Showing papers on "Popular music published in 1995"
TL;DR: Stokes as mentioned in this paper discusses the role of music in the creation of an Afghan National Identity, 1923-73, and discusses the relationship between music and place in Australian Aboriginal Traditional and Popular Musics.
Abstract: Contents: M. Stokes, Introduction: Ethnicity, Identity and Music - M. Chapman, Thoughts on Celtic Music - J. Baily, The Role of Music in the Creation of an Afghan National Identity, 1923-73 - Z. Mach, National Anthems: The Case of Chopin as a National Composer - S. A. Reily, Macunaima's Music: National Identity and Ethnomusicological Research in Brazil - M. Stokes, Place, Exchange and Meaning: Black Sea Musicians in the West Coast of Ireland - S. Cohen, Identity, Place and the 'Liverpool Sound' - F. Magowan, 'The Land is our Marr (Essence) It Stays Forever': The Yothu-Yindi Relationship in Australian Aboriginal Traditional and Popular Musics - P. Parkes, Personal and Collective Identity in Kalasha Song Performance: The Significance of Music-making in a Minority Enclave - H. La Rue, Music, Literature and Etiquette: Musical Instruments and Social Identity from Castiglione to Austen
300 citations
Book•
27 Jul 1995
TL;DR: Floyd has written a path-breaking book on the development of African-American music and its influence in America as mentioned in this paper, showing how African myths and ritual - especially the "ring-shout" dances that were ubiquitous in West Africa - have underlain all black music in America.
Abstract: Floyd has written a path-breaking book on the development of African-American music and its influence in America. He shows how African myths and ritual - especially the "ring-shout" dances that were ubiquitous in West Africa - have underlain the development of all black music in America. It puts black music - and American music in general - into a new and exciting perspective.
283 citations
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01 Jan 1995TL;DR: Text and Act as mentioned in this paper is a collection of essays and reviews published over the last dozen years, which offers a brilliant evaluation of the early music movement, transforming the debate about "early music" and "authenticity".
Abstract: Gathers together for the first time Taruskin's influential and insightful essays and articles on musical performance practice written over the past decade. Links issues in musical performance with wider cultural scene. Author's highly respected and controversial viewpoints and reputation will spark intellectual debate in the musical field. Text and Act, a collection of essays and reviews, published over the last dozen years, offers a brilliant evaluation of the early music movement, transforming the debate about "early music" and "authenticity". Demolishing the argument that the movement to revive period instruments and performance practices represents the recovery of an ancient truth or a reinstatement of a lost tradition, these writings show that the movement actually represents the triumph of a modernist esthetic - and consequently that "period" performances are in fact the only truly modern performances of classical music on offer. Yet far from impugning the movement's claim to authenticity, Taruskin argues that as the only truly contemporary performance practice, "early music" is authentic in a much more profound and relevant sense than a mere historical verisimilitude could ever be. These essays cast fresh light on many aspects of contemporary music-making and music-thinking, with lighthearted debunking taking its place alongside impassioned argumentation. A wide-ranging, newly written introduction explores the relationship between issues surrounding musical performance and other areas of contemporary intellectual ferment in the humanities and the social sciences, including philosophy, law, history, and anthropology. Bringing his considerable skills as a scholar and a performer to bear on the situation, Taruskin's essays, ranging from theoretical speculation to practical criticism, cover a repertory that includes Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Stravinsky.
220 citations
TL;DR: A Boy's Own Story - Writing Masculine Genres Hardcore Rappin' - Popular Music, Identity and Critical Discourse The "me in the Picture is not "me" - Photography as Writing Reading Audiences - The Subjective and the Social Intervening in Culture - Media Studies, English and the Response to "Mass" Culture.
