Useful Websites
Rock ‘n’ Roll
Genre Information
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_and_Roll
http://www.history-of-rock.com/indx.html
http://www.harryhepcat.com/history.htm
http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_timeline-r1.html
http://www.scaruffi.com/history/cpt11.html
Important Bands
http://www.buddyhollyonline.com/
http://www.history-of-rock.com/elvis_presley.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Haley_and_His_Comets
http://www.chuckberry.com/about/bio.htm
http://www.history-of-rock.com/domino.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Richard
http://www.everlybrothers.com/html/bio.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Lee_Lewis
http://www.raycharles.com/
Essential Listening
Rock ‘n’ Roll
Jackie Brenston and the Delta Cats
“Rocket 88 “(Single)
1951
Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton
“Hound Dog” (Single)
1952
Big Joe Turner
“Shake, Rattle and Roll” (Single)
1954
Bill Haley and The Comets
“Rock around the clock” (Single)
1954
Elvis Presley
“That’s all right (Mama)”(Single)
1954
Chuck Berry
Maybellene (Single)
1955
Elvis Presley
Heartbreak Hotel (Single)
1956
Chuck Berry
Johnny B. Goode (Single)
1958
Buddy Holly
Peggy Sue (Single)
1957
Carl Perkins
Blue Suede Shoes (Single)
1956
Jerry Lee Lewis
Great Balls of fire (Single)
1957
Little Richard
Good golly miss Molly (Single)
1956
Elvis Presley
Hound Dog (Single)
1956
Elvis Presley
Don’t be cruel (Single)
1956
Eddie Cochran
Summertime Blues (Single)
1958
Friday, 13 June 2008
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
60's Genre: Motown
Motown is a record label that was founded in
The sound of Motown is essentially Soul with catchy pop hooks that were performed by a tight-knit group of session musicians that played around the
Features of the Music
The “Motown Sound” is a very distinctive style of pop music as most Motown records use 2 drummers that were recorded either simultaneously or one at a time being overdubbed over each other, using unpadded bass drums to create a open sounding thump giving life to a simple 4/4 groove, with a final touch of percussion usually in the form of a tambourine Three Drummers can be heard be heard on Marvin Gaye’s “Heard it through grapevine” which personally I think is a bit extravagance but that certainly didn’t stop it from being Motown’s biggest hit in the 1960’s.
The Bass guitar also featured prominently with James Jamerson being the most note-worthy and influential. Jamerson is widely considered to be the first virtuoso on bass guitar. Bass playing before Jamerson was a mixture of root and fifth notes and repeating patterns, whereas Jamerson’s style of playing was more syncopated, creating a melody to compliment the vocal melody as well as using dissonance. He used tricks that had never really been used such as 16th note runs. He did all this using just one finger. People even make the incredibly bold statement that every person who has picked up a bass guitar since has been influenced by James Jamerson, considering that bass players such as Paul McCartney, John Deacon (Queen), John Entwistle (The Who), John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), Larry Graham (Sly and the family stone) and countless others. With all these bass players spreading his influence, Jamerson, in my opinion, couldn’t have been more influential even if he had invented the bass guitar.
The relationship between Society and the Music
When Berry Gordy’s label started being successful in the early 1960’s it was during the American civil rights movement where the African-American population of America campaigning for equal civil rights to white Americas white citizens as well as equal wages and racial dignity. Also the Vietnam War was in full swing. During the early years of Motown, the songs steered well clear of taking any firm political stance or attitude towards either of this issues as Gordy as a business man who want to make as much money as possible and attacking the government with a group of black artists probably would have made his fledgling label run it self into the ground before it had taken off.
Gordy tightly controlled the music as well as the image of his artists and looking at old photographs and film footage there seems to be a strict uniform for male performers of well kept hair, clean shaven, polished shoes and the wearing of a suit.The women were given lessons in etiquette and I how to use make up. All of this control was part of Gordy’s successful attempt for his artists to cross over and be marketable to the largest group that bought records at that time; the white middle class.
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=16514
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Jamerson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motown
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_Civil_Rights_Movement_(1955%E2%80%931968)
Tuesday, 22 April 2008
70's Genre Funk
funk2
• noun a style of popular dance music of US black origin, having a strong rhythm that typically accentuates the first beat in the bar.
