Class Notes 4
In 1958, Don Kirshner & Al Nevins opened - The Teen Market
up the Brill Building's most important labels called *Aldon music*
Education - The turn of the 60s
was sported as the key to the future (growth of universities, colleagues, etc.)
More education produced more
(The turn of the 60s) thinking which produced more questions & this would combine to produce a tumultuousness that defined the 60s
Vocal style in "The Locomotion"
harmonizing backup vocals enter - first call & response w/ the melodic lead & then as accompaniment
Neil Sedaka most successful song
"Breaking Up is Hard to Do"
What song did the Kingston Trio write?
"Tom Dooley"
What song did The Kingston Trio write?
"Where have All The Flowers Gone"
The Locomotion became a
#1 hit in 1962 & enjoys a rise to a #1 again in the early 70s w/ band called *Grand Funk*
John F. Kennedy passed a # of landmark legislations
(The turn of the 60s) & social programs that would allow young adults of all classes, races, & ethnical backgrounds to enter colleague in record numbers. A lot of this had to do w/ the fact that they were supporting education, they wanted to push the idea that if ppl were educated & could bring themselves up to a higher level that would inevitably go back to the economy & the economy would grow as a result.
Early Resurgence of Folk Music
- American Folk Music grew out of an oral tradition. Songs were generally passed down from generation to generation & by wrote - Late 30s - *John Lomax* & his son *Alan* researched, notate, & record a large # of the songs form the Appalachians & they were helped by Charles Seegar - Charles' son *Pete Seeger* became one of the most foremost folk singers in the 40s & 50s - Seeger headed up a group called the weavers. They would score a series of pop hits throughout the early 50s
The twist was the most popular dances. Although the style was very contrived & calculated, dance music of this period would accomplish a # of diff things
- Bing R'n'R back to its R&B roots - It's going to generate a lot of excitement in the slump years of the early 60s - It keeps black music on the charts in the face of the resurgence of folk music, surf music, & also the coming British Invasion - It serves as a precursor to the disco trend of the 70s - It shows a trend in dancing that continues to this day - Even adults would embrace this genre of R'n'R which means that it would garnish a lot of popularity & a lot of record sales
Paul Anka
- Canadian artist who becomes one of the biggest teen Idols of the late 50s - Proved to be a child progeny & by age 14 he was known for steal the family car to drive to Amateur singing contests & he was also writing songs too - A string of chart success in 1959 was also led on by "Put Your Head On my Shoulder" This is the ultimate "good boyfriend" song - Has proven himself to be a long lasting songwriter & a very astute businessman who would also appear in a lot of diff movies - To date, he continues to record
Reasons for why the wave of R'n'R had virtually been decimated
- Elvis was back from the army, but he had more or less a pop/gospel movie start sort of scene & also, he was a Vegas headliner. No longer was he that rebel R'n'R artist that we heard from before - Chuck Berry is in jail - Little Richard finds his religion & leaves R'n'R - Jerry Lee Louise's carer is in shambles due to the marital escapades of younger cousins - Buddy Holly would pass away w/ Richy Vallens in 1958 - The Payola scandle had locked radio stations that played R'n'R & independent labels that produced the record so financially the R'n'R was in shambles as well
Hank Ballard & the Midnighters
- Hank Ballard was an important artist in the early days of R&B & doo-wop - In terms of style, Ballard & his group the Midnighters were influenced by high energy gospel vocal gorups - His subject matter was diametrically opposed to that however, & that filled w/ a raunchy double & tundra that a lot of the music of mainstream & R&B typically had. - His songs were sometimes banned on the radio, making it on even bigger hit of specifically young black audiences - His composition "The Twist", as recorded by Chubby Checker making him one of the biggest hits in R'n'R history
Joey Dee and the Starliters
- Joey Dee and the Starliters were the house band at New York's peppermint lounge, hence the term peppermint twist - He teamed w/ veteran producer Henry Glover to record this song in 1961 & it would become a huge hit & the lounges signature tune - He gave several future artists their start - most notably, an upcoming psychedelic star who played on the guitar by of all names Jimmy Hendrix would perform w/ this group - A series of instruction dances would follow this, but they would stray away from the twist genre & this will generate a new & diff sort of dance Craze
The Kingston Trio
- This group has often been touted as the group that started the folk revival in the late 50s - Formed in 1957 by three college students: Bob McShane - guitar, Nick Reynolds - guitar/bongos, Dave guard - banjo - 1958 - they shot to the top of the charts w/ the tune "Tom Dooley"
Bobby Vinton
