Vietnam
2008 · Not On Label · Germany: Unified
- Artist
- Black Sheriff
- Title
- Vietnam
- Release
- Black Sheriff
- Year
- 2008
- Label
- Not On Label
- Format
- CD · Album
- Language
- English
- Country
- Germany: Unified
- Genre
- Rock · Punk Rock
- Primary theme
- Post-War
Annotation
Rock group Black Sheriff, formed in 2007 in Köln, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. The song "Vietnam" (High Noon Records # HNR008) was influenced by the Vietnam War film First Blood, about Rambo. By the mid-1980s, films like Uncommon Valor (1983), Missing in Action (1984), and Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) concentrated on the US soldier as hero and the Vietnamese, Chinese, and Russians as villains. This reflects the Reagan-era nationalism and the need to overcome the 'Vietnam Syndrome.' The priority behind these 'flag-waving' films is box-office success, not historical accuracy and artistry. The emphasis is on hyper-masculinity (for example, Sylvester Stallone in Rambo) and ultra-violence (such as Missing in Action – where Chuck Norris guns downs hundreds of Vietnamese). The main characters are American war veterans who go back to Vietnam, rescue the prisoners of war, and win the entire war. George P. Cosmatos's Rambo: First Blood Part II grossed $300.4 million (worldwide) at the box office – the largest of any Vietnam War film. 'Flag-waving' Vietnam War films are an interesting aspect of the diverse American culture in the 1980s.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
Hard rock/punk'n'roll trio from Cologne, Germany, formed in 2007 (Glen Clarke, Diego Mendoza, Lukas Strunck); 'Vietnam' is track 6 on their 2008 self-titled album (High Noon Records HNR008). [Source: Discogs]