I grew up in a place like that in a time like that.. in the 70's and early 80's it was hard not to consider New York City to have been the world culture capitol.. things were just happening.. movies about it and filmed there, music pulsing out, disco, hip hop, then rap, the world seemed focused on New York, but somehow it jumped to Miami, and you could feel it, someone let the air out.. sure New York didn't become irrelevant, but it wasn't the capitol of the excitement anymore.. it then felt like Seattle stole it from Miami, etc etc.
I'm not sure if we know where it is and when until after it cools down and we realize, what the heck was that? that was awesome? but I'm going to try to track this around the world for a bit..
This list is speculation, from what I have gathered in my roaming. I'm open to suggestions.
World Culture Capitol by year:
London 1870-1880
Chicago 1881-1900
Paris 1920-29
San Francisco 1967-1972
New York City 1972-1982
Miami 1982-1987
Seattle 1990-1995
Berlin 1995-2000
Moscow 2000-2003
Shanghai/ Beijing 2003-2009
This is an interesting list - good observations! And probably took a little while to put together. I do love a good 1970s film set in NYC. Music wise - how about Vienna from the 1770s-1830s? It is actually still considered the "music capital of the world." That time period encompasses three great composers Mozart, Beethoven, Hadyn and others. If you think of the British Invasion you could put London down for the early 1960s again. I'm trying to think of some places for the 1930s-1950s. For the 1950s I would choose some city that was hit big with GIs wanting to settle down, work, and have families. I'm thinking Midwest. And let's tie in the great migration. How about Detroit in the 1950s? Center of the auto industry and Motown began in that decade.
ReplyDeleteHey KB..
ReplyDeleteOk, compelling arguments.. was there a sentiment about vienna like this across Europe, like it was the place to be? did it extend beyond music?
Also well argued for Detroit... that might be the midwest city you are looking for.. Motown might've been king when the car era began in the post war era.. smart arguments.. I would want to know that there was kind of an art rensassaince too.. which makes me think also that maybe Florence and Venice belong on this list for the beginning of the renaissance...
after watching The Founder, maybe San Bernadino was somehow the encapsulation of the new american way of life.. american grafitti incarnate.