The White House’s weirdly hip record collection | Hacker News Reader

The White House’s weirdly hip record collection

washingtonian.com

72 pointspausing42 comments

On the end bit, we already have the National Recording Registry, which this year added "The Low End Theory," "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)," "Bohemian Rhapsody," and "Livin' La Vida Loca." Does the White House need a separate repository?

It’s not really a “record collection”, though, is it? I thought it was more like a Hall of Fame

I believe actual copies of the recordings are preserved in the Library of Congress. Whether it's a "record collection" is unclear, but the article's suggested update seemed more like a playlist than boxes of vinyl too.

I don't think it's automatic. It certainly isn't for movies. When the LoC added Back to the Future to the registry they were like "Well, we put it on the list. If you have a copy of the movie lying around somewhere I'm sure we can find some space for it, otherwise our work here is done. On to next year, guys!"

The Wikipedia article was very unclear. They call it a list but also say that the recordings are preserved and list the ones preserved in both this and the National Archives as either the copy or the original. Additionally, a copy of the recording must exist to be included.

It sounds like there are actual recordings there, but I could be giving them too much credit.

It definitely wasn't the case with Back to the Future as I know the parties involved with it and everyone (me included) was very surprised that the LoC was not proactive in obtaining and preserving a print of the movie. We assumed that was a mandatory part of the process. It was sad, because I thought of the LoC as the best place to preserve media like this, as I assume they probably attract some of the world's best archivists.

It's not as if the White House collection is housed in a music room where the president can drop in and choose an album though. Boxes full of records unplayed might as well be a list.

My reading is that was the intention though, it was supposed to be for White House guests to grab an album to listen to, but that didn’t last into the Reagan administration.

My favorite story about White House records was from an Arlo Guthrie concert I attended. Supposedly some relative of Jimmy Carter had found a copy of Alice's Restaurant which was left over from the Nixon days, and Arlo's theory was that it explained the suspicious gap in Nixon's office recordings. "There aren't many other things that are eighteen and a half minutes long."

I've always thought 'apart from the national anthem, what your favourite song' would be an insightful interview question for Trump - I guess because it's so hard imagine him with a hobby that isn't about power.

I think this would be his favourite toon. https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1xhn

He has divulged in the past that “Is that all there is?” by Peggy Lee is his favourite song

Not “Cult of Personality” by Living Color?

He'd probably say The Apprentice theme tune "For the Love of Money."

He plays Hotel California a lot at Mar-A-Lago. A lot people don't know that he picks the music they play there, and sometimes actively DJs. This is not a joke.

I take this back - I'm surprised to see Trump has expressed quite a few opinions about music: https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/articles/e5e4572a-0676-4120-9eb3...

As a proxy for popular opinion and orientation to power, music can be a pretty efficient signal though. When you look at big changes in chart positions and whose sentiment it triggers, someone shooting to the top of the charts out of nowhere is a signal of aesthetic direction change that a politician needs to be able to parse to be percieved as "in touch."

Musical taste can also reveal a bit about the politician and how they may respond to issues. The sounds of Biden's peak years were psychedelic and arena rock with an all or nothing protagonism, where the former president kind of peaked in the fern bars of the 80s so there was a smooth new wave/brett easton ellis vibe about the whole thing, where he was aloof and self oriented on the issues. Condoleeza Rice was famously a pianist and admirer of Brahms. It's a bit horoscopey, but musical taste is an honest signal of revealed preferences. In Canada, I get the impression the current prime minister is just really into Sarah McLachlan.

My first thought was that it's hard to imagine most US presidents deriving joy from music (anyone who thinks Obama actually listens to the music on those annual lists his interns compile is naive). So it made perfect sense that once these records got to the White House they barely made it out of the crates before being shipped off to some warehouse.

There are relatively few people in America who don't listen to music, and almost zero black people who don't listen to music. I'm sure whatever is on his "favorites" list is a political calculation, but the idea that he doesn't enjoy music is an extraordinary claim that would need extraordinary evidence.

