Music History

9057-04-02T14:59:00.000-07:00

MUSIC HISTORY

To read in chronological order,
one may open the oldest post (1970),
scrolling down each page to click "Newer Post."

Prehistoric Music (before c. 3500 BC)

1970 The Universe (c. 13,730,000,000 BC) - Waves
1980 The Solar System (c. 4,600,000 BC) - Oscillation
1981 Earth (c. 4,540,000,000 BC) - Sound - Music
1985 Tanzania (c. 2,500,000 BC) - Olduvai - Voice
1987 France (c. 28,000 BC) - Horn - Aerophone
1988 Senegal (c. 20,000 BC) - Percussion - Rhythm
1990 France (c. 18,000 BC) - Chordophone - Pitch - C
1994 Berbers in Algeria (c. 10,000 BC) - Steps - F
1997 Cameroon Settled (c. 8500 BC) - Bow - Number
1998 Algeria (c. 8000 BC) - Dancers - Function
1998 Yurok California (c. 8000 BC) - Scale - Texture
2000 China (c. 7000 BC) - Bone Flutes - Intervals

Ancient Music (c. 3500 BC - AD 400)

3500 Iraq (c. 3500 BC) - Bass - Harmonics - Quality
4200 Fu Hsi (2800-2737 BC) - I Ching - Ch'in
4303 Huang-Ti (2697 - 2598 BC) - Mythological Acoustics
4314 Egyptian Old Kingdom (2686 BC) - Clarinet
5450 Egyptian New Kingdom: 18th Dynasty (1550-1292BC)
5570 Anon (b. c. 1430 BC) - Syrian Cuneiform Notation
5659 Tutankhamun (1341 - 1323 BC) - Overtones
5949 K'ang (c. 1051-996 BC) - Pentatonic - Hymn
5963 Israel - David (c. 1037-967 BC) - Psalms
6000 Central African (c. 1000 BC) Voices
6420 Greece - Pythagoras (580-528 BC) - Drama
6437 Siddhārtha Gautama (c. 563-483 BC) - Buddhism
6449 Confucius (551-479 BC) - Instruments / Drama
6500 Bantu Migration to Angola (c. 500 BC) - Log Drum
6503 Sophocles (c. 497-405 BC) - Drama and Music
6700 Becoming Yoruba (c. 300 BC) - Talking Music
6715 Ctesibius (c. 285-222 BC) - Hydraulic Organ
6832 Athenian (b. c. 168 BC) - Delphic Hymn (c. 138 BC)
6850 India - The Vedas (150 BC) - Carnatic Music
6970 Asia Minor (Turkey) - Seikilos Writer (b. c. 30 BC)
6996 Jesus (c. 4 BC - AD 29) - Christianity - Liturgy
7001 Hinduism and Buddhism in Indonesia - (c. AD 1)
7001 Xhosa Migration to South Africa (AD 1) - Solo Song
7001 Bantu Migration to Tanzania (c. AD 1) - Zaramo
7037 Italy - Roman Empire - Nero (AD 37-68)
7100 Chopi to Mozambique (c. AD 100) - Xylophones
7100 Mesomenes of Crete (b. c. AD 100)
7100 Agriculture in Uganda (c. AD 100) - Call/Response
7200 Bantu Culture in Kenya (c. AD 200) - Work Songs
7300 Settlement of Tahiti (c. 300) - Chant
7300 Bantu to Zimbabwe (c. AD 300) - Mbira
7321 Orthodox Christianity in Ethiopia (c. AD 321)
7340 Ambrose (c. 340-397) - Ambrosian Hymn

Medieval Music (c. 400-1400)

7400 India - Development of Jalatarang (c. 400)
7400 Berber Migration into Mauritania (c. 400) - Guitar
7400 Beginnings of Tibetan Buddhism (c. 400)
7404 Attila the Hun (406-453) - Hungarian Dance
7476 Fall of Rome - Beginning Byzantine Chant (c. 476)
7480 St. Benedict (c. 480-547)
7480 Boethius (c. 480-524) - Music of the Spheres
7500 Australia - Didgeridoo (c. AD 500)
7538 Buddhism in Japan (538) - Buddhist Music
7540 Gregory I (540-604) - Chant, Mass, Mode
7570 Muhammad (c. 570-632)
7630 The Coming of Islam to Yemen (c. 630)
7632 Islamic Iran (c. 632) - Dastgah, Santur
7636 Islam in Syria (636) - Maqam, Qanun, Ud, Pipe
7638 Arab Caliphate Rule of Palestine (638-1099)
7670 Kairouan in Tunisia (670) - Music of Courtship
7682 Arab Invasion of Morocco (682) - Heterophony
7700 Rebab (c. 700) - Ballad with Rebab
7710 Nara Period (710-794) - Gagaku Music
7800 Arabian Nights (c. 800)
7800 Bedouin Coffee Grind (c. 800)
7800 Charlemagne - Carolingian Renaissance (c. 800)
7800 Arab Traders in Gambia (c. 800) - Harps
7820 Anon (b. c. 820) - Musica Enchiriadis (c. 850)
7854 Switzerland - Notker (c. 854 - 920) - Tropes
7865 Tuotillo (865-916) - Kyrie-Trope: Omnipotens
7970 Composers of Free Organum (b. c. 970)
7970 Goliard Beginnings (b. c. 970) - Lyres
7981 India - Gomateshwara Statue (c. 981) - Trumpets
7991 Guido d'Arezzo (c. 991-1034)
8000 Navajo Ancestors in the Southwest (1000)
8013 Germany - Herman (1013-1054) - Antiphon
8070 Anon (b. c. 1070) - Song of the Ass (c. 1100)
8071 Turks in Turkey (1071) - Turkish Music
8085 Orkney (UK) Islander (b. c. 1085) - St. Magnus
8095 Anon Compostelan (b. c. 1095) - Florid Organum
8096 Pope Urban Launches the First Crusade (1096)
8098 Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)
8100 Development of Hindustani Music (c. 1100)
8133 Leonin (c. 1133-1190) - Notre Dame School
8140 Guiraut de Bornelh (1140-1220) - Troubadours
8142 Seneca (NY) - Iroquois Confederation (1142)
8157 Richard Coeur-de-Lion (1157-1199) - Trouveres
8160 Conon de Bethune (c. 1160 - c. 1220)
8170 Compiler of Chansonnier Cange (b. c. 1170)
8170 Anonymous English (c. 1170) - Dance - Citole
8170 French (b. c. 1170) - Royal Estampies (c. 1200)
8170 Colin Muset (b. c. 1170)
8170 Mystery Plays - Daniel Composer (b. c. 1170)
8170 Perotin (c. 1170-1210)
8170 Tassin (b. c. 1170) - Dance Tune - Hemiola
8170 Walther von der Vogelweide (c. 1170 - c. 1230)
8180 Neidhart [Nithart] von Reuental [Riuwental]
8182 Thibaut de Blason (c. 1182-1230) - Mandora
8200 Kallawaya People of Bolivia (c. 1200)
8200 Entrance of the Fulani into Nigeria (c. 1200)
8200 Ghana to Ghana (c. 1200) - Polyrhythms
8200 Islam in Indonesia (c. 1200) - Java - Court Music
8201 Thibaut of Navarre (1201-1253 - Jaw's Harp
8210 Thomas of Celano (c. 1210-1270) - Dies Irae
8217 Der Wilde Alexander (c. 1217-1291) - Flute
8220 Anon Authors (b. c. 1220) of Ars Antiqua Motets
8220 School of Notre Dame (b. c. 1220) - Clausula
8221 Alfonso X ("El Sabio") (1221-1284) - Lute
8225 Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
8225 Gillebert de Berneville (1225-1280) - Cowhorn
8240 Anonymous English (b. c. 1240) - Kyrie Trope
8240 Guiraut d'Espanha (1240-1270) - Pipe and Tabor
8245 Adam de la Halle (c. 1245-1307)
8255 Johannes de Grocheo (c. 1255-1320) - Sociology
8260 Petrus de Cruce (b. c. 1260)
8270 England (b. c. 1270) - Te Deum - Bells, Recorders
8270 Italian Dance (b. c. 1270) - Tristan - Trotto
8270 School of Worcester Composer (b. c. 1270)
8274 Jehan de l'Escurel (c. 1274-1304) - Formes Fixes
8280 Anon English (b. c. 1280) - Sumer Is Icumen In
8283 Gervaise du Bus (b. c. 1283) - Roman de Fauvel
8290 Robertsbridge Fragment Composer (b. c. 1290)
8291 Philippe de Vitry (1291-1361) - Ars Nova
8300 Bantu Migration to Gabon (c. 1300) - Sacred Music
8300 Kashmir - Development of the Shenai (c. 1300)
8300 Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300-1377)
8319 German (b. c. 1319) - Flagellants - Black Death
8320 Jacopo da Bologna (c. 1320-1370) - Madrigals
8320 Vincenzo da Rimini (c. 1320-1375) - Portative
8325 Gherardello da Firenze (c. 1325-1363) - Caccia
8325 Francesco Landini (1325-1397) - Ballata
8365 Austria - Herman Monk of Salzburg (1365-1396)

Renaissance Music (c. 1400-1600)

8370 Johannes Ciconia (b. c. 1370) - Gloria
8370 Baude Cordier (c. 1370/1380 - c. 1439)
8380 John Dunstable (c. 1380-1453) - Fauxbourdon
8380 Lionel Power (1380-1445)
8393 Korean Court Music - Joseon Dynasty (1392)
8398 First Reference to a Harpsichord (1397)
8398 Richard Smert (c. 1398-1477) - Carol
8400 Giles Binchois (c. 1400-1467) - Burgundy Belgium
8400 Guillaume Dufay (1400-1474)
8400 Gypsies in Romania (c. 1400) - Slavs
8404 First Reference to a Clavichord (1404)
8415 Conrad Paumann (c. 1415-1473) - Regal
8430 Antoine Busnois (c. 1430 – 1492)
8430 Johannes Ockeghem (1430-1495)
8450 Founding of Ilorin (1450) - Royal Trumpets
8450 Josquin des Pres (c. 1450 / 1455 - 1521)
8450 Jacob Obrecht (c. 1450 - 1505)
8470 French (c. 1470) - Petite Consolement - Lute
8470 Ireland (b. c. 1470) - Jigg (1500)
8470 Spain (b. c. 1470) - La Volta - Violin
8483 Martin Luther (1483-1546) - Reformation Chorale
8485 Hugh Aston (c. 1485-1558) -Lady Carey's Dompe
8490 Costanzo Festa (1490-1545) - Sackbut
8491 Henry VIII (1491-1547) - Pastime
8492 Spain - Muslim Expulsion (1492) - Good Friday
8495 Hans Sachs (1495-1576) -Mastersinger
8495 Claudin de Sermsy (c. 1495-1562) - Consort
8500 Guillaume le Heurteur (c. 1500-1550) - Kortholt
8500 Luis de Milan (c. 1500-1561) - Vihuela
8500 Tielman Susato (c. 1500-1561) - Dulcian
8504 Funj Sultanate, Sudan (c. 1504) - North & South
8505 Thomas Tallis (c. 1505-1585)
8507 Anne Boleyn (c. 1507-1535)- O Death
8510 Louis (Loys) Bourgeois (b c. 1510 -1560)
8510 Andrea Gabrieli (c. 1510-1586) - Ricercar
8510 Claude Gervaise (c. 1510-1560) - Danceries
8517 Gioseffo Zarlino (1517-1590) - Music Theory
8519 Thoinot Arbeau (1519-1595) - Orchesographie
8525 Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594)
8532 Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594) - Lieder
8535 Giorgio Mainerio (1535-1582) - Old and New
8540 Ireland - Dublin Virginal Composer (b. c. 1540)
8543 William Byrd (1543-1623)
8545 Pedro de Soto (b. c. 1545) - Renaissance Organ
8548 La Paz, Bolivia (1548), and the Aymara
8551 Giulio Caccini (1551-1618) - Florentine Camerata
8553 Giovanni Gabrieli (1553-1612)
8554 Anthony Holborne (c. 1554-1602)
8556 Pierre-Francisque Caroubel (1556-1611)
8557 Thomas Morley (1557-1603) - Madrigals
8560 Samuel Voelckel (1560-1618) - Courante
8561 Jacopo Peri (1561-1633) - Opera
8563 John Dowland (1563-1626)
8566 Carlo Gesualdo (c. 1566-c. 1613)

Baroque Music (c. 1600-1750)

8567 Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) - Voices
8570 John Farmer (1570-1601) - Fair Phyllis
8570 William Kemp (b. c. 1570) - Kemp's Gig (c. 1595)
8571 Michael Praetorius (1571-1621)
8572 Okuni (b. c. 1572) - Kabuki (1603) - Shamisen
8576 Thomas Weelkes (1576-1623) - Madrigals
8578 Agostino Agazzari (1578-1640) - Figured Bass
8582 Thomas Ravenscroft (1582-1635) - Blind Mice
8582 Marco da Gagliano (1582-1643) - Dafne
8583 Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643) - Serpent
8583 Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625) - The Silver Swan
8585 Heinrich Schutz (1585-1672) - Saul
8586 Johann Schein (1586-1630) - Crumhorn
8596 Rene Descartes (1596-1650) - Enlightenment
8619 Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677) - Beglia Occhi
8620 English (b. c. 1620) - Greensleeves to a Ground
8632 Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) - Absolutism
8637 Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707)
8644 Heinrich Biber (1644-1704) - Trombone Sonata
8650 Protestantism in Nigeria (c. 1650)
8653 Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) - Trio Sonata
8653 Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706) - Canon - Cello
8659 Henry Purcell (1659-1695) - Abdelazar - Dido
8660 Johann Joseph Fux (1660-1741) - Gradus
8660 Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) - Cantata
8667 Johann Christoph Pepusch (1667-1752) - Beggars
8668 Francois Couperin (1668-1733) - Musete
8674 Jeremiah Clarke (c. 1674-1707) - Trumpet
8678 Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) - Concerto
8681 Georg Philip Telemann (1681-1767) - Oboe
8682 Jean-Joseph Mouret (1682-1738) - Rondeau
8683 Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) - Theory
8685 George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) - Oratorio
8685 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - Fugue
8685 Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) - Performance

Classical Music (c. 1750-1825)

8700 G.B. Sammartini (1700-1775) - Symphony
8709 Formation of the Zulu (c. 1709) - Critical Times
8710 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736)
8710 Thomas Arne (1710-1778) - Philosophy
8714 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788) - Piano
8714 Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787) - Reform
8717 Johann Stamitz (1717-1757) - Symphony
8723 Adam Smith (1723-1790) - Capitalism
8731 Founding of Afghanistan (1731)
8732 Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
8746 William Billings (1746-1800)
8750 John Stafford Smith (1750-1837)
8750 Antonio Salieri (1750-1825) - Minuet
8752 Muzio Clementi (1752-1832) - Sonatinas
8756 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
8760 Rouget de Lisle (1760-1836) - La Marseillaise
8767 Johnson (b. c. 1767) - Polly Put the Kettle On
8770 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
8774 Flamenco (c. 1774) - Flamenco Guitar
8787 Franz Xaver Gruber (1787-1863)
8792 Lowell Mason (1792-1872)
8792 Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)

Romantic Music (c. 1825-1900)

8797 Franz Schubert (1797-1828) - Lieder
8800 Founding of Mopti (c. 1800) - Griots
8803 Mitsuzaki Kengyo (c. 1803-1853)
8803 Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) - Orchestration
8809 Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) - Revivals
8810 Frederic Chopin (1810-1849) - Preludes
8810 Robert Schumann (1810-1856) - Symphony No. 4
8811 Franz Liszt (1811-1886) - Totentanz
8813 Richard Wagner (1813-1883) - Music Dramas
8813 Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) - Operas
8815 Daniel Decatur Emmett (1815-1904) - Dixie
8818 Charles Gounod (1818-1893) - Funeral March
8819 Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) - Can-Can
8825 Johann Strauss, Jr. (1825-1899) - Waltzes
8830 Afrikaaner Great Trek (c. 1830) - Wanderer's Song
8832 Creek Indian Removal to Oklahoma (1832)
8833 Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) - Lullaby
8833 Alexander Borodin (1834-1887) - Strangers
8835 Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921) - Carnival
8838 Georges Bizet (1838-1875) - Dangerous Liaisons
8839 Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881) - Pictures
8840 Peter Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
8841 Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904) - New World
8842 Eliphalet Oram Lyte (1842-1913) - Row, Row
8843 Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
8844 Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
8854 Leos Janacek (1854-1928)
8854 John Philip Sousa (1854-1932) - Marches
8858 Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) - Operas
8860 Northern/Southern Arapaho Split (c. 1860)
8860 Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) - Symphonies
8862 Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
8864 Richard Strauss (1864-1949) - Tone Poems
8865 Paul Dukas (1865-1935) - Sorcerer's Apprentice
8865 Jan Sibelius (1865-1957) - Symphonies
8866 Erik Satie (1866-1925)
8867 Mining in South Africa (1867) - Gumboot Dance
8868 Scott Joplin (1868-1917)

20th-Century Music (c. 1900-2000)

