Lecture 7 - Pop, Singer-songwriters, Disco, and Rock (1970s) Flashcards
What events took place in the 1960’s
- Civil rights movement
- race riots
- Vietnam War
- Assassination of president Kennedy, Martin Luther king and Watergate
What happened to Music tastes in the 60’s
Music tastes shifted in response to the shared experiences people had gone through
- There was less of an appetite for new experimental, popular music
- people were more interested in “musical comfort food” (more conservative, traditional tastes)
What media was idealized as representations of America in the 50’s?
Happy days (TV Show), Grease (musical), American Graffiti (film)
What is Happy Days?
-One of the most popular sitcoms
-Idealized the 1950s white middle-class American family
-Put music front and center
What musical components are portrayed in the opening of Happy Days
- A vinyl playing a role in framing the main title sequence
- jukeboxes
What were the two main American Music Markets?
- New generation of teens born in the late 50s and early 60s : interested in POP
- Adults (aged 25-40) : grown up with rock ‘n’ roll and were looking for something more mature
What were other audiences mourning?
The end of an era
- deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison
- their lives ended too early and their music had a big impact on the people listening but also other musicans
During lockdowns and other traumas in what way did people use music as a coping mechanism?
- more people listened to music of the past
-more current artists were releasing covers of familiar songs
-more social media posts featuring older music
What 70s song posted on TikTok went viral and brought the song back to the top 20s?
“Dreams” - Fleetwood Mac (1977)
- went viral when a man was skateboarding while lip-syncing it
What trends were occurring with major labels?
Columbia/CBS, Capitol-EMI, United Artists-MGM:
- emerged in the 70s and created less space for indies
-hard for industry to move forward when there are no indies producing some innovation
On which artist’s shoulders were the music industry precariously balanced on?
Paul McCartney, Elton John, Stevie Wonder
the fear of those in the industry was if something were to happen to these people (change their mind, change their direction) the industry can bottom out financially
as of 1973: $2 billion
as of 1978: $4 billion
What was a change in distribution in the 70s?
Majority of listeners consumed popular music on vinyl
In the 70s cassette tapes were starting to be used
(cassettes took over in the second half of the 80s)
What trends were seen with the Radio ?
AM offers little choice: favouring Top 40 hits, new artists find it hard to find a breakthrough
FM radio becomes preferred medium for hard rock
Why was FM radio favoured for hard rock?
- High-fidelity stereo broadcasting
-increase and surpass AM stations
What 7 sub-genres of popular music were heard on radio and in music stores?
Pop rock
Adult contemporary
Singer-songwriters
Soft soul
Country pop
Bubblegum Pop
Disco
What is pop rock?
Upbeat variety of music
umbrella term that came to represent many different post-WWII sounds and styles
associated with young, white male audiences and musicians
EX: Elton John, Rod Stewart
What is Adult Contemporary
An extention of the old crooner tradition
EX: Barbara Streisand , Roberta Flack, the Carpenters
What is/are Singer-songwriters?
A cross between folk and pop
-musicians who wrote and performed their own music (bridged the gap between folk and pop)
EX: Carole King, Joni Mitchell
What is soft soul?
A slick variety of R &B; smooth romantic style
- it’s roots in Motown
EX: O’Jays, Barry White
What is Country Pop?
Soft rock mixed with country
EX: Kenny Rogers
What is Bubblegum pop?
Cheerful songs aimed at a young audience
EX: Jackson Five
What is disco?
New form of dance music with elaborate studio production and recurring beat
genre for dance and movement
EX: Donna Summer, the Village people, Bee Gees
What was Stevie Wonder considered as? He was an example of what?
- considered a musical progidy
- an example of Pop and Mowtown pop from the 70s
What did Stevie Wonder experiment with?
- wide variety of sounds and timbres
- ESPECIALLY synthesizers
- specifically an instrument called the clavinet
What is Stevie Wonder’s first musical hit
“Fingertips” at the age of 13
“Superstition” was written by who? Who was the music produced by? What did the hook consist of? What is there a reprise of and what does the hook bring back in?
written by Stevie Wonder
Music was produced by wonder (playing most of the instruments)
- Hook consisted of repeated syncopated riff that grabs our attention
Reprise of the intro where the hook comes back to bring back another verse or chorus
What is a riff?
a short repetitive musical patter (often used as an introduction to a song or an accompaniment )over an unchanging chord
What is a Clavinet
electric keyboard that recreates the sound of the clavichord (an instrument that dates back to the renaissance )
“Living for the City” was written by who? Produced by who? In what fashion does it tell a story? What do the first 2 A sections have?
Written by Wonder
Music was produced by Wonder
- tells a story in narrative fashion like a ballad
- first two A sections has riff then a bit of instrumental interlude
What story does “Living for the City” tell?
A tragic story about a young black man’s struggle
a way to comment on race relations and compassion
What form was “Living for the City”?
the 7 minute song is in Compound AABA
What makes “Living for the City” Compound form?
One of the sections has its own form as well
Who is Marvin Gaye?
- Motown pop exmaple
- Motown’s top selling male vocal star
What’s Marvin Gaye’s best selling album; what is it about?
“What’s Going On”
-social justice
-the planet
-the welfare of children
-suffering of the poor