Two Singers //Two Generations

In the nineteen fifties, Frankie Avalon made beach blanket movies with Annette Funicello. He was very good-looking and clean-cut. Frankie reeked unlimited innocence and boy-next-door charm. The kids loved him. Every mother would have been proud to have her daughter bring home a boy like him. The media of the nineteen fifties made Frankie Avalon a perfect fit for the decade. He was profitably successful, as were his producers.

Flash forward fifty years: in the 00’s, Snoop Dogg is a different type of performer. His forte is gangster rap. Snoop’s persona exudes danger and menace but the current media made him a perfect fit for a decade that featured 9/11. The kids love him but if a daughter brought home a boy like Snoop Dogg, a mother might be tempted to commit suicide, unless–of course–the boy was willing to sign away half his wealth.




Danger is the reciprocal of innocence but both are eminently capable of selling product.

RECIPROCULTURE happens when two seemingly unrelated cultural entities
have an uncommon denominator.