8870 Sol Bloom (1870-1949) - Snake Charmer
8871 Alexander Zemlinsky (1871-1942)
8872 Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
8873 Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
8873 W.C. Handy (1873-1958) - Blues
8874 Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)
8874 Gustav Holst (1874-1934) - The Planets (1916)
8874 Charles Ives (1874-1954)
8875 Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) - Pavanne
8876 Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) - La Vida Breva
8879 Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) - Of Rome
8880 Mexico - Mariachi Music (c. 1880)
8880 Invention of the Ukelele (c. 1880)
8881 Bela Bartok (1881-1945)
8882 Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
8883 Anton Webern (1883-1945)
8883 Edgar Varèse (1883-1965)
8885 Alban Berg (1885-1935)
8885 Joe "King" Oliver (1885-1938) - Dippermouth
8887 Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) - Brasileiras
8888 Max Steiner (1888-1971) - Movie Music
8890 Jelly Roll Morton (1890-1941)
8891 Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
8892 Arthur Honegger (1892-1955) - Le Roi
8892 Ferde Grofe (1892-1972) - Grand Canyon Suite
8892 Darius Milhaud (1892-1975) - La Creation
8894 Bessie Smith (1894-1937) - Lost Yer Head Blues
8895 Carl Orff (1895-1982) - Carmina Burana (1936)
8896 Paul Hindemith (1896-1963)
8897 Wayan Limbak (1897-2003) - Ketjak (c. 1930)
8897 Henry Cowell (1897-1965) - Tone Clusters
8897 Adolph Deutsch (1897-1980) - Music Drama
8898 George Gershwin (1898-1937) - Rhapsody
8899 Belly Dancing First Attested in English (1899)
8899 Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
8899 Edward "Duke" Ellington (1899-1974)
8900 Kurt Weill (1900-1950)
8900 Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
8901 Frederick Loewe (1901-1988) - Musicals
8901 Harry Partch (1901-1976) - Microtonality
8901 Jester Hairston (1901-2000) - Elijah Rock (1955)
8901 Louis Armstrong (1901-1971)
8901 Joaquin Rodrigo (1901 - 1999) - Concierto
8902 William Walton (1902-1983)
8902 Meredith Willson (1902) - The Music Man (1957)
8902 Richard Rodgers (1902-1979)
8903 Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) - Gayane
8903 Joe Garland (1903-1977) - In the Mood (1939)
8905 Harold Arlen (1905-1986) - The Wizard of Oz
8906 Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
8907 Miklos Rosza (1907-1995) - Ben Hur (1959)
8908 Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) - Modes - Series
8910 Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
8911 Alan (Chakmakjian) Hovhaness (1911-2000)
8911 Joe Turner (1911-1985) - Shake, Rattle, and Roll
8911 Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007)
8912 John Cage (1912-1992)
8912 Conlon Nancarrow (1912) - Study No. 1 (1950)
8913 Muddy Waters (1913-1983)
8913 Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
8915 Willie Dixon (1915-1992)
8917 Thelonious Monk (1917-1982) - Bebop Piano
8917 Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993) - Bebop Trumpet
8918 Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
8919 Nat King Cole (1919-1965) - Fly Right
8919 Alexander Courage (1919-2008) - Star Trek
8920 High Life (c. 1920) in Ghana and Nigeria
8920 Charlie Parker (1920-1955) - Bebop Sax
8920 Dave Brubeck (b. 1920) - Unsquare Dance
8921 Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
8922 Elmer Bernstein (1922-2004) - The Great Escape
8922 Neal Hefti (b. 1922) - Batman
8923 Fred Steiner (b. 1923) - Star Trek (1966)
8923 Gyorgy Ligeti (1922-2006) - Aventures
8924 Henry Mancini (1924-1994) - The Pink Panther
8924 Maurice Jarre (1924-2009)
8924 Paul Desmond (1924-1977) - Take Five
8925 Pierre Boulez (b. 1925) - Serialism
8925 Bill Haley (1925-1981) - See Ya Later, Alligator
8926 Miles Davis (1926-1991) - Miles Runs
8926 John Coltrane (1926-1967)
8926 Chuck Berry (b. 1926)
8928 Guido Haazen (c. 1928-2004) - Missa Luba (1958)
8928 Gerald Fried (b. 1928) - Star Trek: Amok Time
8928 Charles Strouse (b. 1928)
8928 Fats Domino (b. 1928) - Blueberry Hill
8928 Jerry Bock (b. 1928) - Fiddler on the Roof
8929 Jerry Goldsmith (1929-2004)
8929 George Crumb (b. 1929)
8930 Ornette Coleman (b. 1930) - Free Jazz (1960)
8930 Lionel Bart (b. 1930) - Oliver! (1960)
8931 Development of Bollywood Film Industry (c. 1931)
8931 Tema Harbor Singers (b. c. 1931)
8931 University of Ghana Postal Workers (b. c. 1931)
8931 Jerry Herman (1931) - Hello, Dolly!
8932 John Williams (b. 1932)
8932 Johnny Cash (1932-2003) - Folsom Prison Blues
8932 Little Richard [Wayne Penniman] (b. 1932)
8933 James Brown (1933-2006)
8933 John Barry (b. 1933)
8933 Henryk Gorecki (b. 1933) - Symphony No. 3
8934 Zambia Kasai Singers (b. c. 1934)
8935 Elvis Presley (1935-1977) - Hound Dog (1956)
8935 Terry Riley (b. 1935)
8935 Arvo Part (b. 1935) - Canticle in Memory
8935 Jerry Lee Lewis (b. 1935)
8935 La Monte Young (b. 1935)
8936 Billy Roberts (b. 1936) - Hey Joe
8936 Buddy Holly (1936-1959)
8936 Steve Reich (b. 1936)
8937 Philip Glass (b. 1937)
8938 John Corigliano (b. 1938) - The Red Violin

8940 John Lennon (1940-1980) - The Beatles
8940 William Smokey Robinson (b. 1940) - Temptations
8940 Frank Zappa (1940-1993) - Invention
8941 Paul Kantner (b. 1941) - Jefferson...
8941 Bob Dylan (Robert Zimmerman) (b. 1941)
8941 Paul Simon (b. 1941) - Simon and Garfunkel
8942 Carole King (b. 1942) - Tapestry
8942 Aretha Franklin (b. 1942) - Respect
8942 Paul McCartney (b. 1942)
8942 Brian Wilson (b. 1942) - The Beach Boys
8942 Jerry Garcia (1942-1995) - Grateful Dead
8942 Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970) - Smash Hits
8942 Andy Summers (b. 1942) - Mother
8942 Michael Nesmith (b. 1942) - The Monkees
8943 George Harrison (b. 1943) - Within
8943 Mick Jagger (b. 1943) - The Rolling Stones
8943 Roger Waters (b. 1943) - Pink Floyd
8943 Jim Morrison (1943-1971) - The Doors
8944 Sima Bina (b. 1944)
8944 Jimmy Page (b. 1944) - Led Zeppelin
8944 Michael Nyman (b. 1944)
8944 Diana Ross (b. 1944) - The Supremes
8945 Bob Marley (b. 1945) - Rastaman Vibration
8945 Eric Clapton (b. 1945) - Cream
8946 Robert Fripp (b. 1946) - King Crimson
8946 Howard Shore (b. 1946) - Lord of the Rings
8946 David Bowie (David Robert Jones) (b. 1947)
8947 John Adams (b. 1947)
8947 Tom Scholz (b. 1947) - Boston
8947 Elton John (Reginald Dwight) (b. 1947)
8947 Laurie Anderson (b. 1947) - Big Science
8947 Carlos Santana (b. 1947)
8947 Gregg Allman (b. 1947) - Whipping Post
8948 Donald Fagen (b. 1948) - Steely Dan
8948 Ronnie Van Zant (1948-1977) - Lynyrd Skynyrd
8948 Stephen Schwartz (b. 1948) - Godspell (1971)
8948 Andrew Lloyd Webber (b. 1948)
8948 Brian Eno (b. 1948)
8948 Ian Paice (b. 1948) - Deep Purple
8949 Ric Ocasek (b. 1949) - The Cars
8949 Kerry Livgren (b. 1949) - Kansas
8950 Peter Gabriel (b. 1950
8950 Peter Frampton (b. 1950)
8950 Stevie Wonder (b. 1950)
8950 Mark Mothersbaugh (b. 1950) - Devo
8951 Dewey Bunnell (b. 1951) - America
8951 Sting (Gordon Sumner) (b. 1951) - The Police
8952 David Byrne (b. 1952) - Talking Heads
8953 Richard Page (b. 1953) - Mr. Mister
8953 Danny Elfman (b. 1953)
8953 Geddy Lee (b. 1953) - Rush
8955 Eddie Van Halen (b. 1955) - Van Halen
8955 Thomas Newman (b. 1955)
8956 Johnny Rotten (b. 1956) - The Sex Pistols
8957 Mark Alburger (b. 1957)
8957 Tan Dun (b. 1957)
8958 Erling Wold (b. 1958)
8958 Prince (b. 1958) - Purple Rain
8958 Madonna (b. 1958)
8958 Michael Jackson (1958-2009)
8959 Hal Hartley (b. 1959)
8960 Bono (Paul David Hewson, b. 1960) - U2
8962 Axl Rose (b. 1962) - Guns N' Roses
8963 James Hetfield (b. 1963) - Metallica
8964 Joseph "Run" Simmons (b. 1964) - Run-D.M.C.
8965 Dr. Dre (b. 1965)
8967 Kurt Cobain (1967-1994) - Nirvana

21st-Century Music (c. 2000-2009)

8968 Steven Clark (b. 1968)
8968 Michael Romeo (b. 1968)
8968 Thom Yorke (b. 1968) - Radiohead
8970 Queen Latifah (b. Dana Elaine Owens, 1970)
8970 Michael Cooke (b. 1970)
8971 Nathan Morris (b. 1971) - Boyz II Men
8972 Eminem (b. 1972)
8976 Ben Gibbard (b. 1976) - Death Cab for Cutie
8977 Kanye West (b. 1977)
8986 Lady Gaga (b. 1986)
8986 Ryan Ross (b. 1986) - Panic! at the Disco

[9057 Music History]

Music Literature

9057-04-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

Diablo Valley College
Pleasant Hill, CA
The Sounds of Music:
Introduction to Music Literature
Dr. Mark Alburger

Overview

Course Information

Unit Credit:
3, Grade Code SC - grade or credit / no credit.

Prerequisites:
None

Location:
M-127

Meeting Time (Fall - Spring):
T 7:00 - 9:50pm

Meeting Time (Summer):
MTWTh 8:15-10:20am

Withdrawal:
It is the student's responsibility to notify the records office of a withdrawal.

Communication

Office:
M-127

Telephone:
(707) 474-7273

Email:
mus21stc@gmail.com

Websites:
youtube.com/user/DrMarkAlburger
markalburger.blogspot.com
markalburger2011.blogspot.com
markalburger2010.blogspot.com
markalburger2009.blogspot.com
markalburger2008.blogspot.com
markalburgerevents.blogspot.com
markalburgerworks.blogspot.com
markalburgermusichistory.blogspot.com
21st-centurymusic.blogspot.com
21st-centurymusic.com
facebook.com/people/Mark-Alburger/546460824
myspace.com/markalburger
goathall.org
sfcco.org

Office Time:
TBA

Text

Selections from:
Mark Alburger - Music History
markalburgermusichistory.blogspot.com

Materials

No. 2 pencils
Notebook
Computer access

Course Description

This is a course in music appreciation, history, and listening.

Music Literature 110 is the study of the fundamentals of music (primarily Western), including notation; basic historical and stylistic concepts; and melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic listening.

Objectives

1. Read and hear pitches, note values, meters, rhythms, and scales/modes.

2. Analyze musical examples re form, harmony, rhythm, and melody.

3. Demonstrate a basic knowledge of the historical development of Western music.

Grading and Evaluation (approx.)

Attendance/Participation 1200

Quizzes 1200

Score Legend

A 100-90

B 89-80

C 79-70

D 69-60

F 59-0

Concert Attendance (Spring and Fall Semesters only)

Students are required to attend two concerts per semester. At least one should be by the DVC music department and (not necessarily the same presentation) primarily of Western Classical music (band, chamber, choral, opera, orchestral). Reviews of each event will identify the concert (who, what, when, and where), and comment on salient elements. The first review will be due by mid-term; the second by the week before the final.

Reviews should have a:
Title
Lede Sentence
Basic News Facts
Good Mechanics / Style (endeavor to avoid 1st person)
Perceptive Content

For example formats, feel free to check reviews at
The New York Times
San Francisco Chronicle
21st-Century Music (21st-centurymusic.blogspot.com)
etc.

Late Assignments

There will be a 10% grade penalty on all assignments up to a week late. Assignments more than one week late will receive a failing grade. Only quizzes missed due to excused absences may be made up. Such quizzes must be made up within one week or receive a failing grade.

Attendance Policy

Students are expected to attend all class meetings. Required texts only supplement class meetings. Thus, attendance to all class meetings is essential to the successful completion of the course. Poor attendance has always resulted in a poor grade, while excellent attendance has always been a prerequisite to an excellent grade. Students who miss more than two weeks of class may be dropped without notice. Students who need to take a leave of absence during the term should ask a counselor for a petition and then receive written approval from the Instructor and the Dean of Students. Leaves of absence are limited to ten instructional days.

Academic Dishonesty

Students found cheating or plagiarizing will be subject to Student Code of Conduct disciplinary procedures. Please refer to the Diablo Valley College Catalog.

Artistic Borrowing

Students found borrowing, gridding, modeling, or troping will be congratulated. Please refer to the history of art, the universe, and everything.

Syllabus (Spring and Fall)

Week 1

Prehistoric Music

Week 2

Ancient Music

Week 3

Medieval Music I

Week 4-5

Medieval Music II

Week 6

Renaissance Music

Week 7

Baroque Music

Week 8

Classical Music

Week 9-10

Romantic Music

Week 11

20th-Century Music I

Week 12

20th-Century Music II

Week 13

20th-Century Music III

Week 14-15

20th-Century Music IV

Week 16

20th-Century Music V

Week 17

21st-Century Music

Syllabus (Summer)

Week 1

Prehistoric Music (A Speculative Introduction I, to c. 3500 BC)
Ancient Music (A Speculative Introduction II, c. 3500 BC - AD 400)

Week 2

Medieval Music I (c. 400-1200)
Medieval Music II (c. 1200-1400)

Week 3

Renaissance Music (c. 1400-1600)
Baroque Music (c. 1600-1750)

Week 4

Classical Music (c. 1750-1825)
Romantic Music (c. 1825-1900)

Week 5

20th-Century Music I (c. 1900-1920)
20th-Century Music II (c. 1920-1940)

Week 6

20th-Century Music III (c. 1940-1960)
20th-Century Music IV (c. 1960-1980)

[9057 - Music Literature Syllabus]

Music Theory

9057-04-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

Diablo Valley College
Pleasant Hill, CA
Theory I: Introduction to Music Theory and Musicianship

Dr. Mark Alburger

Overview

Course Information

Unit Credit:
4, Grade Code SC - grade or credit / no credit. Please decide before Week 6.

Prerequisites:
None.

Location:
M-127.

Meeting Times:
MTWTh 11:00am - 12:15pm (N.B. four days a week)

Withdrawal:
It is the student's responsibility to notify the records office of a formal withdrawal.

N.B. Music 150 (Beginning Piano I) is additionally recommended for those without keyboard background.

Communication

Office:
M-127

Telephone:
(707) 474-7273

Email:
mus21stc@gmail.com

Websites:
youtube.com/user/DrMarkAlburger
markalburger.blogspot.com
markalburger2011.blogspot.com
markalburger2010.blogspot.com
markalburger2009.blogspot.com
markalburger2008.blogspot.com
markalburgerevents.blogspot.com
markalburgerworks.blogspot.com
markalburgermusichistory.blogspot.com
21st-centurymusic.blogspot.com
21st-centurymusic.com
facebook.com/people/Mark-Alburger/546460824
myspace.com/markalburger
goathall.org
sfcco.org

Office Hours:
MTWTh 1:45-2:45pm by appointment

Texts

Online:
markalburgermusichistory.blogspot.com (Music Theory - selected chapters)

Traditional:
Mark Alburger. Music Theory.
Owen J. Lee. Music 122 Reference and Workbook.

Optional:
Mark Alburger. Performance: Analysis, Keyboard, and Solfege.
Kate Bastien. Music Flashcards.
Thomas Benjamin. Music for Sight Singing.
Mark Levine. The Jazz Theory Book.
W.A. Mathiew. Harmonic Experience.
Walter Piston. Harmony.
Eric Salzman and Michael Sahl. Making Changes.

Materials

No. 2 pencils

8.5" x 11" 12-line music manuscript paper (loose-leaf or notebook)

Computer access, and music notation software program (the latter optional)

Course Description

This is the first course in the Music Transfer Program Theory Sequence. Music 122 is the study of the fundamentals of music (primarily Western), including notation, basic theoretical concepts, melodic and rhythmic reading, ear training, and beginning composition.

Objectives

1. Write and visually identify pitches, note values, meters, selected scales/modes, key signatures, intervals, triads, and chords in treble and bass clef staves.

2. Arrange simple progressions in appropriate styles.

3. Read, perform, and count rhythms.

4. Sing at sight simple melodies using solfege syllables (movable "do")

5. Take simple melodic and harmonic dictation.

6. Perform basic selected scales/modes, intervals, chords, and simple melodies at the keyboard.

7. Analyze simple musical examples from the perspectives of key/mode, form, harmony, rhythm, and melody.

8. Compose short compositions, including a musical setting of a poem.

9. Demonstrate a basic knowledge of the historical development of harmony in Western music.

Grading and Evaluation (point scale)

Daily Attendance / Participation (2000)

Weekly Quizzes / Exam (2000)

Compositions / Reviews / Class Teaching (1000)

Score Legend

90-100% / A

80-89% / B

70-79% / C

60-69% / D

0-59% / F

DVC Music Technology Center

Frequent use of tutorials via the absolutely wonderful DVC Music Technology Center (MTC) is encouraged -- 15 minutes per day are recommended -- 700 minutes per semester are expected.

Concert Attendance

Students are required to attend two concerts per semester. At least one should be by the DVC music department and (not necessarily the same presentation) primarily of Western Classical music (band, chamber, choral, opera, orchestral). Reviews of each event will identify the concert (who, what, when, and where), and comment on salient elements. The first review will be due by mid-term; the second by the week before the final.

Reviews should have a:
Title
Lede Sentence
Basic News Facts
Good Mechanics / Style (endeavor to avoid 1st person)
Perceptive Content

For example formats, feel free to check reviews at
The New York Times
San Francisco Chronicle
21st-Century Music (21st-centurymusic.blogspot.com)
etc.

Late Assignments

There will be a 10% grade penalty on all assignments up to a week late. Assignments more than one week late will receive a failing grade. Only quizzes missed due to excused absences may be made up. Such quizzes must be made up within one week or receive a failing grade.

Attendance Policy

Students are expected to attend all class meetings. Required texts only supplement class meetings. Thus, attendance to all class meetings is essential to the successful completion of the course. Poor attendance has always resulted in a poor grade, while excellent attendance has always been a prerequisite to an excellent grade. Students who miss more than two weeks of class may be dropped without notice. Students who need to take a leave of absence during the term should ask a counselor for a petition and then receive written approval from the Instructor and the Dean of Students. Leaves of absence are limited to ten instructional days.

Academic Dishonesty

Students found cheating or plagiarizing will be subject to Student Code of Conduct disciplinary procedures. Please refer to the Diablo Valley College Catalog.

Artistic Borrowing

Students found borrowing, gridding, modeling, or troping will be congratulated. Please refer to the history of art, the universe, and everything.

