Music Final Study Guide

Which of the following TWO statements accurately describe the relative economic climate in the US, and the general economic record for the mainstream music industry, during the early 1970s? You must choose BOTH correct statements to earn credit -- no partial credit is given.

1. The early 1970s was marked by a significant economic downturn across most spheres of industry in the United States. 2. The early 1970s saw the music business posting record profits year after year, largely as a result of ongoing mergers, better marketing strategies, and the introduction of new playback formats.

Being made of wax or tin, the cylinders used on the original phonograph were easy to damage beyond repair. What improved medium immediately superseded this first playback technology?

78 rpm discs, made of durable (but heavy and brittle) shellac, to be played on gramophones (which closely resemble modern turntables).

Over the years, Elvis Presley's reputation has been tarnished by repeated claims that he was an outspoken, unrepentant racist. What is the basis of many of these claims?

A completely fabricated "quote" from a 1957 magazine article ("The only thing Negroes can do for me is buy my records and shine my shoes") that has ultimately overshadowed his open acknowledgment of the debt he owed to black musical innovators.

Complete the sentence: In its narrowest musical sense -- as we defined it today -- the word "beat" is best understood as...

A single iteration of the musical pulse.

Fill in the blank: In the 1970s (and, to a large extent, to the present day), the primary audience for heavy metal was/is ______________.

Adolescent White Males

Which of the following most accurately describes the process by which electronica entered into the mainstream for US audiences?

After making a visible splash in British rave culture, electronica entered the US mainstream through a combination of music-industry support and integration into more conventional popular-music idioms.

Which of the following is an accurate summary of the economic state of the music industry in 1996?

After over a decade of serious growth and prosperity (during which top artists were routinely offered contracts in excess of $30 million), sales once again stalled, prompting a short-lived round of cutbacks and retail-chain bankruptcies and another desperate search for more Next Big Things.

Which of rap's social and musical practices have kept it from being fully embraced by major labels (even as it has become the single most commercially successful style of music in the last 10+ years)?

All of the above

What phenomenon allowed small independent labels to more effectively and competitively produce, promote and distribute their records after World II?

All of the above allowed independent labels to operate more competitively after WWII.

Which of the following arguments does Simon Frith advance in his article, "What Is Bad Music?"

All of the above are arguments advances in Frith's article.

What musical feature distinguishes heavy metal from other rock styles?

All of the above are distinguishing features of heavy metal.

While the minstrel show's preoccupation with stereotyped African-American behavior left it with a bad reputation (and a limited lifespan), what features nonetheless mark minstrelsy as an essential starting point of American popular culture in the contemporary sense?

All of the above are features of the minstrel show that reflect its seminal position in American popular culture.

While it may be difficult (or even impossible) to pinpoint the influences that all early rock 'n' roll has in common, which of the following is a general musical characteristic that does seem to be present in all of it?

All of the above are general characteristics of early rock 'n' roll.

While recognizing that Dave Soldier's "The Most Wanted Song"/"The Most Unwanted Song" project is primarily an artistic and intellectual exercise, what important idea does it highlight for us?

All of the above are ideas that Dave Soldier's project highlights.

Which of the following MOST COMPLETELY summarizes the definition of "popular music," as we are using the phrase this semester?

All of the above are partly useful, but individually incomplete, components of the definition of popular music.

Which of the following was an aspect of the rock/R&B cover-records phenomenon of the 1950s and early 1960s that makes the practice subject to critique?

All of the above are possible points on which the cover-records phenomenon of the 1950s and 1960s could be critiqued.

Why was Motown strongly associated with the so-called assimilationist wing of the civil-rights movement?

All of the above are reasons for the strong association between Motown and the assimilationist wing of the civil-rights movement.

Why was BMI formed as an alternative to ASCAP?

All of the above are reasons why BMI was incorporated.

Which of the following actions by the music-industry establishment signals recognition of the widespread visibility and success of rap over the 1980s?

All of the above music-industry actions signal its recognition of the importance of rap.

What is the "problem" with using the word indie as a musical descriptor?

All of the above statements describe problems with the use of the word "indie" as a musical descriptor.

Which of the following was a source of controversy over rap during its ascendancy to the mainstream?

All of the above were controversial issues surrounding rap throughout the 1980s.

Why did rhythm & blues and rock 'n' roll have an aura of "danger" surrounding them in the 1950s?

