1950’s Music
THE SOUND OF THE 50’S- 1950’s music usually consisted of blues and rock n’ roll. Elvis Presley started his career in 1954, this was the birth of rock n’ roll. The genre began and non-stop developed. The genre was up-beat and included instruments such as; drums, guitar, electric guitar and bass. Elvis himself used the ukele a few times for a Hawaiian feel. The blues genre was a form of jazz which had many different tones and styles. The form was usually played by people of black colour. Jazz very often didn’t have lyrics and it was mostly just about the sound of the instruments. The instruments often included; Piano, Saxophone, Double-bass and other horn instruments. There are many famous and well known jazz musicians such as; Miles Davis, Scott Joplin, Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington.
MILES DAVIS
Miles Davis (born in 1926) was a jazz musician that was famous in the 50’s, he played the trumpet and was the lead of a jazz band. Miles Davis released a album in 1959 called kind if blue, this album was monumental for the development of Jazz and music it’s self. The album featured Bill Evans, Winton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, John Coltrane, Julian Adderley all of whom recorded the music with him. The album was monumental because he included modes in his songs which was different to every other album at the time, which was an alternative for the chords they usually played in each song. The modes are a scale which includes 7 note moves up by one tonic each time. The C major scale is an easy scale to explain in Modes as it only has neutral notes, here are the names of the modes in the C major scale.
- Ionian – C
- Dorian – D
- Phrygian – E
- Lydian – F
- Mixolydian – G
- Aeolian – A
- Locrian – B
Mode theory website: https://ledgernote.com/columns/musictheory/musicalmodes-explained/#:~:text=%20%20%20Mode%20%20%20Interval%20Sequence,%20%206%20%203%20more%20rows%20
12 BAR BLUES
The 12 bar blues is a chord progression that was very popular in Jazz music, the pattern of the chords lasts 12 bars. The chord progression is more often used as the chords I, IV, V, I. In the C major scale these chords would be: C major, F major, G major and C major. The 12 bar blues was very popular in the music that was made back then, a few examples of these songs are: Johnny B. Goode, Hound Dog (Elvis), Rock and roll (Led zeppelin) and The thrill is gone (B.B king).
For more songs using the 12 bar blues visit: https://musiciantuts.com/12barblues songs/#:~:text=%2050%2B%20Legendary%2012%20Bar%20Blues%20Songs%20%E2%80%93,and%20Biscuit%20%E2%80%93%20The%20White%20Stri…%20More%20
THE FASHION OF THE 50’S:
WOMEN- In the 50’s women dresses and skirts were the BIG thing back then, everyone women was wearing one. The big thing with women in the 50’s was getting a slim figure and showing it off in fitted dresses. Upper class Women dressed in slim clothing and wore jewellery, stiletto heels and gloves, the image of women back their was fragile so they had to look a certain way for the world. Teenage girls were wearing neat plaited shirts along with cardigans and blouses. Buckled shoes were also trending, the shoes gave an innocent look to the person wearing them which was a aim of fashion for a lot of people back then. Teenagers were also adapting to the trend of short hair styles which was the new fashion trend, the hair was but into buns, pony tails and bobs, head bands were also in common use of girls back then. There was also a teenage girl fashion group called ‘Beatnick girls’, these girls wore chunky sweaters, pencil skirts, fitted cardigans and a narrow belt.
MENS- Young Men usually wore what was a mimic of their favourite characters on tv, Rockstar’s or musicians in general. Leather Jackets were in style thanks to Elvis who brought into fashion with his rock n’ roll movement. There was three main teen styles: There was the Teddy Boy style, this included knee length jackets, slim fitted trousers and woollen coats, point shoes and a high waistline. The Teddy Boys were a fashion style that originated from British sub-culture. There was the Elvis Presley style, which was a complete mimic of his style. The fashion included vibrant coloured clothing, duck tailed hair and buttoned down shirts. The Elvis took of due to his popularity and everyone’s cool opinion on his style and music. The greasers who were style of slick backed hair and leather jackets were also a fashion style developing through the newly emerging rock genre. Last but not least there was the dudes who were the edger fashion group that were seen as the cool kids, they wore button jackets, turned up cuffs and pleated pants with a high waistline.
Teenage Fashion trends: https://www.stylezco.com/1950s-fashion-trends-teenagers/
50’s women clothing: https://vintagedancer.com/1950s/1950s-fashion-women-get-look/
WOMENS CIVIL RIGHTS: In the 1950’s many jobs were locked off to women as they were viewed by men as incapable of labour and fragile, instead women were believed to be better working at home. Even when women could get work they only earned 60% of a mans wage. It wasn’t until 1963 when women earned the same equal pay to men. The usual women would stay home clean the house, cook dinner and do what ever the man said, in the eyes of society and the law the man could do what ever he wanted to his wife as it was his property, this included rape and domestic violence. Men always had the say what happened in a women’s life, this could be job related or stretch as far as abortions. In the 1950’s women were rising up against it and wanted to be treat as equals.