Syllabus

Week 1
Prehistoric / Treble
Notation of Rhythm
Notation of Pitch / C Major Scale

Week 2
Ancient / Treble and Bass
Half and Whole Steps / F Modes
Interval Number
Bass Clef /Interval Quality

Week 3
Medieval I / Steps and Modes
D Dorian / D Minor / E Phrygian
Perfect Fifths and Fourths

Week 4
Medieval II / Keys and Modes
Larger Intervals
G Modes

Week 5
Renaissance / Major and Minor
Chord Names and Numbers
Chords in Am and C / Scales of Am and D

Week 6
Baroque / Intervals and Chords
E Scales / C Minor / A Major
Interval Inversions

Week 7
Classical / Triads
Bb Eb Major / C Melodic Minor / B F# Minor
Typical Forms in the Common Practice Era

Week 8
Romantic/ Stacked Chords
Seventh Chords
Fm / Ab, Db / Chromatic / Triad Qualities in C

Week 9
Early 20th I / Bitonal, Inverted, Quartal
Whole Tone / Gb, F# / Bbm, Ebm / Inversions
Bitonality / Syncopation

Week 10
Early 20th II / Counterpoint
Neighbor Tones, Passing Tones, Suspensions
C#m, G#m, D#m / B / I-IV-V in C and Eb

Week 11
Mid 20th I / Chord Cycles
Chord "Progression"
W-H & H-W Octatonic / C Blues / C I-IV-V Syncopation

Week 12
Mid 20th II / Voice-Leading
Two Basic Rules
12-Bar Blues

Week 13
Late 20th I / Figured Bass
Realization
Comparison
Inverted Chords in Figures

Week 14
Late 20th II / Analysis
Seventh Chords in G, C, and F

Week 15-17
Early 21st / Review

Week 18
Today / Exam

Music and the Enlightenment

9057-04-01T00:30:00.000-07:00

St. Mary's College
Moraga, CA
Music and the Enlightenment (Performing Arts 119)
Spring 2009
Dr. Mark Alburger

Overview

Course Information

Unit Credit:
1/2 Course

Prerequisites:
Previous experience in music.

Location:
Syufy 110

Meeting Times:
MW 10:20-11:20am

Withdrawal:
It is the student's responsibility to notify the records office of a formal withdrawal.

Communication

Office:
Syufy 110

Telephone:
(707) 451-0714 (21ST-CENTURY MUSIC)
(707) 474-7273 (Cell)

Email:
mus21stc@gmail.com

Websites:
markalburger2009.blogspot.com
markalburger.blogspot.com
markalburgerevents.blogspot.com
markalburgerworks.blogspot.com
markalburgermusichistory.blogspot.com
21st-centurymusic.blogspot.com
21st-centurymusic.com
myspace.com/markalburger
goathall.org
sfcco.org

Office Hours:
MW 11:20

Texts

Online:
markalburgermusichistory.blogspot.com
(Late Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical chapters)

Print:
Piero Weiss and Richard Taruskin
Music in the Western World: A History in Documents
Schirmer Books, 1984

Optional:
Selected Late Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical scores

Materials

No. 2 pencils

Computer access

Course Description

This is a course on the music of the Baroque and Classical eras, with particular (though not exclusive) focus on the Western Europe Enlightenment and forces of the time including Absolutism, Capitalism, and Protestantism.

Objectives

1. Analyze Baroque and Classical musical examples from the perspectives of key/mode, form, harmony, rhythm, and melody.

2. Demonstrate a knowledge of the historical development of genres in music from 1500-1825, plus a familiarity with various stylistic antecedents and descendants.

Grading and Evaluation (point scale)

Daily attendance/participation (c. 1200)

Weekly written quizzes (c. 1200)

Concert reviews (c. 200)

Score Legend

90-100% / A

80-89% / B

70-79% / C

60-69% / D

0-59% / F

Concert Attendance

Students are required to attend two concerts per semester. At least one should be by the St. Mary's performing arts department and (not necessarily the same report) primarily of Western Classical music (band, chamber, choral, opera, orchestral). Reviews of each event will identify the concert (who, what, when, and where), and comment on salient elements. The first review will be due by mid-term; the second by the week before the final.

Late Assignments

There will be a 10% grade penalty on all assignments up to a week late. Assignments more than one week late will receive a failing grade. Only quizzes missed due to excused absences may be made up. Such quizzes must be made up within one week or receive a failing grade.

Attendance Policy

Students are expected to attend all class meetings. Required texts only supplement class meetings. Thus, attendance to all class meetings is essential to the successful completion of the course. Poor attendance has always resulted in a poor grade, while excellent attendance has always been a prerequisite to an excellent grade. Students who miss more than two weeks of class may be dropped without notice. Students who need to take a leave of absence during the term should ask a counselor for a petition and then receive written approval from the Instructor and the Dean of Students. Leaves of absence are limited to ten instructional days.

Academic Dishonesty

Students found cheating or plagiarizing will be subject to penalty.

Artistic Borrowing

Students found borrowing, gridding, modeling, or troping will be congratulated. Please refer to the history of art, the universe, and everything.

Syllabus

Part I - Late Renaissance Music (c. 1500-1600)

Week 1 - The Reformation

8483 Martin Luther (1483-1546) - Reformation Chorale
8485 Hugh Aston (c. 1485-1558) -Lady Carey's Dompe
8490 Costanzo Festa (1490-1545) - Sackbut
8491 Henry VIII (1491-1547) - Pastime
8492 Spain - Muslim Expulsion (1492) - Good Friday
8495 Hans Sachs (1495-1576) -Mastersinger
8495 Claudin de Sermsy (c. 1495-1562) - Consort
8500 Guillaume le Heurteur (c. 1500-1550) - Kortholt
8500 Luis de Milan (c. 1500-1561) - Vihuela
8500 Tielman Susato (c. 1500-1561) - Dulcian
8504 Funj Sultanate, Sudan (c. 1504) - North & South
8505 Thomas Tallis (c. 1505-1585)

Week 2 - The Counter-Reformation

8507 Anne Boleyn (c. 1507-1535)- O Death
8510 Louis (Loys) Bourgeois (b c. 1510 -1560)
8510 Andrea Gabrieli (c. 1510-1586) - Ricercar
8510 Claude Gervaise (c. 1510-1560) - Danceries
8517 Gioseffo Zarlino (1517-1590) - Music Theory
8519 Thoinot Arbeau (1519-1595) - Orchesographie
8525 Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594)
8532 Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594) - Lieder
8535 Giorgio Mainerio (1535-1582) - Old and New
8540 Ireland - Dublin Virginal Composer (b. c. 1540)
8543 William Byrd (1543-1623)

Week 3 - The Florentine Camerata and Company

8545 Pedro de Soto (b. c. 1545) - Renaissance Organ
8548 La Paz, Bolivia (1548), and the Aymara
8551 Giulio Caccini (1551-1618) - Florentine Camerata
8553 Giovanni Gabrieli (1553-1612)
8554 Anthony Holborne (c. 1554-1602)
8556 Pierre-Francisque Caroubel (1556-1611)
8557 Thomas Morley (1557-1603) - Madrigals
8560 Samuel Voelckel (1560-1618) - Courante
8561 Jacopo Peri (1561-1633) - Opera
8563 John Dowland (1563-1626)
8566 Carlo Gesualdo (c. 1566-c. 1613)

Part II - Baroque Music (c. 1600-1750)

Week 4 - Monteverdi, Opera, Vespers, Magnificat

8567 Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
8570 John Farmer (1570-1601) - Fair Phyllis
8570 William Kemp (b. c. 1570) - Kemp's Gig (c. 1595)
8571 Michael Praetorius (1571-1621)
8572 Okuni (b. c. 1572) - Kabuki (1603) - Shamisen
8576 Thomas Weelkes (1576-1623) - Madrigals
8578 Agostino Agazzari (1578-1640) - Figured Bass
8582 Thomas Ravenscroft (1582-1635) - Blind Mice
8582 Marco da Gagliano (1582-1643) - Dafne
8583 Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643) - Serpent
8583 Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625) - The Silver Swan

Week 5 - Schutz, Enlightenment, Absolutism

8585 Heinrich Schutz (1585-1672) - Saul
8586 Johann Schein (1586-1630) - Crumhorn
8596 Rene Descartes (1596-1650) - Enlightenment
8619 Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677) - Beglia Occhi
8620 English (b. c. 1620) - Greensleeves to a Ground
8632 Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) - Absolutism
8637 Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707)
8644 Heinrich Biber (1644-1704) - Trombone Sonata
8650 Protestantism in Nigeria (c. 1650)

Week 6 - Corelli, Sonata, Purcell, Cantata

8653 Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) - Trio Sonata
8653 Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706) - Canon - Cello
8659 Henry Purcell (1659-1695) - Abdelazar - Dido
8660 Johann Joseph Fux (1660-1741) - Gradus
8660 Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) - Cantata

Week 7 - Vernacular and Cultivated

8667 Johann Christoph Pepusch (1667-1752) - Beggars
8668 Francois Couperin (1668-1733) - Musete
8674 Jeremiah Clarke (c. 1674-1707) - Trumpet
8678 Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) - Concerto
8681 Georg Philip Telemann (1681-1767) - Oboe

Week 8 - Theory and Practice in Handel and Bach

8682 Jean-Joseph Mouret (1682-1738) - Rondeau
8683 Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) - Theory
8685 George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) - Oratorio
8685 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - Fugue
8685 Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) - Performance

Part III - Classical Music (c. 1750-1825)

Week 9 - A Symphony of Opera Buffa and Performance

8700 G.B. Sammartini (1700-1775) - Symphony
8709 Formation of the Zulu (c. 1709) - Critical Times
8710 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736)
8710 Thomas Arne (1710-1778) - Philosophy
8714 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788) - Piano
8714 Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787) - Reform

Week 10 - A Capital Mass of Haydn and Instruments

8717 Johann Stamitz (1717-1757) - Symphony
8723 Adam Smith (1723-1790) - Capitalism
8731 Founding of Afghanistan (1731)
8732 Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
8746 William Billings (1746-1800)
8750 John Stafford Smith (1750-1837)

Week 11 - Mozart and his Rivals

8750 Antonio Salieri (1750-1825) - Minuet
8752 Muzio Clementi (1752-1832) - Sonatinas
8756 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
8760 Rouget de Lisle (1760-1836) - La Marseillaise
8767 Johnson (b. c. 1767) - Polly Put the Kettle On

Week 12 - The World of Beethoven

8770 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
8774 Flamenco (c. 1774) - Flamenco Guitar
8787 Franz Xaver Gruber (1787-1863)
8792 Lowell Mason (1792-1872)
8792 Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)

[9057 Music and the Enlightenment]

Perceiving the Performing Arts

9057-04-01T00:15:00.000-07:00

St. Mary's College
Moraga, CA
Perceiving the Performing Arts (Performing Arts 001)
Spring 2010

Prof. Rebecca Engel (Theatre)

Prof. Jia Wu (Dance)

Dr. Mark Alburger (Music)

Music Section

Overview

Course Information

Unit Credit:

Prerequisites:
Previous experience in life.

Location:
Dante 204

Meeting Times:
TTh 9:40-11:10am

Withdrawal:
It is the student's responsibility to notify the records office of a formal withdrawal.

Communication

Office:
Dante Hall 204

Telephone:
(707) 474-7273 (Cell)

Email:
mus21stc@gmail.com

Websites:
markalburger.blogspot.com
markalburger2010.blogspot.com
markalburger2009.blogspot.com
markalburger2008.blogspot.com
markalburgerevents.blogspot.com
markalburgerworks.blogspot.com
markalburgermusichistory.blogspot.com
21st-centurymusic.blogspot.com
21st-centurymusic.com
myspace.com/markalburger
goathall.org
sfcco.org

Office Hour:
11:10-40 TTh

Texts

Online:
markalburgermusichistory.blogspot.com
(Selected chapters)

Print:
Aaron Copland - What to Listen for in Music: How We Listen
(Biography and Music by Copland)
Jeanette Winterson - Art Objects
(Biography and Books by Winterson)

Internet Free Download:
http://imslp.org/wiki/Symphony_No.4,_Op.120_(Schumann,_Robert)

Optional:
Selected scores

Materials

No. 2 pencils

Computer access

Course Description

This is a course on the ways in which we perceive dance, music, and theatre -- both collectively, as members of an audience, and as individuals.

Music Objectives

1. Analyze musical examples from the perspectives of rhythm (meter/tempo), pitch (scale/mode/melody), dynamics, timbre, texture, harmony, form, and style (history/sociology/function/biography)

2. Demonstrate a knowledge of the aesthetics and history of music.

Music Grading and Evaluation

Daily attendance/participation

Written quizzes

Concert paper

Score Legend

90-100% / A

80-89% / B

70-79% / C

60-69% / D

0-59% / F

Concert Attendance

Students are required to attend performances as outlined in the overall course syllabus.

Late Assignments

There will be a 10% grade penalty on all assignments up to a week late. Assignments more than one week late will receive a failing grade. Only quizzes missed due to excused absences may be made up. Such quizzes must be made up within one week or receive a failing grade.

Attendance Policy

Students are expected to attend all class meetings. Required texts only supplement class meetings. Thus, attendance to all class meetings is essential to the successful completion of the course. Poor attendance has always resulted in a poor grade, while excellent attendance has always been a prerequisite to an excellent grade.

Academic Dishonesty

Students found cheating or plagiarizing will be subject to penalty.

Artistic Borrowing

Students found borrowing, gridding, modeling, or troping will be congratulated. Please refer to the history of art, the universe, and everything.

Music Syllabus

Session 1 - Prehistoric / Ancient Music (before c. 400)
Yurok (California) - Women's Brush Dance
Asia Minor (Turkey) - Epitaph of Seikilos

Session 2 - Medieval Music (c. 400-1400)
Gregorian Chant - Kyrie IV
Guillaume de Machaut - Notre Dame Mass: Kyrie

Session 3 - Renaissance / Baroque Music (c. 1400-1750)
Josquin des Pres - El Grillo
G.F. Handel - Messiah: Hallelujah

Session 4 - Classical / Romantic Music (c. 1750-1900)
Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 5: I
Giuseppe Verdi - Rigoletto: Quartet

Session 5 - 20th-Century Music I (c. 1900-1950)
Igor Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring: Dances of the Adolescents
Joe Garland - In the Mood

Session 6 - 20th-Century Music II (c. 1950-2000)
George Crumb - Black Angels
Roger Waters - Shine On You Crazy Diamond: III

Session 7 - 21st-Century Music (c. 2000-)
Mark Alburger - Camino Real: Block 9
Thom Yorke - Morning Bell

Session 8 - San Francisco Symphony Concert
Robert Schumann - Symphony No. 4 (1851)
Alexander Zemlinsky - Lyric Symphony (1922)

San Francisco Symphony Concert Review

Reviews of the event will identify the concert (who, what, when, and where), and comment on salient elements. The first review will be due before the final.

Review should have a:
Title
Lede Sentence
Basic News Facts
Good Mechanics / Style (endeavor to avoid 1st person)
Perceptive Content

For example formats, feel free to check reviews at
The New York Times
San Francisco Chronicle
21st-Century Music (21st-centurymusic.blogspot.com)
etc.

[9057 Perceiving the Performing Arts]

Rock History

9057-03-31T19:44:00.000-07:00

Diablo Valley College
Pleasant Hill, CA
Rock History
Fall 2010

Dr. Mark Alburger

Overview

Course Information

Unit Credit:
3, Grade Code SC - grade or credit / no credit. Please decide before Week 6.

Prerequisites:
None.

Location:
M-125

Meeting Times:
W 7:00-9:50pm

Withdrawal:
It is the student's responsibility to notify the records office of a formal withdrawal.

Communication

Office:
M-127

Telephone:
(707) 474-7273

Email:
mus21stc@gmail.com

Websites:
youtube.com/user/DrMarkAlburger
markalburger.blogspot.com
markalburger2010.blogspot.com
markalburger2009.blogspot.com
markalburger2008.blogspot.com
markalburgerevents.blogspot.com
markalburgerworks.blogspot.com
markalburgermusichistory.blogspot.com
21st-centurymusic.blogspot.com
21st-centurymusic.com
facebook.com/people/Mark-Alburger/546460824
myspace.com/markalburger
goathall.org
sfcco.org

Office Hours:
MTWTh 1:45-2:45pm by appointment
W evenings after class

Texts

Online:
markalburgermusichistory.blogspot.com (Music History - selected chapters)

Traditional:
John Covach. What's that Sound: An Introduction to Rock and Its History.
Glenn Appell. A History of Popular Music.

Materials

No. 2 pencils

8.5" x 11" 12-line music manuscript paper (loose-leaf or notebook)

Computer access, and music notation software program (the latter optional)

Course Description

A history of rock from its beginnings to the present.

Objectives

To develop an appreciation of the historical and musical aspects of rock in the context of the larger realms of art and the universe.

Grading and Evaluation (point scale)

Daily Attendance / Participation (2000)

Weekly Quizzes / Exam (2000)

Compositions / Reviews / Class Teaching (1000)

Score Legend

90-100% / A

80-89% / B

70-79% / C

60-69% / D

0-59% / F

DVC Music Technology Center

Frequent use of tutorials via the absolutely wonderful DVC Music Technology Center (MTC) is encouraged -- 15 minutes per day are recommended -- 700 minutes per semester are expected.

Concert Attendance

Students are required to attend two concerts per semester. At least one should be by the DVC music department and one (not necessarily the same presentation) primarily of Rock. Reviews of each event will identify the concert (who, what, when, and where), and comment on salient elements. The first review will be due by mid-term; the second by the week before the final.

Reviews should have a:
Title
Lede Sentence
Basic News Facts
Good Mechanics / Style (endeavor to avoid 1st person)
Perceptive Content

For example formats, feel free to check reviews at
The New York Times
San Francisco Chronicle
21st-Century Music (21st-centurymusic.blogspot.com)
etc.

Late Assignments

There will be a 10% grade penalty on all assignments up to a week late. Assignments more than one week late will receive a failing grade. Only quizzes missed due to excused absences may be made up. Such quizzes must be made up within one week or receive a failing grade.

Attendance Policy

Students are expected to attend all class meetings. Required texts only supplement class meetings. Thus, attendance to all class meetings is essential to the successful completion of the course. Poor attendance has always resulted in a poor grade, while excellent attendance has always been a prerequisite to an excellent grade. Students who miss more than two weeks of class may be dropped without notice. Students who need to take a leave of absence during the term should ask a counselor for a petition and then receive written approval from the Instructor and the Dean of Students. Leaves of absence are limited to ten instructional days.

Academic Dishonesty

Students found cheating or plagiarizing will be subject to Student Code of Conduct disciplinary procedures. Please refer to the Diablo Valley College Catalog.

Artistic Borrowing

Students found borrowing, gridding, modeling, or troping will be congratulated. Please refer to the history of art, the universe, and everything.

