RCM Theory - Level 8 - Dates

1970's

* * Since the early 1970s live performance technology has made it increasingly possible to combine acoustic instruments with louder electric ones, which is largely a result of sounds that first occurred in the studio * disco-oriented shows dance shows: Soul Train and Dance Fever * The Partridge Family was a fictional musical group, popularized during the 1970s, in a self-named television series starring teen heartthrob David Cassidy and his real life mother-in-law Shirley Jones. * Many conceptual rock albums of the 1970s translated easily into dramatic film, producing rock-oriented movies: Tommy * In the mid-1970's, punk scene in New York * In the mid-1970's, bands such as Television, the Ramones, and Blondie played to small, local audiences. *In the mid-1970's, complex stereo mixes had become the norm.

1900-1950

* AABA form is one of the most common formal designs in mainstream pop during this period

1945

* Adolf Hitler was dealing with a severe economic crisis in his nation. He began to solve Germany's economic problems by pitting the German "master race" against "undesirables," most notably Jews—6 million of whom were killed in Nazi death camps by 1945. * WWII: The war on the European front ended with Germany's surrender in May 1945. * Before 1945, it was considered unethical to play records on the air. * Country and western music remained mostly regional until after 1945. * Caldonia Boogie by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five

last decade

* As computer hardware and software have become less expensive, in the last decade more musicians have turned to digital audio workstations (or DAWs) to record music, shedding the need for large, expensive recording studios.

1960's and 1970's

* As the '60s and '70s progressed, tapes could contain eight, sixteen, twenty-four, forty-eight, or even more tracks. * The development of more and more tracks, greater use of the stereo field, and increasingly ambitious musical projects progressed in tandem throughout the late '60s and '70s, as listeners purchased more sophisticated stereo equipment to get the full effect of the music.

1721

* Bach married Anna Magdalena Wilcke * Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, first movement completed

1923

* Bessie Smith's 1923 recording of Alberta Hunter's "Down Hearted Blues" sold over a million copies. (The history of selling blues records can be traced to this song)

1935-1945

* Big band dominated the radio

1944

* Billboard Country Charts * G.I. Jive by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five

1927

* Blue Yodel (often called "T for Texas") by Jimmie Rodgers

1935

* Can the Circle be Unbroken by the Carter Family recorded * I want to be a Cowboy's Sweetheart by Patsy Montana

1957

* Come Go with Me by The Del Vikings * That'll be the Day by The Crickets (Buddy Holly) reached #1 on the Billboard pop "Best Sellers in Stores" chart, and #2 on the Billboard "R&B Best Sellers in Stores" chart * Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley

1950's

* Doo wop * Rockabilly * The music business has changed dramatically since the early 1950s, as the rock element of the business has grown from small independent upstarts to some of the most successful and dominant corporations of the modern age. * Since the days of Elvis Presley's Sun recordings in the 1950s, rock music has been more dependent on exploiting the possibilities of the studio than creating audio snapshots. * Teen oriented dance programs became extremely popular. Dance shows popular during the 1950s included American Bandstand and The Arthur Murray Party * Among many of the radio shows that survived the move to television, The Lone Ranger became one of the most popular small-screen staples of the 1950s. * In the mid-1950's emergence of television after World War II is a central factor in rock's explosion into mainstream American culture * In the mid-1950's, Elvis Presley's emphatic blues-influenced singing and suggestive dance moves * In the 1950s, a new approach to radio disseminated rhythm and blues outside of regional black communities. * By the early 1950s, the national audience for popular music had largely shifted from radio to television.

20th century

* Dripsody * In the first half of the 20th century, sheet music was the principal method of selling music. * During the first half of the twentieth century black popular music developed almost completely outside the infrastructure created for mainstream pop.

1920's

* Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington rose to fame in New York City, collaborating with some of the finest jazz musicians. * In the realm of technology, the rise of radio is a central factor in rock's explosion into mainstream American culture * In the 1920s, the radical sounds of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and others helped define the decade musically. F. Scott Fitzgerald (author of The Great Gatsby) dubbed the 1920s "the jazz age" * Radio was first used to broadcast commercial music in 1920, when KDKA in Pittsburgh and WWJ in Detroit went on the air with a blend of news, local information, and live music. * One of the most famous Blues singers in the 1920's was Bessie Smith.

1956

* In the Still of the Night by The Five Satins * Heartbreak Hotel by Elvis Presley (Reached #1 on the Billboard "Top 100" chart, #1 on all three Billboard country and western charts (sales, jukebox, and radio), and #3 on the Billboard rhythm and blues "Most Played in Juke Boxes" chart) * Elvis Presley appeared on Toast of the Town, a weekly television variety program hosted by Ed Sullivan that aired Sunday evenings on CBS.

1980's

* In the early 1980's, development of cable television that facilitated the introduction of MTV * In the early 1980's, Some artists formerly associated with punk embraced styles and commercial strategies of the rock mainstream, while the more die-hard, aggressive groups retreated back into the punk underground. * Madonna and Prince challenged cultural values * demise of variety shows * dance shows: Solid Gold and Dance Party USA. MTV also played an important role in producing dance-oriented television shows, with Club MTV * Prince starred in a series of films during the 1980s * American Bandstand (dance show format) ran until the late 1980s.

