America’s Musical Landscape
6th edition
Part 4
Vernacular Musics Since Rock
and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music since 1970
© 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Popular Music Since 1970: The
Mood of the Early 1970s
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Protest against the Vietnam War
Riots on college campus – Kent State U.
Death of 3 rockers: Jim Hendrix, Janis
Joplin, Jim Morrison
British invasion continued
Rolling Stones became enormously popular
in the USA
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
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Singer-Songwriters
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Bruce Springsteen “The Boss” - Wrote songs of
social relevance
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Album Born in the USA
Film Philadelphia (1995) with songs by Bruce Springsteen
Joni Mitchell
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Sang of her own experience using blues, rock and folk
styles
Ever-changing interests from nature to narrative to
political indignation
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
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Art Rock
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Rockers and jazz musicians collaborate
and incorporate music of other styles and
cultures
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Blood, Sweat and Tears – Rock Quartet
Chicago – Used some jazz elements
Emerson Lake & Palmer – related jazz to
classical music
Moody Blues – Produced an art rock album with
the London Festival Orchestra in 1967
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
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Disco
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Began as “discothèque” in France after World War II
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First American discothèques opened in America in 1960 with elitist
membership requirements
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Led to dance crazes including
the Twist, the Jerk, the Watusi
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1970s – Re-launched as “disco” and
became a popular dance phenomenon
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Film Saturday Night Live (1977)
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
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Punk
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Born in the small New York bar, CBGB & OMFUG
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New York Dolls – Punk group premiered at this bar
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Characteristics include:
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Association with the art world
Narrow vocal range; drone-like
Rigid eighth-note rhythm throb
Influence of fashion, performance
art, shock value
Pounding beat
Heavy guitar distortion
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
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Punk Bands
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Television – a punk band attracted to the art of
Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground , and to
the jazz improvisation of John Coltrane
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Patti Smith – A professional writer of poetry, plays
and articles. Had a vocal and delivery style
intended to shock
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Ramones – Projected fun, spirit, raw energy
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
7
New Wave
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New Wave groups defused punk by imitating its manner but not its
substance
New Wave – a philosophy of life expressed through new or
progressive music
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Talking Heads
B-52s
Cars
Police
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
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Grunge
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Grunge – refers to a style adopted by teenagers of the 1990s –
Generation X
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Originating n the Northwest, grunge sometimes called the Seattle
sound
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Combined the aggression of heavy metal with a melodic
element reminiscent of the Beatles
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Nirvana – Grunge band led by Kurt Cobain
Pearl Jam
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
9
Electronic Dance Music
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Use of synthesizers and
other electronic instruments
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Varied sonorities of live
and recorded music
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2001 – Disco and new wave
underwent a dance floor revival
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Electronic timbres reflected everyday sounds such as phones, cash
machines, alarms
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Also called house, techno, electro, nu-wave
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
10
Pop Music and Politics
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Early 1960s and 1970s – Peak of political pop music
Controversies over Civil Rights and the Vietnam War inspired
protest songs heard widely on pop and rock radio stations
 Bob Dylan - “The Times They Are a-Changin’”
 Buffalo Springfield - “For What It’s Worth”
 Marvin Gaye - “What’s Goin’ On?”
