November 16, 2010 - HUGE 60s Music Note

What is considered the most important decade for Rock and Roll?
- the 1960s – and why is that?
This Note is About the 60s and why they are so important in rock history
1. The Rise of Black Music
a) - one of the first kinds of black music that begins to generate action in the 60s is called Chicago blues
-the record label that was associated this was called CHESS Records – performers who were doing this were Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and a bunch of others
- also known as electric blues – why? A KEY instrument
- electric guitar
- this music is not so popular in the US with white people, but weirdly it becomes really popular in another country – ENGLAND
- there was a weird trend in England of listening to this music and trying to play it combining it with a strange folk music called skiffle
- a number of British bands came out trying to mix this all up.
- a lot of bands tried to sound like Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley
b) The Next kind of Black Music in This List
- Motown Records
- a record company run by black people and selling records to white AND black audiences
- Berry Gordie Jr. had a genius idea to take young kids from the streets and train them up in a kind of pop music that would SELL
- these kids were trained to sing, dress, dance, be polite, and do what they were told to get white audience ready
- he had a band that did all their albums and he had pro writers who wrote most of their songs – the kids were just performers
- it was a complete BUSINESS
- he wanted to make MONEY
- he made black music that white kids and their families would think was safe and NICE
eg The Jackson Five
- everything was DESIGNED and that made black people and “cool” people a little less interested – and was planned for teenie boppers
c) What were the black folks into then?
- a very interesting type of music that came up from something called SOUL
- Ray Charles started this kind of gospel dance R&B but then a young guy got hold of it and tore it up
- James Brown and he is the Godfather of Soul – he invented the kind of music that influenced ALL modern black music – it was called FUNK and it was awesome
- all the instruments played rhythm – they all played the drums – the rhythm was called “The One”
- the bass plays almost a melody and thumps and plucks and slaps and clicks
- this is the music that black folks grow up with – and in the 70s it becomes white peoples’ music as well

What was the COOL kid listening to in the early 60s?
- a lot of the coolest kids were listening to folk music because it was honest and real and the rock music of the time was phony
- a strange little man showed up in New York and he was playing folk music and he became a HUGE star – his lyrics were the most influential in rock history
- his lyrics were advanced and powerful and about meaningful things and people realized that they had to write good lyrics as well
THEN EVERYTHING CHANGED
THE BEATLES
- nobody hates The Beatles, they only hate themselves and blame the Beatles
- a couple of school kids in England get together and start playing Chuck Berry music – their names are John Lennon and Paul McCartney
- they sounded good and played live A LOT
- they added two other guys George Harrison and Ringo Starr and they tried to get a label deal, but they sucked, so they were told
- then a guy named George Martin challenged them to write a hit and they wrote a song that changd their lives
- it was – I Want to Hold Your Hand
- it became a SMASH and for a couple of reasons, the Beatles get MASSIVE success
- 1. They are charming and charismatic. – people liked them without knowing why – they had some kind of X factor
- 2. Girls love nice harmonies and melodies – song is catchy
- 3. Song can be danced to – fast backbeat, simple and repetitive
- 4. It was influenced by both folk AND R&B
- 5. Devin Scully is just wrong –they had a ton of catchy, fun awesome songs
Somehow these guys cornered a new kind of market and captured a way of performing and singing and playing and doing everything that just NAILED (no!) their target audience – TEENAGE GIRLS
Part of their secret – was combining weird bits of other bands, music styles and trends and finding new things in those old styles
Another part – they were just a bit rebellious (hair was long, suits were kind of mod, they were cheeky, cute, etc)
BUT – they hated their shows
SO – they go into the studio and start experimenting
They start working on new kinds of music influenced by Bob Dylan (lyrics and his acoustic folk) and something else (POT!)
They came up with some really interesting new sounds and they explored using multi-track tricks in the studio
They came up with songs that NOBODY else was doing – totally original, very advanced techniques, influenced everyone else
They’re not a pop band anymore – they’re all new, all cool, all interesting
They become the coolest band in the world with some of the most important songs ever written in pop
There Were Other Key Bands
One in particular
The Rolling Stones – the first hard rock band
- they were the bad boys to the Beatles’ good boy image
- led by Mick Jagger (vocals) and Keith Richards (guitar)
- Jagger was one of the inventors of the modern rock singer – sexy, arrogant, showy, flashy, danced in a saucy way, was a real ladykiller
- Richards was a riff machine – came up with some of the key guitar riffs of all rock, plus he was the laid back, super cool guitar god, and he was also one of the first functioning drug addicts of rock who made it all the way
- They have what some call the first hard rock riff and song – Satisfaction – Keith Richards dreamed that riff, woke up, recorded it and fell back asleep
- In the morning, he had no memory of recording it – fits the old “music that came from the devil” storyline
- They were a blues band at first, but after Satisfaction, they were a rock and roll band
- They started a whole trend of their own that is cool because it leads to METAL and all hard rock
- The line goes from them to:

- Grateful Dead - Skull Captain
- Jimi Hendrix -Robina and Jenna and JLC - Horde VS Alliance
- Led Zepplin - Poppin Fresh and Jabbot
- Black Sabbath - The Gard Dog
- Alice Cooper Mat LoneWolf
- Kiss - Megalon and Dash BrickBrook and K-Dot
- ACDC- Myles and Brandon and Spencer - Cliffie B

Remember, this is the ONE PAGER blog post with multimedia - you KNOW how to Level 4 this stuff
- looking for - more than the obvious, reviews from the group, interesting facts, visuals and video in the blog, looking for something deeper and more meaningful

Nov 12, 2010 - Elvis and More

What do you know about Elvis?
- he’s dead and famous
- wore white suits
- had a unique dance with his hips
- linked with Vegas
- The King of Rock and Roll
- His house is a touring thing now
The Truth of Elvis
- he was a poor, white Southern boy who was raised with an interest in three very different kinds of music
- gospel, country and rhythm and blues



- strange mix, but it was important because rock and roll came from these mixing
- first rock tune was That’s Alright, Mama
- got sent to the radio and was an immediate hit
- people listening weren’t sure whether he was white or black – this was a good thing
- this means that the plan is working – mixing the music and style of black culture with white racist acceptance
- his live show was crucial to show audiences that he was white and very attractive
- the live show also revealed something else – something strange and new – SEX APPEAL
- girls in the 50s were very repressed – there was no sex, no dirty thoughts, no lust, no touching, no anything
- his dancing on stage and the music and the whole vibe and his looks, woke up something in the young, repressed women in the audience – he turned them on and they didn’t even know what to do



- it didn’t last very long – he was signed to a movie deal and made a bunch of goofy movies that weren’t very rebellious and rocky – it’s a show and his rock days are kind of over



At the Exact Same Time
- a few black musicians are doing the same thing as Elvis, only they really are rebellious and powerful and shocking for parents
- BUT, the kids who got into it with Elvis, wanted more rock, more fun, more dancing and suddenly, black performers got in the door of white homes via the record player
- Create a Fact Sheet on ONE of these performers with at least 10 interest facts that tells why he/she deserves to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
-
- Little Richard – Megan and Brook,
- Chuck Berry – Kaylen,
- Fats Domino – Devin,
- Bo Diddley – Brandon and Dr. Feagan
- Muddy Waters – Jenna
- Johnny Cash – Jennifer and Jessica
- Jerry Lee Lewis – Horde vs Alliance

How Do I Get Level 4?
- go to, and CITE, multiple sources for your info (include your sources in the work)
- include pics and multimedia clips from Youtube (on the blogs)
- have a wide scope of info – not just life, not just listing songs, but try to get a few different kinds of info – eg weird story (knife fights, racism, etc)
- describe why he/she is important – what did he contribute?
- What made this person different?
- Review or comment on a song – tell me your thoughts on the song and/or performer