Abstract: Reading and Teaching Popular Media Making Sense of the Media - From Reading to Culture A Boy's Own Story - Writing Masculine Genres Hardcore Rappin' - Popular Music, Identity and Critical Discourse The "me" in the Picture is not "me" - Photography as Writing Reading Audiences - The Subjective and the Social Intervening in Culture - Media Studies, English and the Response to "Mass" Culture In Other Words - Evaluation, Writing and Reflection Going Critical - The Development of Critical Discourse Solving the Theoretical Problem - Positive Images and Practical work Conclusion - Dialogues with the Future.
217 citations
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01 Jan 1995
TL;DR: The music business in capitalist society has been studied in this article, where the social construction of musical meaning has been discussed in the context of music business and social action in the music business.
Abstract: Introduction - sociology and music the social construction of musical meaning adorno - music as representation social structures and musical structures music as social action the music business in capitalist society.
211 citations
Journal Article•
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TL;DR: The early days of the gramophone industry in India and its early days in India are discussed in this paper, where a history and geography of Northern Soul is discussed. But the focus is on the music industry and its role in the commodification of the sublime.
Abstract: The global music industry - contradictions in the commodification of the sublime, John Lovering the early days of the gramophone industry in India - historical, social, and musical perspectives, Gerry Farrell welcome to Dreamsville - a history and geography of Northern Soul, Joanne Hollows and Katie Milestone Victoria brass bands - class, taste, and space, Trevor Herbert locating listening - technological space, popular music, and Canadian Mediation, Jody Berland Borderlines - bilingual terrain in Scottish song, Steve Sweeney Turner England's glory - sensibility of place in English music, 1900-1950, Robert Stradling Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's geography of disappointment - hybridity, identity, and networks of musical meaning, George Revill global undergrounds - the cultural politics of sound and light in Los Angeles, 1965-1975, Simon Rycroft from dust strom disaster to pastures of glory - Woody Guthrie and the landscapes of the dust bowl odyssey, John Gold sounding out of the city - music and the sensuous production of place, Sara Cohen desire, power, and the sonoric landscape - early modernism and the politics of musical privacy, Richard Leppert.
209 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1995
TL;DR: In this paper, Chana considers the record as a radically new type of commodity which turned the intangible performance of music into a saleable abject, and describes the upset which this caused in musical culture.
Abstract: Repeated Takes is the first general book on the history of the recording industry, covering the entire field from Edison's talking tin foil of 1877 to the age of the compact disc. Michael Chana considers the record as a radically new type of commodity which turned the intangible performance of music into a saleable abject, and describes the upset which this caused in musical culture. He asks: what goes on in a recording studio? How does this affect the music? Do we listen to music differently from our forebears because of reproduction? Repeated Takes relates the growth and development of the industry, both technically and economically; the effects of the microphone on interpretation in both classical and popular music; and the impact of all these factors on musical styles and taste. This highly readable book also traces the connections between the development of recording and the rise of new forms of popular music, and discusses arguments among classical musicians about microphone technique and studio practice.
208 citations
207 citations
TL;DR: The authors provide a review of trends in existing geographical research on popular music and explore how existing lines of inquiry might be expanded, using retheorized perspectives in cultural geographical scholarship as springboards for discussion.
Abstract: As an area of geographical inquiry, popular music has not been explored to any large extent. Where writings exist, they have been somewhat divorced from recent theoretical and methodological questions that have rejuvenated social and cultural geography (see, for example, Cosgrove and Jackson, 1987; Jackson, 1989; Cosgrove, 1989; 1990; Anderson and Gale, 1992; Bames and Duncan, 1992). In this article I will focus on the interface between geography and popular music, focusing specifically on the contributions of such exploration towards cultural and social understanding. In what follows, I will first discuss the reasons for geographers’ relative neglect of popular music and why this disregard should not persist. Secondly, I will provide a brief review of trends in existing geographical research on popular music. Finally, I will explore how existing lines of inquiry might be expanded, using retheorized perspectives in cultural geographical scholarship as springboards for discussion. Particularly in this final section, the divisions between geographers and nongeographers should not be overemphasized at the expense of furthering our understanding of popular music, culture and society. Indeed, I draw heavily on the works of sociologists and cultural theorists for both their theoretical insights and empirical analyses.