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Since then, mainstream music has generally been more concerned
with having a good time
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In 2004, pop musicians were again motivated to take political
stands
 Against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
 Urging people to vote in the upcoming election
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
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Looking Forward, Backward, and
Abroad
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Concerts and recordings achieve new levels of
sophistication with new technology
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Improved communication and expanded travel
bring new sounds to the Western vernacular
music experience
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Collaborations involving dead artists are popular
Musicians can now hear music from other nations and
incorporate it into their own work with ease
A the same time, many rock musicians have
returned to their roots
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Nostalgia for earlier familiar sounds vies with the urge to
explore new music
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
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Hip-Hop and Rap
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South Bronx, New York in the 1970s
A neighborhood in ruin
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Jobless, poor and hopeless urban conditions spawned hip-hop
culture
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B-boying - break dancing
Graffiti writing – spray can painting
DJing – disc jockeys playing and manipulating records at parties
MCing – a master of ceremonies raps over recordings
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Afro-American, Afro-Caribbean and Latino families arrive
Increase in gang violence as newcomers and remaining whites clash
Hip-hop culture came to the Bronx out of Jamaica
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Rapping over spinning records derived from reggae
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
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Reggae
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During 1960s, following their recent independence
from Great Britain, Jamaican youth created a
new, hybrid music called Reggae
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Harmonically simple, socially conscious
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Drew from global popular culture to express
national pride
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
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Reggae
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Reggae fused elements of North American rock
and African Jamaican music to form a kind of
“acculturated rock”
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1960s—popular in England
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1970s—popular in the United States
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Bob Marley (1945-1981) was a leading performer who
became famous in the United States
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
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Reggae
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Reggae comes in several styles, all roughly
related to rhythm and blues
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Reggae combos consist of
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But the polyrhythms are more complex
Bass lines stronger
Tempos more relaxed
Electric guitars, electric organ, electric bass
guitar, drums
Electronic studio techniques
Toasting or Dubbing = rapid patter talking,
to influence development of rap music
Electric guitar
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
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Reggae:
Religious and Spiritual Implications
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Reggae—a vernacular music (rock) borrowed and
transformed by a culture (Jamaican) other than
the one that introduced it (African American) to
form a new style
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Represents a popular music with strong religious connotations
 Rastafarianism = a black religious movement
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Many of the songs have urgent political content
 Promoting the 1960s “back to Africa” movement
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
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The Rise of Hip-Hop
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Jamaicans immigrating to the South Bronx in the 1960s
brought sophisticated turntable techniques
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DJs developed outstanding performance techniques
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In Kingston, mobile sound systems had largely replaced live bands
A DJ could bring dance parties to street crowds with only a turntable,
amplifiers and speakers
Backspinning, altering playing speeds, scratching
DJs played many kinds of music including R&B hits, reggae
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
18
The Rise of Hip-Hop
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Scratch DJs, also known as turntablists, have become artists
in their own right
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The turntable may be the most important musical instrument
of the current era
The music heard in dance clubs today is often the creation of
a DJ
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Sample-based
Electronically composed
Current styles include drum-and-bass, house, trip-hop
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
19
Rap
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At 1970s South Bronx street turntable shows, DJs hired MCs
(masters of ceremonies) to fire up the crowd
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When MCs began speaking over the rhythm of the music and
trading rhymes with each other and the DJ, rap was born
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Rap draws from many sources
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African, Afro-Caribbean, and African-American rhythmic styles
Urban street jive
Black radio DJs, Public personalities
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
20
Rap
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1970s – Rappers and DJs preserved their performances on
mixtapes = homemade tapes made at street dances and
club shows
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1979 – The independent label Sugar Hill Records auditioned
three unknown rappers and signed them to improvise the
recording “Rapper’s Delight”
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Became a world-wide hit
DJs found that dancers preferred the recording to a live DJ
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
21
Listening Example 58
“Rapper’s Delight”
quickly reached the
American Top 40,
introducing America and
the world to hip-hop
music.
Rapper’s Delight (excerpt)
Improvised by The Sugarhill Gang:
Henry “Big Bank Hank” Jackson, Guy “Master Gee” O’Brien, and
Michael “Wonder Mike” Wright
Listening Guide on page 283
Form: Strophic. Each of the three rappers improvises a “verse,”
performing a recitation over the background music
Meter: Duple, with a heavy backbeat
Text: The rappers brag about themselves, describe dance moves, tell
funny stories and exhort the listeners to respond
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
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Social Concerns
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Hip-hop: culture or craft?