Nov 11, 2010

The History of Rock and/or Roll
Rock and Roll begins WAY back in the 1800s
What? (yes – according to me)
New Orleans
- this is an American city in the Deep South that is the birthplace of JAZZ music, according to most
- it has an interesting history
- it was a port city – it was the destination for a huge number of boats, ships, traders and dock workers, and all the industries and services around that
- a MIXTURE of many different kinds of people – black slaves, white wealthier people, Europeans, Creole people (native/black/white mix), Spanish, etc
- multicultural mix of music and styles and everything
- this created a high energy and high action environment
- a) Sporting Houses
b) BUMBUM PITCHER
- this is a nice way to say a brothel (house of ill repute, a whorehouse
- these were places where a lot of different men would show up for the obvious, but the owner would have music and a bar to generate more interest, money, and time spent – music back then meant a piano player –
- the kind of music that works in this environment is more action packed
b) Slavery
- this horrible and I am not saying that it is good
- before the 1860s America used African people as slaves – owned them, sold them, used them like animals and they were in the US for 400 years
- they formed their own mini-culture inside America – a mix of African roots, religion, deep pain, and a secret kind of communication
- black culture was “underground” – HOWEVER, in New Orleans, black people were a little more powerful and more visible
- there was a square called Congo Square where black folks gathered on Sundays and had some time to relax etc
- whites would come and watch them sing and dance and so on
- the black folks started this dance called THE CAKEWALK
- this dance was a mockery of wealthy white people (who could afford cake) and the exaggerated movements were about white, wealthy people parading and showing off
- the weird thing is that white people started loving it, watching it and copying it
c) Jazz –
- a strange music came up that combined European marching band music and African/black culture music together
African music is interesting – polyrhythmic – multiple layers of percussion
- chanting and call and response – work songs
- train shuffle –
- more powerful dancing – full body (many whites considered it totally depraved and sexual (what were a lot of white people actually thinking? AWESOME)
in Jazz music, black performers began to get well known – their “spin” on the music was more interesting, more powerful, more exciting

Scott Joplin
- wrote music
- became famous as a performer and songwriter (with white folks)
- his sheet music sold in the millions
- came up with a kind of music called RAGTIME
- started a piano craze
- syncopated piano style – left and right hands do different things off time from each other
- his music caught on with many and people started playing off his style and making their own
- like JellyRoll
JellyRoll Morton
- he called himself the inventor of Jazz, but he wasn’t
- he played very well, lots of style
- dressed up, played for white folks
- educated and Creole (part black, part European)
- played in brothels when he was your age
- his music was a kind of black jazzy dance music
- more exciting kind of piano – stride and piano blues
Then people took his style and went with it into new areas
Real piano jazz and blues in the 20s and 30s
Black performers traveled and took this music all over America and it spread
The 1920s
- a couple of things were happening that were unusual that helped spread this black-influenced music
a) A Dance Craze
- in the 20s there was a dance craze that took America by storm and it was for a dance called The Foxtrot
- there were a bunch of similar dances that were in many ways influenced by blacks and black culture (eg The Black Bottom

- there was a touring company that did these dances and people went bananas for the styles and dances that came along with this whole scene –
- racy clothes, short hair for girls (“bob”), sack dresses, showing leg, guys wearing flashy suits, etc – often linked with listening to jazz and dancing
- jazz becomes popular
b) Blues becomes its own style
- blues was a kind of black folk music that was played in the country, compared with jazz that was urban
- Charley Patton was one of the key originators who influenced a lot of black kids
- he played guitar tricks (behind the back, with his teeth, etc), danced when he played, had a howling voice (blues moan or holler), he had a twangy guitar with bent notes (“making it talk”)
- this was music FOR black people – did not cross over into white audiences like jazz did (not for a long time)
- The weird thing: black women started performing piano versions of blues songs and THEY crossed over – became rich and popular
- the most famous was Bessie Smith
- she started a pattern that we can see today in performers like Lady Gaga
- powerful stage presence, showy fashions being important, aggressive sexuality, focus on her looks and her body, strong female image
- taking charge of her own music and career
- she had a HUGE powerful voice because this was all pre-microphones
- “belting it out”
- she died young – she was in a car crash, she got a big cut and a white hospital wouldn’t treat her because she was black – she got sent to a black hospital and bled to death
she combined jazz and blues
1930s –
- the style of jazz and blues changed
- jazz goes pop – it becomes mainstream
- it grew up and became the standard music for white (mainstream) audiences
- the new jazz pop was called swing or big band and it was all about the dancing
- white performers jumped in and started getting all the attention
- Glen Miller, Bennie Goodman, Artie Shaw
- Big stars playing for movies, big money and they had HUGE bands
- Black performers and artists need to change it up, take it up a notch and get something new

