Music History and Cultural Trends: Pre-1950s to the 2000s

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, technologies, movements, and cultural shifts in American popular music from pre-1950s to the 2000s.

Blackface Minstrelsy

The practice of using racist stereotypes of black people, usually for the enjoyment of white audiences.

Race Records

A category of music created around the 1920s, which later served as the predecessor to the Rhythm & Blues chart.

Microphone

A technological advance from 1925 that allowed for a new, more intimate style of singing.

Jim Crow (Character)

A character created by Blackface minstrelsy.

Sheet Music

The primary method of music consumption and distribution before 1920.

Teenagers

A new marketing category that spent $7-9b annually by 1956.

"Hound Dog"

A song written and previously recorded by Big Mama Thornton that was famously covered by Elvis.

Rhythm & Blues

A genre of music that serves as the name of a popular Billboard chart previously referred to as "Race Records".

Jim Crow Laws

Laws that led to segregated audiences at music concerts.

The Ed Sullivan Show

A popular television show in the 1950s and 1960s that put musical artists on a visual medium to a wide audience.

Counterculture

A way of life and set of attitudes opposed to or at variances with the prevailing social norm.

TONTO

A type of synthesizer used prominently in Stevie Wonder's "Superstition".

Multitracking

A studio production technique that allowed for the recording and editing of multiple sounds separately.

Concept Album

A type of album whose tracks hold a greater meaning collectively than the individual songs.

"Fortunate Son"

A song by CCR written and performed by veterans that called out injustices within the draft system during the Vietnam War.

PMRC

A Congressional hearing that led to no legal outcomes but resulted in the creation of explicit music warnings.

"Straight Out of Compton"

A music video banned on MTV because of its strong language, anti-cop themes, and mentions of violence.

Michael Jackson's Iconography

The performance and visual identity defined by the trio of the silver glove, moonwalk, and athletic choreography.

"Video Killed the Radio Star"

The first music video played on the launch of MTV.

Tipper Gore

The Second Lady who was a prominent figure and advocate for explicit labels in the PMRC.

Riot Grrrl

A movement whose goals included visibility of women in punk and maintaining DIY values.

West Coast Rap

A style of rap that emerged in areas around LA affected by gang and police violence.

Message/Conscious Rap

A style of rap that involves lyrics focused on social commentary.

Zines

Small, self-published booklets that were important to the creation of riot grrrl.

"Rapper's Delight"

A song by Sugar Hill Gang that introduced rap to a wide audience in the late 1970s.

Napster

A music streaming platform active from 1999 to 2001 that allowed people to rip music from CDs and share MP3s for free.

"Empire State of Mind"

A song by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys representing resilience among New Yorkers after 9/11.

Poptimism

The belief that pop music is as worthy of critique as rock music.

Recession Pop

An uptempo, feel-good type of music exemplified by Lady Gaga's "Just Dance".

Parasocial Relationship

A kind of relationship in which an audience member views a performer as a friend.

iPod

A device that helped popularize music streaming.

Phonograph

An invention that allowed recorded music to play in households for the first time.

Bert Williams

A Blackface minstrelsy performer who paved the way for future Black performers.

Radio

An industry that started in the 1920s and expanded throughout the 1930s.

LP

An innovation that allowed songs to be between 15-25 minutes in duration.