All of the above.

What criticism has been applied to both teen-pop artists like Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears and recent R&B acts like Destiny's Child and R. Kelly?

All of these artists have been accused of using hip-hop's musical practices in an inauthentic way.

Although undoubtedly a major (perhaps singular) sociocultural phenomenon, the "myth" of Woodstock tends to obscure what less satisfying reality about the festival?

Although the counterculture promoted a vision of equality, the festival's performers were mainly white male musicians, with Joan Baez, Jimi Hendrix, and Carlos Santana being notable exceptions.

How is an MP3 different than a CD-quality audio file?

An MP3 is more compressed (i.e. of lower definition) and smaller (i.e. easier to store and transmit) than a CD-quality audio file.

Which of the following features of commercial gospel (from the 1940s) was carried over onto the earliest soul recordings by artists like Sam Cooke and Ray Charles?

An emphasis on melismatic vocal delivery, in which important syllables are embellished and stretched over multiple notes.

The tempo of a song is described by which of the following means of measurement?

An exact (numerical) or relative (fast, slow, etc.) description of the rate of musical pulse.

What was the underlying intention behind the use of the swastika, the anarchy sign, and other loaded symbols in British punks' clothing and album art?

An ironic adoption of controversial (and often conflicting) symbols that reflected punk's rejection of mainstream values.

How does electronic dance music differ fundamentally from most other styles of popular music?

At its heart, it is a purely functional music, intended primarily for a very specific use in a very specific space.

Which of the following is an accurate description of the relationship between major labels, specialty (or independent) labels, and blues and country music during the 1920s and 1930s?

Blues and country was primarily supported by specialty labels; major labels were less supportive of either style, typically signing blues and country artists (if they did at all) to subsidiary imprints.

What performance practice - which is a kind of interplay or back-and-forth dialogue between the vocalist and one or more instruments - is common to both classic and country blues?

Call and response

What explains the sudden commercial impact of country music in the 1990s?

Commercial country artists like Garth Brooks and Shania Twain had significant crossover appeal, both in their musical and visual presentation, which made them more palatable to mainstream audiences.

How does the basic structure of a P2P network differ fundamentally from that of the conventional systems for distribution of music?

Conventional systems of distribution rely on a central outlet to regulate the flow of music; P2P networks have no central server, instead connecting users directly with one another.

In Garofalo's view, what was the most important MUSICAL influence on early rock 'n' roll?

Country & western and rhythm & blues were important influences, but so were many other styles of music - in fact, early rock 'n' roll is better understood as being the product of local scenes, each of which had their own geographically distinct influences.

Which of the following statements represents an accurate and useful musical distinction between country blues and city blues?

Country blues is heavily improvisational in character; city blues does incorporate improvisation, but within a strict framework.

What role is filled by the producer of a song or album?

Depending on the style/genre, any or all of the above could be a facet of the producer's role in the creation of a recording.

Disco was musically and culturally influenced by what style/genre?

Disco brought together musical and cultural elements of all of these styles/genres.

What electronica style is characterized by hyperkinetic, uptempo breakbeats and deep, throbbing electronic bass lines?

Drum n Bass

Which of the following statements best describes the cultural relationship between early blues, jazz, and country music?

Early blues, jazz and country music both show the influences of multiple cultures, and they also share some important musical features, such as instrumentation and (especially in blues and country) lyrical subject matter.

What artist has been a lightning rod for criticism of violent, misogynistic lyrics in contemporary rap (especially given that he has attained a level of critical acclaim that has mostly eluded black artists who employ similar themes)?

Eminem

True or false: When we say that a song (or section of a song) has a thin texture, there could be a lot of instruments playing simultaneously, so long as they're playing very quietly.

False

Which of the four accepted "tiers" of culture is said to be an artistic expression of populist values, is characterized by an inclusive, participatory quality, and does not rely on any kind of commercial model in its production and consumption?

Folk Culture

What was the relationship between American hardcore and indie rock in the 1980s?

Hardcore was arguably the first style associated with the American indie-rock movement, and laid much of the business and ideological framework for the less musically-restricted field of indie rock as the latter developed through the decade.

When Simon Reynolds posits that many postpunk bands in England adopted an "antirockist" approach, what does he mean?