I got my info on the women’s right issues through:https://classroom.synonym.com/womens-rights-in-the-1950s-12082873.html
1960’s music
THE SOUND OF THE 60’S- Rock was beginning to rise with amazing artists such as Elvis Presley and The Beatles. Electric guitars were being used more often along with amplifiers. The musicians highly effected the fashion, as it just mimicked their style. Rock was a new genre to the world and was taking over it. The rock genre included instruments such as; bass, drums, vocals and electric guitar. This could create chaotic or relaxing songs. Soul Music was also very popular with artists like Sam Cooke, James Brown and Aretha Franklin. Soul was a combination of Jazz, blues and gospel music. The genre was mostly occupied by African- Americans. These music genres were really popular at the time and developed more over the years. Soul music usually included instruments such as; piano, drums, percussion, drums and horns such as trumpets and saxophone.
CIVIL RIGHTS- The 60’s had a massive movement over the civil rights act, this is because black people were treated so poorly in society. This was the case for a long, long time. But in 1960’s the cup began to overflow. A major catalyst in the civil rights movement was in December 1955, this was when Rosa Parks took a stand. In them times a black person had to give up their seat if a white person entered the bus, and had to go to the back, this was where the black people sat. This was apart of the racial segregation. Rosa Parks decided to take a stand, she refused to give up her seat, for taking a stand she was arrested and fined for breaking the laws. After this a movement began to grow, more people began to talk and protest.
After the Rosa Parks movement, a man by the name of Martin Luther King Jr began to join the movement with his speeches. King had always talked and believed in freedom and equal rights, but he was being noticed around this time. In 1956 King’s house was bombed by a white supremacist while he was in a meeting, fortunately no one was hurt. After this king began to rise and create a bigger movement. In 1961 King and 100’s of others were arrested in a desegregation campaign, by the racist government who wanted to stop the movement. In 1963 Martin Luther king began his freedom march, this had 250,oo participants. The march was peaceful and non-violent, they walked through Washington, and stopped where King would deliver his “I have a dream” speech. This was successful because, In 1964 the 14th amendment was made, this made it illegal to discriminate against race, colour of skin, religion, gender and national origin. However even after this amendment black people were not allowed to vote, this lead to freedom summer. This is also known as the Mississippi summer project, which was a volunteer campaign in the US June 1964. The aim was to get as many black people as possible registered to vote, this ended up being very successful. The campaign became well known and triggered the 15th amendment. In 1965 it was illegal for racial discrimination in voting.
Even after the amendments black people were not treated equally. This is still the point till this day. But because of the unfair justice system and police brutality a movement started. In Detroit 1967 there was a huge riot. This was because of all the brutality. The riot included Arson, Looting and Murder. After all the bloodshed the police still managed to over come them. More events like this happened and were more or less the same, there was riots and protests. We still maintain the same pattern today. However the world mourned when Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated on the 4th of April 1968, by a white supremacist.
BRITISH INVASION- The British invasion of America was when British pop and rock musicians were getting popular over-seas in America. This was very significant to the rising counter culture over seas. Many bands such as; The hollies, The troggs, The zombies and the Kinks were apart of this phenomenon. The biggest and most well known band from the British invasion was The Beetles, who are still known today as one of the greatest rock bands of all time. During the British invasion the world was staring at British artists, which encouraged change of fashion and trends. The Beetles were all over the global papers, there venues were always full, and everyone went crazy over them. The British invasion began to shine light on the UK and encouraged new films, such as Mary Poppins.
FASHION- The 60’s had many diverse fashion trends to explore. The 3 key fashion trends of the 60’s were Mod, Beatnik and the Hippie fashion trend. The mod is described more of a way of living than a fashion trend. The fashion was highly influenced by sub-culture from the British invasion. Mods used to wear tailored clothing in bold prints. And bright colours as well as black and white. 2nd we have the Beatnik style, this was influenced by the . The style included a lot of black turtlenecks, stripped shirts and berets. They also used to wear sleek black loafers and slim trousers. Beatnik was a parody of the beat generation from the 40’s. The hippie fashion was a political expression that supported equal rights for everyone. The fashion had bright colours and had chill, care free people wearing them. They usually wore; Bell bottoms, maxi dresses and A-line dresses. The aesthetic of their look was to look chill and care free. They wore brushed materials such as; light cotton, chiffon and voile. Men of the style had long un tamed hair and were perceived as feminine. Women wore what was seen as acceptable with skirts and floral prints on their clothing, the flowers symbolized peace and equality.