Funk is a form of soul music which originated in the mid-1960’s and gained mainstream popularity in the late 1960’s through to the early eighties. Funk featured a strong back beat on the first beat of the bar (“The one”) and unlike soul music, placed more focus on the rhythm of the track rather than the melody, delivered by a strong drum beat and rhythmic bass line, with a brass section delivering a stabs and repeating riffs, all locked together with precision in the rhythm. It’s the genre that made artists such as James Brown, Sly and the family stone, “Bootsy” Collins and George Clinton household names across
Features of the Music
The main feature of Funk would be the use of rhythm and a strong emphasis on the first beat of the bar, this approach was pioneered by James Brown and can be heard on his 1965 breakthrough hit “Papa’s got a brand new bag”.
Significant Artists
James Brown was certainly a pioneer in his creativity and his influence on music is still present through to this day but soon after his initial breakthrough other funk acts started to emerge, such as Sly and the family Stone.
Sly and the family Stone were a multi racial group (which they say was practically unheard of at the time) that was comprised of multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone and various friends and family members and were pioneering in their own (almost annoyingly) upbeat approach to funk, singing lyrics wishing for peace, love and understanding which I think had great appeal since at the time when there “Dance to the music” album was released in 1968, which was the year Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated and the aftermath of mass rioting coupled with U.S. forces in Vietnam that were fighting for the fifth year running. Such a positive message I imagine would have been a welcome relief.
The Album also was first to feature a premature version of the “Slap and Pop” style of bass playing on the track “Everyday people” provided by Larry Graham which became more pronounced on their later release “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”.
The song writers of Motown also changed their approach to writing songs after funk became apparent, such as with The Temptations, employing a grittier more political attitude towards their lyrics and with a focus on the groove but still retaining a strong use of melody such as can be heard on their hit “Ball of Confusion (That’s what the world is today).”
Friday, 29 February 2008
80's Genre: New Romantics
The New Romantic Movement was a fashion movement and a genre of music that enjoyed mainstream success in the early to mid-1980’s England; however the roots of the genre came about in the late 1970’s in Billy’s, a night club in Soho, London, where Rusty Eagan (the drummer from New Wave band The Rich Kids) started a “Bowie night” with Steve Harrington (better known as Steve Strange).
Eagan was the DJ on these Bowie nights, playing songs by artists such as David Bowie, Roxy Music as well as tracks from electronic bands from all over the world such as Kraftwerk (Germany), Yellow Magic Orchestra (Japan) and Brian Eno’s Landscape (UK). These artists had an electronic presence in the music, often using synthesisers, Drum machines and Theremins, as well as various Disco tracks.
These Bowie nights became so popular that the night moved from Billy’s to the Blitz club in Covent Garden and attracted more people who had a love for dressing up and showing of by wearing copious amounts of make up and generally trying to look as “fabulous” as possible. It was not an uncommon sight to see men dressed up as women, in fact there were generally more men in the girl’s toilet than women.
These nights were regularly frequented by the members of Spandau Ballet and employed Boy George as the cloakroom attendant.
The movement came about in the aftermath of Punk and with it’s flamboyant fashion sense and the androgynous behaviour of it’s participants it is easy to view the New Romantics as a reaction against punk when in fact it was a continuation of punk, having the same “be yourself” attitude without imposing anarchistic views on society for the simple reason they would rather look good and party than talk about politics.
Features of the Music
A lot of the New Romantic Bands used a lot of synthesisers in their music to create a very ambient sound that you dance to rather than use a guitar. The guitar was still used by most of the New Romantic acts but it was generally relegated to a backing instrument (which was quite the contrary to Punk a few years earlier) as can be heard In Visage’s “Fade to Grey” (featuring no Guitar at all) which is generally regarded as the most representative of the New Romantic Style. Ultravox, The Human League and Japan were another bands associated with the New Romantic movement who used the synthesiser as a prominent part of their sound.
Eagan was the DJ on these Bowie nights, playing songs by artists such as David Bowie, Roxy Music as well as tracks from electronic bands from all over the world such as Kraftwerk (Germany), Yellow Magic Orchestra (Japan) and Brian Eno’s Landscape (UK). These artists had an electronic presence in the music, often using synthesisers, Drum machines and Theremins, as well as various Disco tracks.
These Bowie nights became so popular that the night moved from Billy’s to the Blitz club in Covent Garden and attracted more people who had a love for dressing up and showing of by wearing copious amounts of make up and generally trying to look as “fabulous” as possible. It was not an uncommon sight to see men dressed up as women, in fact there were generally more men in the girl’s toilet than women.
These nights were regularly frequented by the members of Spandau Ballet and employed Boy George as the cloakroom attendant.