- Vinton's balladeering & orchestral, middle-of-the-road arrangements that are going to throwback to decades earlier before R'n'R found its mass audience. However, he would be placed in R'n'R genre only b/c he peeled to important teenage demographic - Though he originally aspired to lead a big band in jazz, but he found this element to be much more successful, singing in front of group - Though the Beetles and the ensuing British Invasion dampened his stardom, he would actually consistently be popular throughout the decade scoring 28 diff top 40 hits
Characteristics of "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"
- beings w/ electric guitar w/ echo, backup harmonized vocals (imitating guitar melody), piano w/ triple division of beat, bass guitar & drums - Uses the doo-wop progression in an AABA format (depart form doo-wop progression in the B section bridge) - Drums & bass supply a constant background - guitar & backup vocals enter for fills
Chubby Chucker
- touted as the unrivaled King of the R'n'R Dance Craze - Although many of his "dance" singles have long since fallen into obscurity, his edition of "The Twist" remains very specifically the yardstick agains which all subsequent dance phrase songs are going to be measured - Checker's rendition focused less on the original overtly sexual overtones & would bring more of the songs happy go lucky charms to the front instead
*Clarke & American bandstand were important to R'n'R - Dick Clark and the American bandstand*
- bring a respectability for R'n'R that had not exited w/ the Rockabilly & Mainstream rock style - Dick Clarke is going to be portrayed as a prime cut image himself, which would mirror in the performers & the dancers on the show (so essentially everyone would have a very strict performance & look & a dresscode was enforced across the board) - Songs that were performed on there that were too racey or too suggestive were simply stripped from the playlist & they had no interest in trying to push buttons w/ that - Clark & the show would serve as a tranquilizer reassuring parents that R'n'R would not change their children into rebellious leather clad delinquits that were following ppl like Elvis Presly in the earlier days - Clark had an equal representation from both black & white performers except he would sue racial tensions by approaching it form the young person's POV & not from where the culture had grown up
The Teen Idol
- dichotomy b/w bad boy Elivis & good boy Pat Poone would lead to formation of the Teen Idol scene - In cornering the female teenaged demographic, both independent & major labels wold release hits by a good looking ideal boyfriend sort of performer
Bobby Darin
- difficult to put this artist into one genre as he actually makes a point throughout his career of not being committed to any one particular style. Classified as a R'n'R singer, also as a Vegas hipster cat, also as an interpreter, & popular standard music & even as folk rocker at times - thought he could have easily made it as a sort of junior version of Frank Sanacha, but that wasn't his path. He decided he would frequently record pop & rock songs & also folk rock singles - This may have cost him, but it make his work a lot more versatile than almost nay other vocalist of this era
Bobby Vee
- got his start when his band The Shadows were tapped to fill in for the original decreased Buddy Holly during a winter dance party tour. So it was a rly quick turn around & that would work rly well for him. - Had most of his hits in the early 60s would sandwiched somewhere b/w the first wave of R'n'R & the rise of the British Invasion so it was a fairly shorter career for him - Had a knack for the Brill building sound, Brill building pop. This was due to his great voice & also professional song writers who would supply him w/ all those great tunes. He didn't write his own music but he could perform really well
The Dance Craze
- of the early 60s was inundated (telling ppl how to do the dance) w/ what they were called instruction dances - American Bandstand was the main method through which teenagers would learn the instruction dances - 1959- Hank Ballard and the Midnighters record a song called "Teardrops on Your Letter" on a 45 - On the flip side was a little upbeat 12-bar blues tat Ballard wrote & that song ended up hitting #16 on the R&B charts
*Dick Clark and American Bandstand*
- radio was the main means through which R'n'R is typically heard & disseminated - larger, corporate radios stayed mainly focused w/ Pop music & most of that would broadcast live - Smaller, independent stations would feature a top 40 format in which the music, popular in their particular locale would be featured - The top 40 formate had a feverish growth leading to competition for ratings throughout contests & also promoted stunts - TV became involved w/ R'n'R in the late 50s - A show existed -*Your Hit Parade*- which served to play orchestral covers of the top 10 pop songs of the week - The show was aimed at an adult audience. By the late 1950s the top 10 hits would not longer translate as well to a symphony orchestra - 1952 - the show *Bandstand* would begin as a local program on Pheldelphia's WFIL TV Network: hosted first by Bob Horn & then ultimately changed over to Dick Clark - 1957 - the show is picked up by ABC & renamed American Bandstand. By 1958, it was a nationally syndicated show & aired on 67 diff TV stations nation wide -> only show dedicated to music but it was one of the biggest & one of the only ones that survived as well as a forefront of Payola Scandle - Ocassionally rockabilly mainstream artists were featured but exclusively it was a white Pop teen idol that Dick Clark would groom, promote & cast starts - Performances were lipsinced (monotone) - Focus was more on dancing & less so on music & artist that were being presented - Clarke & American bandstand were important to R'n'R
