(no subject)
Nov. 27th, 2002 10:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bzarcher*grins*
Okay, so it's still lightly snowing, we're blasting out Ghost images, and I'm sitting here listening to Dan's iPod because he brought it in and put it on the speakers for the lab. Woo.
This reminded me of something yesterday:
In the U.S. post 1945 history course, we were supposed to discuss the rise of Reagan and the new conservatism. Interesting topic, but also quite long, and important for the exam.
We had about 14 people from a class of 30.
So what do we talk about? Rock 'n' Roll!
-Why it started.
-Why it's important.
-Why it died, and why that's a good thing.
Sort version because 2 hours of transcribed lecture notes would be boring:
Rock (in all its' forms), from Elvis to all the flavors avalible today is about people finding a voice for their expression and their personality. Even the sensation of the album was created more by DJ's getting the chance to experiment with whole album playing on early FM radio. Rock 'n' Roll as defined by the Beatles and other bands from the same period died in 1975 because people needed more than just one mainstream voice, and the record labels were turning it into something too overpriced and shallow for the average 15 year old.
Interesting fact: In polls of rock musicians, the top 10 albums, artists, and singles are consistently from 1965-72. However this is not so much because they were the best, but because these groups were the first to make so many experiments in sound.
(Note: Rock as an artform is not dead. It simply keeps reforming and diversifying. 'Rock 'n' Roll' as defined by Chuck Berry, Elvis, the Beatles, and the Stones is what we define as dying from 1975-77.)
QOTD: "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is called the greatest 'theme album' of all time. Which is really ironic because it was the Beatles attempting to imitate the Beach Boy's Pet Sounds, which was the Beach Boys attempting to imitate the Beatles' Revolver."
-Prof. Roche
Okay, so it's still lightly snowing, we're blasting out Ghost images, and I'm sitting here listening to Dan's iPod because he brought it in and put it on the speakers for the lab. Woo.
This reminded me of something yesterday:
In the U.S. post 1945 history course, we were supposed to discuss the rise of Reagan and the new conservatism. Interesting topic, but also quite long, and important for the exam.
We had about 14 people from a class of 30.
So what do we talk about? Rock 'n' Roll!
-Why it started.
-Why it's important.
-Why it died, and why that's a good thing.
Sort version because 2 hours of transcribed lecture notes would be boring:
Rock (in all its' forms), from Elvis to all the flavors avalible today is about people finding a voice for their expression and their personality. Even the sensation of the album was created more by DJ's getting the chance to experiment with whole album playing on early FM radio. Rock 'n' Roll as defined by the Beatles and other bands from the same period died in 1975 because people needed more than just one mainstream voice, and the record labels were turning it into something too overpriced and shallow for the average 15 year old.
Interesting fact: In polls of rock musicians, the top 10 albums, artists, and singles are consistently from 1965-72. However this is not so much because they were the best, but because these groups were the first to make so many experiments in sound.
(Note: Rock as an artform is not dead. It simply keeps reforming and diversifying. 'Rock 'n' Roll' as defined by Chuck Berry, Elvis, the Beatles, and the Stones is what we define as dying from 1975-77.)
QOTD: "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is called the greatest 'theme album' of all time. Which is really ironic because it was the Beatles attempting to imitate the Beach Boy's Pet Sounds, which was the Beach Boys attempting to imitate the Beatles' Revolver."
-Prof. Roche
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no subject
Date: 2002-11-27 03:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-11-27 04:46 pm (UTC)Short version of why it was good is that it allowed the rising generations to find their own means of expression, primarily through Disco, Punk, and Rap, which then spawned their own sub-genres to provide the next generations with -their- routes to expression, et al.
In a nutshell, every generation's 'rock 'n' roll', or equivalent, passes for the next. If 60s-70s rock had dominated until today, it would have sucked. The next new thing inspires different kinds of musicianship and more experimentation among artists to expand the possibilities of the field.
...okay, so that wasn't so small. :D
no subject
Date: 2002-11-27 08:48 pm (UTC)Does that mean I can argue that classical music should go away, since it's repressin' our expression?!
on a related note--
Date: 2002-11-27 08:35 pm (UTC)and we always come down to Boston's first album...
(They had an ace in the hole, though... lead singer with a master's from MIT, and two patents on recording technology pre-band formation.)