UNIT 3 - MUSIC AND RADIO Lesson 1 : British Pop Music PRE -READING What kind of music do you usually listen to? Do you like foreign bands or singers? Do you believe that music has a cultural value or do you think that it is just a form of entertainment? Can music be considered important for the identity of a nation? Music is an essential part of Western culture. The need and appreciation for music is evident in the everyday lives of people for it is heard in movies, on television and throughout all forms of audio media. The majority of people also choose to listen to music for pleasure so it is not surprising, considering the bombardment of music one is faced with, that music can be an instrument of social influence and change. Music is a powerful form of communication. It can be personal, political, opportunistic, and can be self-expressive with therapeutic effects due to the release of emotion. Pop music is an important part of British culture, not just as an expression of Englishness, but as a indicator of the multi-cultural nature of Britain today. But there are many different kinds of music (music genres) that have helped shape British youth. Britpop for example is a form of Alternative Grape, deliver a hard-rocking wall of sound. In Rock with a definite British sensibility and any form, Britpop has maintained a unique attitude. Melody and catchy "hook" (choruses) slant on rock and roll from the late '80s are essential to the Britpop sound. Within these forward. limitations, the music these artists make is quite diverse: groups such as Blur and Radiohead are more experimental, sometimes bordering on art-rock, while others, such as Oasis and Black Text 1 - Sounds from the Sixties: Mods vs. Rockers But you can't write a page on British Pop Culture without mentioning 'The Mods and The Rockers'. In the Sixties the music scene was said to be split along a North / South divide, the Northerners preferring rock music and wearing leather. In London it was rhythm and blues, blue beat and ska. The Londoners danced and wore smart clothes and were known as modernists or Mods. The Mod image was the wearing of shrink to fit Levi's, Fred Perry tennis shirts and the Parka. Emanating from London and the South East the Mods were complete followers of the latest fashion except musically. Whilst the Beatles were enjoying immense popularity and success among Britain's mainstream society in the early 1960's, the first-wave of Mods pursued a different sound. They adopted modern jazz, which was a style of music originated in Black America, however as jazz grew in popularity, Mods began listening to Blues, Soul, Rhythm & Blues, and then moved on to Jamaican Bluebeat and Ska to stay ahead of the mainstream; bands such as The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, The Pretty Things, The Kinks, The Downliners, and The Small Faces became all the rage. A Mod was a product of working class British youth of the mid-sixties. They portrayed an image of being stuck up, emulating the middle classes, snobbish and phoney. The Mod boys dressed in suits, neat narrow trousers, and pointed shoes. The girls displayed a boyish image. They darkened their eyes 46 and wore their hair short to fit a unisex type of culture and the real status symbol was to have a Lambretta GT 200 or a Vespa GS 160. These were the scooters that they rode as part of their badge that connected them to being a Mod. The most popular and revolutionary band who could be labelled as Mods themselves were the The Who. Their biggest enemy? The Rockers. Rockers generally came from "up north" and saw Mods as weedy, effeminate snobs because they had good jobs and dressed smartly. Mods saw Rockers as dirty and thick idiots as the stereotype of manual workers from rural areas. To the outsider Mods looked like nice but arrogant young chaps, whereas Rockers looked as if they were going to make trouble. Rockers enjoyed Rock and Roll, and their style consisted of jeans, boots and leather jackets. The Rockers were a British version of the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang. They wore black leather and studs, had anti-authoritarian beliefs, and projected an easy rider nomadic romanticism. The Rockers lived for the present, with a scruffy, masculine, ‘bad boy' image. Rockers were essentially from the working class and despised any fashion. They each had the same hairstyle, shaggy with a bit of slick to it. Riding motorcycles was of the uppermost importance, so they kept away from drugs and alcohol. The motorcycles were also modified or "souped up" in order to be in top racing form. Every Rocker had a ‘Triumph' or a ‘Norton', a brand of motorcycle. Their favoured music? Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Yardbirds, The Animals and The Trogs. Even the Beatles, who started their life as a leather clad rock band, The Quarrymen, made long hair fashionable. Their biggest enemy? The Mods. Exercise 1 : List in the two opposite columns below the main differences between Mods and Rockers Mods Rockers Exercise 2: a) List all the music genres mentioned in the text ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ b) Now match the following artists / bands with the music genre they mainly belong to 1. Moby a) rock 2. The Sex Pistols b) heavy metal 3. Bon Jovi c) jazz 4. Tammy Wynette d) rap 5. Britney Spears e) soul 6. Marvin Gaye f) country and western 7. Vivaldi g) r & b 8. Eminem h) classical 9. Count Basie and his Orchestra i) easy listening 10. Destiny’s Child j) dance 11. Metallica k) pop 12. Doris Day l) punk 47 Text 2 – A British Myth: The Beatles In 2005, thirty-five years after they broke up, The Beatles were named by Variety magazine as the most iconic entertainers of the 20th century. Not a bad achievement for four working class boys from Liverpool, England. Paul McCartney met John Lennon in 1957 at a garden fete where John Lennon was playing with his band. After talking they decided to play together and became The Quarrymen. George Harrison, who was a friend of Paul McCartney, joined the band in 1958 and they changed their name to The Silver Beetles. They changed their name once more in 1960 and became The Beatles. They travelled to Hamburg, Germany, where they developed their musical skills and came back to the UK as experienced performers, where they quickly became stars. Their manager Brian Epstein worked hard to get them a recording contract, but it wasn’t an easy task. They had a lot of different drummers until 1962, when Ringo Starr joined the band. The final line up was John Lennon and George Harrison on vocals and guitars, Paul McCartney on vocals and bass, and Ringo Starr on drums. Finally, after being rejected by almost every other label, the recording company EMI agreed to try them out. They recorded their first single Love Me Do at Abbey Road Studios in London and within a year ‘Beatlemania’ had taken hold of Britain. They released their first US single I Wanna Hold Your Hand in 1964 and the United States, too, was instantly gripped by ‘Beatlemania’. By the following year, they had become the most famous band in the world. Over the next five years they produced songs of all different styles, from ballads to anthems and from blues to heavy metal. After their split in 1970 the band members went their different ways and each enjoyed some solo success, but never matched the popularity they had known as The Beatles. Ten years later, in 1980, 40-year-old John Lennon was shot dead in front of his apartment in New York by crazed fan Mark Chapman. Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono still lives in the apartment. Then in 2001 George Harrison, ‘The Quiet Beatle’, lost his battle with cancer and died at the age of 58. Paul McCartney has continued to perform and in 1997 became Sir Paul McCartney. In 2003 his wife Heather gave birth to a daughter, Milly Beatrice. And last but not least, Ringo Starr has also continued to perform but remains the only Beatle who has not been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist. Exercise 3: Read the text again and circle all the words connected to the world of music Ex: band Exercise 4: Answer the questions below 1 In which country did The Beatles develop their musical skills? _____________________ 2 Which label did The Beatles record their first single with? _____________________ 3 What is the surname of John Lennon’s wife? _____________________ 4 Is Ringo the only Beatle who (as a solo artist) isn’t in this elite circle? _____________________ 5 Which Beatle died in 2001? _____________________ 6 What was the surname of The Beatles’ manager? _____________________ 7 What is the surname of the bass player of The Beatles? _____________________ 8 In which studios did the band record their first single? _____________________ 9 Who was the band’s drummer? _____________________ 10 How many years did the band perform as The Beatles? _____________________ 11 What was their first US single called? _____________________ 12 Where was John Lennon living when he died? _____________________ 48 Now write the first letter of each answer in the following boxes in order to reveal the name of the man who is often referred to as ‘The Fifth Beatle’ and who recorded all the Beatles albums 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Exercise 5: Now it's your turn to ask questions using what, when, where, which, etc.