https://www.leaf.tv/articles/the-history-of-hippie-fashion-in-the-70s/
https://www.leaf.tv/articles/how-to-replicate-a-retro-60s-beatnik-look/
1970’s music
METAL
Metal wasn’t really new to the 80’s but it really took it’s toll and developed a lot in the 70’s. This is because of new ideas including using sounds that weren’t even instruments. A song famous for this is ‘whole lot of love’ by Led Zeppelin , this featured many sounds that weren’t even instruments. This created a sense of chaos in the music. A few of these sounds were buildings collapsing, guitar feedback and alarms. This was a new style they had never heard of, it created a sense of pure chaos and sounded amazing. People loved it! Another artist from the 70’s was black Sabbath, this band is iconic and won’t be forgotten. This band was unique to every other band because they had a unique sound that other bands didn’t have. This sound came to be when the guitarist Tony Lommi was working at a factory and accidentally sawed off his own finger. To deal with his loss he forged a metal finger tip, which he later used to play guitar with. The sound of the metal finger tip hitting the guitar strings was strong and unique. The sound of rock mainly used bass guitars, electric guitars and drums and hard vocals. The main idea of metal was to create a loud, chaotic noise. A few other popular metal bands in the 70’s were kiss, ac/dc, rush, and Led Zeppelin. Rock artists had long hair cuts when they performing, this was the main style as pretty much everyone had it. They also wore a lot of button downed shirts, dark colors and white t-shirts.
DISCO
Disco began in the late 1960’s but took over in the 70’s, the disco genre was mainly occupied by African american bands. The genre first started as a protest against the law because two men were famously arrested for dancing together in a club. Many people were annoyed and the rebellion took it’s place in the lyrics of the disco songs. Most disco artists were black, but a band named Casey and the sunshine band brought a new line of sight for the world, this is because the lead singer was of white color while the rest of the band were black. This introduced white people to the disco genre, and more white people were welcomed the disco genre after that, an example of this would be the Bee Gees. There was a show which was seen as a sanctuary for the disco genre it was called soul train. it featured artists from; hip-hop, disco, funk and jazz music. It had guests such as Michael Jackson, The Bee Gees and Gloria Gaynor. Gloria Gaynor was a disco artists who is still well known today for her song ‘I will survive’. This song featured a horn and string section in the song which filled the song with energy. The disco fashion was mainly bell bottoms, silk shirts, platform shoes and flashy vibrant colors. Disco music used a lot of keyboards, drums, electric guitars and synthesizers to create the sounds we love today.
PUNK
The punk genre was built on a stand up against the rules and views of their society, this can be heard in many punk lyrics. The punk style was also a stand up, it commonly included dark goth colors, messy hair, leather pants and studded jackets. The punk genre was pretty much a rebellion, the music and style of that could clearly be seen as that. Punk performers were mostly boy bands that performed. A few popular punk artists are; the who, the clash, the sex pistols and the stooges. The punk genre began in Britain in 1976 and took the world by storm, that’s why most 70’s punk singers have a British accent when they sing. Punk music mostly had drums, bass, electric guitars and vocals playing.
MUSIC TECH
In the early 70’s cars were able to play cassette tapes, which was very handy for long road trips or chilling in the car in general. They would insert it into a cassette player and it would play the track. This was very popular when it came out. The Minimoog was a sensation at launch, it was the first ever portable synth which was used at different venues to play. This was very popular as it was new technology and broke the boundaries of playing, every performer wanted one to play with their own portable instrument. Karaoke was also released in the 70’s which allowed friends and family’s to sing along to their favourite songs for fun as it displayed the lyrics on screen, a great invention which we use till this day. However today we have more music to pick than back then, as they had only a small library. The talk box was released in 1976 and was a box that transferred notes from a singers voice using a direct tube to create an out of this world sound, the instrument is highly portable and used in many 70’s songs such as living on a prayer by Bon Jovi. The 70’s also had the introduction of the Rhodes which was a piano but had a different sound, it was very unique to other instruments and was used a lot in Jazz, pop and soul music. This instrument was popular throughout the decade. During the 70’s 24 track recording was invented, which allowed much more tracks to get recorded on tape’s but it was still a limit. So when a song was crazy with tracks sometimes they had to combine tracks which can be difficult and create bad sounds, but Queen had to do this in Bohemian rhapsody because of their many vocal tracks.