193 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1995
TL;DR: In this article, Brackett draws from the disciplines of cultural studies and music theory to demonstrate how listeners form opinions about popular songs, and how they come to attribute a rich variety of meanings to them.
Abstract: There is a well-developed vocabulary for discussing classical music, but when it comes to popular music, how do we analyze its effects and its meaning? David Brackett draws from the disciplines of cultural studies and music theory to demonstrate how listeners form opinions about popular songs, and how they come to attribute a rich variety of meanings to them. Exploring several genres of popular music through recordings made by Billie Holiday, Bing Crosby, Hank Williams, James Brown, and Elvis Costello, Brackett develops a set of tools for looking at both the formal and cultural dimensions of popular music of all kinds.
161 citations
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01 Jan 1995
TL;DR: Blacking's most important theoretical papers reveal his theoretical themes such as the innateness of musical ability, the properties of music as a symbolic or quasi-linguistic system, the complex relation between music and social institutions and the relation between scientific musical analysis and cultural understanding as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: One of the most important ethnomusicologists of the century, John Blacking is known for his interest in the relationship of music to biology, psychology, dance and politics. He attempted to document the ways in which music-making expresses the human condition, how it transcends social divisions and how it can be used to improve the quality of human life. This volume brings together eight of Blacking's most important theoretical papers which reveal his theoretical themes such as the innateness of musical ability, the properties of music as a symbolic or quasi-linguistic system, the complex relation between music and social institutions and the relation between scientific musical analysis and cultural understanding.
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01 Jun 1995
TL;DR: In this article, a collection of essays and articles provides a detailed analysis of both the music and the cultural significance of children's songs among the Venda people of the northern Transvaal, South Africa.
Abstract: This collection of essays and articles provides a detailed analysis of both the music and the cultural significance of children's songs among the Venda people of the northern Transvaal, South Africa. Among the various topics covered is the role of melody in generating rhythm, something that distinguishes this form of music from that of Venda adults as well as from other genres of African music in general. John Blacking (1928-1990) also wrote "How Musical is Man" and "The Anthropology of the Body".
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01 Nov 1995
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a map of the Caribbean at a glance, showing the major themes in the study of Caribbean music Unity and Diversity in a Continent of Islands Race and Ethnicity Music, Sex, and Sexism, International Music International Music and Politics Glossary Notes Index, and the main themes of the music in the Caribbean.
Abstract: Preface Map The Caribbean at a Glance 1. Introduction: The Caribbean Crucible The Indian Heritage The African Heritage Patterns of Musical Retention The European Heritage Creolization 2. Cuba A Day in Havana, 1986 The Cuban Crucible African-derived Musics Rumba A Music Festival in Santiago de Cuba European-derived Musics The Son and Modern Cuban Dance Music "Socialism with Pachanga" 3. Puerto Rico Cuba and Puerto Rico: "The Two Wings of the Same Bird" European-derived Musics The Fiesta de Santiago Apostol at Loiza Aldea Plena and Bomba in the Dance Hall Music and the Puerto Rican Diaspora 4. Salsa and Beyond The Son Sires a Son Ruben Blades: The Cutting Edge Style and Structure The Salsa Life Salsa Lite? Latin Rap Nueva Cancion 5. The Dominican Republic The Emergence of Merengue The Merengue Tipico of Cibao The Merengue as National Symbol The Modern Merengue The Merengue Invasion Merengue Style and Dance Bachata: Songs of Bitterness Juan Luis Guerra 6. Haiti and the French Caribbean Music in the Streets of Port-au-Prince Haitian Cultural Crossroads Creolization in Haiti: Language Creolization in Haiti: Religion Carnival and Rara Misik Twoubadou Haitian Dance Music Politics and the Haitian Diaspora Vodou-Jazz Today Music in the Lesser Antilles 7. Jamaica 1976: Traveling through Reggae's "Golden Era" Music ina Downtown Style: Recording the Unrecorded Kumina ina Trench Town Style: One Thread Out of Many Roots and Culture: Downtown Triumphant Techno-Roots: From Reggae to Ragga Coda: Rasta Kumina ina Raggamuffin Style 8. Trinidad, Calypso, and Carnival The Development of Calypso and Carnival Calypso in Colonialism Modern Calypso and Carnival Calypso and Gender The Carnival Context Steel Band Calypso and Carnival outside Trinidad 9. The Other Caribbean East Indians in the West Indies Introducing the Popular Music of Suriname Kaseko: Enter the Strings and Horns Aleke: The Drum Rules Again 10. Five Themes in the Study of Caribbean Music Unity and Diversity in a Continent of Islands Race and Ethnicity Music, Sex, and Sexism Caribbean Music International Music and Politics Glossary Notes Index
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13 Nov 1995
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyse the popular rock industry song and business cycle cycles, rock ideology and sound politics, rock culture getting away with it, sports industry playing for pay ideology in competition, and physical culture and armchair exercise.