Syllabus

Week 1
Blues

Week 2
Dixieland

Week 3
Swing

Week 4
Bebop

Week 5
Cool

Week 6
Country Music

Week 7
Rhythm and Blues

Week 8
Rock and Roll / Soul

Week 9
The Beatles / Rolling Stones

Week 10
British Invasion / Folk Rock

Week 11
Motown Pop / Southern Soul / Psychedelia

Week 12
Art Rock

Week 13
Black Pop / Disco

Week 14
Punk / New Wave

Week 15
MTV / Heavy Metal

Week 16
Rap / Alternative Rock

Week 17
90's Rock

Week 18
Recent Rock

Ryan Ross (b. 1986) - Panic! at the Disco

8986-08-30T11:56:00.000-07:00

George Ryan Ross III (b. August 30, 1986, Summerlin, Nevada) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter most known for his work as the lead guitarist, lyricist, and backup vocalist for Panic! at the Disco, before his departure from the band in 2009. Ross and former Panic bassist Jon Walker are the founding members of the band The Young Veins.

***

Panic! at the Disco (known as Panic at the Disco between 2008 and 2009) is a Grammy-nominated rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2004. The band currently comprises vocalist and guitarist Brendon Urie and drummer Spencer Smith. In July 2009, guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker left the band, citing creative differences as the reason for their depature.

Panic! at the Disco's debut album, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, reached number 13 on the United States Billboard 200 and has sold over 2.2 million copies worldwide since its September 2005 release.

The band's second album, Pretty. Odd., was released on March 25, 2008 and debuted at number 2 in the US.

***

A Fever You Can't Sweat Out is the debut album by rock band Panic! at the Disco, released on September 27, 2005 by Fueled by Ramen. It is the only album to feature Brent Wilson on bass.

The album primarily deals with social issues that the band points on through various songs.

Topics such as sanctity of marriage, adultery, alcoholism, prostitution, and religions are woven throughout the album. Guitarist Ryan Ross also relates two of the songs to living with an alcoholic father. The album has sold over 1.6 million copies in the US and 2.2 million worldwide.

25,000 collector's editions of the album were released November 14, 2006 containing photographs, lyric cards, a DVD of a concert, and many items reminiscent of vaudevillian shows.

The collection shipped in a faux velvet-lined box with a purposefully aged appearance. Because of the limited release, second-hand versions are selling for much higher than retail.

***

I Write Sins Not Tragedies,

by Ryan Ross, is the second single from Panic! at the Disco's A Fever You Can't Sweat Out. It was released on April 27, 2006 on both compact disc and 7-inch vinyl. The song reached #7 on the United States Billboard Hot 100. It has been the band's only top-40 hit in America.

Many U.S. radio stations, in response to the language found in the song, wanted an edited version. The lyrics "The poor groom's bride is a whore" and "Haven't you people ever heard of closing the goddamn door?" were changed by replacing "whore" with a "shhh" sound and removing "god" in "goddamn". Some stations -- generally modern rock stations -- still play the original version.

The title of the song refers to Douglas Coupland's novel Shampoo Planet, wherein the main character, Tyler Johnson, says: "I am writing a list of tragic character flaws on my dollar bills with a felt pen. I am thinking of the people in my universe and distilling for each of these people the one flaw in their character that will be their downfall--the flaw that will be their undoing. What I write are not sins; I write tragedies."

It can also be noted that the song does not feature any lyrical content related to the title of the song though the title can be applied to the music video.

I Write Sins Not Tragedies is Panic! at the Disco's first single to have a music video (The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage was the first single, but no video was filmed) The video for the song takes place at a strange, circus-themed wedding played by "Lucent Dossier Vaudeville Cirque."

The video starts as the bride, played by Jessie Preston, and groom, Daniel Isaac, are about to be married. Her family dress and behave formally. His family are lower-class entertainers and carnival folk, and interrupt the wedding. The ringmaster, played by Brendon Urie, acts as narrator and disrupts the events. After an argument between the two families, the bride runs out and is followed by one of her guests. The ringmaster leads the groom outside, where his fiancée and the guest who pursued her are kissing. The groom undoes his tie, looking shocked, and Urie and the groom bow to the camera. The ringmaster is revealed to be the groom's alter ego.

The music video by director Shane Drake won Video of the Year during the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards.

According to vocalist Brendon Urie, he and guitarist Ryan Ross suffered from the flu while filming the video clip.

Lady Gaga (b. 1986)

8986-03-28T16:29:00.000-07:00

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (b. March 28, 1986), better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American pop singer. She began performing in the rock music scene of New York City's Lower East Side in 2003 and enrolled at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She soon signed with Streamline Records, an imprint of Interscope Records. During her early time at Interscope, she worked as a songwriter for fellow label artists and captured the attention of Akon, who recognized her vocal abilities, and signed her to his own label, Kon Live Distribution.

Released on August 19, 2008, her debut album, The Fame, reached number one in the United Kingdom, Canada, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Ireland as well as accomplishing positions within the top-ten in numerous countries worldwide; in the United States, it peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 chart and topped Billboard's Dance/Electronic Albums chart. Its first two singles, Just Dance and

Poker Face, co-written and co-produced with RedOne, became international number-one hits, topping the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States as well as the charts of various other countries. The album, nominated for a total of six Grammy Awards, won the awards for Best Electronic/Dance Album and Best Dance Recording (for Poker Face). In early 2009, she embarked on her first headlining tour, The Fame Ball Tour. By the fourth quarter of the year, she had released an extended play, The Fame Monster, an extension of her debut album. This album has since garnered her a further six Grammy nominations, produced another global chart-topping lead single Bad Romance and allowed her to embark on her second headlining tour of 2009, The Monster Ball Tour, on which, Gaga currently performs. Her second studio album, Born This Way, is scheduled for release in 2011.

Lady Gaga is inspired by glam rock artists such as David Bowie and Queen, as well as pop singers such as Madonna and Michael Jackson. She has also stated fashion is a source of inspiration for her songwriting and performances.

As of August 2010, Gaga has sold more than 15 million albums and 51 million singles worldwide.

Forbes also placed her at number seven on their annual list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women.

[8986 Ross / 8986 Gaga / 8976 Gibbard]

Kanye West (b. 1977)

8977-06-08T17:29:00.000-07:00

Kanye Omari West (b. June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and Janet Jackson. His style of production originally used pitched-up vocal samples from soul songs incorporated with his own drums and instruments. However, subsequent productions saw him broadening his musical palette and expressing influences encompassing '70s R&B, baroque pop, trip hop, arena rock, folk, alternative, electronica, synth-pop, and classical music.

West released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004, his second album Late Registration in 2005, his third album Graduation in 2007, his fourth album 808s & Heartbreak in 2008, and his fifth album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010. His five albums have received a number of awards.

All have been very commercially successful, with 808s & Heartbreak becoming his third consecutive #1 album in the U.S. upon release.

West also runs his own record label GOOD Music, home to artists such John Legend, Common and Kid Cudi.

West's mascot and trademark is "Dropout Bear," a teddy bear which has appeared on the covers of three of his five albums as well as various single covers and music videos.

About.com ranked Kanye West #8 on their "Top 50 Hip-Hop Producers" list.

On May 16, 2008, Kanye West was crowned by MTV as the year's #1 "Hottest MC in the Game."

[8986 Gaga / 8977 Kanye West / 8976 Gibbard]

Ben Gibbard (b. 1976) - Death Cab for Cutie

8976-08-11T11:35:00.000-07:00

Benjamin Gibbard (b. August 11, 1976, Bremerton, Washington) is an American musician known as a member of several successful indie rock bands. He is the lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service, also known for his project ¡All-Time Quarterback! and his first band, Pinwheel. He is married to actress and musician Zooey Deschanel.

***

Death Cab for Cutie is a Grammy-nominated American indie rock band, formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997. The band consists of Benjamin Gibbard (vocals, guitar), Chris Walla (guitar, production), Nick Harmer (bass), and Jason McGerr (drums). Gibbard took the band name from the title of the song written by Neil Innes and Vivian Stanshall and performed by their group, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, in The Beatles's 1967 film, Magical Mystery Tour.

Gibbard's first album, You Can Play These Songs with Chords, was released as a demo, leading to a record deal with Barsuk Records.

It was at this time that Gibbard decided to expand the project into a complete band, and recruited band members to join. The band has released six studio albums, five EPs, and one demo. Their most recent album, Narrow Stairs, was released on May 12, 2008 in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States.

***

Transatlanticism is the fourth studio album by Death Cab for Cutie, released October 7, 2003 on Barsuk Records. Prior to the album's release, Gibbard stated: "...unlike The Photo Album, I feel like this record is definitely more like a proper album. We’ve tried to construct it with transitions of songs going in and out of each other, and I think it’s a little bit more expansive than the last record."

The album peaked at number 97 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart, and is Jason McGerr's first as the band's drummer.

***

Title and Registration

was the third single taken from Death Cab for Cutie's Transatlanticism. It was officially released as an internet-only single that could be streamed through the band's website.

Live, the song's layered instrumentation has been difficult to pull off and thus has been performed a variety of ways. All of these involve Chris Walla switching halfway through the song from lead guitar to keyboards, while Ben Gibbard takes over the guitar part. For the first half of the song, initially, both Gibbard and drummer Jason McGerr used electronic drums in order to replicate the distinctive drum machine sound in the song.

In the band's 2008 tour, Gibbard performed the entire first two verses as lead vocalist, without a guitar or drums; before picking up his guitar as Walla abandoned his.

Most recently, Gibbard has kept his electric guitar strapped on for the songs entirety, but has used a shaker as percussion during the song's first two verses.

The video, directed by Patrick Daughters, consists of frontman Ben Gibbard lying on an operating table while undergoing a "surgery" (as done by the other band members) to receive a new heart. Although his head is on the table and he is singing, the surgery is done without anesthetics. During the surgery, it is shown that Gibbard's chest is simply paper, model organs, and a model rib cage.

[8977 Kanye West / 8976 Gibbard / 8972 Eminem]

Eminem (b. 1972)

8972-10-17T17:51:00.000-07:00

Marshall Bruce Mathers III (b. October 17, 1972), better known by his stage name Eminem, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Eminem quickly gained popularity in 1999 with his major-label debut album, The Slim Shady LP, which won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. The following album, The Marshall Mathers LP, became the fastest-selling solo album in United States history.

It brought Eminem increased popularity, including his own record label, Shady Records, and brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition.

The Marshall Mathers LP and his third album, The Eminem Show, also won Grammy Awards, making Eminem the first artist to win Best Rap Album for three consecutive LPs. He then won the award again in 2010 for his album Relapse, giving him a total of 11 Grammys in his career. In 2003, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Lose Yourself" from the film, 8 Mile, in which he also played the lead. "Lose Yourself" would go on to become the longest running No. 1 hip hop single.

Eminem then went on hiatus after touring in 2005. He released his first album since 2004's Encore, titled Relapse, on May 15, 2009. Eminem is the best-selling artist of the decade on the US Nielsen SoundScan, and has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide to date, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world.

n 2010, Eminem released his seventh studio album Recovery. It became Eminem's sixth consecutive number-one album in the US and achieved international commercial success, charting at number one in several other countries. It stayed at number-one on the US Billboard 200 chart for five consecutive weeks and a total of seven weeks.

[8976 Gibbard / 8972 Eminem / 8971 Boys II Men]

Nathan Morris (b. 1971) - Boyz II Men

8971-06-18T16:48:00.000-07:00

[Shawn Stockman, Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris]

Nathan Bartholomew Morris (b. June 18, 1971) also known as Alex Vanderpool, is an African-American singer and a founding member of Boyz II Men. Morris sings baritone and soprano.

Morris released a single entitled Wishes for the Touchstone Pictures film Kazaam starring NBA Star Shaquille O'Neal. Morris most recently discovered Def Jam recording artist Megan Rochell whom he manages under his label AdLib Entertainment. He has a degree in Web Design & Computer Programing and studies Photography. He has his own photography studio in South Philadelphia called Behind the School Studios. Morris had a son in 1996, Nathan Morris Jr.

***

Boyz II Men is an American R&B vocal group best known for emotional ballads and complex, intricate a cappella harmonies. Based on record sales, Boyz II Men is the most successful R&B group of all time, having sold more than 60 million albums worldwide.

In the 1990's, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet, but currently the group is a trio signed to Decca Records, with members Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris, and Shawn Stockman. The group won four Grammy Awards in the 1990s, and the trio was nominated for two Grammies in 2009.

Boyz II Men formed at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts in 1988 as a quintet. Michael McCary left the group in 2003 due to health issues, and original member Marc Nelson left the group before its first studio recording to pursue a solo career. In the 1990s, Boyz II Men gained international celebrity behind unprecedented success on the pop charts. The group's first single to reach number 1, 1992's End of the Road, a phenomenal hit, reached the top of charts across the globe.

End of the Road would set a new record for longevity, staying at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for thirteen weeks, breaking a decades-old record held by Elvis Presley.

Boyz II Men would exceed even that record later in the decade with hits I'll Make Love to You and One Sweet Day (with Mariah Carey), which each exceeded records for the longest period of time a single remained at number 1. As of 2010, One Sweet Day still holds the all-time record with sixteen weeks at the top of the Hot 100. Although On Bended Knee did not exceed any records, it was still a very popular song that reached number 1 and made Boyz II Men the third artist (the other two are The Beatles and Elvis[4]) to replace themselves at the number one rating of the Billboard Hot 100. These achievements were enough to earn Boyz II Men recognition as Billboard Magazine's most successful musical group of the 1990s.

[8976 Eminem / 8971 Boz II Men / 8979 Latifah]

Michael Cooke (b. 1970)

8970-04-21T11:37:00.000-07:00

Michael Cooke (b. April 21, 1970) is a Bay Area composer and wind player.

Michael Cooke - Ha Meaggel

[8971 Boyz 2 Men / 8970 Michael Cooke / 8970 Queen Latifah]

Queen Latifah (b. Dana Elaine Owens, 1970)

8970-03-18T02:44:00.000-07:00

Dana Elaine Owens (b. March 18, 1970), better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress and singer. Queen Latifah's work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy Award nomination and an Academy Award nomination.

[8970 Cooke / 8970 Latifah / 8968 Yorke]

Thom Yorke (b. 1968) - Radiohead

8968-10-07T11:08:00.000-07:00

Thomas Edward "Thom" Yorke (b. October 7, 1968) is an English musician who is the lead singer and principal songwriter of the "alternative" rock group Radiohead. He mainly plays guitar and piano, but he has also played drums and electric bass (notably during the Kid A and Amnesiac sessions). In July 2006, he released his debut solo album, The Eraser.

***

Radiohead is an English alternative rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, beats), Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboard, other instruments), Ed O'Brien (guitar, backing vocals), Colin Greenwood (bass guitar, synthesizers) and Phil Selway (drums, percussion).

Radiohead released their first single, Creep, in 1992. The song was initially unsuccessful, but it became a worldwide hit several months after the release of their debut album, Pablo Honey (1993). Radiohead's popularity rose in the United Kingdom with the release of their second album, The Bends (1995). Radiohead's third album, OK Computer (1997), propelled them to greater international fame. Featuring an expansive sound and themes of modern alienation, OK Computer has often been acclaimed as a landmark rock album of the 1990's.

Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001) marked an evolution in Radiohead's musical style, as the group incorporated experimental electronic music, Krautrock, post-punk and jazz influences. Although critical opinion was initially divided, Radiohead remained popular. Hail to the Thief (2003), a mix of guitar-driven rock, electronics and lyrics inspired by headlines, was the band's final album for their major record label, EMI. Radiohead independently released their seventh album, In Rainbows (2007), originally as a digital download for which customers could set their own price, later in stores, to critical and chart success.

***

Kid A (October 2009) was Radiohead's fourth album, recorded in Paris, Copenhagen, Gloucestershire, and Oxford with producer Nigel Godrich. The album's songwriting and recording replaced their earlier "anthemic" rock style with a more electronic sound.

Influenced by Krautrock (German experimental rock of the 1960's and 70's), jazz, and 20th century classical music -- Radiohead abandoned their three-guitar lineup for a wider range of instruments, using keyboards, the Ondes martenot, and, on certain compositions, strings and brass.

The album also contains more minimal and abstract lyrics than the band's previous work.

Yorke has said the album was not intended as "art", but reflects the music they listened to at the time.

Original artwork by Stanley Donwood and Yorke, and a series of short animated films called "blips," accompanied the album.

Kid A has been considered one of the more challenging pop records to have commercial success, and it polarized opinion among both fans and critics.

The album won a Grammy for Best Alternative Album and was nominated for popular Album of the Year. It also received praise for introducing listeners to diverse forms of other musics.

It was named the Best Rock Album of the Decade (2000-2009) by Rolling Stone magazine.

Morning Bell

[1970 M. Cooke / 1968 Yorke]

Michael Romeo (b. 1968)

8968-03-06T17:36:00.000-08:00

Michael James Romeo (b. March 6, 1968) is an American guitarist and a founding member of the progressive metal group Symphony X. Michael is one of two members to appear on every Symphony X release (the other being Michael Pinnella).

***

Symphony X is an American progressive metal band from Middletown, New Jersey.

Founded in 1994 by guitarist Michael Romeo, their albums The Divine Wings of Tragedy and V: The New Mythology Suite have given the band considerable attention within the progressive metal community.

[1968 Yorke / 1968 Romeo]

Steven Clark (b. 1968)

8968-01-03T10:27:00.000-08:00

Steven Clark (b. 1968) is a native Bay Area composer, producer, and performer whose concert music has been performed by Earplay, the Arditti String Quartet, and the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra. His film scores have been heard at the Sundance Film Festival and he has created music for video games, television commercials, theater, and produced remixes for the Black Eyed Peas, Justin Timberlake, and Madonna.

Clark's

Amok Time

is based on the classic episode of Star Trek (the original series) of the same name. Performers (William Loney - Captain Kirk, Karl Coryat - Mr. Spock, Mark Alburger - Dr. McCoy, Suzanna Mizell - Lt. Uhura / Stonn, Cynthia Weyuker Mr. Chekov / T'Pring / Musical Saw, Susan Clarke - T'Pau) stand in front of a projection of the TV show and sing, often synchronized to the dialogue. Clark's music is superimposed on the Alexander Courage / Gerald Fried score, and derived from original's instrumental and vocal pitches and rhythms in overture, recitative, aria, and choral contexts.

The excerpt above is from Clark's rehearsal audio, featuring voice synthesizer. The opera is online at www.circusmusic.com/at/

[1968 Romeo / 1968 Steven Clark]

Kurt Cobain (1967-1994) - Nirvana

8967-04-05T09:11:00.000-07:00

Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the rock band Nirvana.

Since their debut, Nirvana, with Cobain as a songwriter, sold over twenty-five million albums in the US, and over fifty million worldwide.

