* Unit of measurement, a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law
**International System of Units (SI), modern form of the metric system
**English units, histo ...
, and
Hammer Damage.
It's Everything, and Then It's Gone
''It's Everything, and Then It's Gone'' is a 2003
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
rock music
Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...
documentary
A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
. It is a
Western Reserve Public Media
WNEO (channel 45) is a non-commercial educational television station licensed to Alliance, Ohio, United States. It is simulcast full-time over satellite station WEAO (channel 49) in Akron, Ohio. Both are member stations of PBS and jointly bran ...
/PBS production, executive produced by Don Freeman and written/directed by
Phil Hoffman. ''It's Everything, and Then It's Gone'' takes viewers through the history of the first wave of mostly
new wave music
New wave is a music genre that encompasses pop music, pop-oriented styles from the 1970s through the 1980s. It is considered a lighter and more melodic "broadening of Punk subculture, punk culture". It was originally used as a catch-all fo ...
,
post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...
, and
art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an ar ...
bands, all from
Akron
Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...
,
Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
, that arrived on the scene in the 1970s, and explains just how the
Akron Sound
The Akron Sound refers to the independent music, largely new wave and punk rock, coming out of Akron, Ohio, in the late 1970s.
In the late 1970s, following the international success of local band Devo, talent scouts combed the city. Soon, several ...
developed. The first wave of these bands include:
Devo
Devo is an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs ( Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 ...
,
King Cobras (who would later reform as the
Rubber City Rebels
Rubber City Rebels are an American punk band from Akron, Ohio, that formed in 1976.
Early years
The original lineup of the band consisted of Rod Firestone (vocals), Buzz Clic (guitar), Donny Damage (bass), Stix Pelton (drums) and Pete Sake ( ...
),
The Bizarros
The Bizarros are an American rock music, rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1976. The nucleus of the band was formed early, when Don and Jerry Parkins met Terry Walker while Terry and Don were in the second grade. Nick Nicholis joined the gro ...
,
Tin Huey
Tin Huey is an American experimental rock and new wave band from Akron, Ohio, United States, that formed in 1972 and disbanded in 1982.
History Original lineups
Initially named Rags, the band started with Mark Price (then known as Wesley the ...
, Tin Huey's spin-off group
The Waitresses
The Waitresses were an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, best known for their singles " I Know What Boys Like" and " Christmas Wrapping." The band released two albums, '' Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful?'' and '' Bruiseology'', and one EP, '' ...
, and
The Numbers Band
The Numbers Band (a.k.a. 15-60-75) are an American blues rock and experimental rock band formed in Kent, Ohio, United States in 1969. They are part of the Akron Sound that sprang forth from their Ohio, home state.
Career
The original personne ...
.
External links
''If You're Not Dead, Play'' Video on YouTube''It's Everything, and Then It's Gone'' Video on YouTube
Rockumentaries
2005 in music
Culture of Akron, Ohio
Documentary films about punk music and musicians
{{music-documentary-film-stub