He means that the postpunk bands, in their rejection of punk's stripped down approach to rock, often adopted other styles, which explains why groups like Gang of Four and Joy Division incorporated elements of funk, disco, electronic music, and other non-rock sounds.

Which of the four accepted "tiers" of culture is said to be an artistic expression of elite values, is characterized by a sharp separation between artists (who are almost always trained professionals), and relies on a patronage/commissioning economic model (where artists are paid a fee for individual artworks but not necessarily for reproductions of those works)?

High Culture

Which of the following is a true statement about the similarity in visual presentation between (many) heavy metal musicians and (most) glam rock performers in the 1970s?

In both styles, performers often sported androgynous (i.e. gender-bending) clothing, hairstyles and makeup (even though they seem to have different meanings in heavy metal and glam).

Throbbing Gristle singlehandedly created the sound and concept of what postpunk style?

Industrial

Why was the critical celebration of art rock as more artistic (in the conventional EuroAmerican sense of Art with a capital "A") than other styles of popular music misleading?

It created a false dichotomy between art and commerce - as a form of popular music, art rock was fundamentally commercial (and, given how much money was spent on it, arguably more commercial than lots of other types of music!).

Why was the timing of British punk so significant to its legacy?

Its explosion in 1976 coincided with a period of extreme economic and social disarray, in which it came across as a form of unruly protest by disillusioned British youths who saw no future in their ailing native country.

What guitarist, who pioneered the use of feedback and other extended electric-guitar techniques, was a central figure of the psychedelic-rock movement (indeed, he was chosen to headline the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in August 1969)?

Jimi Hendrix

What Chicago-based entrepreneur owned the company that recorded and released Chuck Berry's early recordings, and introduced new (if still primitive) studio effects into the language of rock 'n' roll recording?

Leonard Chess

Which of the following are MUSICAL characteristics of the Philadelphia soft-soul sound popularized in the early 1970s?

Lush orchestration, polite rhythms, and smooth vocal technique.

Which of the following is an accurate statement about the business relationship between country, rhythm and blues, and labels during the 1940s and 1950s?

Major labels began to devote serious resources to signing and promoting country musicians, but paid little attention to rhythm and blues, which remained the province of specialty labels.

What artist singlehandedly exposed MTV's racist selection policies and (by virtue of his unprecedented commercial success) forced the channel to air more videos by black artists?

Michael Jackson

What was the dominant makeup of MTV's playlist during its first two years of broadcast?

Mostly non-narrative videos by British newpop bands.

Why is it important to frame music as a culture product when considering its meaning?

Music (like all forms of culture) can't be said to have universal, easily translated meaning in the same sense as linguistic utterances -- so understanding its meaning necessarily requires understanding its place within the society from which it emerges.

What is the best way to understand the function of and use of the music video, as manifested from the beginning of the video era?

Music videos were fundamentally promotional vehicles; they were expensive to produce and turned very little direct profit, but instead acted as a "gateway" that hopefully guided viewers to purchase the artists' recordings.

What were the primary urban centers for rap during the 1980s?

NYC and LA

How did MTV's capacity to make stars out of seemingly unmarketable artists impact the major labels' marketing & promotion practices in the 1980s?

None of the above is correct - indeed, following the astronomical success of Thriller, the major labels almost uniformly shifted toward the so-called "superstar system" in the 1980s, promoting even fewer artists in an effort toward global market saturation.

What specialty label -- founded by a German-American entrepreneur -- played a crucial role in the early commercial development and distribution of both blues and country music?

OKeh

For middle-class Americans in the 19th century, what instrument functioned both as a central feature of home entertainment and as a symbol of upward mobility and social prestige?

Piano

What generally distinguishes the postpunk bands' musical approach from that of their British punk predecessors?

Postpunk bands generally adopted an anti-rockist attitude, absorbing influences from dance music, soul and funk, non-Western musics, and electronic experimentation.

Which of the following is a good description of the aims of the Brill Building (best known for its "schlock rock" productions in the late 1950s and early 1960s)?

Professionalizing rock 'n' roll through a return to Tin Pan Alley values.

What NYC rap group is remembered for their innovative use of heavily-layered, noisy samples, lyrical themes of black empowerment, and a loose, free-flowing rapping style that often sounds as though it's being improvised on the spot - as exemplified in their classic cut, "Bring the Noise"?