Abstract: Introduction Analysing the Popular Rock Industry Song and Business Cycles Rock Ideology and Sound Politics Rock Culture Getting Away with It The Sports Industry Playing for Pay Ideologies in Competition Physical Culture and Armchair Exercise
TL;DR: In this article, the Gorgon and the nightingale: the voice of female lament and Pindar's Twelfth Pythian Ode are discussed, as well as the role of women's voices in Hamlet.
Abstract: Introduction Part I. Vocality, Textuality, and the Silencing of the Female Voice: 1. The Gorgon and the nightingale: the voice of female lament and Pindar's Twelfth Pythian Ode 2. Music and the maternal voice in Purgatorio XIX 3. Ophelia's songs in Hamlet: music, madness and the feminine 4. Wordsworth and Romantic voice: the poet's song and the prostitute's cry Part II. Anxieties of Audition: 5. 'No women are indeed': the boy actor as vocal seductress in late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century drama 6. Deriding the voice of Jeanette MacDonald: notes on psychoanalysis and the American film musical 7. Adorno and the Sirens: tele-phono-graphic bodies Part III. Women Artists: Vocality and Cultural Authority: 8. The diva doesn't die: George Eliot's Armgart 9. Rewriting Ophelia: fluidity, madness, and the voice in Louise Colet's La Servante 10. Staring the camera down: direct address and women's voices 11. The voice of lament: female vocality and performative efficacy in the Finnish-Karelian itkuvirsi Part IV. Maternal Voices: 12. The lyrical dimensions of spirituality: music, voice, and language in the novels of Toni Morrison 13. Red hot mamas: Bessie Smith, Sophie Tucker, and the ethnic maternal voice in American popular song 14. Maternalism and the material girl Nancy J. Vickers.
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20 Sep 1995
TL;DR: In this article, a survey of approaches to gender in popular culture is presented, with a focus on psychology and psychological approaches to culture, and a discussion of male images in rock and pop music.
Abstract: Introduction - Approaches to Gender - Studying Popular Culture - Psychological Approaches to Culture - Westerns - Horror Films - Pornography - Male Images in Rock and Pop Music - Male Sport - Conclusions
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28 Dec 1995
TL;DR: In this article, Griffiths re-establishes Paul Griffiths's survey as the definitive study of music since the Second World War, showing how they converge and diverge.
