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September 26, 2019
Chris L. Terry's Playlist for His Novel "Black Card"
In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.
Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Heidi Julavits, Hari Kunzru, and many others.
Chris L. Terry's Black Card is a darkly funny and thought-provoking coming of age novel.
Nylon wrote of the book:
“Chris L. Terry does a magnificent job of dissecting all the ways in which identity both is and isn't a construct in his brilliant new book, Black Card. Centered around a mixed-race musician who distinguishes himself by his white bandmates by doing ‘black stuff,’ the novel makes clear the very real complications and dangers that come with both embracing and denying the identity America bestows upon a person based on the color of their skin. Terry employs a fierce humor throughout the narrative, but don't mistake wit for detachment—this book is deeply moving, a wise meditation on race, authenticity, and belonging.”
In his own words, here is Chris L. Terry's Book Notes music playlist for his novel Black Card:
Set years before Afro-Punk, Black Card addresses the ways that people use pop culture to identify themselves, and the angst of being a black person who likes white music. The songs on this playlist include punk that sounds like the bands in Black Card, hip-hop and soul music that appear in the story, and music that I listened to while writing. I hope that they flow together as well for you as they do for me.
“Waiting Room” - Fugazi
Waiting Room and The Humpty Dance are tied for Generation X’s Best Bassline.
Fugazi were so anti-commercial that they refused to make merchandise or play shows with tickets that cost more than $5. Their syncopated, dub-inspired punk sound and strident DIY politics set the template for the scene that Paper Fire, the band from Black Card, is part of.
It feels weird to explain Fugazi because they towered over punk in the ‘90s, and sold hundreds of thousands of records. When I was 14, Fugazi, A Tribe Called Quest, and Nirvana seemed equally important. But, since Fugazi were media-shy at the time, and stopped playing before social media took off, I get the feeling that they’ve largely been forgotten except by people who were there. That might have been the point.
“Gasoline Dreams” - Outkast
Aquemini is a better Outkast album, but this is the first song on Stankonia, the album that got Black Card’s narrator digging into black pop culture as a way to get to know himself. White people love them some Outkast and that led to a lot of uncomfortable white interactions with black art, a recurring issue in the book.
“It’s Tricky” - Run DMC
This is the first song that Black Card’s narrator sings at the karaoke bar. It’s also a major jam off the album that brought hip-hop to white listeners. “Being famous is hard” songs usually tick me off (“Sorry I like your band, jerks!”), but this song still goes.
“Get Ur Freak On” - Missy Elliott
Missy’s from Virginia and sounds like she’s from the past and the future and next door, all at once. Her best songs strike this great balance between horny and wholesome, and were all over the radio in the early ‘00s, leading to ordinarily self-serious punk rockers doing the unthinkable and dancing.
“If I Was Your Girlfriend” - Prince
No one is as extra as Prince. Black Card’s narrator listens to him throughout the book and, since I’m fascinated by this song’s melody, spare arrangement, and dissertation-worthy gender play, I included it here. GQ recently described Prince as “the audible equivalent of prolonged eye contact,” but I feel like he always lands on the good side of “romantic or creepy,” and ends that eye contact with a wink.
“Copper and Stars” - Planes Mistaken for Stars
When I was 20, Planes Mistaken for Stars played a punkhouse basement, six doors up from the apartment where I’d lived with my folks a couple of years before. I was in-between bands and acutely jealous of how much ass Planes were kicking, so I stepped into the alley toward the end of their set. As soon as I got outside and turned around, the singer burst out the door behind me, topless and sweaty, still screaming into his microphone out there on the cobblestones and dirt. That image always stuck with me, and I thought of it a lot while writing the live music scenes in Black Card.
Also, the star mentions in the band and song name are a true mark of this era. I have a blurry bike chain star tattoo, identifying me as a true ‘90s punk head.
“Last Donut of the Night” - J Dilla
J Dilla’s album Donuts came out in 2006 when my job was shuttling bodybag-sized duffles stuffed full of designer sunglasses from a secretive optometrist on Manhattan’s Upper East Side to a warehouse under the Brooklyn Bridge. It was definitely one of those, “don’t ask too many questions” gigs and the pay was dismal. One day, I lugged my shades past a newsstand while listening to Donuts and saw Questlove from The Roots wearing a “J Dilla Changed My Life” shirt on the cover of a magazine. It reminded me that I wanted to make art that people cared about. Then it hit me that if someone said, “Here’s $20 to carry your weight in expensive sunglasses across town on the train,” I’d tell them to fuck off, but that’s exactly what I was doing for a job. I went to the warehouse and quit.
Dilla made this album on his deathbed, which adds some layers to an already nuanced and emotional set of songs. I’ve been listening to it regularly since it came out, especially when writing, since it opens my heart and doesn’t have any lyrics to distract me. This is my favorite track because the strings sound like a flickering candle and the announcer, from a Gene Chandler record, reminds me of my dad’s stories of seeing classic r’n’b singers as a teenager in 1960s Richmond.
“The Line” - D’Angelo
D’Angelo is from two counties outside of Richmond (a couple punks I know used to deliver pizza to him during his mid ‘00s wilderness years) and his music sounds like Virginia on a lush summer night, so I play it to send my mind back there. Voodoo is one of my favorite albums, and I think I’ve owned it on four formats over the years. I picked The Line because Black Card’s about a bassist and this bass line can’t be forgotten, plus the lyrics seem to be about the fear of putting your art and self out there for public scrutiny, and that sure is on my mind right now as my book tiptoes out into the world.
“Pusherman” - Curtis Mayfield
This is the first bassline that the narrator from Black Card learned. It’s an auspicious start!
I remember going to see my sister graduate high school at a historic theater in Richmond and my dad saying he saw Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions play on that same stage 35 years earlier. From the Confederate monuments to the generations of memories in every building, the past can feel oppressive in Richmond. I left because I didn’t think that I could change while there. I’ve been gone for fifteen years now and when I visit the city seems so different, but I worry that if I stay for too long, I’ll have my own version of that Curtis Mayfield moment then turn back into the scared teenager that I was when I first showed up.
“Stopover Bombay” - Alice Coltrane
I play Alice Coltrane’s albums Journey in Satchidananda and Ptah, the el Daoud a lot while writing. They sound like they’re stretching sideways instead of forward, and really help me focus.
“Electrolux” - Hoover
Another syncopated, bass-driven band like Fugazi that Paper Fire might have sounded like. If you’re gonna make a movie out of Black Card, play this over the end credits. Wait ‘til the horns kick in!
“Funkland” - Brown Sugar
Black Card criticizes the fact that punk was a straight, white, boys’ club in the early 2000s. Things have gotten a lot better, and there are now a ton of great bands on the scene whose members don’t fit that mold. Brown Sugar, who have a black singer, are a recent favorite. I also suggest Soul Glo, Xetas, Krimewatch, Tørsö, and GLOSS.
Chris L. Terry and Black Card links:
Kirkus review
NPR Books review
Pitchfork review
Publishers Weekly review
San Diego CityBeat review
Largehearted Boy playlist by the author for Zero Fade
OTHERPPL interview with the author
The Root essay by the author
also at Largehearted Boy:
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