The movement came about in the aftermath of Punk and with it’s flamboyant fashion sense and the androgynous behaviour of it’s participants it is easy to view the New Romantics as a reaction against punk when in fact it was a continuation of punk, having the same “be yourself” attitude without imposing anarchistic views on society for the simple reason they would rather look good and party than talk about politics.
Features of the Music
A lot of the New Romantic Bands used a lot of synthesisers in their music to create a very ambient sound that you dance to rather than use a guitar. The guitar was still used by most of the New Romantic acts but it was generally relegated to a backing instrument (which was quite the contrary to Punk a few years earlier) as can be heard In Visage’s “Fade to Grey” (featuring no Guitar at all) which is generally regarded as the most representative of the New Romantic Style. Ultravox, The Human League and Japan were another bands associated with the New Romantic movement who used the synthesiser as a prominent part of their sound.
Other bands such as Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet and Adam and the Ants still had guitars as a prominent part of their sounds (Adam and the Ants especially). “Girls on film” a hit for Duran Duran in 1981 features a guitar riff and bass line that wouldn’t sound out of place on a 70’s Disco record, whilst also only having a subtle keyboard part in the chorus. This was also a trait of their friendly rivals Spandau Ballet though having a more prominent synthesiser parts as can be heard on their breakthrough hit “True”.
But the punk sound was still prominent in some of the acts, Adam and the Ants being the most obvious. Without a keyboard player, Adam and the Ants had a sound that had dwelled more on the glam rock side of the New Romantic sound than the electronic, tending to have a dominant bass line and a good deal of guitar feedback as well as a trademark "Burundi Beat" provided by two drummers.
Lyrical Content
The New Romantic bands had varying lyrical themes ranging from love songs to arrogant self loving.
Duran Duran’s had a few recurring lyrical themes such as ogling women from a far which can be heard on their hits “Girls on Film” and “Rio”. Example:
“Wider baby smiling you just made a millionFuses pumping live heat twisting out on a wireTake one last glimpse into the night I'm touching close I'm holding bright, holding tightGive me shudders in a whisper take me up till I'm shooting a star”(“Girls on Film”) (from azlyrics.com)
They also had a theme of angst towards been broken up with a partner, using metaphors of a post-apocalyptic world which can be heard on “Is there anyone out there?” Example:
“Well I tried to phone last night but you never answeredJust left me ringing on the lineOutside is there anyone out there anyone else outsideWoah outside love is there anyone out there anyone else outside” (From azlyrics.com)
Adam and the Ants had a much more egotistical approach to their lyrics, trying to convince the listener to stop listening to the music of previous years and listen to this new sound. Their single “Antmusic” is probably the best example of this:
“So unplug the jukebox and do us all a favour That music's lost its taste so try another flavour Antmusic” (From Lyricsdownload.com)
Significant Artists
Of all the artists in the New Romantic scene, the most commercially successful of these acts was easily Duran Duran, having several multi platinum selling albums not just in the U.K., but also America and Australia to an accumulated total of about 85 million records sold.
Culture Club, Spandau Ballet, Adam and the Ants and Japan also enjoyed success on both sides of the Atlantic as well as Europe and Australia.
Visage on the other hand never really took off out side of the Dance floors of Britain and Europe with “Fade to Grey” being their only top ten hit in the UK and gaining the number one spot in Germany.
Image and Fashion
In the late 70’s after Punk had lost its ability to shock, its anti-fashion attitude had become uniformed and stale, people had a way of expressing themselves in a way that was exciting for them. But within Punk there was always a fraction of participants that revolved more around their appearance and there was always bound to be people within the Punk movement who felt that they would rather look good than push forward for anarchy.
A lot in the New Romantic genre revolved around wearing a large amount make-up and often drawing inspiration from Glam rock acts such as David Bowie and Marc Bolan’s T-Rex with the sophisticated edge of 18th century Romanticism and the aristocracy of the time, except exaggerating the traits in order to attract attention. Vivienne Westwood was a London based fashion designer who used this to great effect when designing the outfits for Adam and the Ants, using a great deal of make-up, bright colours, frilly shirts and outrageous patterns to form an eye catching image that some what resembles the stereotypical image of a pirate.
.
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(Image from www.npg.org.uk)
Influences/Influenced
The New Romantic sound was very much shaped by Rusty Egan and the music he played at the Bowie nights at the Blitz club. Artist such as Kraftwerk and Landscape with their electronic trickery was definitely felt by artists such as Visage, Human League and later Soft Cell. David Bowie with his various image changes and alternate personas defiantly had an impact on the imagery of these artists as well as the minimal guitar approach to there music.
