“GOOD VIBRATIONS”: AMERICAN POP AND THE BRITISH INVASION, 1960s
Key Terms and Definitions
Brill Building:
Rock ’n’ roll’s vertical Tin Pan Alley. It was home to
many pop-rock songwriting teams during the early 1960s.
concept album:
Album conceived as an integrated whole, with
interrelated songs arranged in a deliberate sequence.
Hitsville, USA:
Nickname of Motown Records.
Motown:
Record company founded by Berry Gordy Jr. in Detroit.
“The Twist”:
Teen-oriented rock ’n’ roll song using a twelve-bar blues
structure; it celebrated a simple, hip-swiveling dance
step.
“wall of sound”:
Term used to describe the studio production techniques
of Phil Spector. The sound was achieved by having
multiple instruments—pianos, guitars, and so forth—
doubling each individual part in the arrangement, and by
using a huge amount of echo, while carefully controlling
the overall balance of the record so that the vocals were
pushed clearly to the front.
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