ROD SERLING: Imagine a world where youth, being completely hyped and wired to the technology of the era, seeking to be entertained by using only a fragment of their imagination. And that fragment of their imagination is stimulated by only a fragment of a recording. Imagine moving a needle of a phonograph to the next song while in the middle and doing that in front of a live audience, with a stage and musical equipment. Could this be done on purpose to save time, energy and resources, or could they perhaps be carrying a tune into the Twilight Zone!
Our story begins at the Virgin Megastore for records in the Union Square area of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The area was once notorious for activities exercising the first amendment. No area could be more fiercer than Union Square for its emphasis on free speech, particularly during the 1960's. Yet there will come a time, in the year 2007, where Men, Women and Children are fixated on their image only rather than the character and quality of their personality. Meet Theodore Rourke, a 26-year-old activist and Journalist moonlighting as a messenger. Finished with his work for the day, he happens on the store where a local band is using its stage for its venue. And midway throughout each of their repertoire, they stopped playing. What was the madness behind it all? To play a 30-minute set where each of your songs are played through halfway is pointless. You might as well just condense your songs and play half of the selections instead of giving the audience audio foreplay. Yet the band needs to respectfully tow the line of the Fashion Industrial Complex by caving in to the seemingly demanding music retail industry. Or perhaps the mindset of control brought about by the ethos of the FIC is providing musicians with the illusion that whatever the price, rules must be followed or your career goes nowhere. It has to be illusory, otherwise bands wouldn't appear to be selling their souls and churning out such garbage with no substance. In this instance, greed has to be the modus operandi.
Had Rod Serling been alive today, he would no doubt be convinced that his show was prophetic.