Public Enemy

What 1984 movie featuring Prince established a whole new level of film/music cross-marketing, with promotion for the film and soundtrack feeding into and supporting one another?

Purple Rain

Which of the following is an accurate statement about the development of radio and its commercial implementation in the US?

Radio was initially developed (by Guglielmo Marconi and others) to answer the need for wireless "ship-to-shore" communication; though its development was essentially complete by 1908, full commercial implementation didn't begin in the US until 1919.

What organization, founded in 1976, helped bring attention to England's increasingly problematic racial politics, through a series of shows and festivals that had punk and reggae bands sharing the stage?

Rock Against Racism

What periodical - which began in the heyday of the 1960s counterculture, but by the 1970s became a major player in the music industry - was instrumental in the establishment of contemporary rock journalism?

Rolling Stone

Which of the following would be an important task of an A&R (artists & repertoire) representative at a record label?

Scouting out, courting, and signing new talent to the label's roster.

What city was most closely associated with the grunge phenomenon of the early 90s?

Seattle

Which of the following technologies received strong support from the major-label music industry in its initial commercial development during the 1930s and 1940s -- leading the big labels to largely abandon radio in the 1950s?

Television

What playback medium - which featured better sound quality than the LP and longer possible durations per side than the 7" single - was popularized by club DJs during the disco era?

The 12" single (or EP).

Which of the following decisions by the FCC during the 1960s was an important factor in the establishment of FM as the primary broadcast medium for progressive rock?

The 1961 decision to permit multiplexing, which allowed for better-sounding broadcasts of stereo recordings.

Copy of Which group is usually credited with standardizing the sound and lyrical themes of surf rock - and (fairly or not) have often been seen as the ultimate manifestation of rock 'n' roll as a white, middle-class pursuit in the early 1960s?

The Beach Boys

Fill in the blank: While Bob Dylan and the Band received widespread critical acclaim for their hybrids of country and rock, _____________ were generally derided by critics on the grounds that their particular take on the blend was too smooth and blatantly commercial.

The Eagles

What festival - often viewed as the marker of the beginning of the Summer of Love in 1967 - almost singlehandedly brought the counterculture to the mainstream public's attention?

The Monterey International Pop Festival.

According to the musicians and scene participants interviewed in American Hardcore, hardcore was primarily positioned in opposition to what?

The conservative, money-driven sociopolitical climate of the late 1970s and early 1980s (especially the election of Ronald Reagan).

When critics claimed that 1996 was the "Year of Women in Music" and that 1999 was the "Year of Latin Music," to what phenomena were they responding?

The emergence of female and Latin(o) musicians at the upper ends of the pop-music performance hierarchy, in many different styles and roles.

Rap's entrance into the mainstream coincided with what fundamental change in its practice?

The emergence of the MC as the primary focus of listener attention (where it had previously been the DJ).

While hardcore punk scenes still exist today, the initial hardcore movement is usually thought to have burned out by about 1986. Why?

The fact that many key players became disillusioned by the scene's mindless violence, rejection of musical variety, and inability to effect any real political progress.

Why did Bob Dylan's espousal of amplified instruments (electric guitar, especially) create such a stir in the folk revival community?

The folk-revival movement clung to (artificial) notions of "authenticity" - basically, music that sounded like old traditional music, even though it was made in a completely commercial context; Dylan's espousal of electric instruments was, for fans, an unacceptable breach of that model.

In an Edison phonograph, sound is "captured" by a horn that vibrates sympathetically with the sound waves. How are these vibrations turned into a wax or tinfoil cylinder recording?

The horn is attached to a stylus, which also vibrates, and which carves a groove into the cylinder as the operator turns it.

What is the basis of the "indie/major" narrative that continues to fuel notions of indie-rock identity?

The idea that independent and major labels are diametrically opposed with respect to their ideologies and business practices.

Which of the following statements describes the response of the mainstream musical press in the 1970s to heavy metal?

The mainstream musical press was virtually united in its negative regard for heavy metal, especially for its lyrical preoccupations with occult imagery and chauvenistic views of women.

Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, and other solo pop singers of the 1940s took advantage of the increased dynamic range and recording detail afforded by which of the following technological advances?

The microphone

The popularity of Prince, Michael Jackson, and other only slightly less-successful artists like Whitney Houston and Lionel Richie signals what shift in the popular-music marketplace during the 1980s?

