History of Popular Music Exam 2

Rolling Stones

Rebellious attitude and bad-boy image, Started as blues group

Mick Jagger/Keith Richards

The Rolling Stones

(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction

famous guitar riff, Rolling Stones, Scandalous because it sounded like a reference to sex - didn’t deny it

Blues Revival in England

Early 1960s, growing British electric blues revival scene in clubs, “Purist” approach for authenticity, Musicians traded blues records and recorded cover versions.

The British Invasion

The Who, The Kinks, Fleetwood Mac, The Yardbirds, garage bands (American Response)

The Who

Pete Townshend guitar (songwriter), Roger Daltrey (lead guitar and lead vocals)

Pete Townshend

Windmill arm

The Who

Known for destroying instruments on stage

TOMMY

Rock opera, The Who, 1969, double album-length opera, PINBALL WIZARD “deaf, dumb, and blind kid”, Overture, orchestral instruments, Big success commercially and artistically

The Kinks

1964 “YOU REALLY GOT ME”, Guitar riff, FUZZ TONE effect

Fleetwood Mac

Formed by British blues revival musicians, eventually became more of a country-influenced pop group in 1970s

Rumours

Important album by Fleetwood Mac

The Yardbirds

Played covers of American blues at clubs, Everyone else quit; Jimmy Page formed the New Yardbirds to fulfill contracts; they went on to become the blues group Led Zeppelin

Garage Bands

untrained musicians with raw sound, simpler songs, The Kingsman, The Monkees

The Kingsmen

“Louie Louie”

“Louie Louie”

Indecipherable lyrics – big controversy – FBI even investigated

The Monkees

Producers put together fictional band for a TV show, based on Beatles

Folk Rock

Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, Carole King, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan Goes Electric – played folk music in rock style, Newport Folk Festival 1965, Got booed by crowd

The Byrds

Close harmonies, 12-string guitar

Mr. Tambourine Man

First folk-rock hit, by The Byrds

Buffalo Springfield

wrote song For What It’s Worth, Demonstration/riot on Sunset Strip about curfew

For What It’s Worth

by Buffalo Springfield, anthem of the protest movement

Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young

Trademark vocal harmonies

Ohio

Protest song about Kent University Shootings

Kent University Shootings

A tragic event on May 4, 1970, where four students were killed by the National Guard during a protest against the Vietnam War, sparking national outrage.

Carole King

Tapestry (album)

Paul Simon

recorded with South African musicians on album Graceland

Joni Mitchell

vulnerable lyrics, social issues

Woodstock Festival

Outdoor 3 day music festival, August 1969, Dozens of big name performers, 400,000 in attendance, Celebration of counterculture and ideals

Beat Poets

In the late 1950s, protested against oppressive American society, Example: Allen Ginsberg, Improvisatory-sounding poetry, often performed with jazz musicians, Influenced psychedelia movement

Psychedelia

1967 Summer of Love - Breakthrough of psychedelic music and culture, quest for higher consciousness, drugs (especially LSD) played a central role, centered in San Francisco

Psychedelia Characteristics

Surreal lyrics – references to drugs, extended improvisations (jams), “exotic” instrument use like sitar, studio effects

The Grateful Dead

Extended free-form songs, improvisations – “jam band”, not commercial music – too long for radio, successful touring group

Jefferson Airplane

song: White Rabbit

White Rabbit

by Jefferson Airplane, based on Alice in Wonderland, references to drug culture

Janis Joplin

Influenced by Bessie Smith and Big Mama Thornton, Dramatic, throaty singing, brash persona

The Doors

Blues-based psychedelic music, influenced by Beat poetry, Jim Morrison (Poet/singer) and Ray Manzarek (keyboards), Dark lyrics (unlike other psychedelic bands), Overt references to sex and drugs

Jimi Hendrix Experience

One of the greatest guitar players of all time, Performed a protest statement version of the Star-Spangled Banner at Woodstock

Country Rock

Country instrumentation, lyrics often tell story

The Eagles

Country rock

Southern Rock

Aggressive, “macho,” proud style, incorporates both country and urban blues, marketed with stereotypical images of the South

Allman Brothers Band

Southern Rock, 2 lead guitars

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Southern rock, named themselves after high school teacher, 3 lead guitars, music about pride in the South

Hard rock/Heavy metal

Loud, powerful aggressive styles, distortion and feedback, power chords, guitar/bass riffs

British Heavy Metal

Bass riff often basic structural element: Repeated melody in bass, often evil, death, anti-religious themes and names