The new romantics have influenced a great deal of music and fashion since. In the 1990’s there was a movement of music known as “Romo” which had a extroverted attitude of bands such as Visage, but it never achieved the commercial success of it’s 80’s predecessors and simply became a sub set of the much more popular Brit pop movement.
Important Albums and Singles
The single that brought the New Romantic movement to the public eye in Britain was actually “Ashes to Ashes” by David Bowie as the video featured regulars from the Blitz club that were recruited Personally by David Bowie. Steve Strange was one of regulars picked. This paved the way for Visage’s single “Fade to Grey” which became a top ten hit and a slew of bands of bands that followed them into the charts for several years after. They also won awards for their music such as Adam and the Ant’s “Kings of the wild Frontier” scooping the “Best selling Album” at the Brit awards in 1982.
The Relationship between Society and Culture
The late 70’s and early 80’s was quiet a bleak period for working class in Britain, with the country in recession, unemployment was a common sight around the country caused by a crippled economy and the trade unions going strike, coupled with high taxes.
The New Romantics escaped to the clubs in which they could distract themselves in the Blitz by being themselves, getting wasted and exploring their sexuality to a fresh soundtrack.
Sources used:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Romantic
http://last.fm/
http://www.fashion-era.com/new_romantics1.htm
http://www.npg.org.uk/
http://www.lyricsdownload.com/
http://www.azlyrics.com/
Channel 4 Documentary “Where have all the Gender Benders Gone?”
http://www.youtube.com/
Tuesday, 4 December 2007
Grunge
“Grunge; noun.
1. Chiefly North American. Grime; dirt. 2. A style of rock music characterized by a raucous guitar sound and lazy vocal delivery. 3. A casual style of fashion including loose, layered clothing and ripped jeans.” From askoxford.com
Grunge is an Alternative rock sub-genre that became apparent in the mid 1980’s and gained successful mainstream popularity during the early 1990’s. It originated from the north-west American city of Seattle, Washington.
Features
Grunge is a riff orientated genre with a consistent use of distorted Guitars drawn from 1970’s Hard Rock and Heavy Metal bands such as Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin and Hardcore Punk bands such Black Flag, most of the Seattle bands in Grunge tended to favour either one or the other, with bands such as Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden drawing more on Heavy Metal whereas bands like Nirvana, The Melvins and Screaming Trees lend more to the Punk Rock sound.
Also used is varying dynamic changes incorporated into the structure of songs, a common example in the genre being having a quiet verse leading to a loud chorus, this style of song writing was derived from Indie Rock; most notably The Pixies. This Indie influence provided a basis of Acoustic guitar based tracks such as “Polly” by Nirvana.
There is also a strong use of guitar feedback, a good example of this is in the intro to Soundgarden’s “Jesus Christ Pose”
The lyrics had there own distinctive styling, generally being quite angst-ridden, callous and aggressive in tone.
Lyrical Content
The lyrical content in Grunge bares a striking resemblance to that of Punk Rock, often having a dark subject matter such as social prejudice, detachment from the world around them, domestic issues and a desire for freedom which was a considerable detachment from the mainstream Rock of the 80’s where Glam Metal was the dominant force, who’s subject matter revolved mainly around Sex, alcohol and drugs. By the late 80’s a clichéd formula in the way these artists were marketed had become apparent, by releasing a Hard-Rock anthem followed by a power ballad. Nirvana; One of the biggest acts in Grunge had a theme of social alienation and disinterest in the music scene as well as the state of society at that time e.g.
“When I was an alien, cultures weren't opinions
Gotta find a wayA better wayWhen I'm mad (there)Gotta find a wayA better wayI better wait”(“Territorial Pissings” by Nirvana)(from nirvana-music.com)
This show’s a sense of Scepticism and mistrust in society at the time.
Influences/Influenced
As I have already stated, Grunge was primarily influenced by Heavy Metal and Hardcore Punk.
Black Sabbath were a huge influence on the Grunge sound, they are a four piece band from Birmingham, England and are credited as the inventors of Heavy Metal. The group found their sound when they were rehearsing in a studio across the road from a cinema and guitarist Tony Iommi said that he found it strange that people would pay to go see a horror film to be scared. This inspired them to try and emulate the effect of horror films in their music by using bluesy power chord based riffs on distorted guitars which were often detuned to give a “Heavy” sound. It was purposely dark in response to the pop music of the 1960’s.