With the lead single Smells Like Teen Spirit from Nirvana's second album Nevermind (1991), Nirvana entered into the mainstream, popularizing a subgenre of alternative rock called grunge. Other Seattle grunge bands such as Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden also gained wider audiences, and as a result, alternative rock became a dominant genre on radio and music television in the United States during the early-to-middle 1990s. Nirvana became considered as the "flagship band" of "Generation X", and Cobain, as its frontman, found himself anointed by the media as the generation's "spokesman."

Cobain was uncomfortable with the attention and placed his focus on the band's music, believing the band's message and artistic vision to have been misinterpreted by the public, challenging the band's audience with its third studio album In Utero (1993).

During the last years of his life, Cobain struggled with drug addiction, illness and depression, his fame and public image, as well as the professional and lifelong personal pressures surrounding himself and his wife, musician Courtney Love. On April 8, 1994, Cobain was found dead at his home in Seattle, the victim of what was officially ruled a suicide by a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. The circumstances of his death have become a topic of fascination and debate.

***

Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987. Nirvana went through a succession of drummers, the longest-lasting being Dave Grohl, who joined the band in 1990.

Nirvana's brief run ended with Cobain's death in April 1994, but the band's popularity continued in the years that followed. In 2002, You Know You're Right, an unfinished demo from the band's final recording session, topped radio playlists around the world.

***

In Utero is the third and final studio album by the American grunge band Nirvana, released on September 13, 1993, on DGC Records. Nirvana intended the record to diverge significantly from the polished production of its previous album, Nevermind (1991). To capture a more abrasive and natural sound, the group hired producer Steve Albini to record In Utero during a two-week period in February 1993 at Pachyderm Studio. The music was recorded quickly with few studio embellishments, and the song lyrics and album packaging incorporated medical imagery that conveyed frontman Kurt Cobain's outlook on his publicized personal life and his band's newfound fame.

Soon after recording was completed, rumors circulated in the press that DGC might not release the album in its original state, as the record label felt that the result was not commercially viable. Although Nirvana publicly denied the statements, the group was not fully satisfied with the sound Albini had captured. Albini declined to alter the album further, and ultimately the band hired Scott Litt to make minor changes to the album's sound and remix the singles Heart-Shaped Box and All Apologies.

***

Heart-Shaped Box is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain released as the first single from the group's third studio album In Utero in 1993. It was one of two songs from the album mixed by Scott Litt in order to augment the original production by producer Steve Albini. While Nirvana's label DGC Records did not release a physical single for sale in the United States, "Heart-Shaped Box" received much American radio airplay.

Kurt Cobain wrote Heart-Shaped Box in early 1992. Cobain forgot about the song for a while, but began working on it again when he and his wife Courtney Love moved to a house in the Hollywood Hills.

In a 1994 Rolling Stone interview, Love said she overheard him working on the song's riff in a closet. She said she asked him if she could use the riff for one of her songs, to which he replied, "Fuck off!" and closed the closet door. "He was trying to be so sneaky", said Love. "I could hear that one from downstairs."

The couple shared a journal in which they would write lyrics; Cobain biographer noted that Love's songwriting sensibility informed Cobain's on the song.

The song's name came from a heart-shaped box Love had given Cobain. However, Cobain had originally titled the song Heart-Shaped Coffin.

Nirvana had difficulty completing the song. Cobain attempted to have the rest of the band complete the song during jam sessions. He said, "During those practices, I was trying to wait for Krist and Dave to come up with something but it just turned into noise all the time." One day Cobain made one last attempt at completing the song. Cobain was able to come up with a vocal melody and the band finally finished writing the song. Cobain said that when they completed Heart-Shaped Box "We finally realized that it was a good song."

In January 1993, the band recorded a demo of "Heart-Shaped Box" during sessions with Craig Montgomery in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; it was the first song recorded.

The In Utero version was recorded in February 1993 by Steve Albini in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. It was remixed, along with "All Apologies" and later "Pennyroyal Tea," by Scott Litt prior to the album's release. Cobain was unapologetic about the band's decision, and maintained that the vocals and bass were not prominent enough in the original mixes. Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic was also unhappy with the original mix of "Heart-Shaped Box." In a 1993 Chicago Sun-Times interview, he said the original effect used on the song's guitar solo sounded "like a fucking abortion hitting the floor." When the song was remixed by Scott Litt, Cobain took the opportunity to add acoustic guitar and backing harmonies.

Heart-Shaped Box released as the first single from In Utero, was augmented during mixing sessions with Scott Litt. Displeased with the sound of the song, Nirvana had Litt increase the volume of Cobain's vocals and the bass guitar, and the group added acoustic guitar and backing vocals.

Journalist Gillian Gaar described Heart-Shaped Box as "the Nirvana formula personified, with a restrained, descending riff played through the verse, building in intensity to the cascading passion of the chorus."

Cobain said the song was inspired by documentaries about children with cancer. He told biographer Michael Azerrad, "Anytime I think about it, it makes me sadder than anything I can think of."

Azerrad asserted in his biography of Nirvana, Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana, that despite Cobain's explanation, the song actually appeared to be about Courtney Love.

Charles Cross wrote in his biography of Cobain, Heavier Than Heaven, that with the lyric "I wish I could eat your cancer when you turn black," Cobain "sang in what has to be the most convoluted route any songwriter undertook in pop history to say 'I love you.'"

Cobain said that the song's chorus of "Hey/Wait/I've got a new complaint" was him giving an example of how he was perceived by the media.

Nirvana originally wanted Kevin Kerslake to direct the "Heart-Shaped Box" music video. Kerslake prepared five treatments during July and August 1993, but no shoot arrangements were made and by the end of the month, the group decided to work with Dutch photographer and video director Anton Corbijn.

Corbijn, who typically created his own ideas for videos, was initially unsure of directing the video since Cobain's treatment was so detailed. Corbijn said, "But then I looked at it and I thought that actually it was pretty good. I was very amazed by somebody writing a song and having those ideas as precise as he did."

The video begins and ends with the band in a hospital setting watching an old man being administered medication through an IV drip. The majority of the video takes place in a surreal outdoor setting that incorporates imagery from the film The Wizard of Oz.

During the song's first verse, the old man from the hospital climbs onto a crow-ridden Christian cross. The second verse introduces a young girl in a Ku Klux Klan costume reaching for human fetuses in a tree, and an overweight woman in a suit with human organs painted onto it and with angel wings affixed to her back. In the video's final cut, the band is only shown performing in the outdoor setting during the choruses, where Cobain's face moves in and out of focus in the camera.

While most of the video was devised by Cobain, Corbijn added elements such as the intentionally artificial crows, a ladder for the old man to climb onto the cross with, and a box with a heart at the top that the band performs inside of during the song's final chorus.

Corbijn created another cut of the video featuring alternate footage during the final verse, including more shots of the young girl and the woman, and scenes of Cobain lying on his back in the poppy field, with mist surrounding him. This version of the video is featured on the DVD The Work of Director Anton Corbijn.

After the video's release, Kevin Kerslake sued Nirvana, alleging copyright infringement. The case was settled out of court.

The video won two MTV Video Music Awards in 1994, for Best Alternative Video and for Best Art Direction. As the ceremony was held after Kurt Cobain's April 1994 death, the awards were accepted by Cobain's former bandmates Novoselic, Grohl, and touring guitarist Pat Smear.

Heart-Shaped Box also topped the music video category in the 1993 Village Voice critics' poll.

[8968 Clark / 8967 Cobain / 8964 Run DMC]

Dr. Dre (b. 1965)

8965-02-18T17:04:00.000-08:00

Andre Romelle Young (b. February 18, 1965), primarily known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American record producer, rapper, record executive, and actor. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records, also having produced albums for and overseeing the careers of many rappers signed to those record labels, such as Snoop Dogg, Eminem and 50 Cent. As a producer he is credited as a key figure in the popularization of West Coast G-funk, a style of rap music characterized as synthesizer-based with slow, heavy beats.

Dr. Dre began his career in music as a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru and he later found fame with the influential gangsta rap group N.W.A with Eazy-E and Ice Cube which popularized the use of explicit lyrics in rap to detail the violence of street life. His 1992 solo debut, The Chronic, released under Death Row Records, led him to become one of the best-selling American performing artists of 1993 and to win a Grammy Award for the single Let Me Ride. In 1996, he left Death Row to establish his own label, Aftermath Entertainment. Under that label, he produced a compilation album titled Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath in 1996, and released a solo album titled 2001 in 1999, for which he won the Grammy producer's award the next year.

During the 2000s, he focused his career on production for other artists, while occasionally contributing vocals to other artists' songs. Dr. Dre signed Eminem and 50 Cent to his record label in 1996 and 2003 respectively while contributing production on their albums. They have both gone on to become some of the biggest names in hip hop in the 2000s. Rolling Stone named Dr. Dre among the highest-paid performers of 2001 and 2004. Dr. Dre has also had acting roles in movies such as Set It Off, and the 2001 films The Wash and Training Day.

[8967 Cobain / 8965 Dr. Dre / 8964 Run DMC]

Joseph "Run" Simmons (b. 1964) - Run-D.M.C.

8964-11-14T02:31:00.000-08:00

Joseph Ward Simmons (b. November 14, 1964), known by the stage name Rev. Run or DJ Run, is one of the founding members of the influential hip hop group Run–D.M.C., and a practicing minister, known as Reverend Run. Simmons was born in Hollis, Queens, New York. He is the younger brother of Daniel "Danny" Simmons, Jr. and Russell Simmons, the co-founder of Def Jam Records.

***

Run–D.M.C. (sometimes written Run D.M.C., Run–DMC, or Run DMC) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, in the Queens borough of New York City. Founded by Joseph "Run" Simmons, Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels, and Jason "Jam-Master Jay" Mizell, the group is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential acts in the history of hip hop culture.

The trio was one of the most well-known hip hop acts in the 1980's, who along with LL Cool J, signified the advent of the new school of hip hop music.

In 2007, the trio was named Greatest Hip Hop Group of All Time by MTV.com

They were also named Greatest Hip Hop Artist of All Time by VH1.

[1965 Dr. Dre / 1964 Run DMC / 1963 Metallica]

James Hetfield (b. 1963) - Metallica

8963-08-03T02:15:00.000-07:00

James Alan Hetfield (August 3, 1963) in Downey, California, USA) is the rhythm guitarist, co-founder, main songwriter, and lead vocalist for the American heavy metal band Metallica. Hetfield co-founded Metallica in October 1981 after answering a classified ad by drummer Lars Ulrich in a Los Angeles newspaper, searching for band mates. Since then, Metallica have earned nine Grammy Awards and gone on to release nine studio albums, three live albums, two EPs, 24 music videos, and 45 singles. In 2009, Hetfield was ranked No. 8 in Joel McIver's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists. Hetfield was also ranked twenty-fourth by Hit Parader on their list of the 100 Greatest Metal Vocalists of All Time.

***

Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1981. The band was founded when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. Metallica's line-up has primarily consisted of Ulrich, rhythm guitarist and vocalist James Hetfield and lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, while going through a number of bassists (Ron McGovney, Cliff Burton, Jason Newsted). The spot is currently held by Robert Trujillo. The band's original lead guitarist, before Hammett, was current Megadeth guitarist and lead vocalist Dave Mustaine.

Metallica's early releases included fast tempos, instrumentals, and aggressive musicianship that placed them as one of the "big four" of the thrash metal subgenre alongside Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax during the genre's development into a popular style.

The band earned a growing fan base in the underground music community and critical acclaim, with the 1986 release Master of Puppets described as one of the most influential and "heavy" thrash metal albums. The band achieved substantial commercial success with their eponymous fifth album (also known as The Black Album), which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. With this release the band expanded its musical direction resulting in an album that appealed to a more mainstream audience.

In 2000, Metallica was among several artists who filed a lawsuit against Napster for sharing the band's copyright-protected material for free without any band member's consent.

A settlement was reached, and Napster became a pay-to-use service. Despite reaching number one on the Billboard 200, the release of St. Anger alienated many fans with the exclusion of guitar solos and the "steel-sounding" snare drum. A film titled Some Kind of Monster documented the recording process of St. Anger and the turmoil within the band during that time.

Metallica has released nine studio albums, three live albums, two EP's, 24 music videos, and 45 singles. The band has won nine Grammy Awards, and has had five consecutive albums debut at number one on the Billboard 200, making Metallica the first band to do so; this record was later matched by the Dave Matthews Band.

The band's 1991 album, Metallica, has sold over 15 million copies in the United States, and 22 million copies worldwide, which makes it the 25th-highest-selling album in the country.

In December 2009, it became the highest-selling album of the SoundScan era, surpassing 1997's Come On Over by country artist Shania Twain.

The band has sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide as of the release of their latest album, Death Magnetic. As of December 2009, Metallica is the fourth best-selling music artist since the SoundScan era began tracking sales on May 25, 1991, selling a total of 52,271,000 albums in the United States alone.

***

Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American pianist and singer-songwriter. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990's and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument. Some of her charting singles include Crucify, Silent All These Years, God, Cornflake Girl, Caught a Lite Sneeze, Professional Widow, Spark, 1000 Oceans, and A Sorta Fairytale, her most commercially successful single in the U.S. to date.

As of 2005, Amos had sold 12 million albums worldwide.[3]

[8964 Run-DMC / 8963 Hetfield / 8960 Bono]

Axl Rose (b. 1962) - Guns N' Roses

8962-02-11T16:41:00.000-08:00

W. Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose; February 6, 1962 in Lafayette, Indiana) is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist of hard rock band Guns N' Roses.

As the lead singer for Guns N' Roses, Rose enjoyed tremendous success, recognition, and record and concert ticket sales in the late 1980s and early 1990s before dropping out of the public eye for several years. In 2001, he resurfaced with a new line-up of Guns N' Roses in the third edition of Rock In Rio festival, and has since played periodic concert tours, finally releasing the long delayed album Chinese Democracy in 2008. This album was recorded over many years before finally being released.

***

Guns N' Roses (sometimes abbreviated as GN'R or GnR) is an American hard rock band. The band formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California in 1985. Led by frontman and co-founder Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose, Jr.), the band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album while going through numerous line-up changes and controversies since its formation.

The band has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide,[6] including shipments of 43.5 million in the United States.

The band's 1987 major label debut album, Appetite for Destruction, has sold in excess of 28 million copies worldwide and reached No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 and is also the highest selling debut album of all time both in the US and worldwide. In addition, the album charted three Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including "Sweet Child o' Mine" which reached No. 1.

The 1991 albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II debuted on the two highest spots on the Billboard 200 and have sold a combined 14 million copies in the United States alone and 35 million worldwide. After over a decade of work, the band released their follow-up album, Chinese Democracy.

The current lineup comprises lead vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarists Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal and DJ Ashba, rhythm guitarist Richard Fortus, bassist Tommy Stinson, keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman and drummer Frank Ferrer.

Guns N' Roses' mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s years have been described by individuals in the music industry as the period in which "they brought forth a hedonistic rebelliousness and revived the punk attitude-driven hard rock scene, reminiscent of the early Rolling Stones."[

Sheryl Suzanne Crow (b. February 11, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop. She has won nine Grammy Awards from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
She has performed with the Rolling Stones and has sung duets with Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, Eric Clapton, Luciano Pavarotti, John Mellencamp, Kid Rock, Michelle Branch, and Sting among others. She has performed backing vocals for Tina Turner and Don Henley. Crow has released seven studio albums, two compilations, and a live album, and has contributed to film soundtracks. She has sold 16 million albums in the United States and 35 million albums worldwide and her newest album, 100 Miles from Memphis, was released on July 20, 2010.

8963 Hetfield / 8962 Rose]

Bono (Paul David Hewson, b. 1960) - U2

8960-05-10T01:28:00.000-07:00

Paul David Hewson (b. May 10, 1960), most commonly known by his stage name Bono, is an Irish singer and musician, best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his future wife, Ali Hewson, and the future members of U2.

Bono writes almost all U2 lyrics, often using political, social, and religious themes.

During their early years, Bono's lyrics contributed to U2's rebellious and spiritual tone.

As the band matured, his lyrics became inspired more by personal experiences shared with members of U2.

Outside the band, he has collaborated and recorded with numerous artists, sits on the board of Elevation Partners, and has refurbished and owns The Clarence Hotel in Dublin with The Edge.

Bono is also widely known for his activism concerning Africa, for which he co-founded DATA, EDUN, the ONE Campaign and Product Red.

He has organised and played in several benefit concerts and has met with influential politicians.

Bono has been praised and criticised for his activism and involvement with U2.

He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, was granted an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, and was named as a Person of the Year by Time, among other awards and nominations.

***

U2 is a rock band from Dublin, Ireland. The group consists of Bono (vocals and guitar), The Edge (guitar, keyboards and vocals), Adam Clayton (bass guitar), and Larry Mullen, Jr. (drums and percussion). The band formed at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in 1976 when the members were teenagers with limited musical proficiency. Within four years, they signed to Island Records and released their debut album Boy. By the mid-1980s, they had become a top international act. They were more successful as a live act than they were at selling records, until their 1987 album The Joshua Tree, which, according to Rolling Stone, elevated the band's stature "from heroes to superstars."

Their 1991 album Achtung Baby and the accompanying Zoo TV Tour were a musical and thematic reinvention for the band. Reacting to their own sense of musical stagnation and a late-1980s critical backlash, U2 incorporated dance music and alternative rock influences into their sound and performances, abandoning their earnest image for a more ironic, self-deprecating tone. Similar experimentation continued for the remainder of the 1990s. Since 2000, U2 have pursued a more conventional sound, while maintaining influences from their earlier musical explorations.

U2 has released 12 studio albums and are among the most critically and commercially successful groups in popular music. They have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band, and they have sold more than 150 million records. In 2005, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility.

Throughout their career, as a band and as individuals, they have campaigned for human rights and philanthropic causes, including Amnesty International, the ONE/DATA campaigns, Product Red, and The Edge's Music Rising.

***

The Joshua Tree is the fifth studio album by rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 9 March 1987 on Island Records. In contrast to the ambient experimentation of their 1984 release The Unforgettable Fire, for The Joshua Tree, U2 aimed for a harder-hitting sound that used the limitation of strict song structures. The album incorporates influences from American and Irish roots music into the band's sound, and thematically, it depicts their love-hate relationship with the United States.

Inspired by tour experiences in the United States and American literature they were reading, U2 settled on "America" as a theme for the record. Recording began in January 1986 in Ireland, and to foster a relaxed, creative atmosphere, the group recorded in two houses, in addition to two professional studios. Several events during the sessions helped shape the politically- and socially-conscious tone of the album, including the band's participation in A Conspiracy of Hope tour, the death of roadie Greg Carroll, and lead vocalist Bono's travels to Central America. Recording completed in November, with additional production continuing into January 1987.