1990's

* In the early 1990's, development of the classic-rock radio format

1942 -1962

* Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" is one of the most successful songs in the history of popular music. Originally featured in the 1942 movie Holiday Inn starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire.Crosby's version is reported to be the biggest selling record in history, and it returned to the upper regions of the pop charts during the Christmas season almost every year until 1962, hitting number one in 1942, 1945, and 1946.

1977

* Josie by Steely Dan was on the album Aja, which reached #3 in the United States and #5 in the UK in late 1977.

1940

* Ko-Ko composition date * New San Antonio Rose by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys * After World War I, popular music played by black musicians and intended for black listening audiences was called "race" music. It was not until the late 1940s that a journalist at Billboard magazine named Jerry Wexler (who would later play a major creative role at Atlantic Records) coined the term "rhythm and blues."

1963-1967

* Low-budget teen-oriented films featuring musicians and rock performances. The most popular of these were the "beach party films" produced between 1963 and 1967, many of which starred Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon.

1920's and 1930's

* Many of the blues recordings of the 1920s and '30s exist because record companies scoured the South in an attempt to find new rural blues artists who might repeat Bessie Smith's success.

1928

* NBC went coast-to-coast with its national radio network. Network radio audiences were now national audiences. NBC used telephone lines to link sixty-nine stations across the country for its first coast-to-coast broadcast.

1970

* Notable visual image in the history of rock: Jimi Hendrix playing "The Star-Spangled Banner" in Woodstock, and the Rolling Stones' catastrophic performance at Altamont inGimme Shelter

1929

* One of the greatest successes of the era (1920's-1940's) was the comedy Amos 'n' Andy, which premiered in 1929

19th century

* Overture to Midsummer Night's Dream written * At the end of the 19th century, majority of Americans lived in a world conditioned by their local and regional surroundings. They did not travel as much as we do now. In many parts of the country there was limited access to national and world news. * Radio technology was developed at the end of the 19th century and used initially for military purposes and communication with ships at sea.

1936

* Peter and the Wolf composition date * Great Speckled Light by Roy Acuff and the Tennesseans

1990

* Prince starred in the rock-oriented movie: Graffiti Bridge

1984

* Prince starred in the rock-oriented movie: Purple Rain * Concert film: Jonathan Demme's documentary of the Talking Heads' 1983 three-night stand in a Hollywood theater released as Stop Making Sense

1986

* Prince starred in the rock-oriented movie:Under the Cherry Moon

1955-1956

* Rock and roll erupted

Throughout 1970's and 1980's

* Rock musicians continued to star in films. Some of these might be considered serious works, while others simply served as popularity vehicles.

1933

* Roy Rodgers died from tuberculosis

1954

* Shake, Rattle, and Roll by Big Joe Turner * Sh-Boom by The Chords "Most Played in Juke Boxes" chart

1945-1955

* Star singers dominated the radio * Rhythm and blues was popular music intended specifically for black urban listeners.

1978

* The American punk style broke into the national spotlight * Josie by Steely Dan reached #26 on the Billboard "Hot 100" chart in 1978. * KISS starred in the cult-classic KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park * concert film: Martin Scorcese's depiction of the 1976 Thanksgiving farewell concert by the Band at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom portrayed in The Last Waltz

1966

* The Beatles created some of the earliest promotional videos, intended to promote their music after they stopped performing live. In 1966, the band made videos for "Rain" and "Paperback Writer."

1937

* The Guiding Light appeared

1979

* The Ramones were central to the plot of the film Rock and Roll High School.

1946

* The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra * Choo Choo Ch'Boogie by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five

1930's and 1940's

* The best way to promote a song during the 1930s and '40s was to get it on the radio * The 1930s and '40s are often thought of as a golden age in the history of motion pictures, as Hollywood churned out a wide variety of films that proved popular across America. * The Lone Ranger and Superman entertained listeners throughout most of the 1930s and '40s. * Radio in the 1930s and '40s was unlike modern radio because most of the music was performed live.

1964

* The first notable concert film in this genre was T.A.M.I. Show, a 1964 feature film shot at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium that included performances by many of the most popular rock stars of the time, ranging from British invasion groups to James Brown.

