Popular Music

Question 1

What are the two famous rock festivals?

Answer 1

Monterey Pop Festival

Woodstock Festival

Question 2

What are rock festivals seen as?

Answer 2

Cultural events instead of just rock concerts. They proved that rock had a massive audience and could draw huge crowds

Question 3

What are the social changes in the 1970s?

Answer 3

• 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

Question 4

Consolidation of music business

Answer 4

• 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)

Question 5

What is Album Oriented Rock (AOR)?

Answer 5

Hits being released on a record as a complete set that work together, usually 40 minutes of music

Question 6

Punk

Answer 6

Reaction to stadium rock; deliberately non musical and garage band style.

Question 7

What is the cultural style of punk

Answer 7

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

Question 8

CBGB

Answer 8

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

Question 9

The Ramones

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Reggae

Answer 10

Prominent in the 70s, originated in Kingston, Jamaica

Question 11

Rastafarianism

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Bob Marley and the Wailers

Answer 12

Included Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Livingston

Question 13

The Talking Heads

Answer 13

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

Question 14

MTV

Answer 14

Big influence on TV, they played music videos featuring pop stars

Question 15

What are blockbuster records?

Answer 15

Multimillion selling albums of the 1980s

Question 16

Who is Michael Jackson?

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Thriller

Answer 17

Mediates the divide between different music styles (between black and white). He mixes styles together and was so revolutionary

Question 18

Who is Bruce Springsteen?

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

What is alternative rock

Answer 19

Beginning of the 90s, alternative becomes mainstream. Ex: Nirvana

Question 20

Nirvana

Answer 20

Famous alternative band with leader Kurt Cobain. Had a hit “smells like teen spirit”

Question 21

Who is Jimi Hendrix?

Answer 21

Greatest rock guitarist ever who is still influential to this day