Throughout the sessions, U2 sought a "cinematic" quality for the record that would evoke a sense of location, in particular, the open spaces of America. They represented this in the sleeve's photographs depicting them in American desert landscapes and with a lone Yucca brevifolia plant ("Joshua tree").

The album received critical acclaim, topped the charts in over 20 countries, and sold in record-breaking numbers. According to Rolling Stone, the album increased the band's stature "from heroes to superstars." It produced the hit singles Where the Streets Have No Name, With or Without You, and I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.

The group supported the record with the successful Joshua Tree Tour. Frequently cited as one of the greatest albums in rock history, The Joshua Tree is one of the world's all-time best-selling albums, with over 25 million copies sold. In 2007, U2 released a 20th anniversary remastered edition of the record.

The album sleeve was designed by Steve Averill, and the band developed the idea for it from the record's "imagery, and cinematic location" in the desert. The initial concept for the sleeve was to represent where the desert met civilisation, and accordingly, one of the provisional titles for the album was The Desert Songs.

They asked their photographer Anton Corbijn to search for locations in the United States that would capture this.

From December 14-16, 1986, the band travelled with Corbijn and Averill on a bus around the Mojave Desert in California for a three-day photo shoot. The group stayed in small hotels and shot in the desert landscape, beginning at the ghost town of Bodie before moving to locations such as Zabriskie Point and other sites in Death Valley. Many of these photos appeared on the album packaging and in the concert tour programmes.

For the shoot, Corbijn rented a panoramic camera to capture more of the desert landscapes, but having no prior experience with the camera, he was unfamiliar with how to focus it. This led to him focusing on the background and leaving the band slightly out of focus. Corbijn said, "Fortunately there was a lot of light."

He later recounted that the main idea of the shoot was to juxtapose "man and environment, the Irish in America."

On the evening after the first day's shooting, Corbijn told the band about Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia), hardy and twisted plants in the deserts of the American Southwest, and he suggested their use on the sleeve.

Bono consulted the Bible and was pleased to discover the religious significance of the plant's etymology.

According to Mormon legend, early settlers referred to the Joshua tree as "the praying plant" and said that its branches represented the Old Testament prophet Joshua raising his hands in prayer. The following day, Bono declared that the album should be titled The Joshua Tree.

That day, while driving on Route 190, they spotted a lone-standing tree in the desert, unusual for the plant, which is usually found in groups.

Corbijn had been hoping to find a single tree, as he thought it would result in better photographs than if he shot the band amongst a group of trees.

They stopped the bus and photographed with the lone tree for about 20 minutes, something The Edge called "fairly spontaneous."

The final day of shooting was spent in snow-covered ghost towns. Corbijn's insistence on photographing there upset Bono, prompting him to question, "Why have you brought us to this shitty place?"

"I'm proud of the pictures, I'm happy to be part of them. But I guess people felt they took themselves too seriously. It was definitely the most serious, I think, that you can photograph a band. You couldn't go any further down that line unless you start photographing graves."
—Anton Corbijn, on the serious tone of the sleeve images

Corbijn's original idea for the sleeve was to have a shot of the Joshua tree on the front, with the band in a continuation of the photograph on the back.

Ultimately, separate photographs were used for each side of the sleeve; an image of the group at Zabriskie Point was placed on the front, while an image of them with the tree appears on the reverse side.

Rolling Stone believes the title and the images of the tree befit an album concerned with "resilience in the face of utter social and political desolation, a record steeped in religious imagery."

The tree photographed for the sleeve fell around 2000, yet the site remains a popular attraction for U2 fans to pay tribute to the group. One fan inserted a plaque into the ground reading, "Have you found what you're looking for?," in reference to the album's track I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.

While the band and crew were working on the album's mixing, record producer Steve Lillywhite's wife, singer Kirsty MacColl, volunteered to set the running order for the album. The band told her to put "Where the Streets Have No Name" first and "Mothers of the Disappeared" last. The rest were sequenced according to her preference, which the band kept.

All songs written and composed by U2, with lyrics by Bono.
No. Title Length
1. "Where the Streets Have No Name" 5:38
2. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" 4:38

3. "With or Without You" 4:56
4. "Bullet the Blue Sky" 4:32
5. "Running to Stand Still" 4:18
6. "Red Hill Mining Town" 4:54
7. "In God's Country" 2:57
8. "Trip Through Your Wires" 3:33
9. "One Tree Hill" 5:23
10. "Exit" 4:13
11. "Mothers of the Disappeared" 5:12
Total length:
50:14

***

With or Without You is a song by rock band U2. It is the third track from their 1987 album, The Joshua Tree, and was released as the album's first single on March 21, 1987. The song was the group's most successful single at the time, becoming their first number-one hit in the United States by topping the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks.

With or Without You features sustained guitar parts played by guitarist The Edge with a prototype of the Infinite Guitar, along with impassioned vocals by lead singer Bono and a driving bassline by bassist Adam Clayton. The song originated from a demo recorded in late 1985 that the group continued to work on throughout The Joshua Tree sessions. Ostensibly a troubled love song, the track's lyrics were inspired by Bono's conflicting feelings about the lives he led as a musician and domestic man.

Critics praised the song upon its release. It is frequently performed on the band's tours, and it has appeared on a number of their compilation albums and concert films. With or Without You is U2's second most frequently covered song.

In late 1985, U2 convened at a house that drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. bought to review material the group had written during The Unforgettable Fire Tour. During this time, a rough demo of "With or Without You" was written, with lead vocalist Bono composing the song's chord sequence.

The band continued to work on the song at STS Studios, creating many permutations of the track, but not making any progress. Guitarist The Edge considered the song at that point to be "awful."

The track consisted of a Yamaha drum machine beat and a bass part played by bassist Adam Clayton using an Ibanez bass guitar with a short scale.

According to Clayton, these early versions of the song sounded too sentimental and "very traditional because the chords just went round and round and round."

The sessions for The Joshua Tree started in earnest in 1986, and U2 were recording at the Georgian mansion Danesmoate House in Dublin in August. The group attempted to take the song in a different direction and "fuck it up," although Bono was reluctant.

Under the direction of co-producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, The Edge pursued more ambient guitar playing, Clayton turned up the volume on his bass, and Mullen experimented with an electronically enhanced drum kit.

Despite the work they continued to put into the track, the group considered abandoning the song, as they could not find an arrangement they liked.

Bono and his friend Gavin Friday continued to work on the song after Lanois and Eno declined to do so.

Bono credits Friday with rescuing the song and rearranging it, believing it could be a hit. Eno added a keyboard arpeggio, similar to the one from Bad.

The song's fate was still in doubt when The Edge was sent a prototype of the Infinite Guitar by Canadian musician Michael Brook, with whom he had collaborated for the Captive soundtrack.

The instrument allowed sustained notes to be played, producing "a similar effect to the E-Bow," but with the ability to provide all the "mid-points between no sustain and infinite sustain" that the E-Bow cannot provide.

The prototype included elaborate assembly instructions and as The Edge recollects, "one wrongly placed wire and you could get a nasty belt of electricity. This piece of gear would have failed even the most basic of safety regulations."

On subsequent tours, his guitar technician occasionally received electric shocks from the instrument when preparing it for performances.

Listening to the backing track to With or Without You in the control room, Bono and Friday heard the sustained effect that The Edge was creating with the Infinite Guitar in the other room.

The combination of the guitar and the backing track being played together impressed those listening. According to Lanois, "I said, 'That sounded pretty cool,' so we listened back and I said, 'Jesus it's better than I thought.'"

The Edge immediately recorded an Infinite Guitar part in two takes.

The band considers the song's recording to be one of the album sessions' breakthrough moments, as it was recorded amidst concerns that they had run out of ideas.

Bono wrote the lyrics while struggling to reconcile his responsibilities as both a married man and a musician. His wanderlust in belonging to a musical act was often at odds with his domestic life.

While writing the lyrics, he realized that neither facet of his life defined him, but rather the tension between the two did. He explains that the final lyric is about "torment" and how repressing desires only makes them stronger.

"With or Without You" is written in a 4/4 time signature and is played at a tempo of 110 beats per minute.

Although certain stanzas of lyrics are repeated, the song does not follow a traditional verse-chorus form. Lanois says of it, "It has tension and builds like one of those great Roy Orbison songs, where every section is unique and never repeats. I like that kind of sophistication."

The song begins with a minimal drum beat by Mullen playing eighth notes, while a backing track -- Brian Eno's synthesizer -- plays a "rippling" triplet arpeggio of the chord D major.

A high sustained guitar part (played by The Edge's Infinite Guitar) enters, played "dry" in the left channel before reverberating on the right.

At 0:09, Clayton's bass guitar begins to play eighth notes in time with the kick drum, and the song's four-bar sequence of the chord progression D-A-Bm-G, begins.

This chord progression is never explicitly played but is "implied" by the root notes played by Clayton and the guitar parts of The Edge.

"Notes actually do mean something. They have power. I think of notes as being expensive. You don't just throw them around. I find the ones that do the best job and that's what I use. I suppose I'm a minimalist instinctively. I don't like to be inefficient if I can get away with it. Like on the end of With or Without You. My instinct was to go with something very simple . . . . I still think it's sort of brave, because the end of With or Without You could have been so much bigger, so much more of a climax, but there's this power to it which I think is even more potent because it's held back."
—The Edge, on the song's concluding guitar figure

Bono's vocals enter at 0:28, and they are in a lower register than most of his past vocals.

He stays below the middle C for the first two and a half stanzas, centering his melody on the mediant F♯. At the end of each of the first two stanzas, his vocals drop an octave, from A to A. Author Susan Fast called Bono's vocals on "With or Without You" the first occasion on which he "extended his vocal range downward in an appreciable way."

At 0:58, an additional sustained guitar part joins the mix.

The drums increase in intensity at 1:45, before The Edge begins playing the song's signature guitar riff at 1:53. The riff, a perfect fifth opening to a sixth, features a prominent use of delay.

When the riff is played, it is answered by Bono singing "And you give yourself away," a line on which backing vocals appear at 2:06 and 2:32.

A stanza begins in which Bono sings the song's title in a high, passionate voice as the drums get heavier.

At 3:03, the song bursts out in emotion as Bono begins open-throated "Oh-oh-oh-ohh" vocals, which are double-tracked, and the rhythm increases to play sixteenth notes on the guitar, cymbals, and tambourine.

After another stanza of Bono repeating the song's title, the music dies down at 3:38 to a similar state as it was at the beginning of the song.

Ten seconds later, Bono sings in a falsetto while a bass synthesiser doubles the bass.

After the vocals complete, The Edge begins a simple guitar figure. He explained that its understated nature was meant to oppose the temptation to play an intricate guitar solo as an ending.

The second time the figure is played, the signature guitar riff from earlier re-appears and the song regains some of its intensity.

The song concludes with a fade-out.

The lyrics ostensibly describe a troubled relationship between two lovers, although the lyrics have been interpreted in religious contexts. The Washington Post interpreted the song as both an acerbic love song and a tune lamenting the moral contradictions one faces with their religious faith.

Toby Creswell echoed these sentiments, saying it "can be read as a song about either marital romance or spiritual need."

Bono explained that the lyrics had romantic intentions, saying, "there's nothing more revolutionary than two people loving each other. One, 'cause it's so uncommon these days, and two, 'cause it's so difficult to do."

In 1987, Bono explained that "And you give yourself away" lyric refers to how he sometimes feels exposed being in U2, and that his openness, both to the public and music press, can do damage to the group. Author Niall Stokes interpreted the line as encompassing the theme of "surrendering the ego" to one's love and spiritual faith.

***

Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), better known by his stage name, Chuck D, is an American rapper, author, and producer. He helped create politically and socially conscious rap music in the mid-1980s as the leader of the rap group Public Enemy.

***

Public Enemy is an American hip hop group consisting of Chuck D; Flavor Flav; Professor Griff and his S1W group; DJ Lord, who replaced Terminator X in 1999; and bassist Brian Hardgroove.

Formed on Long Island, New York in 1982, Public Enemy are known for their politically charged lyrics and criticism of the American media, with an active interest in the frustrations and concerns of the African American community.

[8962 A. Rose / 8960 Bono / 8959 Hartley]

Hal Hartley (b. 1959)

8959-11-03T17:59:00.000-07:00

Hal Hartley (b. November 3, 1959, Lindenhurst, NY) is the son of an ironworker.

Early on, Hartley was interested in painting and attended the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. While studying there, taking courses in filmmaking made him realize that this was what he wanted to do. He moved back to New York in 1980 and was accepted to the filmmaking program at SUNY Purchase where he met a core group of technicians and actors who would go on to work with him on his feature films years later.

Hartley graduated and moved to New York City in 1984. He shot his feature film debut, The Unbelievable Truth, in 1988 and remained extremely active in the years that followed; producing feature films like Trust, Simple Men, Amateur, and Flirt. Unlike most feature film directors, Hartley also continued making short films, many of which have been collected in a DVD anthology.

His films were often noted for dialogue that was simultaneously philosophical and humorous. In the early 90's, he often composed and performed the music for his films under the pseudonym Ned Rifle.

In 1996, he was made Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters of the French Republic along with novelist Paul West and journalist and publisher George Plimpton.

Hartley won the Best Screenplay Award at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival for his film Henry Fool just shortly after completing the short feature, The Book of Life, for French TV.

***

Henry Fool is a 1997 seriocomic film directed, written, produced, and with a musical score written by Hal Hartley, featuring Thomas Jay Ryan, James Urbaniak, and Parker Posey. As in The Unbelievable Truth, an earlier Hartley film, expectation and reality again conflict.
The film won the best screenplay award at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, where it was also nominated for the Golden Palm.

Socially inept garbageman Simon Grim is befriended by Henry Fool, a witty rogue, but untalented novelist. Henry opens the world of literature to Simon, who then writes "the great American poem.” As Simon begins his ascent to the dizzying heights of Nobel Prize-winning poet, Henry sinks to a life of drinking in low-life bars. Henry's own attempts at fame result only in rejection by the same publisher who contracts with Simon to distribute his work. The friends fall out and lose touch until Henry’s criminal past catches up with him and needs Simon’s help in fleeing the country.

***

After Henry Fool, Hartley stayed on in Europe and staged his play, Soon, at the Salzburg Festival in Austria and then later that year in Antwerp. It was also staged in the US in November 2001.

From 2001 through 2004, Hartley was a visiting lecturer at Harvard University, while simultaneously editing No Such Thing, shooting The Girl From Monday, and writing his most recent feature, Fay Grim. He was awarded a fellowship by The American Academy in Berlin in late 2004 where he did research related to a proposed large-scale project concerning the life of French educator and social activist, Simone Weil.

[8960 Bono / 8959 Hartley]

Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

8958-08-29T00:55:00.000-07:00

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 - June 25, 2009) was an American recording artist, dancer, and singer-songwriter. His contribution to music, dance and fashion, along with a much-publicized personal life, made him a figure in popular culture for over four decades. The eighth child of the Jackson family, he debuted on the professional music scene along with his brothers as a member of The Jackson 5 in the mid-1960's, and began his solo career in 1971.
In the early 1980s, Jackson became a dominant figure in popular music. The music videos for his songs including Beat It,

Billie Jean, and

Thriller, were credited with transforming the medium into an art form and a promotional tool, and the popularity of these videos helped to bring the relatively new television channel MTV to fame. Videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream" made him a staple on MTV in the 1990s. Through stage performances and music videos, Jackson popularized a number of dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk. His distinctive musical sound and vocal style have influenced numerous hip hop, pop, contemporary R&B and rock musicians.

Jackson's 1982 album Thriller is the best-selling album of all time. His other records, including Off the Wall (1979), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991), and HIStory (1995), also rank among the world's best-selling. Jackson is one of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. He was also inducted into the Dance Hall of Fame as the first (and currently only) dancer from the world of pop and rock 'n' roll. Some of his other achievements include multiple Guinness World Records; 13 Grammy Awards (as well as the Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award); 26 American Music Awards (more than any other artist, including the "Artist of the Century"); 13 number-one singles in the United States in his solo career (more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era); and the estimated sale of over 750 million records worldwide. Jackson won hundreds of awards, which have made him the most-awarded recording artist in the history of music.

Aspects of Jackson's personal life, including his changing appearance, personal relationships and behavior, have generated controversy. In 1993, he was accused of child sexual abuse, but the case was settled out of court and no formal charges were brought. In 2005, he was tried and acquitted of further sexual abuse allegations and several other charges after the jury ruled him not guilty on all counts. While preparing for his concert series This Is It, Jackson died on June 25, 2009, after suffering from cardiac arrest. Before his death, Jackson had reportedly been administered drugs such as propofol and lorazepam. The Los Angeles County Coroner declared his death a homicide, and his personal physician pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter. In March 2010, Sony Music Entertainment signed a US$250 million deal with Jackson's estate to retain distribution rights to his recordings until 2017, and to release seven posthumous albums over the decade following his death. His first posthumous album of new material, simply titled Michael, will be released on December 14, 2010.

***

Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Ferrana, Jr., December 11, 1958) is an American musician, songwriter, author, fashion designer and photographer best known as the founder and bassist of the band Mötley Crüe.

Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a member of Sister before going on to form London with his Sister band associate Lizzie Grey.

***

Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1981. The group was founded by bass guitarist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, who were later joined by lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold more than 80 million album copies worldwide, including 25 million in the U.S.

The band members have often been noted for their hard-living lifestyles, and the persona they maintained. All members have had numerous brushes with the law, spent time in jail, suffered from alcoholism, long addictions to drugs, had countless escapades with women, and are heavily tattooed. Their ninth studio album, Saints of Los Angeles, was released on June 24, 2008.

[1959 Hartley / 1958 Michael Jackson / 1958 Prince]

Madonna (b. 1958)

8958-08-16T01:12:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgkOCJ9PGkk

Madonna (born Madonna Louise Ciccone, August 16, 1958) is an American recording artist, actress, and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983. She followed it with a series of albums in which she found immense popularity by pushing the boundaries of lyrical content in mainstream popular music and imagery in her music videos, which became a fixture on MTV. Throughout her career, many of her songs have hit number one on the record charts, including Like a Virgin, Papa Don't Preach, Like a Prayer, Vogue, Frozen, Music, Hung Up, and 4 Minutes. Madonna has been praised by critics for her diverse musical productions while at the same time serving as a lightning rod for religious controversy.