NEWS PAPER ARTICLE (1970’s)
POLITICS
In the 70’s we have had a few amendments for the greater good, one of which was the women’s equal rights amendment. This allowed women to get jobs easier and earn more money than before. However many people feared the neglect of gender roles, so it took a while for all US states to take ERA (equal rights amendment) rights. It wasn’t until 1977 when Indiana signed the ERA making it the last state to sign it. In the 1960’s it was illegal for two men to dance together, which was the cause of many controversial opinions, as well as the rise of the disco genre. However in this decade 1972 we have legalized two men being able to dance together. Cult leader Jim Jones has orchestrated a mass suicide in Jones town, Guyana. He did this by poisoning his followers through kool-aid and was found with a gun shot to the head.
https://livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe70s/worldevents_01.html
https://www.history.com/topics/1970s/1970s-1
FASHION
This decade will be known for generations for it’s iconic fashion style’s which I would love to write about. First we have disco style, which is inspired by the thriving disco music genre. This fashion has currently been consisting with flashy vibrant clothing and platform heels. We also have disco fans wearing a lot of bell bottom’s and silk shirts. This fashion has been known to be worn by energetic people as they love the disco dance music genre. We have also had the rebellious rock and roll fashion which has been also new to the world. Inspired by rock bands such as queen, ac/dc and kiss, the fashion of leather jackets and tight jeans has been taking teen fashion recently. Everybody seems to be growing their hair out to be more like their rock idols. Last but not least we have had the rebellious punk style. Made to rebel against the eyes of society, this style is controversial for older generations. We have kids getting piercings ad wearing studded jackets to silently protest against their parents and teachers, demonstrating their freedom. A truly bold statement!
MUSIC AND POP CULTURE
Global sensation Greece was released recently and has sold over 8 million in the box office. The soundtrack is also the 2nd best selling soundtrack of the year behind Saturday night fever, which also Starred John Travolta. The new sci-fi action Star Wars had immediately become a cult favorite movie, it has already developed a big fan base. The biggest musical hits of this decade go to; Queen ‘Bohemian rhapsody’, David Bowie ‘Star Man’, Led Zeppelin ‘Stair way to heaven and ABBA ‘dancing queen’. The most successful band of the decade is the Bee Gees with 9 hits in the top 100 chart. The best selling single of the decade is ‘Mull of Kintyre’ by the wings which sold 9 million copies.
1980’s music
SYNTH POP- Synths were really big in the 80’s and began to form their own genre which is now known as synth pop. This music followed the regular musical structure of a pop song, but used synthesisers instead of their regular instruments. The 70’s mini moog was very popular in the 80’s synth pop genre. Some well known synth pop artists you may know of are; the Buggles, pet shop boys, the human league and ultra Vox. This genre often included instruments such as; drum beats, keyboard, synthesisers, bass, electric guitar and vocals. Synth pop often used a synth lead, which is a synth that takes the dominance of the track and often repeats a lot. An example of a synth lead would be ‘tell it to my heart’ by Taylor Diane. This is a good example as the starts with a synth lead and it is very dominant over the track.
NEW WAVE- New wave is a form of rock music but sounds less aggressive and adopts more features from pop music. New wave originated from punk and became popular in the late 70’s which lead to the 80’s. This song style used instruments such as; drums, bass, electric guitar, vocals, piano, synths and percussion. The music is a lot softer than rock but harder than pop leaving it in a middle ground. The structure, tempo and forms usually resemble to pop music, but it has dominant rock features such as instrumentation and dynamic uses. A few examples of 80’s new wave artists are; Duran Duran, Thompson Twins, Blondie and The cars.
ROCK- Rock was changing in the 80’s with the new popularity of the synths, rock was catching on with the trends. Rock still kept it’s core features like; drums, loud electric guitars, heavy bass lines and loud vocals. However they did start to implement synthesisers into their music, but it was not a lot. Rock however did not change much, apart from some artists using synths for harmony or solos. But new rock artists such as Queen and David Bowie took the front line of rock stars of the 80’s, one of the most well known rock songs of the 80’s was Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.
PHYSCADELIC ROCK- Physcadelic rock was made to make you feel confused and lost in the sound of the music their was different techniques artists used to create this feeling. The most well known was using sounds that were not music such as; crashes, gun shots, screams and other crazy sounds. They used these sounds to create there message and chaotic atmosphere in the music. One of the most well known physcadelic rock songs of the 80’s was whole lotta love by Led Zeppelin. This track was crazy because of the creativity involved. They took audio bites of sounds such as; audio feedback and building collapses and put this inside of their song. It created a chaotic sound and took the world by storm, because no one had heard or felt anything like it.
THE SOUND OF THE 80’S- The major sound of the 80’s was gated drums, which was a new and popular sound in the 80’s. This sound was discovered by Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins in the studio when they were working together in the studio. They were messing around with the drums and someone accidentally turned down the noise gate, what noise came out was monumental. The sound that came out was a drum beat that had an insane punch to it. The science behind this is simple. The drums had reverb on them which is a the that lengthens the decay of the sound, this made the loud part of the sound last longer. A noise gate is a production tool that cuts out noise below a certain audio level, the noise gate stopped the reverb from decaying only leaving us with the loud punch of the drums. This noise can be heard in Phil Collins song ‘In the air tonight’. This drum sound was popular for the whole decade, especially with the artists prince who loved the whip sound of it.