Neil Sedaka
- singer, songwriter, & pianist going to enjoy two distinct periods of commercial success: 1. As a teenage pop start of late 50s & early 60s 2. As a singer of more mature pop rock in the 70s - is a classically trained pianist & compose all of the music for all of his hits - he wrote 8 top 10 pop hits for himself. - his songs have been covered & performed by a multitude of diff performers in all genres of music - Met his songwriting partner while still a teen & that songwriting partners, Howard Greenfield, would collaborate on a # of diff hits throughout 50s, 60s, & 70s together - Like many artists, he saw his career go into decline w/ the onset of the British Invasion except he would take during that time more of a role as a songwriter than a performer
Characteristics of "The Locomotion"
- starts w/ drums - then sax & bass enter - drums become more active as lead vocals enter - when instructions start, instrumentation becomes sparse - handclaps emphasize backbeat
The Dance Craze cont'
- the dance became immensely popular w/ black teenagers on the east coast & soon becomes the attention of the regular dancers on American Bandstand - Though Dick Clark didn't like the dance at first, he soon realized it's going to be a massive hit & he needed to do something to locally produce the song using a black singer, Ernest Evans, b/c the song that his strong voice & appealing personality - Shortly after that Ernest Evans renamed Chubby Chucker (a big takeoff of Fats Domino) He would begin appearing regularly on the show promoting the song & dance alike
The Teen Market
- the music at the turn of the decade show a return of Tin Pan Alley traditions to a Teen based music - This is most clearly seen in the music that came out of one particular place called the *Brill Building*
The Twist by Chubby Checker
- the song became a national craze due to TV exposure - The song hit #1 on the charts at 2 diff years: 1960 & 1962 - It's return saw the adult population start to embrace the song & also the music of the style - The Twist became popular in social light gatherings all over the nation spawning up a # of other kind of twist songs
The Vibrations
- though never major hit makers, they were LA based group consistently hitting the charts throughout the 60s - Their 1961 tune called "The Watusi" would never reach the top of the charts but did manage to cross over to both R&B & the pop charts - They closed out their career as a nightclub in 1976 so not making it necessarily as big as others
Characteristics of "Tom Dooley"
- vocals enter speaking-telling a story - guitar & banjo outline melody until the vocals take it over - Guitar & banjo then become accompaniment - chorus has a mixture of harmonized & solo vocals - Verses feature a clear lead singer w/ harmonized backup vocals - form is simple-verse chorus
Little Eva
- was a babysitter for Carole King and Gerry Goffin - her rendition on the demo impressed Don Kirschner and it was released - Unfortunately , she was then characterized as a "dance craze" singer, which ultimately hurt her career
Frankie Avalon
- was considered the first manufactured Teen Idols. - Had a musical background. He started as a child progeny trumpet player - Incredibly successful in the late 50s/early 60s - He reinvented himself as a clean cut pretty boy surfer & made a # of successful of successful beach party movies w/ Annete form the Cello
Teen Idols
- while most of these teen idols were merely placed in front of an orchestra & had songs written for them - While some of these gentlemen were eventually relegated to the role of songwriters & a couple of them did actually continue to perform all the way through the 70s ex. Paul Anka
The market split into two distinctt markets
1. New Generation of teenagers 2. The colleged former rockers Teen idols & dance music (aimed at teenagers)
Though the country enjoyed economic success, there were a # of different cultural paradoxes that would start to happen:
1. Widepspread poverty (but also invisible) 2. Race relations ares still extremely bad (segregation was at its peak) 3. Anyone who had money was encouraged to hedenistic spenders yet there was still a victorian attitude towards sex
Lyric content of "The Locomotion"
About the "locomotion" dance
Paul Anka biggest hit
At the age of 16, he scored a #1 hit called "Dayanna". This would sell & reported 10 million copies worldwide
Who's fame suffered after the British Invasion hit America?