Some black performers decided to break the whole pattern and do something completely new and rebellious – they started doing jazz music you couldn’t really dance to – it was technical and super difficult to play and very fast and showy and all about talent and solos
- this was called bebop – super cool music
- - started getting popular with rebels and alternative audiences in the 40s
The other music of the 30s that wasn’t popular was the delta blues (popped with black audiences in a small area of the US)
A performer called Robert Johnson totally revolutionized blues with his style, which was supposedly given to him by Satan
THIS music is the music that really leads to rock and roll
Guitar power, yelling and moaning, high pitched and strange guitar sounds, hitting the instrument, percussive and loud
Was really influential
Post WWII
- kids want faster, quicker paced, smaller band fun music to dance to
- big bands are old people’s music, uncool and too slow
- Louis Jordan is a black performer who catches this new sound and it is called R&B
- Small bands, electric guitars, fast, fun, goofy, sometimes simple
- Catches on with white kids in the early 50s
- Loads of bands traveling around and white kids start trying to get into the sound –
- A black radio station (WLAC) comes on and some cool white kids tune in to this awesome new sound
- A few white record labels start cashing in on that black sound – they record these black artists but they can’t sell huge numbers because of racism – white kids can’t or won’t buy these records like they want to
- The Magic Ingredient is discovered by Sam Phillip in Memphis in the mid-50s at Sun Records
- “I need to find a white, Southern boy who is pretty who can sing black style.”
- who did he discover?
- ELVIS

Nov 3, 2010 - Print Ad Analysis Quiz Ads

November 1, 2010 - Ad Campaign Project

Ad Campaign Project

Due in the next week. BEFORE the Mid-term report cards. Or, you can have a low mark.
1. Come up with an original and fun product (that you make up yourself)
2. Describe the product in a one-page cover letter to me, Mr. The Lobb, in which you give me a “pitch”. (three paragraphs)
3. Come up with a Campaign Strategy (a paragraph or two)
4. Create a script for a TV ad for the product- 1 page
5. Create a target audience description (maybe a page)

How Do I Get Level 4?

- design a product that solves a problem that some target group has – even if the problem is ridiculous and not important – ie I Want to Fit in With This Peer Group!
- Your script refers to some of those manipulation tricks we discussed
- You campaign indicates that you have an overall plan to follow that uses the strategies of hooking people, attracting attention, etc
- Good use of language, spelling, grammar
- Follow the structure that we learn in class – ie the TV ad script, the pitch letter.
- Creativity (interesting, new, fresh way of doing something, surprises me)
- Done well – presentation and effort is obvious

What is a Pitch Page? 

A three-paragraph business letter in which you excite someone about your idea, project, product or whatever.

First paragraph!
- will introduce your product and make it sound exciting with a few dramatic claims
- eg – Tom’s Armpit Sauce is twice as funky as our leading competitor! (this is a claim)

Second Paragraph!!
- this is where you tell a bit about why this product is necessary – what problem does it solve? Who needs it? Why do they want it?
- Link the product with a daily use, a need, an audience
- Eg Chocolate Chimp cookies are the perfect afterschool snack for those spindly children who need more protein but only want to eat junk food – moms are worried about their children getting healthy food, but kids love the taste of these meaty, chocolatey cookies

Third Paragraph!!!
- compare it with some competitors – what is out there that is like it, and why is this more suitable or better –
- what separates it from the competition

If you really want Level 4, you can add this:

Product Design and Components
- any drawings, scientific data about the product, how it used, etc
- if you actually make the product, that is good for a super bonus and I will wear it around for a day (unless it is saucy)