Led Zeppelin

Bass riffs, blues covers, sexual themes in lyrics, techniques influenced other heavy metal bands: new guitar sounds like violin bow on guitar, vocals: screeches and moans

Stairway to Heaven

Song by Led Zepplin

Black Sabbath

Ozzy Osbourne

Paranoid

Song by Black Sabbath, heavy sound with pounding bass and drum

Judas Priest

Faced lawsuits over alleged evil subliminal messages in their music

AC/DC

Australian “high voltage” heavy metal group, themes of sex and violence, one of the biggest selling bands in US ever

Back in Black

Album/song by AC/DC

British Heavy Metal Bands

Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest

American Heavy Metal

Van Halen

Van Halen

Brothers Eddie and Alex Van Halen formed group, EVH used classical guitar techniques; virtuoso on electric guitar, singers David Lee Roth/Sammy Hagar – switched singers at various points in the band

GLAM METAL/GLITTER ROCK

Focus on theatrics, production, stage show, androgyny, costume makeup, lyrics not as dark as other heavy metal music

GLAM METAL/GLITTER ROCK

Kiss, David Bowie, Queen

Kiss

Elaborate makeup/costumes with humorous personas – comic book characters

Rock and Roll All Night

Song by Kiss

David Bowie

Background in art; made up theatrical characters, wide range of styles over his career; could reinvent himself

Space Oddity 1969

Song by David Bowie, character of astronaut Major Tom, 1969

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

Concept album by David Bowie, based around androgynous rock star character who comes to Earth, 1972

Queen

Singer Freddie Mercury, theatrical drama in their music, hard rock, with 4-part harmony

Bohemian Rhapsody

Mock operetta by Queen

Progressive Rock

Bands using classical instruments/techniques, music based on classical forms/pieces

Progressive Rock

Electric Light Orchestra, Jethro Tull, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Pink Floyd

Electric Light Orchestra

“Rock Orchestra” – violin/cello players were members of the band

Jethro Tull

Flutist Ian Anderson – extended flute techniques, classical musical forms

Emerson, Lake and Palmer

Made classical pieces into rock songs

Pink Floyd

Avante-garde techniques, themes of abandonment and isolation

The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall

2 albums by Pink Floyd, two of the best-selling albums of all time

Ska

Folk music with rhythm and blues, brass and saxophone, “hesitation beat” = offbeats

Reggae

Amplified instruments, strong bass line, rhythm had different subdivisions, themes of social injustice and poverty; Rastafarian beliefs

Bob Marley and the Wailers

Leader of reggae, activist for peace and against social injustice

Punk Rock

Rebellious: raw anger, controversy in lyrics (criticized society, advocated for radical change), social and economic disillusionment; alienation, simple harmonies/melodies, powerful and aggressive

Punk Fashion

Leather jackets, homemade patches, safety pins, ripped clothing, spiked, colored hair

Punk Rock

The Velvet Underground, The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, The Clash

The Velvet Underground

Influenced by pop artist Andy Warhol, dark, unusual themes – tough urban life, drugs, prostitution, sexual subculture

CBGB

Nightclub in NYC, became center of punk scene and later, launched new wave bands

The Ramones

Simple, fast, high-energy, more upbeat than other punk, helped launch punk in UK, became successful US a bit later, members not actually related; the last name Ramone was a stage name

The Sex Pistols

British group, terrible reputation for trouble and violence at concerts, Johnny Rotten (singer), Sid Vicious (bass)

Anarchy in the U.K., God Save the Queen

2 songs by The Sex Pistols

The Clash

Incorporated many genres into their sound, wrote lyrics critiquing politics, racism, social inequality, and working-class struggles

New Wave

Blondie, Talking Heads

Blondie

Performed at CBGB, Debbie Harry, lead singer, very differing songs – many different genres

Talking Heads

Performed at CBGB, pioneers of new wave music, intellectual, nonconformist

Once in a Lifetime

Song by Talking Heads

Funk

Grew out of 60s soul music, uses polyrhythms - interlocking “groove” in instruments, prominent bass line

Funk

James Brown, George Clinton

James Brown

Helped develop funk from soul music as early as the mid-60s

Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag

Song by James Brown

George Clinton

Elaborate stage shows, costumes, two groups: Parliament – commercial, Funkadelic – more experimental

Disco

Also grew out of 60s soul music, roots in gay community, for dancing; not sophisticated

Disco

The Bee Gees, Donna Summer

The Bee Gees

British trio - the Gibb brothers, close harmonies, falsetto

Stayin’ Alive

Song by The Bee Gees

Donna Summer

Queen of disco

Bad Girls

Concept album 1979