Political events
The 1980’s was home to many events worldwide. One of which was the demolition of the Berlin Wall, which was a huge wall that brought segregation from east and west Germany, this event inspired artists to make music it about it. An example of this would be a song by Iggy Pop called the passenger, which is about the Berlin wall. This next event actually took place in 1972 but inspired a lot of 80’s music. In Northern Island there was a huger massacre which killed 14 Irish and inured 26 of them. They were shot by British soldiers because they were protesting about freedom, this is because Northern Ireland was under British suppression at this time. This inspired the rock song ‘Sunday bloody Sunday’ by U2 which was released in the 1983 album war. As well as these events in the UK Margret Thatcher was the prime minister. She was hated for her carless decisions when in power. Some of these decisions include; destroying Britain’s manufacturing industry, the poll tax, the Irish hunger strikes and abolished free milk for school children. Her terrible reign over England was included in movies such as Billie Elliot with the mining strike and music. A town called malice was about how awful it was when she was in charge.
Musical events
In 1985 what is said to be the best music concert of all time was held in Wembley Stadium in London. The event was created by Bob Geldof as a charity event for the less fortunate people suffering in Africa. 72,000 people attended the event of century and watched the legends perform. Some of the most well known people to perform at live aid were; black sabbath, U2, boy George, Elton John, George Michael, David Bowie and last but not least queen. The amount of high quality and well known artists that were performing began to draw in a world wide audience that were watching from the crows or their TV’s.
Another amazing music event was the Debut of MTV in 1981 which is now a well known music station that also does music videos. MTV became very successful because it gave a whole new meaning to music with it’s creative music videos. The first artist to go on MTV was the Buggles with their well known hit ‘video killed the radio star’. This music video and song got huge and drew in more artists into MTV such as Michael Jackson with his music video Thriller. This music video added a whole cinematic experience to music and changed the music video game forever. The thriller music video added; dance, cinematic experience, music and combined them all into one big package. Every other artist wanted to copy this feat that Jackson had achieved.
FASHION
Rock –In 80s rock fashion usually included of a lot of the colour black and band used printed designs on their stage outfits. An example of this is the rock band kiss who wore band costumes. Other rock artists usually wore sleeveless shirts with any kind of jeans, but most often black or denim jeans. Many rock artists also wore bandanas that were wrapped around their head, guns n’ roses can be seen doing this many times in performances. Rock artists still kept the style of long hair just like the 70’s.
New wave – New wave fashion adopted traits from 80’s punk fashion such as the stuck up hair styles and jackets they wore, The two fashions are very similar. However many new wave artists chose to wear glasses and accessories such as piercings or any jewellery. Older punk fashions did not do this because they believed you should do what you want and not try to impress society with flashy clothes. New wave artists also tended to wear more vibrant colours than punk artists such as red and blue, these colours give off a fun and energetic tone which reflected their music style.
Synth pop- 80s synth pop fashion had a very vibrant and fun colour scheme along with trendy clothes. Synth pop artists usually had tidier and shorter hair than punk artists. Female artists wore leggings and red heels in the synth pop fashion. They also wore slimming shirts with belts, were as men wore denim jeans and vibrant or white T-shirts. The tone of synth pop fashion was bright and warm, which attracted a lot of listeners.
BASIC TIMELINE OF THE 80s
1980- gated drums discovered in 1979
1981– The launch of MTV, which was revolutionary for music videos.
1982– Thriller by Michael Jackson featured on MTV
1983- Margaret Thatcher was re-elected
1984– Band aid was founded
1985– Live aid charity event took place
1986– Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster
1987- Bloody Sunday
1988- Piper Alpha Oil rig explosion
1989– The Berlin wall was taken down
1990’s music
BRIT POP- Brit pop was a genre of music that took elements of 60’s and 70’s British rock from the invasion and included it in it’s music. The used instrumentation such as; electric guitars, drums, bass guitar and vocals. The genre also used a lot of guitar distortion that filled the music with noise. A few examples of Brit pop artists are; oasis, sleeper and cast. The most often used distortion pedal in Brit Pop was the Wah Wah pedal, the pedal mimics the vocal tone of the person. The guitar get’s it’s name because it sounds like a person saying “Wah, Wah’. It creates the vocal sound by altering the tone and frequency of the guitar signal. A well known song for the Wah Wah pedal is “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by the amazing rock band guns n’ roses. The noise was used to because it’s sound was so distinctive and it’s one of the first instruments you would hear in a song, it filled the music with a loud noise. This was used to communicate music through the sound.