Her career was further enhanced by film appearances that began in 1979, despite mixed commentary. She won critical acclaim and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for her role in Evita (1996), but has received harsh feedback for other film roles. Madonna's other ventures include being a fashion designer, children's book author, film director and producer, and owner of her own recording company Maverick corporation, as a joint venture with Time Warner. She has been acclaimed as a businesswoman, and in 2007, she signed an unprecedented US $120 million contract with Live Nation.

According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), she is the best-selling female rock artist of the 20th century and the second top-selling female artist in the United States, behind Barbra Streisand, with 64 million certified albums.

[8958 Michael Jackson / 8958 Madonna / 8958 Prince]

Prince (b. 1958) - Purple Rain

8958-06-07T00:58:00.000-07:00

Prince (born Prince Rogers Nelson; June 7, 1958) is a singer, songwriter, musician, and actor.

He has been known under an unpronounceable symbol, which he used between 1993 and 2000.

During that period he was frequently referred to in the media as "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince,, often abbreviated to "TAFKAP," or simply "The Artist."

According to Robert Larsen in his book, History of Rock and Roll, Prince is "one of the most talented and commercially successful pop musicians of the last 20 years,, producing ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career.

Prince founded his own recording studio and label, writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of the instruments on his recordings.

In addition, Prince has been a "talent promoter" for the careers of Sheila E., Carmen Electra, The Time and Vanity 6, and has written songs for these artists and others (including Chaka Khan, The Bangles, and Sinéad O'Connor).

Prince also has several hundred unreleased songs in his "vault."

He has won seven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe,[5] and an Academy Award.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, the first year he was eligible.

Prince's music has been influenced by rock, R&B, soul, funk, rap, blues, New Wave, electronica, disco, psychedelia, folk, jazz, and hip hop.

His artistic influences include Sly & the Family Stone, Parliament-Funkadelic, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, Miles Davis, Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Duke Ellington, Curtis Mayfield, and Stevie Wonder.

Prince pioneered the "Minneapolis sound," a hybrid mixture of funk, rock, pop, R&B, and New Wave that has influenced many other musicians.

***

Purple Rain is the sixth album by Prince and The Revolution, the soundtrack album to the 1984 film Purple Rain.

Purple Rain is regularly ranked among the best albums in rock music history. It placed 18th on VH1's Greatest Rock and Roll Albums of All Time countdown.

All songs composed and arranged by Prince; except Computer Blue, words by Prince, music by Prince, John L. Nelson, Wendy & Lisa, and Dr. Fink.

Side One

"Let's Go Crazy" – 4:39

"Take Me with U" – 3:54

"The Beautiful Ones" – 5:13

"Computer Blue" – 3:59

"Darling Nikki" – 4:14

Side Two

"When Doves Cry" – 5:54

"I Would Die 4 U" – 2:49

"Baby I'm a Star" – 4:24

"Purple Rain" – 8:41

***

Darling Nikki is a song produced, arranged, composed and performed by Prince and originally released on his Grammy Award-winning 1984 album, Purple Rain. Though the song was not released as a single, it gained wide notoriety for its sexual lyrics. Partly because of the lyrical content of "Darling Nikki", Tipper Gore founded the Parents Music Resource Center, which eventually led to the use of "Parental Advisory" stickers and imprints on album covers.

The song tells the story of a "sex fiend" named Nikki who seduces the singer. In the film Purple Rain, the song is directed toward Apollonia Kotero's character when she decides to work with Prince's character's rival, played by Morris Day.

Near the end of the song, the music stops into the sound of rain and wind. There is singing, but played in reverse. The vocals, unreversed, are Prince singing,

"Hello, how are you?
I'm fine 'cause I know that the Lord is coming soon
Coming, coming soon."

During the Purple Rain tour performances of Darling Nikki, the recording at the end was played forward. This can be heard in the live video Prince and the Revolution Live.

[1958 Madonna / 1958 Prince / 1958 Wold]

Erling Wold (b. 1958) / Art Objects

8958-01-30T22:42:00.000-08:00

Erling Wold (b. 1958)

A Little Girl Dreams of Taking the Veil

Queer

Sub Pontio Pilato: Credo

Mordake

Erling Wold (b. January 30, 1958) is a San Francisco based composer of opera and contemporary classical music. He is best known for his later chamber operas, especially A Little Girl Dreams of Taking the Veil and his early experiments as a microtonalist. Although he rejected religion in his teens, he returned many times to religious themes in his works, including many of his operatic works, and his mass named for Notker the Stammerer commissioned by the Cathedral of St Gall. His earliest music was atonal and arrhythmic, but the influences of just intonation and the music of the minimalists led to the bulk of his music being composed in a variety of tonal genres. He was attracted by the theater and much of his music is either directly dramatic or is based on dramatic rather than purely musical structures. Wold is an eclectic composer who has also been called "the Eric Satie of Berkeley surrealist/minimalist electro-art rock" by the Village Voice. He composed the soundtracks for a number of films by the independent film director Jon Jost.

***

Jeanette Winterson (b. August 27, 1959, Manchester, UK) was raised in Accrington, Lancashire, by adoptive parents Constance and John William Winterson. Intending to become a Pentecostal Christian missionary, she began evangelising and writing sermons at age six, but by 16 Winterson declared she was lesbian and left home.

She soon after attended Accrington and Rossendale College and supported herself at a variety of odd jobs while reading for a degree in English at St Catherine's College, Oxford.

After moving to London, her first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, was published when she was 26 years old. It won the 1985 Whitbread Prize for a First Novel, and was adapted for television by Winterson in 1990, which in turn won the BAFTA Award for Best Drama. She won the 1987 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for The Passion, a novel set in Napoleonic Europe.

Winterson's subsequent novels explore the boundaries of physicality and the imagination, gender polarities, and sexual identities, and have won several literary awards. Her stage adaptation of The PowerBook in 2002 opened at the Royal National Theatre, London. She also bought a derelict terraced house in Spitalfields, East London, which she refurbished into a flat as a pied-a-terre and a ground-floor shop, Verde's, to sell organic food.

In 2002, Winterson ended her 12-year relationship with BBC radio broadcaster and academic, Peggy Reynolds.

Her novel Written on the Body was inspired by her affair with Pat Kavanagh, her literary agent.

Bibliography

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1985)
Boating for Beginners (1985)
Fit For The Future: The Guide for Women Who Want to Live Well (1986)
The Passion (1987)
Sexing the Cherry (1989)
Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit: the script (1990)
Written on the Body (1992)
Art & Lies: A Piece for Three Voices and a Bawd (1994)
Great Moments in Aviation: the script (1995)
Art Objects (1995)
Gut Symmetries (1997)
The World and Other Places (1998)
The PowerBook (2000)
The King of Capri (2003)
Lighthousekeeping (2004)
Weight (2005)
Tanglewreck (2006)
The Stone Gods (2007)
The Battle of the Sun (2009)
The Lion, The Unicorn and Me: The Donkey's Christmas Story (2009)

[1958 Prince / 1958 Wold / 1957 Tan Dun]

Tan Dun (b. 1957)

8957-08-18T22:27:00.000-07:00

Tan Dun (b. 1957)

Ghost Opera (1994)

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2003)

The First Emperor (2006)

Tan Dun (b. August 18, 1957) is a Chinese contemporary classical composer, well known for Ghost Opera, with the Kronos Quartet; the film score to Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon; and the recent Metropolitan Opera commission of The First Emperor.

***

Perceiving the Performing Arts - Music Section of Exam - 5/20/10

Please write about audio-visual excerpts from the above three works of Tan Dun, i.e.

Ghost Opera (1994) [opening c. 5 minutes]

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2003) [interior c. 2 minutes]

The First Emperor (2006) [opening c. 5 minutes]

with respect to

Rhythm (meter, note values, tempo)
Pitch (melody, note collections)
Dynamics (louds, softs)
Timbre (tone-color, instruments, voices)
Texture (homophonic, polyphonic, etc.)
Harmony (consonance, dissonance)
Form (ABA, through-composed, etc.)

You may additionally write in reference to aspects of musical style, relating the pieces to one another and to other composers and works, as well as discussing cross-disciplinary concerns re dance and drama.

Each excerpt will be played twice, with further repetitions at the conclusion, if so desired.

[8958 Wold / 8957 Tan Dun / 8057 Alburger]

Mark Alburger (b. 1957)

8957-04-02T21:55:00.000-07:00

Mark Alburger (born April 2, 1957) is a San Francisco Bay Area composer and conductor. He is the Founder and Music Director of the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra as well as Music Director of San Francisco Cabaret Opera.

He is also Editor-Publisher of 21st-Century Music Journal.

Mark Alburger was born in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, USA. He studied composition with Gerald Levinson and Joan Panetti at Swarthmore College; Jules Langert at Dominican University of California; and Roland Jackson, Thomas Flaherty, and Christopher Yavelow at Claremont Graduate University, where he was awarded a Ph.D. in Musicology in 1996. He also studied privately thereafter with Terry Riley. Alburger is best known for his use of troping techniques, combining structures and musical passages from a wide variety of pre-existing works across cultures and eras.

He is an extremely prolific composer with a large opus list, including many concerti, operas, song cycles, symphonies, and a ten-hour theatrical setting of the Bible.

As a music journalist, he has published interviews with many composers across the new music scene, including such notables as Henry Brant, Earle Brown, George Crumb, Anthony Davis, Paul Dresher, Philip Glass, Ali Akbar Khan, Joan La Barbara, Steve Mackey, Tod Machover, Meredith Monk, Pauline Oliveros, Steve Reich, Erling Wold, and Christian Wolff, and is a contributor to The New Grove Dictionary of American Music.

Dr. Alburger currently resides in Northern California with his partner Harriet March Page, mezzo-soprano and Artistic Director of San Francisco Cabaret Opera.

***

Mice and Men, Op. 45 (1992)

Act 5, Scene 1 (The Barn): Jus' feel that hair

***

San Fernando Hub: I. Fresno (Op. 48)

***

Twelve Preludes and Fugues ("Topical"): Xb. Gonna Rock His World (Op. 60)

***

Camino Real, Op. 110 (2003)

1957Alburger110CaminoReal09
Block 9

Block 10

***

The Pied Piper of Hamelin, Op. 116 (2004)

Overture ("Rats!")

Mark Alburger (b. 1957, Upper Darby, PA) is an award-winning, eclectic composer of postminimal, postpopular, and postcomedic sensibilities. He is Music Director of San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra and San Francisco Cabaret Opera / Goat Hall Productions, Editor-Publisher of 21st-Century Music, Music Critic for Commuter Times, and Instructor in Music Theory and Literature at Diablo Valley College.

His principal teachers were Gerald Levinson, Joan Panetti, Jules Langert, Christopher Yavelow, Tom Flaherty, and Terry Riley.

Alburger has written 181 major works over the past 36 years, including chamber music, concertos, oratorios, operas, song cycles, and symphonies.

[8957 Tan Dun / 8957 Alburger / 8956 Rotten]

Johnny Rotten (b. 1956) - The Sex Pistols

8956-01-31T17:10:00.000-08:00

John Joseph Lydon (b. January 31, 1956), also known by the former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a singer-songwriter and television presenter, best known as the lead singer of punk band the Sex Pistols from 1975 until 1978, and again for various revivals during the 1990s and 2000s. He is also well known as the lead singer of the post-punk band Public Image Ltd., which he founded and fronted from 1978 until 1993, and again in 2009–2010. A highly controversial figure, Lydon has vocalised his contempt for the British Royal Family as well as other contentious issues such as segregated education. Q Magazine remarked that "somehow he's assumed the status of national treasure."

Growing up as the son of Irish immigrants in an impoverished area of London, Lydon's personally crafted image and fashion style led to him being asked to become the singer of the Sex Pistols by their manager, Malcolm McLaren. With the Pistols, he penned singles including Anarchy in the U.K.,

God Save the Queen, and Holidays in the Sun -- the content of which precipitated the "last and greatest outbreak of pop-based moral pandemonium" in Britain.

The band caused nationwide uproar in much of the media, who objected to the content of Lydon’s lyrics, and their antics, which included swearing on live television, in which Steve Jones called Bill Grundy a "fucking rotter." Due to the band's appearance in the media, Lydon was largely seen as the figurehead of the punk movement in the public image although this idea was not widely supported amongst the punk movement itself. Despite the negative reaction that they provoked, they are now regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of popular music.

Lydon left the Pistols in 1978 to found his own band, Public Image Ltd, that was far more experimental in nature, and which has been described as "arguably the first post-rock group."

In subsequent years, Lydon hosted a number of television shows in the UK, USA and Belgium, as well as writing an autobiography, Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs, and producing some solo musical work, such as the album Psycho's Path (1997). In the 2000's, Lydon once more took up being the vocalist for both the Sex Pistols and subsequently also Public Image Ltd as well for a number of reunion tours.

***

The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They are responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians. Although their initial career lasted just two-and-a-half years and produced only four singles and one studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, they are regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of popular music.

The Sex Pistols originally comprised vocalist Johnny Rotten, guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook and bassist Glen Matlock. Matlock was replaced by Sid Vicious in early 1977. Under the management of impresario Malcolm McLaren, the band created controversies which captivated Britain. Their concerts repeatedly faced difficulties with organizers and authorities, and public appearances often ended in mayhem. Their 1977 single God Save the Queen, attacking Britons' social conformity and deference to the crown, precipitated the "last and greatest outbreak of pop-based moral pandemonium."

In January 1978, at the end of a turbulent tour of the United States, Rotten left the band and announced its break-up. Over the next several months, the three other band members recorded songs for McLaren's film version of the Sex Pistols' story, The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. Vicious died of a heroin overdose in February 1979. In 1996, Rotten, Jones, Cook and Matlock reunited for the Filthy Lucre Tour; since 2002, they have staged further reunion shows and tours. On 24 February 2006, the Sex Pistols -- the four original members plus Vicious—were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but they refused to attend the ceremony, calling the museum "a piss stain."

***

Anarchy in the UK is a song by the English punk rock band The Sex Pistols. It was released as the band's debut single on 26 November 1976 and was featured on their only album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols.

[8957 Alburger / 8956 Rotten / 8955 Newman]

Thomas Newman (b. 1955)

8955-10-20T23:09:00.000-07:00

Thomas [Montgomery] Newman (b. October 20, 1955, Los Angeles, CA) is an American eight-time Academy Award-nominated film score composer. He is a member of a film-scoring dynasty in Hollywood that includes his father Alfred Newman, his uncle Lionel Newman, his brother David Newman, and his cousins Joey Newman and Randy Newman (who is best known as a singer and songwriter).

Newman was educated at Yale University, and began his film-scoring career in 1984 with his score for Reckless. His breakthrough came in 1994, when he earned two Academy Award nominations for his scores to Little Women and The Shawshank Redemption; he was the only double-nominee that year. His critical and commercial success has continued in recent years with his scores for American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Finding Nemo, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Pay it Forward, Erin Brockovich, The Good German, and WALL-E.

Newman has composed music for television as well, including theme music for the series Boston Public and the miniseries Angels in America. His theme music for the television show Six Feet Under won two Grammy Awards in 2003. Newman also wrote a commissioned concert work for orchestra, Reach Forth Our Hands, for the 1996 Cleveland Bicentennial.

At the 79th Academy Awards, Newman appeared in the opening segment by Errol Morris correcting a claim that he had been nominated for and not won an Academy Award eight times: "I've lost seven times; tonight it will be eight."

Though they were not composed specifically for the film, seven of Newman's previous score compositions were included in Michael Moore's 2007 documentary, Sicko. Newman received a special thanks credit, in addition to seven individual song credits.

Six Feet Under

[8956 Rotten / 8955 Newman]

Eddie Van Halen (b. 1955) - Van Halen

8955-01-26T15:52:00.000-08:00

Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen (b. January 26, 1955) is a Dutch-American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Eddie Van Halen is widely known for his innovative performing and recording styles in blues-based rock, tapping, intense solos and high frequency feedback; he is also known for energetic and acrobatic stage performances. The All Music Guide has described him as "undoubtedly one of the most influential, original, and talented rock guitarists of the 20th century."

***

Van Halen is an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California in 1974. They have enjoyed large scale success since the release of their debut album Van Halen (1978). As of 2007, Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and have had the most number-one hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. During the 1980s they also had more Billboard Hot 100 hits than any other hard rock or heavy metal band. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Van Halen is the 19th best-selling band/artist of all time with sales of over 56 million albums in the U.S., and is one of five rock bands that have had two albums sell more than 10 million copies in the U.S.

In 2008 they became one of the best paid live acts in the world, over twenty years after performing the same feat in the early eighties in regards to their huge payout for headlining the US Festival.

In 1999, the RIAA certified Van Halen diamond, for ten million U.S. sales.

In addition to being recognized for success, the band is known for the drama surrounding the exits of former members. The multiple exits of both lead singers David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar were surrounded in controversy and mass press coverage with various contrasting press statements between the former singers and the band. More recently, bassist Michael Anthony left the band for controversial reasons after 31 years with the band.

Following their 2004 concert tour the band was on a hiatus from the public until September 2006, when new bassist Wolfgang Van Halen's place was confirmed and Roth reunion rumors began to re-surface coinciding with the band's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction on March 12, 2007.

After years of speculation, Van Halen began a tour with Roth in late 2007 across North America and continued into 2008. An album was proposed to follow.

Along with this, a live tour DVD was announced at their May 13, 2008, concert at the Izod Center that would contain recordings from several performances on their current tour. Since the band concluded the reunion tour in July 2008, no official news from the band has been forthcoming. In August 2010, Warner Bros. Records issued a press release indicating that a new studio album and tour are planned for 2011.

***

Van Halen is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Van Halen, released in February 1978.

Recorded in 1977, Van Halen sold over 10 million copies in the US alone, becoming one of the most successful debuts by a rock band. Along with 1984, it gives Van Halen two original albums with Diamond status in sales.

Eddie Van Halen set a new standard for guitar playing and spawned a generation of players utilizing his unique style and approach. The instrumental, "Eruption", showcased his mastery of tapping, the use of the right hand to activate and fret notes along with the left. The sheer blazing delivery and solid composition shocked the guitar world and instantly set him apart as one of rock's premier guitar virtuosos.

The album cover was shot at the Whisky a Go Go. The guitar pictured on the cover of the album is Edward Van Halen's famous Frankenstrat Guitar, made from a neck purchased from Boogie Bodies and a Stratocaster style body custom made by Wayne Charvel in California and assembled in Edward's parents' garage.

The method that Eddie Van Halen used to create his guitar tone on this particular album, is a hotly debated topic amongst nostalgic elite guitar forum circles.

All songs written and composed by Edward Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony, and David Lee Roth except where noted.

