Final Exam Flashcards
How was heavy metal termed?
retroactively
Where did heavy metal emerge from?
1960s England - emerged from London Blues Scene
what genre are recurring riffs and where did it come from?
- heavy metal took blues and riff based London blues scene - on steroids
What is the main value of heavy metal? and how is it conveyed?
power
- extreme volume
what is the primary instrument used in heavy metal?
electric guitar - rivalled lead singer as focal point
What are guitar gods?
- centering on electric guitar
- developed virtuosic and loud styles of playing (to fill large stadiums)
- amplification for electric guitar - guitar distortion
- players normally classically trained - virtuosity
what did the electric guitar symbolize?
sex ;)
What is Pete Townshed famous for and symbolize?
smashing guitar - symbolized violence (gun)
How did vocalists in heavy metal sing?
loud screaming style (distortion of voice)
what is distortion?
metaphor for going too far/over the line
Yardbirds
- originate location
- members
- from London blues scene
- Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton etc.
Jimmy Paige
founding member of Led Zeppelin
- one of the founders of heavy metal/hard rock
Members of Led Zeppelin (4)
Jimmy Paige, Robert Plant, John Bonham, John Paul Jones
Led Zeppelin name suggest by?
Keith from the Who
Master of the riff
Jimmy Paige
“Black Dog/Rock and Roll” musical aspects
- Led Zeppelin
riff, powerful sound/images, large base drum
“When the leaves break” characteristics
Led Zeppelin
- revolutionized drumbeat, used studio to develop sounds of power
who did heavy metal appeal to?
working class, white adolescents who were feeling powerless
“A Whole Lot of Love”
- band
- characteristics
- meaning
- Led Zeppelin
- covered man songs
- faced charge of plagiarism for this song
- insistent riff used to get across insistent projection of male sexuality
- electric guitar reflected great power
- psychedelic drum section/ weird guitar/percussion effects
- orgasmic moaning/screaming and violent sounds (accused of suggesting sexual violence)
What bad thing did Jimmy Paige do?
kept a young 14 year old ‘groupie’ locked in apartment as sex slave
flying orgy plane
explored the occult-dark, evil magic
Black Sabbath as a band
- originates
- singer
- album cover
- named after
- Birmingham - diary, industrial town
- Ozzy Osborne (singer)
- Tony Iommi (guitarist) - sliced off 2 fingertips - gave hand heavier sound - developed uniques sound
- art sets tone - witch holding a black cat, old gloomy grey sky, creepy house
named after horror movies
“Black Sabbath” song
- storm sounds, tolling of a bell, ominousness
- riff based song
- middle interval sounds like a siren (Tritone)
- sound suggestive of evil
- about being the chosen one by satan - steeped in darkness
tritone
diabolos in musica = devil in music
“Iron Man”
- Black Sabbath
- suggestive of power, iron = strong
- based on movie/book about man who travels to earth to warn other, goes through magnetic field and turns into iron man, nobody believes him so he brings forth the prophecy himself
- riff based song
- minor 2nd = ‘doom’ interval - like Jaws
tritone
Minor 2nd
‘doom’ interval - like Jaws
Deep Purple originated from
English band
“Highway Star”
- car theme - speed, excitement, power, notion of freedom
- parallel between a car and women - describe her features (objectifying) - power over everything including women
- baroque virtuosity - studied Baroque classical music techniques
Glam Rock/ Glitter Rock
- embrace theatricality - put taboos right in your face on stage (makeup, cross dressing, displaying ‘bulges’ prominently
- more elaborate, invented characters for performances (reinvented themselves)
- desperation to escape boredom of everyday, suburban life
- exploring anxieties of the day - gender issues, homosexuality, etc.
What did London, NY, and Detroit have in common in the early 70s?
economic hardship
white flight
white people moved from city to suburbs (boredom in suburbs)
What do Marc Bolan and David Bowie have in common??
