part 4 vernacular musics since rock and roll chapter 16: popular music since 1970 america’s...

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Part 4Vernacular Musics Since Rock

and RollChapter 16: Popular Music since 1970

America’s Musical Landscape 6th edition

© 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

2© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970 2

Popular Music Since 1970: The Mood of the Early 1970s Protest against the Vietnam War Riots on college campus – Kent State U. Death of 3 rockers: Jim Hendrix, Janis

Joplin, Jim Morrison British invasion continued Rolling Stones became enormously popular

in the USA



Singer-Songwriters Bruce Springsteen “The Boss” - Wrote songs of

social relevance Album Born in the USA Film Philadelphia (1995) with songs by Bruce Springsteen

Joni Mitchell Sang of her own experience using blues, rock and folk

styles Ever-changing interests from nature to narrative to

political indignation



Art Rock Rockers and jazz musicians collaborate and

incorporate music of other styles and cultures Blood, Sweat and Tears – Rock Quartet Chicago – Used some jazz elements Emerson Lake & Palmer – related jazz to classical

music Moody Blues – Produced an art rock album with

the London Festival Orchestra in 1967



Disco

Began as “discothèque” in France after World War II

First American discothèques opened in America in 1960 with elitist membership requirements

Led to dance crazes including the Twist, the Jerk, the Watusi

1970s – Re-launched as “disco” and became a popular dance phenomenon

Film Saturday Night Live (1977)



Punk Born in the small New York bar, CBGB & OMFUG

New York Dolls – Punk group premiered at this bar

Characteristics include:

Association with the art world Narrow vocal range; drone-like Rigid eighth-note rhythm throb Influence of fashion, performance art, shock value Pounding beat Heavy guitar distortion



Punk Bands Television – a punk band attracted to the art of

Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground , and to the jazz improvisation of John Coltrane

Patti Smith – A professional writer of poetry, plays and articles. Had a vocal and delivery style intended to shock

Ramones – Projected fun, spirit, raw energy



New Wave

New Wave groups defused punk by imitating its manner but not its substance

New Wave – a philosophy of life expressed through new or progressive music

Talking Heads B-52s Cars Police



Grunge Grunge – refers to a style adopted by teenagers of the 1990s –

Generation X

Originating n the Northwest, grunge sometimes called the Seattle sound

Combined the aggression of heavy metal with a melodic element reminiscent of the Beatles

Nirvana – Grunge band led by Kurt Cobain Pearl Jam



Electronic Dance Music Use of synthesizers and other electronic instruments

Varied sonorities of live and recorded music

2001 – Disco and new wave underwent a dance floor revival

Electronic timbres reflected everyday sounds such as phones, cash machines, alarms

Also called house, techno, electro, nu-wave



Pop Music and Politics Early 1960s and 1970s – Peak of political pop music Controversies over Civil Rights and the Vietnam War inspired

protest songs heard widely on pop and rock radio stations Bob Dylan - “The Times They Are a-Changin’” Buffalo Springfield - “For What It’s Worth” Marvin Gaye - “What’s Goin’ On?”

Since then, mainstream music has generally been more concerned with having a good time

In 2004, pop musicians were again motivated to take political stands Against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan Urging people to vote in the upcoming election



Looking Forward, Backward, and Abroad Concerts and recordings achieve new levels of

sophistication with new technology Collaborations involving dead artists are popular

Improved communication and expanded travel bring new sounds to the Western vernacular music experience Musicians can now hear music from other nations and

incorporate it into their own work with ease A the same time, many rock musicians have

returned to their roots Nostalgia for earlier familiar sounds vies with the urge to

explore new music



Hip-Hop and Rap South Bronx, New York in the 1970s A neighborhood in ruin

Afro-American, Afro-Caribbean and Latino families arrive Increase in gang violence as newcomers and remaining whites clash

Jobless, poor and hopeless urban conditions spawned hip-hop culture

B-boying - break dancing Graffiti writing – spray can painting DJing – disc jockeys playing and manipulating records at parties MCing – a master of ceremonies raps over recordings

Hip-hop culture came to the Bronx out of Jamaica Rapping over spinning records derived from reggae



Reggae During 1960s, following their recent

independence from Great Britain, Jamaican youth created a new, hybrid music called Reggae

Harmonically simple, socially conscious

Drew from global popular culture to express national pride



Reggae Reggae fused elements of North American rock

and African Jamaican music to form a kind of “acculturated rock”

1960s—popular in England

1970s—popular in the United States

Bob Marley (1945-1981) was a leading performer who became famous in the United States



Reggae Reggae comes in several styles, all roughly

related to rhythm and blues But the polyrhythms are more complex Bass lines stronger Tempos more relaxed

Reggae combos consist of Electric guitars, electric organ, electric bass

guitar, drums Electronic studio techniques

Toasting or Dubbing = rapid patter talking, to influence development of rap music

Electric guitar



Reggae: Religious and Spiritual Implications Reggae—a vernacular music (rock) borrowed and

transformed by a culture (Jamaican) other than the one that introduced it (African American) to form a new style

Represents a popular music with strong religious connotations Rastafarianism = a black religious movement

Many of the songs have urgent political content Promoting the 1960s “back to Africa” movement



The Rise of Hip-Hop Jamaicans immigrating to the South Bronx in the 1960s

brought sophisticated turntable techniques In Kingston, mobile sound systems had largely replaced live bands A DJ could bring dance parties to street crowds with only a turntable,

amplifiers and speakers

DJs developed outstanding performance techniques Backspinning, altering playing speeds, scratching

