FINAL

Question 1

what genres were favoured by white, middle class, college educated listeners in the 70s?

Answer 1

singer songwriter, art rock, psychedelic rock, prog rock

Question 2

what genres were favoured by white, younger, middle-working class listeners in the 70s

Answer 2

heavy metal and hard rock

Question 3

how did soul evolve into the early 70s?

Answer 3

soul diverged into…
- “hard” funk
- commercial “smooth” soul sub-styles

Question 4

what was the influence of the high art aesthetic on 70s genres?

Answer 4

• genres either embraced the artiness and became coded as intellectual/challenging/complex
• or, they negated it and appealed as simple/authentic/”roots” rock

Question 5

what is progressive rock? what are its defining traits?

Answer 5

• emerged out of countercultural movement
• long, complex forms with contrasting sections, emphasis on concept albums
• heavy emphasis on guitar virtuosity
• eg. Pink Floyd, Genesis, Yes, etc.

Question 6

what are the main differences between soul and funk, in terms of their genre label connotations?

Answer 6

• soul is spiritual, transcendent, focuses on the form or melody
• funk is down to earth, danceable, taking Black music to its roots, focuses on the rhythm

Question 7

what musical characteristics did James Brown pioneer in the funk genre?

Answer 7

• repetitive open vamps (improvisations over repeated sections)
• emphasis on rhythm, groove, beat
• vocal exultations/howls (inspired by little richard)
• re-introduction of jazz horns
• call and response
• often associated with popularizing the live album

Question 8

why was Sly and the Family Stone particularly influential in the counterculture setting?

Answer 8

• interracial group that played at woodstock
• filled the racial gap that had emerged in the counterculture movement; “satisfied a particular need in white counterculture”
• politically conscious, proponents of the Black Power movement

Question 9

what technique that became a funk signifier was invented by Sly and the Family Stone?

Answer 9

slapping the bass

Question 10

who popularized the “greatest hits” album?

Answer 10

Earth Wind and Fire

Question 11

what attitudes prompted the emergence of hard rock?

Answer 11

rebelling against the pretentiousness of high art progressive rock; themes of anti-progress, anti-virtuosity, and a “back to basics” attitude

Question 12

hard rock was most popular with what audience?

Answer 12

white, younger, middle-working class audiences

Question 13

in the early 70s, what were the main differences between heavy metal and hard rock?

Answer 13

• at the time, the two labels were used pretty much interchangeably
• retrospectively, bands that we now consider heavy metal (Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath) placed more emphasis on guitar virtuosity and satanic imagery

Question 14

what are the main characteristics of glam rock?

Answer 14

• androgynous male stylization, make-up, glamour, glitter
• theatrical performance culture (eg. Ziggy Stardust)
• mostly a UK phenomenon
• heavy guitars, flamboyant vocal intonations

Question 15

what is power rock?

Answer 15

• American bands who took the loud powerful electric guitar-driven hard rock sound and placed it within the context of pop songs with catchy hooks and melodies
• power ballads, melodramatic, importing sentimental themes from singer-songwriter genre

Question 16

what was the paradox of disco?

Answer 16

• inclusivity vs exclusivity:
• the genre was birthed as a radical inclusive genre centred around marginalized communities (popular with working class, gay and Black communities, emphasis on liberal sexual freedom)
• as it became more mainstream and commercial it lost track of its roots (popular with elite society, conservative values)

Question 17

what was “Disco Sucks”? what were the broader implications?

Answer 17

• half time event held at baseball stadium in which attendees could bring their disco records to smash and burn
• turned into a riot
• represented the social and musical tension playing out between rock and disco fans in the late 70s, with undertones of racism and homophobia

Question 18

following the disco sucks movement, how did record companies start to market disco music?

Answer 18

advertised as “dance music” to avoid the increasingly negative connotations of the disco label

Question 19

what are the main lyrical theme(s) of reggae music?

Answer 19

somewhat nationalistic; emphasis on Jamaican freedom/independence

Question 20

what is ska? what are its defining characteristics?

Answer 20

• combined mento and calypso rhythm
• walking bass line
• off beat rhythms
• featured horns and up-beat tempos
• usually featured celebratory themes, following Jamaica’s 1962 independence from the UK
• precursor to reggae

Question 21

what was the first non-western genre to become a mainstream genre in the US?

Answer 21

ska (one of the predecessors to reggae)

Question 22

what is rocksteady? what are its defining characteristics?

Answer 22

• a development of the ska genre
• slower tempos, more off-beat accents and rhythms, more emphasis on bass, muted guitar, doubling bass line
• associated with soundsystem culture

Question 23

what is soundsystem culture?

Answer 23

• a culture of playing American R&B in communal spaces via loudspeakers in Jamaica
• emphasis on having heavy deep bass
• served as a through-line from reggae to hip hop
• associated with the popularity of the rocksteady genre and dub-culture

Question 24

how did reggae differ from its predecessors (ska and rocksteady)?

Answer 24

• slower tempo
• low tuned drums

Question 25

why did Bob Marley appeal to US audiences?

Answer 25

• songs had political themes that resonated across borders
• global symbol of freedom
• reggae was new and appealing genre
• he had a stage presence and musical purpose that was reminiscent of American rock stars like Dylan and Jagger

Question 26

what is 2-tone? what was its importance and origins?

Answer 26

• a British take on ska, centred in Coventry in the midlands
• resonated with white working class and west-Indian immigrant populations
• originated from the Windrush generation, in which half a million Caribbean immigrants were invited to come to the UK between 1945 and 1965 in an effort to restore the UK economy following WW2 (they brought reggae and soundsystem culture with them)
• promoted racial unity at a time of racial tension in the UK