TRANCE MUSIC– Trance music is what it sounds like, it’s artistic purpose was to make you feel like your’e in a trance. The music often tried to reflect on the feeling of being high or drunk. This genre was heavily influenced by drug users and drinkers. This genre is also a type of dance music, that you would hear late in a night club. This genre was put together by a bunch of different effects and techniques. The music does not include vocals, the instrumentals are the core part of this music. Usually the vocals play the main melody of songs, but in this genre the piano plays the melody of the song. The piano is usually really distinct in this music and easy to pick out, this is because the other instruments blend together. The genre also has a faded tone in it’s music, this is created through the rubato in it’s instruments or melody. The music has a futuristic theme, this is because of it’s heavy use of synths in the instrumentals. Instrumentals in this genre use a lot loops, this is to reflect the feeling of running around in circles and not knowing what your doing. This music generally uses; loops, instrumentals, piano melody, bass, drums and sound effects. The instruments create a echoing effect by mimicking them selves, but decreasing in dynamics each time they re play the part. A few examples of trance bands are; N-trance, Dance 2 Trance and Utah Saints. One of the biggest parts of trance music was it’s use of sequencers to make it sound electric and to play back segments.
DANCE MUSIC- Dance music originated from 80’s ware house rave’s where people would dance together, similar to night clubs. This genre of music is specifically designed to get people to move their body. To do this they used multiple techniques, one of these techniques would be arpeggio patterns. This would fill the music with energy and crazy rhythms do dance to, these patterns would be played over a chord progression. Dance music was written in major keys to create happy and energetic tones in the music, so that people can dance in a good mood. Dance music also used sequencing to make it easier to dance to by editing the track. Many dance music tracks used diatonic, which is when you play notes out side of the key in the song. An example of this would be in the song ‘what is love’. This can be used to reflect on the lyrics or to communicate a change in tone. The song I mentioned also included arpeggios throughout the song as well as sequencing. The music generally included; synths, drums, electric guitar and bass.
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HIP-HOP – Hip-hop is a form of rap music which originated from the 90’s, hip hop is identified by it’s catchy beat and fast lyrics. Some hip-hop artists you may know are; Dr. Dre, Eminem, Run D.M.C, 2 PAC and the notorious biggie smalls. The hip-hop life style was all about getting the most expensive cars and clothing and showing it off, the mentality in the hip-hop community was to act like you own the world. In 1991 a man named Rodney king was chased down by 5 racist police officers in his car for no justifiable reason. After a while Rodney got out of his car and was beaten almost to death by these officers. Luckily this was caught on camera, and the footage was leaked world wide, everyone saw what they did. A court case was held for these officers and they got off the hook, this was because the judges were all white and racist. America went crazy in 1992, there was looting and violence every where. $1 billion damage was dealt to the economy. The riots lasted 7 days. Hip-hop music got heavily influenced by this event with music like ‘Fuck the police’ and ‘Straight outta Compton’, anyone playing this song publicly was fined by the police. In 1993 the court had a re trial with 2 black judges and the police were sentenced to prison.
The genre included; fast vocals, drums, guitar, bass, piano, synths. The rap genre was so open you could include any instruments you wanted, it depended how you played them. Hip-hop had a East coast and West coast rivalry, this is were they hated each other and always wanted to up stage each other. However Dr. Dre was from the West coast and signed Eminem who was a east coast rapper, so Dr Dre didn’t care about that. The east coast had rappers like; The notorious B.I.G and Dr Dre. West coast was Eminem and Busta Rhythm. The west coast had a record company called ‘Death row records’ was a corrupt company and tried to trap many people inside of it’s deals. The east coast rappers had a record company called ‘Bad boy records’.
GRUNGE-Grunge music is an alternative rock genre, meaning it has similar elements to it but has a twist on it, the genre originated in Seattle, America. The genre is often described as a new wave punk, this is because the style of it shares similar elements to 70’s punk. This is because the style had a similar message, the style was all about protesting against society, this was reflected in the lyrics and fashion, which was edgy clothing. The beat of grunge usually consisted of unpolished lofi-sounds which created a messy tone. The genre also used a lot of guitar distortions, that over took every other instrument with it’s loud roar. The band Nirvana used a chorus effect distortion on guitar which had a thick tonal texture, the pedal is cheap but effective. The chorus effect can be heard in their song ‘Come as you are’. Grunge music also doubled up vocals in their music, this made it more thick and distinct. If you listen to grunge you have most likely listen to something and said “that seems familiar”, that’s because you have probably heard it before. this is because many grunge artists copy instrumental parts from other songs, but then they add original things over it.
