Amy Winehouse was born 1983.  She started out her career in musical theater training.  She later realized that what she really wanted to do with was jazz.  Her music was especially heavy with a jazzy sound.  She signed with Island Records in 2002 and released her debut album by 2003.

During her later career, she had a completely different sound.  Especially with the song Back to Black which came out in 2007.  This song was based on her tumultuous relationship with her boyfriend.  It was written during the incline with dugs and alcohol and this drug use because very apparent in 2007.  By the age of 27, she dies of alcohol poisoning in 2011.  This is very ironic because the last album she made while alive was called Rehab and I feel like if she actually went to rehab she might still be alive today or at least have made it through life long enough to realize how wrong and harmful drug and alcohol abuse really is.

The song we talked about in class was a cover of a song that was originally performed by The Shirelles, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.   She definitely made the song way more sensual and not as doo-woopy was the Shirelles had.  It had a more intimate and exposed feeling to it.  The audience that this type of music was meant for was…

• Appeals to older and younger age groups
  • Older audiences: classic and new jazz sounds
  • Younger audiences: edgier topics

It basically had a little something for everyone.  She had the classic jazzy feel and sound for the older generation and then the edgier topics and the more intimate feel for the younger generation.

I have never particularly listened to this type of music.  Of course I know some of her like back to black etc.  I never really felt the desire to sit down and listen to an Amy Winehouse album.  He music definitely takes an acquired taste that I feel like not enough people have.

The genre that is party metal is rather interesting.  I feel like a group of people got together that enjoyed Punk music and Metal music equally and wanted to see if they could combine the two and see what they could make of it.  Some of the characteristics of this genre of music are…

• Exuberant style
• Fast paced
• High tempo
• Immense energy
• Party Music
• Lyrics
  • Party focused
  • Positive/uplifting

These songs can either be strictly for clubs or could be used for commercials like the Presenter was telling us about.

The audience that this was aimed for had these characteristics…

• Young adults
• Mostly white
• Male focused
• High energy events: sport games

A lot of these characteristics are very similar to the research I did about alternative rock.  This is because I feel that this is just a genre branch of alternative music

Keyboards was used throughout most of Andrew W.K.’s music along with usual instruments of guitar, bass, drums, and powerful vocals.  The musical elements of this kind of music really isn’t anything out of the ordinary and really rather similar again, to punk music.

The presenter lastly told us about Andrew W.K..  He began learning the piano at the age of four which is a very impressive feat.  He grew up to be a motivational speaker and had a few guest appearances of several TV shows.  He actually got to be the host of a very popular show on Cartoon Network called Destroy Build Destroy.  He is also a writer for Vice Media which is very interesting.  He did however have some legal issues that ivolved his real name, Steev Mike.  One of the most impressive things he did would have to be that in 2013 broke record for longest drum session in a retail store (drumming for 24 consecutive hours).

I could definitely see myself listening and enjoying this genre of music while at a party of some sort.

This post is going to be about 2000’s County.  I am not particularly a fan of country music at all.  I actually like using the description of “emo farm music.” I feel like this describes the genre at least to me in the best way possible.  Jay did the song Drive by Alan Jackson in reference to the topic of country.  This song can be categorized as the softer more emotion side of country.  Some of the other characteristics of this genre that he stated in his presentation were…

• ›Working Class Americans
• ›Young to Old (all ages)
• ›Suburban
• ›Southerners
• ›Male and Female]

He also said that this genre had the most “drive time” just meaning that when driving to work, country music was the most likely thing to be played in the car while waiting.

Some of the musical characteristics of this genre were…

• ›Twangy vocals
• Lots of instrumentation
  • Bass
  • Guitar
  • Harmonica
  • Drums
  • Steel Guitar

This type of music also had a very simply flow about it compared to some other songs.  The correct term for the flow would be the form.  This type of music normally has 2 full length verse, a chorus that is the same every single time, and a third shorter chorus that eventually loops back into the same old chorus.  Not very interesting to listen to in my opinion.

The last thing Jay talked about in his presentation was about Alan Jackson’s life. He was born in the small town of Newnan, Georgia on October 17, 1958.  He started preforming at a young age with Gospel at home and church.  He then performed locally as a teenager in a country duo of some sort.  In his adult years he moved to Nashville to write his own lyrics.  He was the signed to Arista Records by 1989.

›I can appreciate the emotion and thought that goes into this genre of music.  The message behind some of these lyrics are very powerful, but I can not relate this these songs.  I will never make fun of someone for having a love of country music, as long as they understand that it just isn’t my cup of tea.