London suburbs and hated living there, tried to stand out
pretty boys
1969 Stonewall Inn
- bar routinely raided by police b/c it was a homeosexual hang out
- during 1969, they fought back, birth of gay rights movement
Marc Boland
- started what band
- famous characteristics
- founded the band T.Rex
- carrier took off b/c of Chelita Secunda - took him shopping and remakes his image (decks him in latest women’s fashion - put on makeup)
- sexuality unclear - clearly crossed conventional lines of masculinity
“Bang a Gong (Get it on)”
T.Rex
- changed name to bang a gong as thought it was too suggestive for air play
- glam tries to tap into notion if sleazy sexuality
- explore other worlds - streets of sleaze and outer space - create alternative universes to escape boredom of suburban living
David Bowie
- original name?
- wife’s name
- what did he become
- David Jones
- Angela Bowie (gave him a makeover)
- made him into a glam star - used to be folk singer/ singer-song writer (music flopped)
“Space Odyssey”
- David Bowie
- minor hit - about big thing of the day (the moon landing)
- space exploration idea coming around
David Bowie meets Andy Warhol description and influence
- meets Andy Warhol (provocative artist) - went to the factory
- influenced by provocative theatricality - considered taboo to everyday folks
Wayne/Jayne Country
avant-gard art created to make others uncomfortable (theatre group)
Ziggy Stardust
- David Bowie’s persona
- alien being - seductive (beautiful)
What is David Bowie the first to do? + expand that influence
- first rock star to state that he was bisexual
- took society through an exploration of what it means to be male
- let others live ‘larger than life existence’ vicariously
“Life on Mars”
- David Bowie
- riff that borrows rocket theme from classic music - ascending interval, flurry of notes at top (explosion like)
- played by Mark Ronson
- light vulnerable
sex =
biological
gender =
performative/social
Where does Glam rock start and spread to?
England then US
Lou Reed
- grows up in New York - homosexual - parents tried to treat him of his homosexuality
- falls in love with New York underground scene - meets Andy Warhol and group
“Walk on the Wild Side”
- Lou Reed
- about people he met in NYC
- Holly came from Florida and presented self as female in NY)
- banded from many radio studios as promoted taboos
- tour guide for introducing to different underground world - like what was seen on NYC streets
- reference to cliche of black backup singer - in this song, they provide the hook to song but backup the singer - mistreatment of black culture - put at forefront of song, thrown in your face
- fretless bass
fretless bass
can slide between notes (obscures boundaries between notes)
Alice Cooper
- from
- real name
- fathers occupation + influence on Alice
- influence on gender
- borrows from what types of movies
- Detroit - glam rock
- Vincet
- father was a preacher - was bored of suburban life so reinvented self as Alice Cooper
- put on gender, it is a construction that you perform
- shock people into buying records and rethinking things
- borrows many elements from horror movies (bought guillotine to concerts and ‘cuts off heads’, has song about necrophilia
“Hello, Hooray”
- Alice Cooper - glam rock
- invites audience into his theatrical world
- comes out after series of mass murders in US- many movies coming out at the time with horror themes
Kiss
- from
- influence
- members and known for
- NYC - glam rock
- elaborate stage outfits and makeup each created their own identity for themselves
- Gene Simons - dragon, spit fire, and blood
- Ace Freely - outer space alien
- Paul Stanley - star child lover, endogenous identity
- Peter Crisp - the cat man
“God of Thunder”
- Kiss
- cross over with heavy metal - powerful
- tapping into Greek mythology (Gods), inviting us to inhabit world of gods
- leave boring life and live in fantasy world
- power and element of horror
Jamica (1655 - 1962) after colonialism
- Europeans killed most on indigenous population and imported slaves from Africa
- plantation economies
- when left established economy based on slave labor, left turmoil-extracted natural resources, exploited human resources, when political unattainable to maintain ties with Jamaica left a mess
- widespread poverty and slums known as ‘shantytowns’
