Until the 1990s, US television stations (channels/networks) “signed off” & went static at night (approx. 1am), whereas the transmitter would basically get unplugged. Sometimes the National Anthem/Star Spangled Banner played off the broadcast, or a deep-voiced network narrator wished a pleasant sleep. Then, at 6am the transmitter was turned back on, with news or cartoons being likely programing.
The Port of Hamburg, aka Germany’s Gateway to the World, first developed in the 12th century, & over history, the port’s supply chains thrived during peacetime, whereas 80% of the port was destroyed during WWII. By the ‘50s, the port again began to flourish, with an increasing flow of imported & exported goods from the west. Soon, America’s greatest & most culturally relevant 20th century product, music, became sought-after. In ’56, the port provided rebellious local youth Bill Haley's hit record, Rock Around the Clock, & later that year Elvis infamously made the cover of the iconic West German magazine Der Spiegel. Soon, German teenagers with no recollection of the war’s ill-will towards global cultures wanted live versions. The first club to feature live rock & roll for German audiences was the Reeperbahn’s Kaiserkeller. American acts Fats Domino, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy, Holly, & Chuck Berry soon enjoyed success w/ live shows.
Brand favorability is difficult to quantify, but organizational logos have value via consumers’ unconscious, sentimental associations. Logos of Toyota, Starbucks, & Ford have much worth due to the deep, symbolic, mostly unconscious consumer attachments. The most infamous flop in consumer history, the New Coke fiasco (a case can be made that the Ford Edel flop was bigger) involved a blind taste test where consumers preferred Pepsi due to a flaw in the experimental design b/c they didn’t see the Coca-Cola logo on the can. Brand favorability & brand awareness are closely intertwined via logos.
Women in rock ‘n’ roll have had a lasting impact on the genre, & paving the way for females in rock, even before the legendary Janis Joplin, was German pop star Christa Päffgen, who went by the stagename of Nico, singer of the ‘67 Velvet Underground prog-rock, indie-pop album, which was listed on Rolling Stone Magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time at #13. The first female in the rock ‘n’ roll hall of fame was Aretha Franklin in ’87, & of course many have followed. But lacking in that world continues to be a classic harmonica-playing female rock ‘n’ roller. Indiara Sfair & others are excellent female harmonica players but aren’t associated with the rock genre. You’d think that the great Joni Mitchell or some other amazing female artist would use a harmonica. The published lists of best songs with a harmonica never include females. The Alanis Morissette harmonica performance received poor critical reviews on her otherwise fabulous, seminal album Jagged Little Pill. The best individual harmonica players on most published lists include Blues Traveler’s John Popper, Bob Dylan, & Stevie Wonder. The world absolutely desires its first great harmonica-playing female rocker.
New consumer concepts saturate American culture, but most don’t catch on. Food trucks, a new phenomenon, now constitutes a $1.5 billion/yr. domestic industry & routinely appear today at corporate events, weddings, street fairs, youth sporting events, & farmers’ markets. The concept evolved from small, portable food stands on wheels (hot dog, lemonade, etc) on busy streetcorners, perhaps alongside magazine stands or near pubs about to close. Today, food truck festivals, food truck parks, & permanent food truck sites are commonplace, growing 7.9%/yr. since ‘17, even through the pandemic, when regulations closed/limited sit-down restaurants, according to ToastTab. In ‘23, Michigan State University developed a free workshop called “How to Start a Food Truck Business”. Indianapolis, IN was listed as the 5th most popular city for food trucks (& the only Midwestern city) by Webstraunt.com. For some reason, food trucks just aren’t around in Holland. Brick-&-mortar restaurants there necessitate long paced dining etiquette which is still the norm, whereas nearby delis tend to close by nightime. Festivals tend to be a more common destination, & touring food truck festivals at city parks like TREK have sprung up. The NL Times reported that Dutch food trucks doubled from ’17-’22, with 2,500 currently licensed countrywide, but still, food trucks are absent in major metropolitan & pedestrian-friendly urban areas. Dutch food truck permits simply require a business bank account (IBAN) & a market trader's license/standplaatsvergunning, nothing more stringent than their US peers.