The reemergence of African-American performers as major players (especially after a period of less visibility in the wake of the disco backlash).

When we describe a recorded song's "mix," to what are we referring?

The relative balance between, and spatial separation of, the instruments and voices on the recording.

Dare, the Human League's 1981 international smash hit, is notable for its unprecedented use of what now-common performance technology?

The sequencer

What is a crucial distinction between the term "alternative" and other stylistic descriptions (like "disco" or "rap")?

The term "alternative" has little to do with a specific musical style - it's a very broad category that has encompassed lots of different sounds and approaches, depending on the year, the race of the artists, and other nonstylistic factors.

What was the single most important unifying element behind the multiple philosophical and ideological strands of the counterculture?

The use and/or influence of hallucinogenic drugs

Which section of a popular song is usually the first section containing vocals and repeats several times through the course of the song - with the same music but usually different lyrics?

The verse

Even in their early original recordings, the Beatles distinguished themselves from their contemporaries, as I described in the lecture. How did they do so?

Their habit of adding tiny musical details to otherwise simple songs - for example, handclaps that set one section off from another, and small guitar figures or vocal harmonies that add depth to otherwise simple textures.

How did the music of James Brown and many of the soul artists on the Stax-Volt roster reflect a crucial shift in the civil-rights movement after 1965?

Their music - which was generally uncompromising and short on concessions to mainstream sensibilities, compared to the music of the Motown roster - reflected the increasing visibility of the more militant, less assimilationist portions of the civil-rights movement at this time.

In Simon Frith's formulation, most arguments over the value of music (or lack thereof) boil down to three or four categories. Which of the following is an accurate summation of his category of "arguments about effect"?

These arguments stem from the perception that some "bad music" (a) induces its listeners to act in socially unacceptable ways and/or (b) celebrates such socially unacceptable behavior.

In spite of their obvious sonic differences, what was an important shared feature of punk and disco?

They both emerged from and flourished in subcultural networks.

When scholars (like John Shepherd) assert that music is a "social symbol," what do they mean?

They mean that any given piece of music reflects important facts about the society in which it was produced.

"Beat It" was one of several major hits for Michael Jackson in 1983. What is the name of the album from which it is drawn, and the producer who is owed at least equal credit for creating it?

Thriller, Quincy Jones

How would you describe the relationship between Tin Pan Alley and the film industry?

Tin Pan Alley fostered a relationship with the film industry early on - in fact, the first "talkie," The Jazz Singer, prominently featured popular Tin Pan Alley songs.

What new radio format sprang up in the 1950s in the wake of the development of chain ownership of previously-independent AM stations?

Top 40

The earliest country recordings (or "hillbilly music," as it was marketed at the time) - for example, Charlie Poole and the Carter Family - most clearly evoke what folk tradition?

Traditional Appalachian balladry and social music.

True or false: In music, a bar is defined as a grouping of beats into a cyclical unit.

True

What is an important distinction between between early US punk and British punk?

US punk arose primarily in response to the excesses and softness of the popular-music mainstream in the 1970s; British punk channeled that sense of rebellion into a politically charged expression of outrage at the socioeconomic problems in England.

When we say that early funk represents an "Africanization" of popular music, what do we mean?

We mean that funk displays significant influences of traditional African (not just African-American) music, including polyrhythm, trance-like repetition, and an emphasis on dancing that is distinct from other styles of the same time period.

When we say that mainstream pop in the 1980s was characterized by hybridization of styles, what do we mean?

We mean that many of the most successful artists adeptly blended numerous existing styles in their work in this period, making them broadly accessible across many different audiences.

What is the underlying paradox in the rise to solo stardom of female soft-rock performers like Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon?

While these female performers did find footing in the largely male-dominated world of popular music, their success was strictly circumscribed to folk-influenced, pretty (and, some might say, somewhat regressive) musical expression.

Fill in the blank: Musically speaking, American indie rock from the mid to late 1980s is best understood as ___________________.

a cluster of diverse bands that were united only by their shared ideologies and commitment to independence in every aspect of their business and musical practice - not by adherence to a single style.

Fill in the blanks: In American popular music and society at large, the general atmosphere of _________ during the late 1960s gave way to a mood of _________ during the 1970s.

exuberance and social change; sociopolitical introspection