- subcultures of young people who want a better life - turn to protest (musical genre is part of protest)
- rude boys
rude boys
- Jamaica
- rebellious, apposed to establishment, unlawful, rowdy protester
- adopt and embrace name
- subculture with stylistic fashion, revolve around ska and reggae
Mento
Jamaican folk music, specifically protest music (influenced ska)
- subtle messages so avoided wrath of authorities
Calypso music
loping baselines
Ska
- Jamaica
- American rhythm and blues
- radios introduced Jamaicans to rhythm and blues
Explain DJs in Jamaica
- centre of rude boy culture
- throw sound system parties - import records from US and play at parties (have PA and play records)
- toasting
- biggest sound system would have the best party and make them money
- sound system play American records, DJ toasting them over it
- roots of hip hop come out of Jamaican sound system party
- dubbing
- drive trucks and throw parties, rude boys take on aspect of African subculture protest (embrace badness as goodness)
- bands replace records and play for DJ to sing over
- skanking
- skank guitar
toasting
while recording playing the DJ would toast people, brag about own excellence and sound system
dubbing
record used and vocals removed, new vocals ‘dubbed’ over
DJ cool Herc
one of the first to throw sound system party in the Bronx
Skanking
- dance style embraced by rude boy culture
- jagged elbows and bent knees (violence) - cultivated the mosh pit
skank guitar
- closely related to scratch guitar
- played in percussive way, rhythmic aspects for grounded over harmonic capabilities
- emphasizes the upbeats, pause on downbeat
- base nails ‘the one’
Musical elements of Ska
- percussive timber - designed to sound like Timbale
- antiestablishment lyrics (applies to reggae)
- influenced by African American rhythm and blues - horn sections important (also apply to reggae)
- 2 tone records - reduce everything to black and white, and blend in appealing ways, fight racism with a pleasing blend
“007 (Shanty Town)”
- Desmond Dekker
- how much influence British culture had (James Bond well known in Jamaica)
- 007 - license to kill
- 2 interpretations
1. rude boy living under oppressive system - license to act violently in defiance of laws
2. suggest authorities are walking around with this mindset - timbale style hit
- ocean eleven - reference to British culture
“The Israelites”
- makes reference to biblical story that deals with freedom of slaves
- suggest oppression continues even after slavery ends and colonialism ends
- legacy of history is impactful
1972 - movies The Harder They Come - starring Jimmy Cliff
- international hit
- take ska music and give international audience
Brixton and Notting Hill
- Notting Hill - carnival celebration
- immigrants continue Jamaican carnival traditions
- large Jamaican turnout and white working class folks in poor neighbourhoods where they mixed
- 1958 - police harassed celebrators - violence issued
- 1976 - celebration tarnished by police harassment and violence (repression from police who used excessive brutality)
- white immigration protestors would show up at carnival
Joe Strummer
- white ska fan
- influenced by ska, borrowed from each other
The Specials
- mixed race group, white and black working - class folks from mixed (non-white) neighbourhoods
- sign with 2 tone records - specialized in ska and reggae
- use as platform for racial harmony
- highlight black and whiteness in a cool way
“A Message to you Rudy”
- The Specials
- originally by Jamaican artists - Dandy Livingstone
- rude boys need to behave or end up in jail - deliver with ironic tone (inhabit voice of authority telling themselves to shape up) - but these people felt like had no future
- timable, off beats, skank actions
- feels like party music, yet very political - dancing and fun in itself is political (have good time in their face in spite of everything)
Bob Marley
- mixed race (father white British military man that left mother when he was young)
- grew up in shantytown - Kingston
- joined group - the Wailers - Bob Marley and the Wailers
- name suggests agony and protest
- devotion to Rastafarianism
Rastafarianism
- religious movement that claims that Hallie Selassie/Ras Tafari (king of Ethiopia) was prophet
- thought was legitimate prophet to Judaeo-Christian Bible
- involved ritual smoking of cannabis (ganja), not cut or wash hair (dreadlocks)
reggae music =