Abstract: This fully revised new edition re-establishes Paul Griffith's survey as the definitive study of music since the Second World War. The disruptions of the war, and the struggles of the ensuing peace, were reflected in the music of the time: in Pierre Boulez's radical re-forming of compositional technique and in John Cage's move into zen music, in Milton Babbitt's settling of the serial system and in Dmitry Shostakovich's unsettling symphonies, in Karlheinz Stochausen's development of electronic music and in Luigi Nono's pursuit of the universally human, in Iannis Xenakis's view of music as sounding mathematics and in Luciano Berio's consideration of it as language. The initiatives of these composers and their contemporaries opened prospects that have continued to unfold. This constant expansion of musical thinking since 1945 has left us with no single history of music. `We live' as Griffiths says, `among many simultaneous histories'. His study accordingly follows several different paths, showing how they converge and diverge. This book is intended for students, musicians, and general readers interested in the music of the avant-garde since 1945.
TL;DR: The development of a wide range of musical genres and styles - from rhythm and blues and soul to punk and industrial - are often attributed to the small companies that operated outside of the control of the larger'major' labels as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: midst of a capital-driven and profit-oriented record business. The development of a wide range of musical genres and styles - from rhythm and blues and soul to punk and industrial - are often attributed to the small companies that operated outside of the control of the larger 'major' labels. While such assessments no doubt describe some independent labels during different periods of the modern record business (Gillett 1983; Marcus 1990), they are also laden with assumptions about how a company's size, style of business operations and even market orientation impact upon the cultural currency of the products. Small companies, the argument goes, are able to react more quickly to changing popular music tastes (Peters 1992). They are therefore more likely to pick up on emerging musical trends and bring them to market quickly. This traditional line of reasoning about indie practices also argues that indies are often able to turn a market disadvantage (they usually cannot realistically compete against their larger competitors for a general audience) into an advantage (they concentrate on new and innovative sounds targeted towards niche audiences). Even the indie's use of manufacturers and distributors unaffiliated with the majors and often unconventional business practices has typically been viewed as part of a 'grass roots' effort to contest large capitalist institutions (Frith 1988). Many of these assumptions about indie record label practices emerged, Frith (1981) points out, with the evolution of the rhetoric and ideology associated with rock 'n' roll. In the discourse that develops around rock 'n' roll during the 1960s and 1970s, independent record companies emerged as largely 'authentic' advocates of rock 'n' roll practices. In this context, independent record companies were defined through a set of beliefs about the importance of musical 'difference', the declaration of an 'alternative' cultural sensibility, the Romantic myth of the artist, and, ultimately, the need to maintain a business and cultural separation from a record industry defined and utterly dominated by the major labels. In contrast,
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on popular music written and produced by Singaporeans to illustrate the nature of social relationships based on ideological hegemony and resistance, and analyse two groups of music: 'national' songs supported by the government in the ‘Sing Singapore’ programme; and songs brought together in Not the Singapore song book.
Abstract: This paper focuses on popular music written and produced by Singaporeans to illustrate the nature of social relationships based on ideological hegemony and resistance. Analysis is based on two groups of music: ‘national’ songs supported by the government in the ‘Sing Singapore’ programme; and songs brought together in Not the Singapore song book Interviews with local lyricists and analysis of video productions provide supplementary information. Music is used by the ruling elite to perpetuate certain ideologies aimed at political socialization and to inculcate a civil religion that directs favour and fervour towards the nation. Music is also a form of cultural resistance against state policies and some social-cultural norms. Music embodies social commentaries on aspects of Singapore society, such as controversial government policies and the ostentatious lifestyle of many Singaporeans.
TL;DR: In this article, Medved argues that Hollywood's alienated ideological agenda is harmful not just to the industry's own interests, but to the USA at large, by creating movies, television and popular music that exacerbate every serious social problem, from teenage pregnancy to violence in the streets.
Abstract: This critique of the anti-religious, pro-violence, unpatriotic and amoral entertainment industry examines, with facts and statistics, how Hollywood bigwigs have broken faith with the public. They are creating movies, television and popular music that exacerbate every serious social problem, from teenage pregnancy to violence in the streets. Despite dwindling audiences and financial loss, Hollywood refuses to reflect - or even respect - the values of ordinary American families. Medved asserts that Hollywood's alienated ideological agenda is harmful not just to the industry's own interests, but to the USA at large.
