Unit 11

Rock & Roll Part 2 Overview

Step 1

Rock & Roll started to evolve and turn into more diverse sub-genres of rock. Alternative rock emerged in the 1980's and was basically independent underground rock music. Punk rock appeared in the 1970's and grew from garage rock music. Protest music and music that was relevant to current events started to become much more prominent. Songs were about war, drugs, sex, etc., and displayed the negative effects of these things. Overall I believe black musicians were becoming even more prominent in the community of music, and the ideas displayed in songs became much more serious. People started to learn about STDs and how lots of people were dying because of these diseases, and they started discovering how bad the effects of drugs could be. I think it is nice that people started displaying their opinions on things and persuaded people to believe they were bad, because I don't think many people would have cared much about these things as severely if it was not shown in music.

Step 2

• London was struggling through a major depression as well as class wars. This caused the teens of that time to become upset and create punk music in order to present their feelings about the current depression to the public.
• The Class War was the struggle in England between the class system that was set up within the country. The lower class was upset with the royal class and the younger generations did not respect the idea that people were higher than others. This was a major contributor to the music created at this time.
• Synthesizers were becoming popular in use while in the recording studio. Lots of songs were created while playing around with synthesizers. The creators of synthesizers created sounds that they thought people in recording studios wanted, but they warped the sounds and made it into something very unique. Pink Floyd and David Bowie were some of the musicians that are known for their work using synthesizers in odd ways.
• CBGB is a New York City music club that used to be both a biker and a dive bar. It is one of the homes of punk music and where bands such as the Talking Heads. The music caused people to be very violent and not actually listen to the meanings behind the music.
• STDs were becoming more well-known as people were dying to them and doctors and scientists were discovering them. Musicians began to write music that exposed STDs more and more so that people gained more knowledge about it so they would stay safer.
• MTV, or music television, was the start of displaying music on television using music videos. It was a huge hit and soon became the way that untalented artists could become popular. This is because people just had to be attractive and have a good music video to become a big hit in the music industry.
• Graffiti was a way for people to get their name out there without going on MTV or becoming the next big pop star. Their names were spray-painted onto trains or buildings and everyone began to see them. Although this was an easy method to use, it was not legal.
• The Vietnam War played a major factor in some of the lyrics and types of music created around 1955-1975. Lots of musicians created songs to show how they were upset with all of the teens being drafted into the army that couldn't even vote and were dying at ages likes 17 and 18.
• Lollapalooza started in 1991 and became an annual music festival. The music presented there usually falls under the genres of alternative, heavy metal, punk, and hip hop.
• Bruce Springsteen was one of the saviors of rock music when disco was about to take over the country. His concerts would go on until he was too exhausted to perform anymore, and he brought back and let rock take over the disco movement that was occurring at that time.
• The Sex Pistols was one of the big bands that created punk music and came out of England. They were a major influence on punk music and its advancement and creation.
• Run-D.M.C. was the first group of "street artists" to become very popular. They were very influential in the hiphop culture, and were the first group to have videos on MTV.
• Devo was one of the pioneers of the music video, and became a very well-known band because of their song and music video "Whip It". Their video was heavily played in the early days of MTV and started the huge wave of music videos that we have today.
• Other Musicians: Green Day, Culture Club, Michael Jackson, The Cars, Kiss, X, Fleetwood Mac, Billy Idol, U2, The Police, Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, Pretenders, Kurtis Blow, Go-Go's, Elvis Costello, Elton John, David Bowie, The Ramones, The Clash, Talking Heads, Pink Floyd, Iggy Pop, Ozzy Osborne, The Slits, The Beatie Boys, Eurythmics, Grandmaster Flash, N.W.A.
• Other Influential Events: Fall of the Berlin Wall, the Cold War, the London Depression

Step 3

1. Explain how the 1960's counterculture influenced the rise and fall of Rock 'n' Roll.

The 1960s was the period when people started to relax more, do drugs a lot more, embrace sexuality, and enforce peace and freedom. Rock 'n' Roll started to die out a bit, but as it changed to match around what the hippies were focusing on, it started to rise up again. Woodstock was a great example of the combination of hippies and Rock 'n' Roll.

2. What was Peter Townsend referring to when he called the electric guitar "a weapon"?

The electric guitar became so big and popular that it became a symbol and a message, and using it could portray a message to people. Weapons are also a symbol and get messages across to people, so they can be related in that way. Referring to it as a weapon may also mean that you could use it against people in certain ways to persuade and convince people of certain ideals. It also has almost a weapon-like structure, resembling a gun in some ways and it is constantly being whipped around by performers, sort of like a weapon.

3. Comment on the business/money aspect of Rock & Roll in the 1970's

In the 1970s, the thought about money was changed to the complete opposite compared to what it was before. Everyone was purchasing planes and flaunting their money around as if it was nothing or it helped increase your social perspective for others. More people started showing off their money, which was usually looked down upon greatly in the past.
4. How did the short-lived Punk movement "reclaim rock 'n' Roll"?

It wasn't a corporate and cocaine-ridden movement. Punk music was easily relatable to people at that time since it was reflecting the depression that was going through London and it was a bit brought over to America. Disco almost took over the music scene and replaced Rock 'n' Roll, but Punk came back through and sort of reclaimed Rock 'n' Roll.
5. Describe the rise of street music to mainstream music.

Run-D.M.C. was a hiphop/rap group that was shown on MTV, and eventually rose to popularity. Then it became part of the mainstream music, and other street music artists were suddenly popping up. Everyone wanted to be like Run-D.M.C. and create rap music and be the next big group.

Rock & Roll Part 2 Research

Step 1

How did antiwar protest music provide a voice for those opposed to the Vietnam War?

It gave a louder and more powerful voice to the people that may not be able to broadcast their opinions to the public. Lots of people were upset with the Vietnam War and the fact that kids were being drafted but they couldn't even vote yet. The music made this protest much more public and well-known so that they had a much larger voice.

What overall conclusions can you draw about changes in the way war was represented to Americans by the media between World War I and the Vietnam conflict?

War was represented as a very bad thing, which is true. But World War I represented war as a much more acceptable thing than the Vietnam War. With the Vietnam War, kids were being sent out that could not even vote and were being killed at a very young age, so the media and lots of people were very upset in America at this time. The Vietnam War shows the pain people go through, whereas World War I shows kids around a man from the military, which is two very diverse images.

What conclusions can you draw from these statistics about how much access to television news programming Americans had in 1950? In 1970?

In 1950, not many people would have heard the news through television, since only 9% of U.S. households had television sets. This is very different compared to 1970, where 95.3% of households had televisions in their homes. People heard a majority of the news through television in 1970, whereas it was the exact opposite in 1950. As technology advanced throughout the years it became much cheaper to own a television, so that is why more people had one and heard the news through television.

What was the process by which Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young wrote and recorded “Ohio”? 

One of them saw the pictures from the Kent State shooting, and he walked off into the woods. He then came back within an hour later, and they went to the recording studio to record it. They recorded the song in one and a half hours and then it was released 10 days later.

What does this process, and the speed with which they executed and distributed the recording, tell us about protest music’s relevance and potential impact?

This process tells us that people just want to get their voice out, and some people wish to get it out through means of music. Protest music is extremely relevant during the time it is released because some songs can be released within 10 days of the event occurring, and the impact can be very extreme. Lots of people listen to music and the radio, and make connections to the songs. Hearing one about protesting against something may persuade people to join in the protest.