MUSIC 140: Popular Music & Culture
tonight's class was interesting. but i don't know why. we saw a lot of different clips and lots of them were really old. like black and white. but they were nonetheless interesting to watch. sometimes it's funny because of the way ppl dressed back then. it's really odd.
anyway, it's kinda weird how you picture someone that you haven't met or seen. like i can't describe how i pictured Chuck Berry to be, but when i saw him, it was totally different. Berry is a black artist that sang like a white man. so basically he was like the complete opposite of Elvis Presley, 'cuz Presley sang like a black man. anyway, yeah, Berry sang songs such as "Johnny B. Goode" (a song that was featured in Back to the Future), "Maybelline," and "My Ding-a-Ling" (so NOW i know where my mom knows that song! i thought she made it up!). so, Berry, he's awesome on the guitar from the footage we saw in class. he was the first person to actually move around with an electric guitar and stuff.
we also talked about what was dubbed the "In-Between Years" in music. that would be 1959-1964. it's called the "In-Between Years" because it was sandwiched between the golden age of Rock 'n' Roll, and the British Invasion (so next class we talk about the Beatles! :D). this was also the time period where the music industry hits a plateau in terms of market value. Rock 'n' roll brought in a lot of money as it was getting popular, but then it all came to an abrupted halt as Presley got drafted into the US Army, Berry got arrested for crossing a state border with an underaged white girl (apparently he was "dropping her off"?), Buddy Holly was killed in a plane crash, Little Richard embarked on his 1st of many religious conversions, and Jerry Lee Lewis married his 13yr old cousin (how sick is that?! his career died because of this!).
this time period also saw the revolution of the recording aspect of the music industry. since WWII ended at around this time, the US were able to find some inventions the Nazis had. For example, the rocket (which is why they were the first in space), jet engines (fighter jets!), and most important to the music industry, reel-to-reel tape. this invention was important as it allowed layering of music onto a single tape! so a song could be played with multiple instruments with just one person recording, and re-recording over and over again until the piece was done. so anyway, i thought that was cool.
so yeah, up next is the British Invasion, with the Beatles heading that invasion. this is when the market value begins to shoot up again. it actually skyrockets. in 1954, the music industry was worth $200M. in 1959, it rises to $600M. from 1959-1964, it plateaus at $600M, but from 1964-1969, it shoots up to $1.6B. that's like crazy.
this class is getting interesting...the material is interesting, and the prof is an interesting character. he makes the class fun. i wonder how Soundtracks: Music in Film is gonna be like. i got into the class! :D
so maybe the class was interesting because...i just told you everything we discussed in 3hrs? i'm surprised i remembered most of it. it's a breakthrough!
oh and another thing about this class. there's like this one guy in the class that pisses me off just by looking at him! Esther, you can relate to me. remember Smiley in our Econ102 class? yeah something like that! but this guy is even gayer! he waltzes into the classroom with his blades on, thinking he's some sorta hotshot, "i'm so cool" guy and he doesn't take 'em off. today he came in with like these tight-ass jeans that had like belt buckles on the legs? yeah, they were just dangling. ok, now i know he's a snob AND he's gay! like 100% gay. i want to just kick his ass or throw a stick infront of him when he's rollerblading so he can fall on his face and break his wrists. ok that's a little rash, but i don't care. lol! he pisses me off!!!
ANYWAY, at least there's an upside to the class. there's a face in the class that i think is REALLY cute! i'm glad i sit on the other side of the classroom, and i'm glad that she sits near the front of the class on the opposite side 'cuz i'm always looking that way 'cuz the prof is there lecturing. HAHAHA..i'm not a stalker, but you know how you see a pretty face and you sometimes just can't help but look? it's like that. haha..too bad she has a boyfriend. *snaps fingers* shucks! haha :P she's really cute tho! :)
now on a totally different note. thanks Jon for those ideas you mentioned. i'm actually considering the Ricky Williams debacle. i personally think he's a douchebag, but then that's just my opinion. why? 'cuz he quit and wanted just money. he didn't play for fun, he played for money. but now that he OWES money..sounds like he wants to come back. ASS! but then again, i could be misinformed. :) anyway..yeah, a stipulation on the article review was that the article has to be after September 1, 2004. i could talk about the Ricky Williams ordeal, the Montreal Expos move, the phenom of Sidney Crosby, Ichiro's hit history, etc...