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01 Jan 1995TL;DR: In this paper, the authors define Bachata and define music and dictatorship as "defining Bachata" and "power, representation, and identity", and present the birth of Bachata as "love, sex, and gender".
Abstract: Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Defining Bachata 2. Music and Dictatorship 3. The Birth of Bachata 4. Power, Representation, and Identity 5. Love, Sex, and Gender 6. From the Margins to the Mainstream 7. Conclusions Notes Bibliography Discography Index Photo Galleries
TL;DR: The authors argued that the production of popular music does not so much involve a conflict between commerce and creativity, but a struggle over what is creative and what is to be commercial, and argued for a sociology of the mundane practices that produce "commercial" and "creative" texts.
Abstract: Taking as my theme the familiar opposition between commerce and creativity, this paper contrasts different sociological approaches to the production of popular music and questions some of the assumptions about the rational nature of the market and mystical character of creative inspiration, that are often implied when these terms – ‘creativity’ and ‘commerce’ – are used in this binary oppositional manner. In arguing for a sociology of the mundane practices that produce ‘commercial’ and ‘creative’ texts, I suggest that the production of popular music does not so much involve a conflict between commerce and creativity, but a struggle over what is creative, and what is to be commercial.
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01 Jan 1995TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the relationship between the Hutchinson family and popular songs as political and social protest in South Africa and discuss the role of rock 'n' roll in a very strange society.
Abstract: Acknowledgements Preface 1. Modernist narratives and popular music 2. Rock and the facts of life 3. Changing patterns in society and music: the US since World War II 4. 'If I Were a Voice': or, the Hutchinson family and popular song as political and social protest 5. Some thoughts on the measurement of popularity in music 6. Elvis, a review 7. Home cooking and American soul in black South African popular music 8. Rock 'n' roll in a very strange society 9. African-American music, South Africa and apartheid 10. 'The constant companion of man': Separate Development, Radio Bantu and music 11. Privileging the moment of reception: music and radio in South Africa 12. Music and radio in the People's Republic of China 13. Towards a new reading of Gershwin 14. A blues for the ages 15. Graceland revisited 16. Dvorak in America: nationalism, racism and national race 17. The last minstrel show? 18. The Role of Rock, a review 19. Genre, performance and ideology in the early songs of Irving Berlin 20. Epilogue: John Cage revisited Index.
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01 Feb 1995
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore how a vibrant country music culture evolved from rustic radio programs to become aggressive promotion of recording artists and an extended network of performers and fans unparalleled in other forms of popular music.
Abstract: Since its beginnings in the 1920s, country music has soared beyond an almost exclusively regional audience to become America's most popular form in the 1990s. Seventy years of regional modernization have framed it for broad appeal in today's popular culture. Here is a fascinating book that offers perspective on contemporary country music's stars, promoters, and fans. It probes deeply to learn how a vibrant country music culture evolved from rustic radio programs to become aggressive promotion of recording artists and an extended network of performers and fans unparalleled in other forms of popular music. Drawing upon a remarkably diverse range of sources--literary and scholarly works, fan magazines and music business publications, biographies of country music stars, recordings, radio and television programs, and motion pictures--Country Music Culture is based on firsthand observations of more than seventy-five live concerts and public events. It provides impressive evidence of the boundless devotion an immense audience extends to its favorite music, a music that defines the culture that produced it.
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01 Jan 1995
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the social production of music and its role in the music industry and its effect on the audience. But their focus is on new audiences, scenes, and everyday life.