> the idea that he doesn't enjoy music is an extraordinary claim that would need extraordinary evidence.

If that were what was being claimed, sure…

It was kind of. There are two claims: “it's hard to imagine most US presidents deriving joy from music” followed by a specific assertion that Obama doesn’t listen to the playlists they publish.

This at least implies that the speaker counts Obama among those presidents who they can’t imagine deriving joy from music.

Now of course you can say that saying “hard to imagine X” doesn’t mean that “not X” is claimed. Maybe the speaker wants to express that they have aphantasia! If that is your read so be it. Doesn’t sound sensible to me.

How did you interpret Adraghast’s comment?

I apologize; I missed the first part of the claim (was admittedly skimming as I was on mobile) and only saw the bit about the playlists. My apologies!

I don’t think I have ever met or even heard of anyone who doesn’t listen to music, black or not.

For what it’s worth, I don’t listen to music.

Empirically, you must've done, in order to know what music sounds like.

Nonsense. There's a documentary about Jimmy Carter and pop musicians. [1] Bill Clinton plays sax. [2] Etc. The White House has been known to host concerts. [3] Presidents are people and people generally like music.

[1] https://www.aarp.org/entertainment/music/info-2020/jimmy-car...

[2] https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/instruments/saxopho...

[3] https://www.whitehousehistory.org/music-and-musical-performa...

I actually added "most" specifically because of Carter and Clinton!

> Presidents are people

Citation needed. :)

> it's hard to imagine most US presidents deriving joy from music

They're people, not gods. People like music.

Also, Obama has two college aged daughters and that's where he gets his contemporary music from. Of all things to be cynical about... I'm sure a lot of parents have tried listening to what their kids listen to, and, on occasion, found stuff they liked.

I'm going to invoke Occam's Razor here that a guy who was by all accounts a teenage stoner probably does, in fact, 'derive joy from music,' lol.

I am 50 and have two teenagers at home.

I do not listen to a lot of music but it is usually up to 10-15 years old. I do not listen to the 80's crying over a lost youth.

The music they listen to is mixed - there is a big part just fro the looks and it is unbearable. This the of music everyone forgets after 2 years.

There are styles I do not like.

And then there are great songs I discover through them by chance. Last one was K.Flay, staring with "High Enough". I was surprised to hear "Can't Sleep" in The Suicide Squad movie afterwards.

Nixon is the only president in my lifetime who I would believe didn’t enjoy music because of his quaker beliefs. LBU was such an odd guy that I might believe it about him too if I didn’t grow up listening to rock and roll on KLBJ.

Nixon played piano along with several other instruments.

He was pretty talented too. He even said later in life that if he grew up during the age of (good) rap music he probably wouldn't have been a politician: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/08/07/ri...

Came here to say that, also to mention https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW9PdAY8_D0 ..

Obama listens to his daughters, and his daughters listen to music. Obama even made a personal message to a couple of reaction youtubers because his daughters watched them.

> My first thought was that it's hard to imagine most US presidents deriving joy from music (anyone who thinks Obama actually listens to the music on those annual lists his interns compile is naive).

Imagine being so cynical you think every famous politician is basically a robot. Are you gonna suggest next that they also don't care about the taste of food?

I think they do listen to music but I would imagine their listening lists go through a few levels of curation and modification before they are released.

I don't think they're basically robots. I think they're basically reptiles.

> Are you gonna suggest next that they also don't care about the taste of food?

Seems plausible to me.

I think virtually all US presidents are war criminals but if you think those currently in power are uniquely inhuman rather than uniquely lucky, then you've fallen for the same trap as those who believe they're in power from merit - except now in reverse.

Furthermore, this makes you highly suspeptible to manipulation and abuse by less successful would-be authoratarians.

> Furthermore, this makes you highly suspeptible to manipulation and abuse by less successful would-be authoratarians.

I'm dying to know how. Please tell me how I can attain an incorruptible mind such as yours.

I never claimed to have an incorruptible mind. However, if you want an example of what is the logical outcome of your mentality, I would refer you to the treasure trove of delusions that is Infowars.

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