Just Admit It, Ted

A Collection of Songs Reminiscent of the 70s Most Iconic Killers

Presenter: Tony Jang

Co-Presenter(s):
Jordan Ackerman

Presenter Status: Undergraduate student

Academic Year: 20-21

Semester: Fall

Department: Music

Funding Source/Sponsor: SYRCE Symposium

Screenshot URL: https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1o7XbNP7H2W7e2Fb22JP_vT2Zhj5A0Aex

Abstract:
Our original idea was to paint a vinyl record, both the cover and the record itself, as well as burn a CD with a playlist of songs we chose to represent our subject matter. We chose to do a project about the 70’s most iconic serial killers; Ted Bundy, David Burkowitz (Son of Sam), John Wayne Gacy, and Charles Manson. Due to the circumstances brought on by the virus, and the lack of materials it created, we had to alter our project, but we’re still proud of what we have created and discovered through the process of making it. We chose to use an easily accessible music platform (Spotify) and digitally create a cover for our playlist. We used Procreate to draw and edit the cover, based on a cover of one of Queen's albums, Hot Space, and researched different songs across all different genres and years to make our playlist. We began the project believing we would see a transformation of media demonizing these killers to glorifying them in the modern age, but during the research for songs, we discovered the duality of media created about these killers. Some songs glorified the killers, turning them into weapons to use against women or just ignoring aspects of their history in favor of creating pure shock value, rather than something of substance. This is why we chose to ignore many metal songs we found, as we learned most of them were songs used as pure shock content for horror metal groups that seemed to glorify the actions of these men and paint over the victims affected. We chose songs with a softer sound and lyrics that we felt went a bit beyond the base knowledge of these killers, and a particular favorite of ours was John Wayne Gacy Jr. by Sufjan Stevens. We believe it highlighted the society and circumstances that created such a monster while discussing the victims and how tragic the lives lost were. We ended up adding a few of the metal songs at the very end of the playlist, 3 in total, to illustrate the duality of interpretations of the data we have on these killers.