Some grunge artists you may know are; Nirvana who come from Seattle, Pearl Jam and the Foo fighters. The culture of grunge was to be your complete your self, and not to care what everyone else thinks. Grunge listeners often adapted the ‘Leave me alone’ mentality from the music, as the lyrics reflect on this moods. Through the fan-base, lyrics and music style you can teal they are destructive, and that is what they wanted.
POP- Pop music was also really big in the 90’s with legendary artists such as; Whitney Houston, Backstreet Boyz and Mariah Carey who always gets number one each year for her hit song ‘All I want for Christmas’. Pop is genre we are very familiar with, as we hear it a lot today. the genre is made up of catchy chord progressions and the structure is usually very simple and repetitive. The texture is quite thin to medium in textures and lighter in tone to other genres such as rock. The movie ‘The Body guard’ in the 90’s was very popular and featured a very popular pop artists, Whitney Houston. The song ‘I will always love you’ was from the movie the body guard, however the original score was sang by Mariah Carey. The song were not political instead most people didn’t have a problem with their topics, they were usually about love or heart break. the instruments most commonly used in pop are; drums, piano, keyboard, bass and guitar.
FASHION
pop- The pop fashion in the 90’s was a bout vibrant colors and having a happy clothing style. Girl Bands such as Destiny’s child are an example of this, female pop artists also wore a lot of crop tops back then. They also wore a lot of dresses, skirts and denim jeans. Male pop artists wore a lot of casual wear that any body could get, such as baseball caps, jackets and T-shirts. The contrast is big between the genders as men didn’t wear as vibrant colours. Denim clothing was getting very popular for men and women and it was seen a lot in pop and grunge.
grunge- The grunge style shares similarities to 60s and 70s punk fashion, this includes the dark colours and clothing it self. Grunge fashion tends to include printed T-shirts and leather jackets. Grunge musicians and fans tended to have long messy hair, this reflected on their ‘I don’t care music’. They also often wore black trousers or ripped denim jeans. They also wore trendy trainers such as trainers and sneakers. Grunge artists weren’t seen wearing much jewellery or accessories.
Brit pop- Brit pop artists wore polo shirts very often underneath leather jackets. Brit pop artists wore baggy clothes a lot that didn’t fit them, this was the trend in this genre for men and women. Cargo pants were also very popular in Brit pop artists such as the spice girls. Leopard print clothes were very popular amongst Brit Pop women, as well as baggy jeans.
hip-hop – Hip hop artists wore over sized baggy T-shirts, this might to be to reflect on their theme of freedom. Many hip-hop artists also wore Kangal caps, an example of this would be Run D.M.C and their love for Kangal hats. Jackets such as Avirex and fitted caps were also really popular among hip-hop artists. Hip-hop artists also tended to wear a lot of chains and watches to show their wealth. Hip-hop artist were also often seen wearing tank tops, tracksuits and jogging bottoms, the rapper Eminem is well known for this.
BRIT POP Mad for it: Get Inspired by These Britpop Trends – 90s Fashion World
The 2000’s
Rap– Rap was very similar to when it was in the 90’s, the genres crave for flashy clothing and chains intensified as the years went on. Rap began to share similarities to the R&B genre, as the lyrics had the same style. However R&B had a slower tempo and more relaxed vibe, an artists that is an example of this is Drake. He is an artist that did rap music and R&B, the line between the genres began to fade and become less clear. One of the most popular rappers in the 2000’s is a well known musician called Eminem (Martial Mathers). He stared in a popular movie called 8 mile, this movie was about an underground rappers rise to stardom. The movie is based around the life of Eminem, some of the movie is fictional and some of it relates to Eminem. The film was released in 2002 and grossed 242.9 million dollars. The movie featured an original song from Eminem called ‘lose yourself’, the song was very popular and was awarded many awards. As well as main stream rap there was a new genre emerging. This genre is called Grime or UK garage. The genre was emerging from London and was a mix between rap music and jungle dance hall music. The genre was roughly around 140 bpm and often has aggressive sounds. Rap music usually had medium tempo drums, piano, electric guitars, bass and synths. The instruments create a track which the artists then raps over.
R&B– electronic, acoustic, hip hop drums, synth heavy, jazz and blues chord prgressions,
R&B is a genre which stands for rhythm and blues, so understandably the genre mimics chord progressions from the jazz and blues genre, this creates a chill relaxed tone in the music. The genre usually had rum beats that copied the style of hip-hop, this is why the two genres are tied closely together. R&B was often very synth heavy in it’s music, however the synths tended to be at a slower tempo than 80s or 70s synth music. This was because the genre usually worked around 80 BPM in it’s music. The instruments in used in R&B are electric and acoustic. Acoustic pianos were used a lot in R&B for harmony and for rhythm. Mainly electric guitar was used but occasionally the acoustic guitar was used harmonically or melodically. A few artists from the R&B genre are; Justin Timberlake, Kanye West and Riahnna.