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White rappers claimed that hip-hop can be learned, regardless of ethnic or
cultural heritage
Some black hip-hop musicians claim that hip-hop is a culture that one must
be born into
“Gangsta rap” of the late 1980s often praised misogyny and
violence
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Attracted devoted listeners
Drew condemnation from officials due to violent lyrics
Lyrics alternating tenderness and brutality
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
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Back to the Roots
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Some rappers produce lighthearted, playful songs
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Rap artists appeared on mainstream television and in films
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1990s rap-based cartoons appeared on television
Will Smith
Ice Cube
Urban rappers draw on earlier black music sources
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Kirk Franklin – melds hip-hop and traditional gospel
Sean Combs (P. Diddy) – references earlier artists
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
24
Music Business
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New technologies continually alter the business of music
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Popularity of home recording studios
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Now possible to create, perform, record and market music from home
Individual musicians can simulate a combo or singing group
E-jamming software allows independent musicians to play and record with
musicians via Internet connection
Studio sound engineers practice sophisticated sonic
manipulation
As products and processes become outdated, new
possibilities evolve
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
25
Music Business: Sharing Music
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1999 – fans could share and swap music files for free via the
Internet using software program Napster
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Music industry felt negative impact
 Legal challenges forced Napster to close its free service
2001 – portable digital audio player called the iPod
revolutionized the music business
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Interface between the iPod and Apple’s online iTunes Store
Downloading music becomes quick, easy and affordable
Napster eventually establishes for-pay system
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
26
Music Business: Sharing Music
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Music purchased from the iTunes Store subject to a digital
rights management [DRM] system
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An effort to prevent the music from being played on unauthorized devices
2009 – looking for alternatives to DRMs, since they weren’t sufficiently
effective
Digitized music is easily shared on the Internet – legally and
illegally
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Some people support copyright protection
Others believe that consumers should be able to share, remix and reuse
music
CD sales quickly decline
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
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Music Business: Marketing Music
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Traditionally, artist’s careers were launched and controlled by
commercial labels
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In 2008, Atlantic Records reported that more than half of its
music sales in the United States were from digital products
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“Multiple rights” or “360” deals as a response to declining
sales
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Label shares earnings from recordings, live concerts, merchandise
Label increases investment in marketing and developing the artist’s career
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
28
Music Business: Marketing Music
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Today some musicians bypass commercial labels by
recording for independent companies
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Corporate-owned radio stations generally do not play music from smaller
labels
The Internet provides opportunities for music produced by independent
labels to be heard world-wide
 Blogs, artist websites, MySpace and Facebook
The Internet offers unprecedented opportunities for the
marketing of independently produced music
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Blogs, artist websites, MySpace, Facebook
Some artists offer free downloads and consumer pricing
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
29
Music Business: Marketing Music
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Music has become democratized
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Free from the demands and manipulation of big-name commercial
companies
Free from the need to become commercially successful
Now diverse, experimental music – unacceptable to Top 40
venues – can find welcome, and generate income, on the
Internet
The business of music continues to evolve
Technology, multiculturalism and the accomplishments of
previous generations of pop musicians have created a pop
scene that is richer and more varied than ever before
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Chapter 16: Popular Music Since 1970
30
Part 4 Summary: Rock and Roll
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In the 1950s, white country-western music combined with
elements of black rhythm and blues to produce rock and roll
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Driven by the tastes of American teens
Featured white country singers with a black style of delivery
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Motown produced records by black artists that appealed to a
white audience
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Soul brought music of a new intensity to rock and roll
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The British invasion
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Summary
31
Part 4 Summary: Rock Flirts with
Country
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The urban folk movement reflected continuing relationships
between rock and country
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Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and others composed and performed
folklike songs on topical subjects
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Alternative country rivals the polished sounds of commercial
country music
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Blends punk and rock and roll effects with country sounds
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Summary
32
Part 4 Summary: Jazz Since 1960
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Jazz in the later part of the twentieth century explored new
and increasingly complex musical concepts
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Free jazz declared independence from most preconceived
notions about jazz
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Focus on collective improvisation
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Fusion melds jazz and rock
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Jazz musicians integrate foreign sounds into their music
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Jazz composition is again an important field of American
music
© 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Summary
33
Part 4 Summary: Popular Music
Since 1970
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Punk, new wave, and grunge addressed social concerns in
the late twentieth century
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New technologies impact
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the creation of popular music
the marketing music
the consumption of music
Hip-hop culture, derived from Jamaican and African
influences, evolved in the South Bronx
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Popularity quickly spread
Rap artists and DJs became increasingly virtuosic
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Part 4: Vernacular Musics Since Rock and Roll
Summary
34