018-Crossing Over: Billboard, Nietzsche, and the Supremes

In this episode I discuss phenomenon of the crossover, employing an eccentric reading of Nietzsche to elucidate one element of the success of Motown and the Supremes. We begin by discussing the way Billboard created its charts, the ways in which those charts changed over time, the crossover phenomenon of the Rock n' Roll era, and the suspension of the R&B chart during 1964 and its impact on Black music. The second segment discusses Nietzsche's concept of the overman and the role he sees suffering playing in one's affirmation of life. The final segment applies some of this thinking to Motown and the resistances it overcame with the Supremes as the primary vehicle to the mainstream.