btw, anyone want gmail? just leave a comment.
anyway, it's kinda weird how you picture someone that you haven't met or seen. like i can't describe how i pictured Chuck Berry to be, but when i saw him, it was totally different. Berry is a black artist that sang like a white man. so basically he was like the complete opposite of Elvis Presley, 'cuz Presley sang like a black man. anyway, yeah, Berry sang songs such as "Johnny B. Goode" (a song that was featured in Back to the Future), "Maybelline," and "My Ding-a-Ling" (so NOW i know where my mom knows that song! i thought she made it up!). so, Berry, he's awesome on the guitar from the footage we saw in class. he was the first person to actually move around with an electric guitar and stuff.
we also talked about what was dubbed the "In-Between Years" in music. that would be 1959-1964. it's called the "In-Between Years" because it was sandwiched between the golden age of Rock 'n' Roll, and the British Invasion (so next class we talk about the Beatles! :D). this was also the time period where the music industry hits a plateau in terms of market value. Rock 'n' roll brought in a lot of money as it was getting popular, but then it all came to an abrupted halt as Presley got drafted into the US Army, Berry got arrested for crossing a state border with an underaged white girl (apparently he was "dropping her off"?), Buddy Holly was killed in a plane crash, Little Richard embarked on his 1st of many religious conversions, and Jerry Lee Lewis married his 13yr old cousin (how sick is that?! his career died because of this!).
this time period also saw the revolution of the recording aspect of the music industry. since WWII ended at around this time, the US were able to find some inventions the Nazis had. For example, the rocket (which is why they were the first in space), jet engines (fighter jets!), and most important to the music industry, reel-to-reel tape. this invention was important as it allowed layering of music onto a single tape! so a song could be played with multiple instruments with just one person recording, and re-recording over and over again until the piece was done. so anyway, i thought that was cool.
so yeah, up next is the British Invasion, with the Beatles heading that invasion. this is when the market value begins to shoot up again. it actually skyrockets. in 1954, the music industry was worth $200M. in 1959, it rises to $600M. from 1959-1964, it plateaus at $600M, but from 1964-1969, it shoots up to $1.6B. that's like crazy.
this class is getting interesting...the material is interesting, and the prof is an interesting character. he makes the class fun. i wonder how Soundtracks: Music in Film is gonna be like. i got into the class! :D
so maybe the class was interesting because...i just told you everything we discussed in 3hrs? i'm surprised i remembered most of it. it's a breakthrough!
oh and another thing about this class. there's like this one guy in the class that pisses me off just by looking at him! Esther, you can relate to me. remember Smiley in our Econ102 class? yeah something like that! but this guy is even gayer! he waltzes into the classroom with his blades on, thinking he's some sorta hotshot, "i'm so cool" guy and he doesn't take 'em off. today he came in with like these tight-ass jeans that had like belt buckles on the legs? yeah, they were just dangling. ok, now i know he's a snob AND he's gay! like 100% gay. i want to just kick his ass or throw a stick infront of him when he's rollerblading so he can fall on his face and break his wrists. ok that's a little rash, but i don't care. lol! he pisses me off!!!
ANYWAY, at least there's an upside to the class. there's a face in the class that i think is REALLY cute! i'm glad i sit on the other side of the classroom, and i'm glad that she sits near the front of the class on the opposite side 'cuz i'm always looking that way 'cuz the prof is there lecturing. HAHAHA..i'm not a stalker, but you know how you see a pretty face and you sometimes just can't help but look? it's like that. haha..too bad she has a boyfriend. *snaps fingers* shucks! haha :P she's really cute tho! :)
now on a totally different note. thanks Jon for those ideas you mentioned. i'm actually considering the Ricky Williams debacle. i personally think he's a douchebag, but then that's just my opinion. why? 'cuz he quit and wanted just money. he didn't play for fun, he played for money. but now that he OWES money..sounds like he wants to come back. ASS! but then again, i could be misinformed. :) anyway..yeah, a stipulation on the article review was that the article has to be after September 1, 2004. i could talk about the Ricky Williams ordeal, the Montreal Expos move, the phenom of Sidney Crosby, Ichiro's hit history, etc...
btw, anyone want gmail? just leave a comment.
spun by b at 4:00 a.m.
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