žThe song I am doing for my presentation is  Loser by Beck.  This song would be labeled as 2000’s Alternative Rock. Alternative rock is a broad catchall term that consists of music that is greatly different in terms of its sound, social context, and regional roots. Some characteristics of Alternative Rock include…

• Nonconformist lyrics
• Anything that will make their music unique and different from everyone else’s
• The lyrics are really the most important part because they usually address some sort of social issues like drug use, depression, etc

žAlternative music is just music that hasn’t yet achieved a mainstream audiencež and really is any kind of music that has the potential to reach a wider audience, meaning the people that feel they don’t fit in in society.  Some characteristics of audiences that listen to Alternative Rock are…

• Ages 16-25
• Mainly white
• Mostly students
• Mostly males

The song I picked can be classified as žStoner Rap.  The lyrics are mostly just nonsensical with a žmixture of self mockery and sardonic defiance.  These types of groups all usually have a different sound than the social norms at the times.  Beck in this song has a type of žBob Dylan–esque talk singing.  These lyrics really fit with the not normal, rebelling from society idea

žžHe used the similarities between Delta blues and hip hop, which helped to inspire the song.  It is sort of žfolk music with a hip-hop beat.ž  And also the song’s drum track is sampled from a Johnny Jenkins cover of Dr. John’s “I Walk on Gilded Splinters.” Several recurring musical elements that happen in alternative rock…

• Slide guitar riff
• Sitar
• The Bassline
• Tremolo guitar part

Tremolo, in electronics, is the variation in amplitude of sound achieved through electronic means, sometimes mistakenly called vibrato, and producing a sound somewhat reminiscent of flanging, referred to as an “underwater effect”. A variety of means are available to achieve the effect.

Delta Blues: The defining characteristics of Delta blues are instrumentation and an emphasis on rhythm and “bottleneck” slide guitar; the basic harmonic structure is not substantially different from that of blues performed elsewhere.  The Delta blues style of blues is one of the earliest. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, a region of the United States stretching from Memphis, Tenneessee, in the north to Vicksburg, Mississippi, in the south and from Helena, Arkansas, in the west to the Yazoo River in the east.

Madonna is definitely one of the more known megastars of the 1980s.  She achieved her popularity by pushing the boundaries of lyrical content in mainstream popular music and imagery in her music videos, which became a fixture on MTV.  With many controversial videos, such as, “Like a Prayer,” she knew how to get people talking.  I feel like one of the major things that she did and tried to accomplish was to push the boundaries of where females were “supposed” to do.  She definitely was a feminist icon in the ’80s.

Madonna spoke about the struggles she faced early on in her career, even mentioning that in 1979, when she first moved to New York City, she was held at gunpoint, robbed, and raped with a knife to her throat.  She said this situation taught her to belief in herself because that was the only real safety in life.  Also, around this time her life, Madonna said that David Bowie became a major source of inspiration for her as he broke with gender norms as an artist.

She gave a speech in December of last year, where she talks about her stance of the issue of feminism.  She starts out by thanking the audience for acknowledging her ability to continue her music career for 34 years in the face of “blatant sexism and misogyny and constant bullying and relentless abuse.”  She then goes on to talk about her muse, David Bowie, who “embodied male and female spirit” and “made me think there were no rules.”  She later goes on to recant this statement by saying “But I was wrong. There are no rules – if you’re a boy. There are rules if you’re a girl.”

Those rules are as follows: “If you’re a girl, you have to play the game. You’re allowed to be pretty and cute and sexy. But don’t act too smart. Don’t have an opinion that’s out of line with the status quo. You are allowed to be objectified by men and dress like a slut, but don’t own your sluttiness. And do not, I repeat do not, share your own sexual fantasies with the world. Be what men want you to be, but more importantly, be what women feel comfortable with you being around other men. And finally, do not age. Because to age is a sin. You will be criticised and vilified and definitely not played on the radio.”

I feel like her albums, more recently to be exact, reflect the message that she’s trying to spread through her music. With songs like Unapologetic Bitch, Bitch, I’m Madonna, Iconic, Joan of Arc, etc she seems to be describing herself.  She has nothing to apologize for, she is being herself and has earned the right to say “Bitch, I’m Madonna.”

I really appreciate the fact that she is using her influence over the public to talk about and support such a hot button issue.  Of course every star has their flaws, but overall I feel Madonna is a great example of a 1980’s megastar that is still very relevant.  She definitely uses her powers fro good instead of evil.