music of the emperor
Album Burning
- Bob Marley and the Wailers
- suggest urban violence (riots and protests)
“Get up, Stand Up”
- Bob Marley and the Wailers
- political
- project sense of African roots/ Afrocentric vision
- timbale
“I Shot the Sheriff”
- Bob Marley’s first international hit
- addressing phenomenon well known to residents of shantytown - people of color being wrongly accused
- claimed he killed someone in self defence, while denying what was accused of
- became a hit in part as was covered by well known English musician = Eric Clapton (successful solo career, started as blues guitar player, fell in love with African American Blues music)
“Buffalo Soldier”
- Bob Marley and the Wailers
- what the 1st African American soldiers in US were called - segregated from whites
- sent African American soldiers to do battle to kill American Indians during war
- simple but catchy melodic reframes - inclusivity, party atmosphere and political statement
“Redemption Song”
- just Bob Marley
- music as means of survival even when you have nothing
- dropped sounds associated with ska and reggae - just him and his guitar (focus on lyrics/message)
- use incorrect grammar - refuse to speak English properly and remake it (disobey rules)
- chorus - political struggles of African Americans
Eric Clapton
- one of the greatest blues guitarists of all time
- covered Bob Marley’s “I shot the sheriff” - was his first #1 hit
- put Bob Marley on international map
- political statement = praising Enoch Powell (racist politician) and went on racist rant - has since apologized
Chris Blackwell
- grew up in Jamaica, family of British colonization descent
- had money - started Island Records
World Music
- reggae one of the first
- Americans seek out music of others (3rd world cultures), way for westerners to vicariously experience aspects of life they feel they are denied in their civilized world
Paul Simon
- Graceland Album (1986) - one of the most successful album globally
- recorded in South Africa - had to break international boycott (b/c of apartheid regime - legally enforced/required segregation) - controversial at time
- breaks South African boycott records albums with South African musicians
- used black musicians there to make a record - most successful records of the 80s
- praised for paying black musicians double union wage
- album brought South African musicians to attention of large audience
- worked with ‘Ladysmith Black Mambazo’
- criticized as didn’t give a lot of credit/royalties to South African musicians (some songs he shared credits but arguabley should have given royalties to all for creating sounds)
- by breaking boycott, participating in apartide - had to stay in white hotels and eat at white restaurants - gave white propaganda a good name
- album avoids any political issues
“You can call me Al”
- Paul Simon
- performing black music in a way to treat it with little respect or sympathy
- reinforce system of colonialism, powerful white countries went into preindustrial coloured countries and extracted resources and exploited people
“Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes”
- Paul Simon
- gave co-writing credit for introduction
- see south African’s performing, still sense of exploitation of landscape and culture
the album ‘Graceland
- Paul Simon’s album
- based off of Elvis’s house
Disco
- originates
- how did record labels cater to DJs and dancers
- who was at the centre of this culture
- comes out of dance culture, designed for dancing
- record labels catered to DJs and dancers by making extended versions of songs
- dancers and DJs influence how records are produced - problem for classic rock musician
- DJ at centre of disco culture - central figure - reasons why massive backlash by rock defenders (music should be about musicians bot DJs)
- disco developed within subcultures (first NYC), by black, Latino, and gay people were main audience in early days before becoming mainstream
Discotheque
- term for Venuses where go to listen to DJs play records
- was a safe space for these people - gay rights at the time were non-existent
Gamble and Huff
- who are they + characteristics
- what did they establish
- what did they create
- producers and songwriters - wanted to apply Motown strategy to funk music
- established Philadelphia International Records
- created Philly Soul
what is Philly Soul?