Bobby Vee, but until that point, he was king for a while
Frankie Avalon in 1962
By 1962, his success would start to ween & the chart domination would come to an end & passes over torch to somebody else
Another artist of "The Twist" was
Chubby Checker
Who recorded "The Twist"
Chubby Checker
Artist of "The Twist"
Hank Ballard & the Midnighters
Artist of the "The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)"
Harry Belafonte
Bobby Vinton First hit
He had his first #1 hit in 1962 called "Roses are Red"
Bobby Vee Biggest hit
His biggest hit came in 1961 and was called "Take Good Care of My Baby"
Frankie Avalon's first hit
His first hit came in 1959 w/ the song "Venus"
Bobby Darin's First hit
His first hits came in the late 50s w/ the "Dream Lover" song & this reaches #2 on the charts in 1959
Neil Sedaka's songwriting partners
Howard Greenfield
The Teen Idol Image
Image was by the most important thing for these teen idols. The teen idol would be backed by a professional orchestra &/or band & would be very groomed to play the part. If he could sing that would be a bonus but that wasn't the most important aspect about a lot of these artists. IT was how they looked & their persona to the public.
Bobby Darin in the early 60s
In the early 60s, he mostly abandoned R'n'R for an adult pop market
What song did Paul Anka write?
Put Your Head on My Shoulder
Artist of Peppermint Twist
Joey Dee & the Starliters
Artist of the Locomotion
Little Eva
Artis of "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"
Paul Anka
1957
Russians beat the U.S. into space when they launch Sputnik
What songs did Harry Belafonte write?
The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)
Artist of "Where have All The Flowers Gone"?
The Kingston Trio
Artist of song "Tom Dooley"
The Kingston Trio
What song did Little Eva write?
The Locomotion
Artist of "On top of Old Smokie"
The Weavers
Success of "Tom Dooley"
The success of this song was followed by a series of successful albums as well. The treand was moving away from 45 records LP records or in long, long-playing records - singed w/ Capitol Records & in 4 years they would surpass Frank Sinatra as capitals #1, moneymaker - projected a safe corporate image, essentially well-groomed, well-dressed & promoted an image of stability - remained mostly a political but w/ a few songs they would have something to say. For instance, this would be inspired by Mikhail Shala Cough's novel called "And Quite Flows the Dawn" which is about a Czarist Russia
There is a move back to the days of
Tin Pan Alley & that focus is going to be shifting from the musicians & disc jockies & Indie labels back to professional producers
Instruments used in "Tom Dooley"
acoustic guitar, banjo, acoustic bass, & vocals
Music has always been associated w/
dancing (The Dance Craze)
*American bandstand served to*
define & identify to the new youth culture on a national level - he would define rock, he would let everyone know that R'n'R could finally be considered apart of the American culture now not just by sound but also in view - first show thats going to captivate audience for decades
Instruments used in "The Locomotion"
drums, sax, bass
The Teen Idol Songs
innocent, typically about romance
The Twist and other dances must
be seen as somewhat of a victory for R'n'R. Though its glib mast acceptance was a sing of how easily manipulative the music scene was at the time - it is also another sign of how creative control had been taken form the performer & given back to the producer & the songwriter
Instruments used in "The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)"
begins w/ bongo drums, steel drums, cymbals, bass & bongos accompany lead singer
Vocal style in "Where have All The Flowers Gone"
boys sing in unison to begin w/ & then break into harmonized vocals
Perhaps one of the more famous of these is - The Dance Craze
called the *Locomotion* written in 1962 by *Gerry Goffin* & *Carole King form Aldon Music* at the brill building
The Kinston Trio were labelled
commerical w/ a conscience So they would essentially be a product of what was called urban fold trend in a way that would present issues that you can read into & you can learn about, but it didn't present it in such an overtly clear way that would cause it to be shunned by the public - Eventually placed ten songs in the Top 40, but it was their albums that would sell well & the first of seven which would go gold & this kind of push towards album selling instead of singles would become the wave of the future