DJs played many kinds of music including R&B hits, reggae



The Rise of Hip-Hop Scratch DJs, also known as turntablists, have become artists

in their own right

The turntable may be the most important musical instrument of the current era

The music heard in dance clubs today is often the creation of a DJ

Sample-based Electronically composed Current styles include drum-and-bass, house, trip-hop



Rap

At 1970s South Bronx street turntable shows, DJs hired MCs (masters of ceremonies) to fire up the crowd

When MCs began speaking over the rhythm of the music and trading rhymes with each other and the DJ, rap was born

Rap draws from many sources African, Afro-Caribbean, and African-American rhythmic styles Urban street jive Black radio DJs, Public personalities



Rap 1970s – Rappers and DJs preserved their performances on

mixtapes = homemade tapes made at street dances and club shows

1979 – The independent label Sugar Hill Records auditioned three unknown rappers and signed them to improvise the recording “Rapper’s Delight”

Became a world-wide hit DJs found that dancers preferred the recording to a live DJ



Listening Example 58Rapper’s Delight (excerpt)Improvised by The Sugarhill Gang:

Henry “Big Bank Hank” Jackson, Guy “Master Gee” O’Brien, and Michael “Wonder Mike” Wright

Listening Guide on page 283

Form: Strophic. Each of the three rappers improvises a “verse,” performing a recitation over the background music

Meter: Duple, with a heavy backbeatText: The rappers brag about themselves, describe dance moves, tell

funny stories and exhort the listeners to respond

“Rapper’s Delight” quickly reached the American Top 40, introducing America and the world to hip-hop music.



Social Concerns Hip-hop: culture or craft?

White rappers claimed that hip-hop can be learned, regardless of ethnic or cultural heritage

Some black hip-hop musicians claim that hip-hop is a culture that one must be born into

“Gangsta rap” of the late 1980s often praised misogyny and violence Attracted devoted listeners Drew condemnation from officials due to violent lyrics Lyrics alternating tenderness and brutality



Back to the Roots Some rappers produce lighthearted, playful songs

1990s rap-based cartoons appeared on television

Rap artists appeared on mainstream television and in films Will Smith Ice Cube

Urban rappers draw on earlier black music sources Kirk Franklin – melds hip-hop and traditional gospel Sean Combs (P. Diddy) – references earlier artists



Music Business New technologies continually alter the business of music

Popularity of home recording studios Now possible to create, perform, record and market music from home Individual musicians can simulate a combo or singing group E-jamming software allows independent musicians to play and record with musicians

via Internet connection

Studio sound engineers practice sophisticated sonic manipulation As products and processes become outdated, new possibilities evolve



Music Business: Sharing Music 1999 – fans could share and swap music files for free via the

Internet using software program Napster Music industry felt negative impact

Legal challenges forced Napster to close its free service

2001 – portable digital audio player called the iPod revolutionized the music business

Interface between the iPod and Apple’s online iTunes Store Downloading music becomes quick, easy and affordable Napster eventually establishes for-pay system



Music Business: Sharing Music Music purchased from the iTunes Store subject to a digital

rights management [DRM] system An effort to prevent the music from being played on unauthorized devices 2009 – looking for alternatives to DRMs, since they weren’t sufficiently

effective

Digitized music is easily shared on the Internet – legally and illegally

Some people support copyright protection Others believe that consumers should be able to share, remix and reuse

music CD sales quickly decline



Music Business: Marketing Music Traditionally, artist’s careers were launched and controlled by

commercial labels

In 2008, Atlantic Records reported that more than half of its music sales in the United States were from digital products

“Multiple rights” or “360” deals as a response to declining sales

Label shares earnings from recordings, live concerts, merchandise Label increases investment in marketing and developing the artist’s career



Music Business: Marketing Music Today some musicians bypass commercial labels by

recording for independent companies Corporate-owned radio stations generally do not play music from smaller

labels The Internet provides opportunities for music produced by independent

labels to be heard world-wide Blogs, artist websites, MySpace and Facebook

The Internet offers unprecedented opportunities for the marketing of independently produced music

Blogs, artist websites, MySpace, Facebook Some artists offer free downloads and consumer pricing



Music Business: Marketing Music Music has become democratized

Free from the demands and manipulation of big-name commercial companies

Free from the need to become commercially successful

Now diverse, experimental music – unacceptable to Top 40 venues – can find welcome, and generate income, on the Internet

The business of music continues to evolve Technology, multiculturalism and the accomplishments of

previous generations of pop musicians have created a pop scene that is richer and more varied than ever before


Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll Summary 31

Part 4 Summary: Rock and Roll In the 1950s, white country-western music combined with

elements of black rhythm and blues to produce rock and roll Driven by the tastes of American teens Featured white country singers with a black style of delivery

Motown produced records by black artists that appealed to a white audience

Soul brought music of a new intensity to rock and roll

The British invasion



Part 4 Summary: Rock Flirts with Country The urban folk movement reflected continuing relationships

between rock and country

Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and others composed and performed folklike songs on topical subjects

Alternative country rivals the polished sounds of commercial country music

Blends punk and rock and roll effects with country sounds



Part 4 Summary: Jazz Since 1960 Jazz in the later part of the twentieth century explored new

and increasingly complex musical concepts

Free jazz declared independence from most preconceived notions about jazz

Focus on collective improvisation

Fusion melds jazz and rock

Jazz musicians integrate foreign sounds into their music

Jazz composition is again an important field of American music



Part 4 Summary: Popular Music Since 1970 Punk, new wave, and grunge addressed social concerns in

the late twentieth century

New technologies impact the creation of popular music the marketing music the consumption of music

Hip-hop culture, derived from Jamaican and African influences, evolved in the South Bronx

Popularity quickly spread Rap artists and DJs became increasingly virtuosic

part 4 vernacular musics since rock and roll chapter 16: popular music since 1970 america’s...

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