- basis of Motown and Stax, funk influence, but in sophisticated sound that could cross over from mainstream success (funk wasn’t crossing over as too black)
House band of Philadelphia International Records + description of musical elements + their message
- MFSB (mother, father, sister, brother)
- create hallmarks of disco style
- so much so that actually overused - all records in the late 70s had the same elements
- project sense of rhythm that doesn’t leave anyone behind - can dance to it even if you have little experience with AA music - anyone can find the beat
- four on the floor bass drum
- disco high hats
- accretion
- lush orchestra (disco strings)
- maintained message of black empowerment and social uplift
- believed in emphasis on family, love, and assimilation is what would work (family values) - path for social advancement
- dance music as unifying element - discotheque is safe space for people of all backgrounds (love and community)
- label printed message on album “Love, Family, Unity”
Four - on - the - Floor Bass Drum
- in 4/4 time, 4 beats per measure
Disco high hats
- symbols that drummer operates with foot
accretion
process of layering
lush orchestration (disco strings)
make sound refined and cultivated
“TSOP”
- by who
- message
- musical elements
- True Sound of Philadelphia
- MFSB
- Philadelphia - city of brotherly love, chocolate city, city pride
- Philly soul - African American population committed to love and unity (got message across through song and dance)
- message of unity
- Latin American percussion instruments - embrace non-white cultures
- persistent beat
O’ Jays
- recorded with MSFB - provided music in the background
“Love Train”
- musical elements
- main message
- O’Jays
- four on the floor
- not constant disco high hat but still there
- disco strings - suggests intensity of dancing (sweaty bodies moving on dance floor)
- transcendence
transcendence
being above it all - in a safe space as a unified whole
“I Love Music”
- by
- message
- sense of what?
- O’Jays
- four on the floor
- disco high hats
- talks about pleasure of music, dancing, romance
- celebrating, partying, being together
- sense of hedonism
Studio 54
- where
- targeted population
- New York
- elite folks, sex, wine, dancing topless, cocaine on rise
Disco Diva
- iconic figure for members of original disco subculture
- no demographic treated worse than African American women
- represents model for triumph over hardships
disco deva
- someone who comes from this (oppression?) but triumphs anyways
Gloria Gaynor
- African American women who becomes disco star
“I Will Survive”
- by
- message
- Gloria Gaynor
- anthem for overcoming - about breakup but metaphorically about overcoming any hardship
- provides feel good felling of discotheque
- released for radio - so do not hear Philly soul
- establishes her as international star, model of disco diva
Donna Summer
- in production of “Hair”, introduced to music producer Giorgio Moroder (together forge sound = eurodisco sound)
- eurodisco
- elegance and sophisticated
- marketed to whiter audience - projected images of sexuality onto disco stars (she was uncomfortable with this as she was a devoted Christian)`
“Love to Love you Baby”
- by
- musical elements
- Donna Summer
- mot a lot of content to lyrics
- several versions - radio, 8 min for discotheque, 5 min for album, originally 17 minutes long
- scratch guitar
- high hats
- synthesized version of disco strings
The Bees Gees
- where are they from
- producer name
- what movie + description
- brother group from Australia - in vein of Beatles to start
- Robert Stigwood (producer) - saw disco craze coming and reinvented them into disco group
- got them into a movie “Saturday Night Fever” - traces life of white New Yorker who loves disco (gives him his identify - king when gets onto disco floor)
- brought disco into mainstream, that disco is good with straight white people
- Barry Gibb - falsetto - “Staying Alive”
Village People
- producer
- what did the producer want to do as a message
- Jacques Morali - record producer - loved Philly soul - worked at PIR - hangs out at Studio 54 - impressed by subculture (gay masculinity on dance floor)
- wanted to form band - put ad in Greenwich village saying, “Macho types wanted, must dance and have a moustache” (associated with gay masculinity
“YMCA”
- band
- target population
- projection of?
- Village People
- originally a place for people to go for working class men to hangout - develops into safe space for gay men to congregate - maintstream America didn’t know this
projection of explicitly gay masculinity
“In the Navy”
- band
- irony
- Village people
- Us navy loved song and used as promotion - in exchange they filmed the song on the Navy ship