Band’s like Soundgarden and Alice in Chains drew heavily on this approach, using distorted guitars and down tuning them to retain the dark sound but dropping the blues influence in favour of a sound more focused on energy. Pearl Jam on the other hand in used this blues element as a basis to create hook laden style in the vain of classic rock as can be heard on their single “Even Flow”.
Another huge influence on Grunge was the hardcore punk act Black Flag.
Black Flag are known to be the first band to be given the title of hardcore punk and featured distorted guitars to create a “Sludgy” sound, as well as utilizing tempo shifts and more complex song structures not featured in that of their Punk rock contemporaries as well as dissonant guitar solos. Their lyrics had a recurring theme of isolation, poverty and mental issues. Mudhoney's Steve Turner commented;
"A lot of other people around the country hated the fact that Black Flag slowed down ... but up here it was really great ... we were like 'Yay!' They were weird and fucked-up sounding."(Commenting the Black Flag album “My War”)(From Wikipedia.org)
This influence can be heard on nearly all of the albums released from the Seattle bands of the time, from Alice in Chains’ “Them Bones” and Nirvana’s “Territorial Pissings”
Important albums/singles
Most Grunge acts at one point or another were signed to a local Independent label called Sub Pop, it’s acts have included Nirvana, Soundgarden, Tad, and Green river among others. Releases on this label worth noting are Nirvana’s debut album “Bleach”, Mudhoney’s “Superfuzz Bigmuff” and Soundgarden’s “Screaming life”.
After these albums were released most of the acts on Sub Pop departed for major labels.
The biggest album of the Grunge movement was easily Nirvana’s “Nevermind”.
Released September 24, 1991, it was a surprise hit that had ousted Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous” from the top of US album Billboard chart and is regarded as bringing Alternative Rock to the mainstream.
Another pivotal album was Soundgarden’s “Badmotorfinger” which was released October 8, 1991 and was nominated for “Best Metal performance” at the Grammy awards that same year.
Image/fashion
Grunge bands were known to play down image in favour of a straight to the point approach by wearing clothes purchased from charity shops and general outdoor wear. The most famous item of clothing from the Seattle scene was easily the Flannel shirt which was a common site in Seattle’s lumber industry.
Grunge musicians never appeared “presentable”, often appearing on stage with ragged three-quarter length trousers, ripped jeans and un-kempt hair. The musician’s desire was to place emphasis on the music not on the image which was an attitude that was counter to that of the Glam Rock scene of the 80’s.
Relationship between the music and society and culture of the time
When Grunge first hit the mainstream the general populous of America who were born roughly between 1960 and 1965 (making them aged between 20 and 25 during the mid-eighties) had found that they felt that they bore no connection between them and the generation of their parents (who were aged 20-25 in post-war America)aka “The Baby Boomers”. A lot of young people around the Seattle at the time viewed the older generation’s ideas with scepticism and appeared apathetic and disaffected by their values. This generation was dubbed “Generation X” for its lack of identity. Music was simply a way for the musicians to express their feelings and attitude towards the way society was and how they disagreed with it.
1. Chiefly North American. Grime; dirt. 2. A style of rock music characterized by a raucous guitar sound and lazy vocal delivery. 3. A casual style of fashion including loose, layered clothing and ripped jeans.” From askoxford.com
Grunge is an Alternative rock sub-genre that became apparent in the mid 1980’s and gained successful mainstream popularity during the early 1990’s. It originated from the north-west American city of Seattle, Washington.
Features
Grunge is a riff orientated genre with a consistent use of distorted Guitars drawn from 1970’s Hard Rock and Heavy Metal bands such as Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin and Hardcore Punk bands such Black Flag, most of the Seattle bands in Grunge tended to favour either one or the other, with bands such as Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden drawing more on Heavy Metal whereas bands like Nirvana, The Melvins and Screaming Trees lend more to the Punk Rock sound.
Also used is varying dynamic changes incorporated into the structure of songs, a common example in the genre being having a quiet verse leading to a loud chorus, this style of song writing was derived from Indie Rock; most notably The Pixies. This Indie influence provided a basis of Acoustic guitar based tracks such as “Polly” by Nirvana.
There is also a strong use of guitar feedback, a good example of this is in the intro to Soundgarden’s “Jesus Christ Pose”
The lyrics had there own distinctive styling, generally being quite angst-ridden, callous and aggressive in tone.