Abstract: * List of Figures * List of Tables * List of Boxes * Acknowledgements * Introduction *1. Constraints and Creativity: Arguments and Framework * PART 1 PRODUCTION *2. The Pop Music Industry *3. The Social Production of Music * PART 2 TEXT *4. History, Politics and Sexuality *5. 'Black' Music: Genres and Social Constructions *6. Texts and Meaning *7. Performance, Dance, Distinction and the Body * PART 3 AUDIENCE *8. Effects, Audiences and Subcultures *9. Fans, Production and Consumption *10. Beyond Subcultures and Fans: New Audiences, Scenes and Everyday Life * Conclusions * Further Reading * References
TL;DR: This article examined whether commercial success in the popular recorded-music industry, as measured by gold-record output, conforms to an empirical concentration and found that Lotka's Law overestimates the number of artists with one gold record and underestimates the multi-legold-record performing artists.
Abstract: This paper examines whether commercial success in the popular recorded-music industry, as measured by gold-record output, conforms to an empirical concentration. We find that Lotka's Law overestimates the number of artists with one gold record and underestimates the number of multiplegold-record performing artists. However, for all measures of “successful” records, theGeneralized Lotka's Law provides an excellent fit, which suggests that the number of performers producingn gold records in about 1/nc of those producing one gold record.
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01 Jan 1995
TL;DR: Gendering Bodies / Performing Art as discussed by the authors is the first book that attempts a conceptual integration of dance and literary history in British culture, making visible the role of dance in creating, reinforcing, and challenging developments in aesthetic practice and ideology in which both dance and literature participated.
Abstract: "Gendering Bodies / Performing Art" is the first book that attempts a conceptual integration of dance and literary history in British culture. It attempts to make visible the role of dance in creating, reinforcing, and challenging developments in aesthetic practice and ideology in which both dance and literature participated. Koritz integrates chapters on dance and dancers- from music hall ballet girls of the 1890s to the prestigious season of Diaghilev's Russian Ballet- with discussions on how major literary figures such as Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, and T.S. Eliot used dance to further their own aesthetic agendas. In doing so, she provides an illuminating analysis of the connections between literature and dance, and explores the ways in which these two arts actively engaged in cultural processes encompassing both. ." . . provocative and stimulating . . . an invaluable addition to the work that is already available on turn-of-century theater/culture. . . ."--Vivien Gardner, Manchester University "Reaching between the poles of popular music hall and the Ballet Russe, Koritz addresses a series of interrelated, mutually informing discourses in which we overhear the language of the literary community in its accolades and in its outcries. Koritz's book will prove useful to a wide variety of readers; many scholars of English literature will undoubtedly use this book to the fullest, turning to it again and again as a contextual primer for performance issues in their field."--Cheryl Herr, University of IowaAmy Koritz is Co-Director of the Cultural Studies Program and Assistant Professor of English, Tulane University.
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01 Jan 1995
TL;DR: The story of how the music of the English-speaking peoples swept the world is described in this paper, where the authors pay tribute to the contribution of black Americans, from the slaves' banjos to jazz, blues and soul, and show how each generation has had to struggle against the manipulators of the descendants of those early English printers, now the owners of a multi-billion-dollar industry.
Abstract: The story of how the music of the English-speaking peoples swept the world is told in this book. Commercial popular music began in 18th century London, where an early Tin Pan Alley, already popular in colonial America, evolved to service the English pleasure gardens. The earliest music publishers were printers, and copyright law evolved as they squabbled among themselves for the right to exploit the available talent. Thomas Edison's invention of the phonograph brought million-selling hits during the acoustic era. Then radio brought stars such as Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong to the sitting rooms of people who had never set foot inside a music hall or Broadway theatre. In the golden age, today's grandparents danced to the music of the Big Band era, and fell in love to the songs of Rodgers and Hart. Then a World War, the long-playing record and the curse of television changed everything again - radio and the pop chart were abandoned to jingles, while serious music fans bought albums for the first time. This history of the development of popular music pays tribute to the contribution of black Americans, from the slaves' banjos to jazz, blues and soul; it covers the traditions of the white working class who poured through the Cumberland Gap in the 1750s, bringing songs, harmonies and attitudes that can be traced back to Elizabethan England; and it shows how each generation has had to struggle against the manipulators of the descendants of those early English printers, now the owners of a multi-billion-dollar-industry.