Both of these groups' views were
considered to be somewhat left-wing, thus they had a limited audience - this was narrowed even more when groups of each group were investigated by a thing called the House UnAmerican Activities Committee - B/c of their political views, they would fall into dispute during the McCarthy witch hunts, which some ppl would aspire to be communist. Others would be just b/c of the association of these ppl in general w/ the trials & what not - The Almanac Singers eventually disband in 1963 - A resurgence in interest for folk music occurred in late 1950s when a style of music from the Trinidad & Tobago & also just general Carribean called Calypso -> introduced to the American public via Harry Belafonte - In its native land, Calypso was a very political music, but once it moved to the states, it becomes an entertainment sort of music & all political leinings were taken out of the songs
Bobby Darin's Death
due to congenial heart problems, he would die in 1973 during open heart surgery. A 4 CD box set would attempt to put his wide ranging efforts into perspective following his death
Instruments used in "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"
elastic guitar, piano, bass, guitar, & drums
The older demographic turned to
fold music. A style that is more serious & it's going to deal w/ political, social, cultural, & economic issues of the day
Songs were designed especially - The Teen market
for teens. Lyrics couldn't be too much for parents
The inundation of Teen Idosls at the turn of the decade would
give rise to this new style would be referred to as "Bubblegum Pop"
Lyric content in "Where have All The Flowers Gone"
lyrics are politically/socially motivated - Cover of Pete Seeger
Lyric content in "The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)"
lyrics are story-like- like a work song - very laidback
Vocal style in "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"
melodic vocal style w/ harmonized backup - this takes precedence
Vocal style of "The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)"
molodic vocals enter over a constant drum roll. Call & response b/w melodic lead & backup singers - sometimes this call & response is split into two groups of backup vocalists
The early folk revival was seen as
music for regular ppl performed by regular ppl - it was more community-driven & performers were viewed just as ordinary ppl - Virtuosic & theatrical performance would gave way to unpretentious & direct musical expression (not about dance, just perform music from heart) - folk lyrics revival of folk music drew a lot of attention from the 18-24 demographic b/c it was break from the earlier styles & was more serious in nature - By late 50s/early 60s, many groups would be formed to perform both traditional & newly written music, the folk style
The song was recorded by - The teen market
professionals & very rarely would in fact be recoreded by songwriters themselves
Instruments in "Where have All The Flowers Gone"
starts w/ 12-string acoustic guitars - no drums
Though the song ("Where have All The Flowers Gone") has more
strong political learnings; it's presented in a very safe manner & thus didn't cause the same favour that some of the other songs at the same time period would & in particular some of the stuff from the almanac singers
Aldon decided to try to corner the - The teen market
teen market & hire a # of diff *songwriters* to write romantic lyrics & upbeat melodies Some of the songwriters include: Neil Sedaka, Howard Greenfield, Carole King & Gerry Goffin
Who Started the group (The Weavers),
the almanac signers: they're gonna take a traditional folk melody & perform them w/ new lyrics that would stress the social & political concerns of the time ex. development of strong labour unions, civil rights, or perhaps the need to end the war - starting that group would be a guy by the name of *Woody Guthrie*
The control moved away from - The Teen market
the artist & back to the producers
This genre "Bubblegum Pop" will continue on through
the decades & it changes to fit the fashion & style of the day but essentially geared towards the same market
By the turn of the decade,
the first wave of R 'n' R had virtually been decimated
These teen idols were marketed on
the radio but also would be marketed on TV in a particular show called *American bandstand*
