Final Paper: COMM 202

Jessica Matzell

University of Maryland University College

1442 words

Herbie Hancock, an American pianist, keyboardist, bandleader and composer believes that for music to grow or become anything, the artist must experiment and try new things. Herbie Hancock's theories allow for the movement of jazz music from the traditional to a more progressive new form. He believes what makes history is what music reflects on.
Music has made an impact on all levels in history. The early days of jazz provided many styles, which highlighted the talent and innovation of African American music including Ragtime and Dixieland. Ragtime also contributed to the movement of African Americans to march against racism. Dixieland was a form that made a mockery of how Caucasian people danced. Soul is the movement of power to African Americans, all of which reflected what was going on in history during that time. For traditional jazz to be played in the present time would have no meaning to the people playing it. For instance, a young jazz musician playing Charles Mingus' song "Fables of Faubus" (which was about the wrong doings of governor Faubus) would have no meaning to the musician because he/she never lived that era. As for new, recent music, the artist plays what he/she feels in respect to the present. For instance, Herbie Hancock's new album came out about a month ago called "Possibilities". This album was called his "all-star project" (Downbeat; Pg 38) because it featured new artists like John Mayer, Christina Aguilera, and Paul Simon. The album depicts a movement of music in how a new form of jazz, soul, and pop our recent era has developed. The decade of the 1960’s, also known as "The Sixties", are known for it’s popular culture and revolution in social norms about clothing, music, drugs, dress, formalities and schooling. Conservatives refer to this decade as one of irresponsible excess and flamboyance. The decade was also labeled the “Swinging Sixties” because of the fall of racism and sexism that occurred during this time. Beginning in 1960, radio stations only played the most popular songs and bands only recorded their best songs in hopes of scoring a hit record on the radio. The rise of the counterculture movement created the rise of rock, soul, pop, blues and reggae. The counterculture movement is defined as a subculture of values and behaviors that deviate from social norms, such as racial segregation, support for the Vietnam War, women’s rights and gay rights. The counterculture had access to the media by creating attention to themselves in their outrageous behaviors. Several artists, such as The Beatles, The Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Pink Floyd and many more, exemplified rejection of the mainstream culture in their music. Particularly, rejections were expressed in song lyrics and popular sayings of the period, such as "do your own thing", "turn on, tune in, drop out”, "whatever turns you on", "sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll", and "light my fire". The counterculture included interest in astrology and knowing people's signs, alluding to spirituality. Dylan had begun to reach a mainstream audience with hits including "Blowin' in the Wind" (1963) and "Masters of War" (1963), which brought protest songs to a wider public and reached out to the young public who opposed war altogether. “Masters of War” stands the test of time for this decade as it represents the civil rights movement. Although artists benefited from the opposition of social norm and the era of love and peace in the 1960’s, the 1970’s represented the waving of the white flag, so to speak. Long hair and drugs were no longer a protest and became a fashion statement in the 1970’s. The Vietnam War ended and a recession loomed over society creating individuals to look after themselves and get to work. Singer/songwriters, such as Carole King and Billy Joel introduced a new wave of pop music and became the most popular route of making music. Carole King’s song “It’s Too Late” was the most popular song of the decade with emphasis on melody and harmony. New York was introduced to electronic, techno and disco music. Disco was invented in the 1970’s and also died in the late 1970’s due to mass commercialization that turned people against it. Disco was primarily played in clubs and clubs soon gained a reputation for hard drug use and promiscuous sex. In the late 1970’s, advancements in technology created the “new wave” era of electronic and synthesized music in songs such as “Heart of Glass” by the band Blondie and “Whip It” by Devo. “Outlaw Country” music was popular among those still rebelling against social norms and was considered “angry” music. Willie Nelson was an artist who led this genre of music with hits such as “Good Hearted Woman.” The 1980’s is the era for the popular and highly talented Michael Jackson. Not only did Michael Jackson have several number one hits, he was able to influence all races and cultures and break down racial barriers with his music. As one of the first African American pop stars of this time, Michael was the ultimate “American Dream” by showing people that you can achieve anything. Madonna also played a major influential role in the 1980’s by exploiting sexuality and feminism. Before Madonna, females were considered powerless. The female image was developed as Madonna’s career grew, resulting in influential songs, fashion and videos. Madonna’s most influential song, “Like A Virgin” portrays how women can be in control of their sexuality, while also creating uproar in the Christian community. This song set the mood for the remainder of the 1980’s. The media paid much attention to Madonna, thus portraying an inappropriate image to young girls and adult women. Madonna created the illusion that in order to be successful and popular, you have to show skin and be sexual. Television played a major role in supporting this illusion, particularly MTV, as music videos were played constantly to mass audiences. During the early 1990s, hip hop started to come to a close, while alternative rock focused more on personal angst than social issues. Despite this, the 90s protest movement was still able to produce its share of protest anthems. Influential artists such as Nirvana and the Red Hot Chili Peppers gained popularity and heavily influenced the rock genre. The hip-hop group Public Enemy introduced a song called “Burn Hollywood Burn” to represent opposition against stereotypical racism in movies. Madonna remained popular and continued to represent women with her hit song “Vogue,” which depicts women as objects of beauty. This song is the mood of the 1990s because women were becoming more and more powerful and prominent in magazines and on TV. Boy bands became a phenomena in the ‘90’s with bands such as The Backstreet Boys and N’Sync. Teen pop was becoming extremely commercialized in this era due to MTV. Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera became breakthrough female artists in the Pop scene in the late 90’s and were commercialized on MTV. Technology advancements were the trend in the 2000s, with the creation of pitch correction and Auto-Tune and the rise of the Internet, iTunes and YouTube. The Internet allowed unprecedented access to music and allowed artists to distribute music freely without label backing. Online outlets and volume of music also offers musicians more musical influences to draw from. Rap was highly popular with artists such as Eminem, who is known for being controversial and attracted mass audiences. By the end of 2006, hip-hop began to diminish as expressed by artist Nas in his song “Hip Hop is Dead.” Technology creates a different spin in music during this time and changes the direction of music. The mood of this era is technology and slight resistance to it. The song that best represents this era is “Boom Boom Pow” By The Black Eyed Peas. This song represents the age of technology and was one of the first songs in the 2000s to use Auto-Tune. Since the Black Eyed Peas came out with this song, Auto-Tune has taken over music to this day.

References
N. E. Tawa, Supremely American: Popular Song in the 20th Century: Styles and Singers and What They Said About America (Lanham, MA: Scarecrow Press, 2005), ISBN 0-8108-5295-0, pp. 227–8.

R. Shuker, Popular Music: the Key Concepts (Abingdon: Routledge, 2nd edn., 2005), ISBN 0-415-34770-X, p. 35.

J. Austen, TV-a-Go-Go: Rock on TV from American Bandstand to American Idol (Chicago IL: Chicago Review Press, 2005), ISBN 1-55652-572-9, p. 19.

Vivian, J. (2013). The media of mass communication. (11th ed., pp. 186-187). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.