Lyrical Content
The lyrical content in Grunge bares a striking resemblance to that of Punk Rock, often having a dark subject matter such as social prejudice, detachment from the world around them, domestic issues and a desire for freedom which was a considerable detachment from the mainstream Rock of the 80’s where Glam Metal was the dominant force, who’s subject matter revolved mainly around Sex, alcohol and drugs. By the late 80’s a clichéd formula in the way these artists were marketed had become apparent, by releasing a Hard-Rock anthem followed by a power ballad. Nirvana; One of the biggest acts in Grunge had a theme of social alienation and disinterest in the music scene as well as the state of society at that time e.g.
“When I was an alien, cultures weren't opinions
Gotta find a wayA better wayWhen I'm mad (there)Gotta find a wayA better wayI better wait”(“Territorial Pissings” by Nirvana)(from nirvana-music.com)
This show’s a sense of Scepticism and mistrust in society at the time.
Influences/Influenced
As I have already stated, Grunge was primarily influenced by Heavy Metal and Hardcore Punk.
Black Sabbath were a huge influence on the Grunge sound, they are a four piece band from Birmingham, England and are credited as the inventors of Heavy Metal. The group found their sound when they were rehearsing in a studio across the road from a cinema and guitarist Tony Iommi said that he found it strange that people would pay to go see a horror film to be scared. This inspired them to try and emulate the effect of horror films in their music by using bluesy power chord based riffs on distorted guitars which were often detuned to give a “Heavy” sound. It was purposely dark in response to the pop music of the 1960’s.
Band’s like Soundgarden and Alice in Chains drew heavily on this approach, using distorted guitars and down tuning them to retain the dark sound but dropping the blues influence in favour of a sound more focused on energy. Pearl Jam on the other hand in used this blues element as a basis to create hook laden style in the vain of classic rock as can be heard on their single “Even Flow”.
Another huge influence on Grunge was the hardcore punk act Black Flag.
Black Flag are known to be the first band to be given the title of hardcore punk and featured distorted guitars to create a “Sludgy” sound, as well as utilizing tempo shifts and more complex song structures not featured in that of their Punk rock contemporaries as well as dissonant guitar solos. Their lyrics had a recurring theme of isolation, poverty and mental issues. Mudhoney's Steve Turner commented;
"A lot of other people around the country hated the fact that Black Flag slowed down ... but up here it was really great ... we were like 'Yay!' They were weird and fucked-up sounding."(Commenting the Black Flag album “My War”)(From Wikipedia.org)
This influence can be heard on nearly all of the albums released from the Seattle bands of the time, from Alice in Chains’ “Them Bones” and Nirvana’s “Territorial Pissings”
Important albums/singles
Most Grunge acts at one point or another were signed to a local Independent label called Sub Pop, it’s acts have included Nirvana, Soundgarden, Tad, and Green river among others. Releases on this label worth noting are Nirvana’s debut album “Bleach”, Mudhoney’s “Superfuzz Bigmuff” and Soundgarden’s “Screaming life”.
After these albums were released most of the acts on Sub Pop departed for major labels.
The biggest album of the Grunge movement was easily Nirvana’s “Nevermind”.
Released September 24, 1991, it was a surprise hit that had ousted Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous” from the top of US album Billboard chart and is regarded as bringing Alternative Rock to the mainstream.
Another pivotal album was Soundgarden’s “Badmotorfinger” which was released October 8, 1991 and was nominated for “Best Metal performance” at the Grammy awards that same year.
Image/fashion
Grunge bands were known to play down image in favour of a straight to the point approach by wearing clothes purchased from charity shops and general outdoor wear. The most famous item of clothing from the Seattle scene was easily the Flannel shirt which was a common site in Seattle’s lumber industry.
Grunge musicians never appeared “presentable”, often appearing on stage with ragged three-quarter length trousers, ripped jeans and un-kempt hair. The musician’s desire was to place emphasis on the music not on the image which was an attitude that was counter to that of the Glam Rock scene of the 80’s.
Relationship between the music and society and culture of the time
When Grunge first hit the mainstream the general populous of America who were born roughly between 1960 and 1965 (making them aged between 20 and 25 during the mid-eighties) had found that they felt that they bore no connection between them and the generation of their parents (who were aged 20-25 in post-war America)aka “The Baby Boomers”. A lot of young people around the Seattle at the time viewed the older generation’s ideas with scepticism and appeared apathetic and disaffected by their values. This generation was dubbed “Generation X” for its lack of identity. Music was simply a way for the musicians to express their feelings and attitude towards the way society was and how they disagreed with it.
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