Popular Music Flashcards
What are the two famous rock festivals?
Monterey Pop Festival
Woodstock Festival
What are rock festivals seen as?
Cultural events instead of just rock concerts. They proved that rock had a massive audience and could draw huge crowds
What are the social changes in the 1970s?
- Vietnam war winding down, move away from counterculture
- Oil crisis resulting in shortage of records driving smaller labels out of business
- Watergate fuels the cynicism about government
Consolidation of music business
- 80% of record sales by six major labels
- AM & FM radio formats - AM is pop singles and top 40s, dictated by sales. FM is superior as far as fidelity but was not used for pop music until the early 1970s. FM had stereo sound whereas AM had mono
- Album Oriented Rock (AOR)
What is Album Oriented Rock (AOR)?
Hits being released on a record as a complete set that work together, usually 40 minutes of music
Punk
Reaction to stadium rock; deliberately non musical and garage band style.
What is the cultural style of punk
Rebellion against middle class values and authority. A lot of anarchy and angst without answers. It had its own fashion with torn, ripped leather and studded spikes
CBGB
Everything was centered around this club in New York. It had the talking heads, the Ramones, etc. it was a funky, iconic place for bands to perform
The Ramones
Wore black and had bowl shaped haircuts. Four working class kids and their songs had catchy hooks and were very fast-paced. Maximum length of songs is 2 minutes and had funny song titles
Reggae
Prominent in the 70s, originated in Kingston, Jamaica
Rastafarianism
Religion that emerged out of “back to Africa” movement. The Ethiopian king was seen as the second Christ. Colors are yellow, red, green and they wear their hair in dreads. This is associated with reggae
Bob Marley and the Wailers
Included Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Livingston
The Talking Heads
The members had all been college students together except Jerry. The members include Tina Weymouth, Chris Franz, David Byrne, and Jerry Harrison. They were nerdy and intellectual
MTV
Big influence on TV, they played music videos featuring pop stars
What are blockbuster records?
Multimillion selling albums of the 1980s
Who is Michael Jackson?
His album thriller and single Billie Jean forced MTV to play him. Michael came in through Motown with the Jackson 5. Striking visuals and dancing
Thriller
Mediates the divide between different music styles (between black and white). He mixes styles together and was so revolutionary
Who is Bruce Springsteen?
He had the idea of sincerity, he sang about something he lived through. Combined rebellion 50s rocker but married it with socially conscious ideas of folk rock.
What is alternative rock
Beginning of the 90s, alternative becomes mainstream. Ex: Nirvana
Nirvana
Famous alternative band with leader Kurt Cobain. Had a hit “smells like teen spirit”
Who is Jimi Hendrix?
Greatest rock guitarist ever who is still influential to this day