Campaign Strategy
-this is where you describe how you will manipulate your audience in specifics
- will you use a celebrity?
- will you use sexual imagery?
- will you use before and after?
- will you use science and numbers?
- describe how and then explain why you make those choices
eg – We’re going to use Katy Perry in the ad campaign we’re planning
- we describe how we use her, why we use her, what the effect will be, etc
- be detailed here – “show all your cards”

Target Audience Description
- Two parts to this element
Part 1 – demographics
- give me a list of data about your product’s target market – the people who will buy X
- what kind of data? –
- age, race, where they live, hobbies, interests, religion, type of clothing they buy, bands they like, foods they prefer, etc
- Part 2 – A Day In The Life
- Describe a day in the life of your Typical Audience Member – make up a fake person who has the attributes you want in a perfect buyer
- Tell me about that person’s day – describing what they do, who they do it with, where they go, etc
Eg = Tammy wakes up at 6:30 to her iPod playing Katy Perry song “
- she spends 55 minutes getting ready with these products
- she eats PopTarts and drink coca cola for breakfast
- she walks to school with her best friend talking about the latest clothes from The Gap

October 29, 2010

Analysing an Ad

-      looking for the manipulating and the tricks

-      discussing the tricks and how they work

-      figuring out whom the ad is aimed at and thinking how it works on them

-      finding the funny or ridiculous messages

-      pointing out the inconsistencies and stupid logic

-      what is the message?

-      What is the underlying message that is communicated to the audience?

-      Negative effects? 

- think about all the things we've discussed over the last week and apply those 

-      We will be doing an analysis quiz next week. 

We will watch an ad or two and you will have to write a few hundred words on each. 

Samples we looked at and discussed:

October 27, 2010 - Advertising Gets Manipulative

How Did Advertising Get So Manipulative?
1950s
-    the world was much different than today
-    a time when advertising started to get serious and ad companies started using new ideas to “work people over”
A Couple of Preconditions
-    in order to know how ads changed in the 50s, it helps to know a bit about that time
-    Post World War II – people were in shell-shock over that war, people were still afraid to spend money and be wasteful, people were used to saving and being resourceful
-    After those years of being thrifty, people weren’t spending and this was a problem, so thought the gov’t and corporations
-    The economy works on spending by the people – if they don’t buy, the economy stalls – after the war, the gov’t wanted to get things rolling, keep the economy strong
-    Advertising became a way of making the people buy stuff to get the economy moving
Another precondition
-    technology was starting to boom in the 50s
-    list a few things: TV, early computers, many kitchen appliances, cars, vacuums, stuff that was handy and household, etc
-    stuff that makes life easier and more modern feeling
Last precondition
-    Baby Boomers – this is a big point
-    1947 – 1961 – a HUGE boom in births
-    these kids were born into a world that was much different than previous times – more tech, more leisure, more fun, more everything
 Advertising starts to use the tools of science and some tricks from psychology warfare
Rosser Reeves – a key figure in advertising
-    he work in New York on ads for TV
-    he told people who worked for him – “get in debt – buy everything you want or think is awesome – get so deeply in debt that you can bear it, and then work your guts out to pay it all back”
-    this was his recipe for success
-    who does this actually benefit?
-    This benefits everyone BUT you ad your family
-    This is what the companies want you to do
-    Brainwashing – people were being told “this” is what you want and people were believing it (this could have been anything)
-    Ads started selling lifestyle instead of a product – selling an idea (like we’ve discussed)
-    They started doing something tricky to your mind – messing with the human reward system (endorphin release)
-     Create a way of paying the reward system with something besides food, love, sex, etc
-    companies started giving us these reward buffsfor doing stuff that actually rewarded THEM – example buying stuff
-    How many people feel a surge of pleasure when they buy something?
-    How many people then feel let down when that is over?
-    Companies came up with a way of creating need in people – confusing WANTS with NEEDS
-    Fashion is a created need – style is a created need – we don’t need these things
-    Pants that are “in style’ are called that by the people that make the pants
-    They started to manipulate deep human needs that are inarguable – they take advantage of science and psychology and things like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs – they hook their products and ads to those needs and we fall for it