Pop– Pop was begging to take over in the 2000’s with artists like NYSYNC and Alicia keys. The pop genre was mainly dominated by a huge female presence such as; Christina Agulara, Alicia Keys, Madonna and Beyonce. The pop genre didn’t tackle hard or political genre’s lyrically it was a safe genre. It’s main topics were love and heartbreak. As well as female pop artists in pop their was a huge rise in boy bands such as; black eyed peas and outkast. The genre was a combo of rap and R&B, it had catchy choruses and lyrics. Pop songs have a very similar verse chorus structure.
Events– On September 11th 2001 the world trade center was attacked by a group of terrorists. 2 planes crashed into the twin towers eventually causing them to collapse and killed around 3,000 people. Originally after the first plane crashed into the towers it was seen as a freak accident, this was until 15 mins after when the second plane came and confirmed it was an attack. After the attack 143,000 people lost their jobs which was a huge issue. After this tragic event the Department of homeland security was formed, which is a terrorist defense organisation. After this event the world was in a state of shock and music artists felt that they didn’t have the right or freedom to touch certain topics in their lyrics. We don’t hear about 911 in today’s song’s because most mainstream artists weren’t old enough to remember 911. After 911 the radio was still played in cars, and for most people this was the only music they could get because audio streaming wasn’t available. This meant everyone had to listen to what the government was saying even if they didn’t agree with it.
THE MILLENNIUM BUG
There was an up rise in panic as the year 2000 edged closer. This was because everyone believed the computer systems wouldn’t recognize the year 2000 dates in the network as it hadn’t been programmed that way. If this was true that would mean that businesses transactions past the year 1999 might be unavailable. Everyone was freaking out at this point because computers were very new and no one had much knowledge of them and they ruled the world. Everyone thought this would have to result in a network factory reset which would effect power plants and banks. Power plants are very dangerous if not maintained as seen in the Chernobyl disaster, if a world wide network shut down occurred the systems running the water in the plants would stop. This would cause nuclear radiation to spread in many areas around the world. This would be apocalyptic and world changing. As well as the worry over power plants there was banks, as banks fully run on network transactions this would be very bad. This would effect everyone’s wealth and interest rates. The panic over this issue was so high that they cancelled all air flights because they believed the plains would fall from the sky. The panic was not soothed by a movie called ‘Y2K the millennium bug’, this movie was about the end of the world because of the network bug, this caused major panic. Of course their was a disclaimer on the movie saying it was all fictional to try and avoid panic, but it didn’t work. Because everyone though the end of the world was near guns were bought, this is because people thought it was going to be a fight for the death. Of course it was anti-climatic because nothing happened at the year 2000.
FILM AND TV– Film and TV was very important for music in the entertainment industry as modern musical scores were being used more often in film and video games. A well known director called Quentin Tarantino used a lot of modern music in his movies. An example of this would be Avatar which grossed a total of $1 billion dollars in it’s first three weeks in theater’s, this was monumental for a movie. Music artists were also constantly being asked to help with movies in development. An example of this would be that, Whitney Houston was hired to help produce the princess diaries. NSYNC were also hired to write music for star wars episode 2, but in the end their tracks were cut from the film.
Fashion
RAP– In rap music may artists and fans were wearing baseball caps, usually facing the wrong way round to look trendy and edgy. Many rap artists were also wearing white tank tops and chains to go over them, this was to show their wealth and fashion. The most popular rap fashion item was probably baggy jeans, as if you listen to any male 2000 rap artists they probably have worn baggy jeans a few times. Hip-hop artists tended to wear dark shades over there eyes a lot of the time. They also wore over sized T shirts a lot of the time that dangled over their over sized jeans.
POP- Dominantly female artists conquered the pop genre so I will be talking about female fashion. Female pop artists such as Britney Spears wore a lot of crop tops with vibrant clothing. They also tended to wear skinny jeans, or jeans that bagged at the ankle. Camo jeans were also popular in girl bands specifically. Pop artists often had patterned designs sown into their denim jeans. Overall female pop fashion had a vibrant color theme and fitted clothing.
R&B– R&B male fashion is too similar to the rap fashion to describe so instead I will be talking about female fashion for R&B. Female R&B fashion was very vibrant and full with colors such as pink, white and red. They usually wore fitted crop tops along with baggy jeans. If they weren’t wearing this they might have been wearing dungarees or a colorful track suit. Part of the R&B fashion mimics rap fashion, with the fact that they were expensive trainers and clothing. Many R&B female artists also wore dresses a lot, usually leopard print or vibrant dresses.