1940's

* The musician's union (American Federation of Musicians) took strong political steps in the 1940's to keep records ("canned music") off the airwaves * Unlike the mainstream pop heard on radio networks, several musical styles that would come together under the umbrella of "country and western" after World War II kept distinctive regional accents until the late 1940s, when Nashville became a hub for this type of music. * In the mid-1940's and onwards, Hugh LeCaine pursued a great passion: electronic music. * By the 1940s Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys were appearing in Hollywood films and expanding Americans' sense of western music beyond cowboy songs. * Much of the development of rhythm and blues during the 1940s remained regional and outside the pop mainstream

1960's

* Until the 1960's, most popular music was recorded using a single performance. * Much early rock music used the acoustic upright bass guitar, which could be amplified; but by the early 1960s, the more easily amplified electric bass guitar was the preferred instrument for most popular music except jazz and country. * During the early 1960s it became common for low-budget teen-oriented films to feature musicians and rock performances. * The Beatles' guitarist George Harrison played the sitar on several of their classic hits. * variety shows in the 1960s: Ed Sullivan Show, Hullaballoo, Shindig!, and Shivaree * Short films made to promote singles date back at least to the 1960s, although these were more a part of the European market than the American one. * In the mid-1960's, Beatles' moptop haircuts * Television has been an important forum for artists starring in musical sitcoms. Beginning with The Monkees in the mid-1960s, there have been numerous script-based comedies that featured rock musicians or musical performances. * In the late 1960's, Stereo was the preferred format for albums and FM radio * The dance show format maintained popularity well past the 1960s

1948

* WDIA in Memphis began programming and advertising especially to the local black population, playing rhythm and blues records

1941

* WWII: Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 * Bing Crosby's remake of the song: New San Antonio Rose

1930's

* With the rise of musical theater in the 1930s, Broadway musicals became a prime vehicle for bringing songs to the public's attention * When sound films became popular in the 1930s, musicals were often released in film versions, and new musicals were composed expressly for the movies

1939

* Wizard of Oz: Somewhere Over the Rainbow composition date * Over the Rainbow by Judy Garland with Victor Young and His Orchestra reached #5 on the Billboard pop chart in fall 1939.

1990's and 2000's

* dance show: TRL (Total Request Live)

After WWI

* popular music played by black musicians and intended for black listening audiences was called "race" music. * After World War I, blues enjoyed several years of popularity with mainstream white pop listeners, partly through the sheet music of W. C. Handy, whose "Memphis Blues" and "St. Louis Blues" sold well nationally.

1982

* rock-oriented movie: Pink Floyd The Wall

1975

* rock-oriented movie: Tommy

1707

Bach married his first wife, Maria Barbara

1913-1976

Benjamin Britten

1835-1921

Camille Saint-Saëns

1908

Camille Saint-Saëns became one of the 1st composers to write music for a movie.

1886

Carnival of the Animals composition date

1862-1918

Claude Debussy

1948-1971

Ed Sullivan Show (a variety show)

1899-1974

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington

1787

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, K 525, first movement composition date

1809-1847

Felix Mendelssohn

1810-1849

Frédéric Chopin

1685-1759

George Frideric Handel

1958

Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis Reached #2 on the Billboard "Top 100" chart, #1 on the country and western "Best Sellers in Stores" chart, and #3 on both the "R&B Best Sellers in Stores" and "Most Played R&B by Jockeys"

1098-1172

Hildegard von Bingen

1781-1782

Horn Concerto No. 4 in E Flat Major, K495 (Third Movement: Rondo) composition date

1914-1977

Hugh LeCaine

1882-1971

Igor Stravinsky

1932

In 1932, with the nation out of work and looking to its government for help, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected president.

1951

Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats' song: "Rocket '88'."

late 1960's and early 1970's

Jim Morrison, Alice Cooper, and David Bowie challenged cultural values

1685-1750

Johann Sebastian Bach

1440-1521

Josquin des Prez

1720

Maria Barbara died

476-1450

Medieval Era

1968

Notable visual image in the history of rock: Otis Redding coaxing a newfound audience in Monterey Pop Jimi Hendrix playing "The Star-Spangled Banner" in Woodstock (1970), and the Rolling Stones' catastrophic performance at Altamont inGimme Shelter (1970).

1965

Nowhere to run by Martha and the Vandellas. This well-known video footage was filmed for a summer 1965 television special hosted by disc jockey Murray the K and sponsored by the national Office of Economic Opportunity.

mid 1600s

Orchestra began to take shape

1889

Paris World Exposition

1840-1893

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

1920-2012

Ravi Shankar

1450-1600

Renaissance Era

1949

Saturday Night Fish Fry by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five

1891-1953

Sergei Prokofiev

13th century

Sumer is Icumen In was written

1742

The "Hallelujah Chorus" from Messiah was written

1600-1750

The Baroque Era

1750-1825

The Classical Era

1900-present

The Modern Era

1825-1900

The Romantic Era

1929-1932

The excitement and freedom of the "roaring" twenties were quickly snuffed out in one day, with the stock market crash of October 29, 1929, forever known as "Black Tuesday." The crash sent the American economy into turmoil: 26,000 businesses failed in 1930. By 1932, 11 million Americans—25 percent of the labor force—were out of work. People were forced to move from their homes into shantytowns and many stood in line for bread every day.

1761

The glass harmonica was invented by Benjamin Franklin. It is played by running your wet fingers over the edges of spinning glass bowls. It produces an eerie, ghostly tone .

after WWII

The use of tape after World War II allowed engineers to begin experimenting with multi-track tape, creating recordings from multiple performances. Early recording tape could store three tracks of music (meaning that three performances could be played back simultaneously)

1786

Twelve Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman" (Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star), K265 composition date

1756-1791

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

1914-1918

World War I

1939-1945

World War II