Side A

No. Title Length

1. "Runnin' with the Devil" 3:32
2. "Eruption" (instrumental) 1:42

3. "You Really Got Me" (Ray Davies) 2:37
4. "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love" 3:47
5. "I'm the One" 3:44
Side B
No. Title Length
1. "Jamie's Cryin'" 3:30
2. "Atomic Punk" 3:00
3. "Feel Your Love Tonight" 3:40
4. "Little Dreamer" 3:22
5. "Ice Cream Man" (John Brim) 3:18
6. "On Fire" 3:01

David Lee Roth – lead vocals, acoustic guitar on Ice Cream Man. (credited as David Roth)
Eddie Van Halen – guitar, backing vocals.
Michael Anthony – bass guitar, backing vocals.
Alex Van Halen – drums

[8955 Newman / 8955 Van Halen / 8953 Elfman]

Geddy Lee (b. 1953) - Rush

8953-07-29T16:33:00.000-07:00

Gary Lee Weinrib, OC, better known as Geddy Lee (b. July 29, 1953), is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush. Lee joined what would become Rush in September 1968, at the request of his childhood friend Alex Lifeson, replacing original bassist and frontman Jeff Jones.

An award-winning musician, Lee's style, technique, and skill on the bass guitar have inspired rock and heavy metal musicians, such as Steve Harris of Iron Maiden, John Myung of Dream Theater, Les Claypool of Primus, Cliff Burton of Metallica, and Juan Alderete of The Mars Volta.

In addition to his composing, arranging, and performing duties for Rush, Lee has produced for various other bands, including Rocket Science. Lee's first solo effort, My Favorite Headache, was released in 2000.

Along with his Rush bandmates -- guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer Neil Peart -- Lee was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on May 9, 1996. The trio was the first rock band to be so honored, as a group.

Lee is ranked 13th by Hit Parader on their list of the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal vocalists of all time.

Lee and the rest of the band recently finished touring North and South America on the Time Machine Tour, which finished October 17 in Santiago, Chile.

***

Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart. The band and its membership went through a number of re-configurations between 1968 and 1974, achieving their current form when Peart replaced original drummer John Rutsey in July 1974, two weeks before the group's first United States tour.

Since the release of the band's self-titled debut album in March 1974, Rush has become known for the instrumental skills of its members, complex compositions, and eclectic lyrical motifs drawing heavily on science fiction, fantasy, and philosophy, as well as addressing humanitarian, social, emotional, and environmental concerns.

Musically, Rush's style has changed over the years, beginning in the vein of blues-inspired rock on their first album, then encompassing hard rock, progressive rock, and a period with heavy use of synthesizers. They have been cited as an influence by various musical artists, including Metallica, Primus, and The Smashing Pumpkins -- as well as progressive metal bands such as Dream Theater and Symphony X.

Rush has won a number of Juno Awards, and was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1994. Over their careers, the members of Rush have been acknowledged as some of the most proficient players on their respective instruments, with each band member winning numerous awards in magazine readers' polls. As a group, Rush possesses 24 gold records and 14 platinum (3 multi-platinum) records.

Rush's sales statistics place them third behind The Beatles and The Rolling Stones for the most consecutive gold or platinum studio albums by a rock band.

Rush also ranks 79th in U.S. album sales with 25 million units.

Although total worldwide album sales are not calculated by any single entity, as of 2004 several industry sources estimated Rush's total worldwide album sales at over 40 million units.

The band just recently finished touring on the first leg of the Time Machine Tour, which ran through North and South America and finished October 17, 2010. The band is scheduled to expand the tour through Europe in the Spring of 2011 and is expected to continue writing and recording their next studio album, Clockwork Angels, for release some time in 2011.

Permanent Waves: Jacob's Ladder (1980)

***

The Great White North is a Canadian comedy album by the fictional television characters Bob and Doug McKenzie (portrayed by actors Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas), released in 1981 by Anthem Records (ANR-1-1036) and distributed in the United States by Mercury Records (SRM-1-4034). The title is a popular nickname for Canada.

At least one million copies of the album were sold within North America, 350,000 of these within Canada alone which earned a triple-platinum certification from the Canadian Recording Industry Association.

The Great White North entered the RPM Canadian album charts at #3 on 12 December 1981 and rose to the #1 position the following week where it remained until 23 January 1982.

Overall, RPM ranked the album #40 of albums released in Canada during 1981.

The Great White North peaked at number 8 on the American Billboard 200 album chart in 1982.

The single, Take Off, peaked at number 16 on the Billboard 100 singles chart in March 1982.[8]

[8955 Van Halen / 8953 Geddy Lee / 8953 Elfman]

Danny Elfman (b. 1953)

8953-05-29T23:00:00.000-07:00

Danny [Daniel Robert] Elfman (b. May 29, 1953) is an American musician, who is famous for composing scores and songs for Tim Burton's films, composing The Simpsons Theme, and leading the rock band Oingo Boingo as singer/songwriter from 1976 until its breakup in 1995, and has composed film scores extensively since 1985's Pee-wee's Big Adventure. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and won a Grammy Award for Tim Burton's Batman and an Emmy Award for his Desperate Housewives theme. Elfman also wrote the theme for the video game Fable.

The Simpsons

[8953 Geddy Lee / 8953 Elfman]

Richard Page (b. 1953) - Mr. Mister

8953-05-16T00:34:00.000-07:00

Richard Page (b. May 16, 1953, Keokuk, Iowa), is the lead singer and bassist in 1980's US band Mr. Mister, and is also now a songwriter and solo artist.

***

Mr. Mister is an American pop rock band of the 1980's. The band's name came from an inside joke about a Weather Report record called Mr. Gone where they referred to each other as "Mister This" or "Mister That," and eventually selected "Mr. Mister."

Mr. Mister may be considered as representative of the melodic sound of 1980's pop rock.

The band consisted of Richard Page on vocals and bass guitar, Steve George on keyboards, Pat Mastelotto on acoustic and electronic drums and Steve Farris on guitars.

***

Kyrie was a #1 hit song by the 1980's pop/rock band Mr. Mister, from their 1985 album Welcome to the Real World. Released in late 1985, it hit the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in March 1986, where it was #1 for two weeks. It also hit the top spot on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart for one week, and was the band's only #1 single on this chart. In the UK the song peaked at #11 in April 1986.

[8953 Elfman / 8953 Richard Page / 8952 David Byrne]

David Byrne (b. 1952) [Talking Heads]

8952-04-14T21:45:00.000-07:00

David Byrne (b. 1952) [Talking Heads]

Talking Heads: Psycho Killer (1976)

Remain in Light: Once In A Lifetime (1980)

My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (1981)

Speaking in Tongues: Burning Down the House (1983)

Stop Making Sense (1984)

David Byrne (b. May 14, 1952, Dumbarton, Scotland) is a Scottish-American musician and artist. He is perhaps best known as a founding member and principal songwriter of the new-wave band Talking Heads, who were active between 1974 and 1991. Since then, Byrne has released his own solo projects on record, and worked in a variety of media, including film, photography, opera, and internet-based projects.

[8953 Richard Page / 8952 Byrne / 8951 Sting]

Sting (Gordon Sumner) (b. 1951) - The Police

8951-10-02T19:55:00.000-07:00

[The Police - Stewart Copland, Andy Summers, Sting]

Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, (b. October 2, 1951), better known by his professional name Sting, is an English musician, singer-songwriter, activist, actor and philanthropist. Prior to starting his solo career, he was the principal songwriter, lead singer and bassist of the rock band The Police.

Sting has varied his musical style throughout his career, incorporating distinct elements of jazz, reggae, classical, and world music into his compositions.

As a solo musician and member of The Police, Sting has received sixteen Grammy Awards for his work, receiving his first Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1981, and receiving an Oscar nomination for best song. He is a member of both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

***

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zp3LPRzuXo

The Police were an English rock band from London, formed in 1977. The band consisted of Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar, vocals), and Stewart Copeand (drums, vocals, percussion). The Police became globally popular in the late 1970s and are generally regarded as one of the first New Wave groups to achieve mainstream success, playing a style of rock that was influenced by jazz, punk and reggae music. Their 1983 album, Synchronicity, was number one in the UK and the US and sold over 8,000,000 copies in the US. The band broke up in 1984, but reunited in early 2007 for a one-off world tour lasting until August 2008, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of their hit single "Roxanne" and also, to a lesser extent, their formation as a group. The Police have sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, and became the world's highest-earning musicians in 2008, thanks to their reunion tour.

***

Synchronicity (1983)

Synchronicity I

Walking in Your Footsteps

Every Breath You Take

King of Pain

Wrapped Around Your Finger

Murder by Numbers

[Sting - King of Pain (excerpt) ; 7th Chords in G, C, and F)

[8952 Byrne / 8951 Sting / 8951 Bunnell]

Dewey Bunnell (America) - Horse With No Name

8951-01-19T17:20:00.000-08:00

Dewey Bunnell (b. January 19, 1951, Harrogate, Yorkshire, England) is an Anglo-American musician, singer, songwriter, and member of the soft-rock band, America.

Bunnell was born to an American serviceman stationed in England. While attending high school in England he met Gerry Beckley and Dan Peek. After an initial attempt at forming a band in the late 1960's, the trio formed America and released their first album in 1971.

As with the other members, Bunnell wrote, sang, and played guitar. His best known compositions are A Horse With No Name and Ventura Highway.

Bunnell is still a member of America, along with founding member Gerry Beckley.

***

America is an English-American folk rock band, originally composed of members Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell, and Dan Peek. The three members were barely past their teenage years when they became an overnight success in 1972. They reached a peak in popularity in the early to mid 1970's and early 1980's. Among the band's best known songs are A Horse with No Name, Sister Golden Hair (both of which reached Number 1), Ventura Highway, and Tin Man.

Although their music was frequently derided by critics, from a commercial standpoint the band's singles and albums were exceptionally successful. They were popular enough to attract the services of famed Beatles producer George Martin for a run of seven albums. The band survived the loss of one of its original members near the peak of its success only to see Beckley and Bunnell return the act to the top of charts as a duo with "You Can Do Magic" in 1982.

Touring for well over three decades, America maintains a following and performs over 100 shows per year. On January 16, 2007, America released Here & Now, the band's first major label studio album in over 20 years.

***

A Horse with No Name was America's first single.

America's self-titled debut album was initially released in Europe with only moderate success and without the song A Horse with No Name. Looking for a song that would be popular in both the United States and Europe, producer Ian Samwell helped the group to record the song and persuaded the Warner Brothers label to re-release the album with Horse included.

Originally entitled Desert Song, the song was renamed at Samwell's suggestion. It was written on a rainy day in England, in 1971, and was intended to capture the feel of the hot, dry desert Bunnell remembered from his childhood travels through the Arizona and New Mexico desert when his family lived at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

A Horse with No Name was recorded in the key of E minor with acoustic guitars, bass guitar, and bongo drums. The only other chord is a variation of the Em, fretted on the low E and G strings, second fret.

A 12 string plays an added F# (add2 or Em9) on the back beat of the Em. A noted feature of the song is the driving bass line. A "waterfall" type solo completes the arrangement and may have been borrowed from the Dan Peek song Rainy Day, also on the album.

Despite -- or perhaps because of -- its being banned by some U.S. radio stations (including one in Kansas City) because of supposed drug references, the song rose to number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and the album quickly went platinum. The interpretation of the song as a drug reference comes from the fact that "horse" is a common slang term for heroin.

The song's resemblance to Neil Young's work stirred some grumbling as well. It was A Horse With No Name that bumped Young's Heart Of Gold out of the #1 slot on the U.S. Pop chart.

"I know that virtually everyone, on first hearing, assumed it was Neil," Bunnell says. "I never fully shied away from the fact that I was inspired by him. I think it's in the structure of the song as much as in the tone of his voice. It did hurt a little, because we got some pretty bad backlash. I've always attributed it more to people protecting their own heroes more than attacking me."

This song has also been ridiculed for its banal and/or oddly phrased lyrics, including "The heat was hot"; "There were plants, and birds, and rocks, and things"; and "'Cause there ain't no-one for to give you no pain."

Randy Newman once described it as a song "about a kid who thinks he's taken acid." The late comedian Richard Jeni mocked the song's title. "You're in the desert," he said. "You got nothing else to do. Name the freakin' horse!"

The song is featured in the movie The Trip.

[8951 Sting / 8951 Bunnell / 8950 Mothersbaugh]

Mark Mothersbaugh (b. 1950) - Devo

8950-05-18T17:45:00.000-07:00

Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (b. May 18, 1950) is an American musician, composer, singer and painter. He is the co-founder of the new wave band Devo and has been its lead singer since 1972. His other musical projects include work for television series, films, and video games.

***

Devo is an American band formed in Akron, Ohio in 1973. The band had a #14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single Whip It, and has maintained a cult following throughout its existence. Their style over time has shifted between punk, art rock, post-punk, and New Wave. Their music and stage show mingle kitsch science fiction themes, deadpan surrealist humor, and mordantly satirical social commentary. Their often discordant pop songs feature unusual synthetic instrumentation and time signatures that have proven influential on subsequent popular music, particularly New Wave, industrial and alternative rock artists. Devo was also a pioneer of the music video, creating many memorable clips for the Laser Disc format, with "Whip It" getting heavy airplay in the early days of MTV.

***

Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! is the debut album by the American new wave band Devo. Produced by Brian Eno, it was primarily recorded in Cologne, Germany and released in the U.S. on Warner Bros. Records in 1978.

The album received somewhat mixed reviews from critics and peaked at number 12 on the U.K. album charts and number 78 on the U.S. Billboard charts. Recent reviews of the album have been more uniformly positive, with the album charting on several retrospective "best of" lists from publications including Rolling Stone, Pitchfork Media and Spin.

On May 6, 2009 Devo performed the album live in its entirety for the first time as part of the Don't Look Back concert series curated by All Tomorrow's Parties. On September 16th, 2009, Warner Brothers and Devo announced a re-release of Q: Are We Not Men? and Freedom of Choice, with a tour performing both albums.

There was some initial jockeying for the job of producing Devo's first album. In 1977, David Bowie and Iggy Pop received a tape of Devo demos from the wife of Michael Aylward, guitarist in another Akron band, Tin Huey.

Both Iggy and Bowie, as well as Brian Eno and Robert Fripp, expressed interest in producing Devo's first release.

At Devo's New York debut show in 1977, Bowie proclaimed that "this is the band of the future, I'm going to produce them in Tokyo this winter."

Eventually, Eno was chosen to produce the album at Konrad Plank's studio located near Cologne, Germany.

Bowie was busy with filming on Just a Gigolo but helped Eno produce the record on weekends.

Two tracks, "Come Back Jonee" and "Shrivel-Up", were recorded at Different Fur in San Francisco. All tracks were mixed at Conny's Studio. Since Devo was without a record deal, Eno paid for the flights and studio cost for the band, confident that the band would be signed to a record contract.

In return for his work on the album, Eno asked for a share of any subsequent deals.

The recording sessions were a source of frustration for Eno and Devo. Eno found the group unwilling to experiment or deviate from their early demos of recorded songs.

Devo later admitted that "we were overtly resistant to Eno's ideas. He made up synth parts and really cool sounds for almost every part of the album, but we used them on three or four songs."

Devo received offers to release Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! from Warner Bros. Records, Island Records, Virgin Records and David Bowie's production company Bewlay Brothers.

Virgin obtained rights to release the album in the United Kingdom, while Warner Bros. held the rights for North America.

The album was released in the United States in August 1978 and in the United Kingdom on September 1, 1978.

Virgin also released a picture disc version of the album, illustrated with a still from the band's 1974 music film The Truth About De-Evolution.

Initial critical reaction to Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! was somewhat mixed. Tom Carson, writing Rolling Stone, claimed that "There's not an ounce of feeling anywhere, and the only commitment is to the distancing aesthetic of the puton", and opined that "Devo lacks most of Eno's warmth and much of Bowie's flair for mechanized melodrama. For all its idiosyncrasies, the music here is utterly impersonal."

Critic Robert Christgau gave the album a positive rating of a B+, but noted, "In small doses it's as good as novelty music ever gets, and there isn't a really bad cut on this album. But it leads nowhere."

Nonetheless, it was voted one of the best albums of the year in the Village Voice's highly influential Pazz & Jop critics poll for 1978.

In January 1980, Trouser Press also named it one of the best albums of 1978.

Later reception of the album has been more uniformly positive. Steve Huey of the online music database Allmusic gave the album four and a half stars calling it "arguably Devo's strongest set of material, though several brilliant peaks can overshadow the remainder", and "a seminal touchstone in the development of American new wave."

Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! has been placed on several "best of" lists, including Spin's 50 Most Essential Punk Records and Pitchfork Media's top 100 albums of 1970's

Side One

No. Title Length

1. "Uncontrollable Urge" (Mark Mothersbaugh) 3:09

2. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) 2:40
3. "Praying Hands" (Gerald V. Casale, M. Mothersbaugh) 2:47
4. "Space Junk" (G.V. Casale, B. Mothersbaugh) 2:14

5. "Mongoloid" (G.V. Casale) 3:44
6. "Jocko Homo" (M. Mothersbaugh) 3:40

Side Two

No. Title Length
1. "Too Much Paranoias" (M. Mothersbaugh) 1:57
2. "Gut Feeling" / "(Slap Your Mammy)" (M. Mothersbaugh, Bob Mothersbaugh)/(G.V. Casale) 4:54
3. "Come Back Jonee" (G.V. Casale, M. Mothersbaugh) 3:47
4. "Sloppy (I Saw My Baby Gettin')" (M. Mothersbaugh, B. Mothersbaugh, G.V. Casale, Gary Jackett) 2:40
5. "Shrivel Up" (G.V. Casale, M. Mothersbaugh, B. Mothersbaugh) 3:05

[8951 Bunnell / 8950 Mothersbaugh / 8950 Wonder]

Stevie Wonder (b. 1950)

8950-05-13T09:39:00.000-07:00

Stevland Hardaway Judkins (b. May 13, 1950), name later changed to Stevland Hardaway Morris, known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and activist.

Blind from shortly after birth, Wonder signed with Motown Records' Tamla label at the age of eleven, and continues to perform and record for Motown.

***

Living for the City is a 1973 hit single by Stevie Wonder for the Tamla (Motown) label, from his Innervisions album. Reaching #8 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and #1 on the R&B chart, the record is driven by a slow bass synth groove (provided by the enormous TONTO modular synthesiser) that manages to exude a certain amount of tension, an appropriate soundscape for the angry social commentary of the song.

Some of Wonder's best known works include singles such as Superstition, Sir Duke, I Wish, and I Just Called to Say I Love You. Well known albums also include Talking Book, Innervisions, and Songs in the Key of Life.

He has recorded more than thirty U.S. top ten hits.

Wonder is also noted for his work as an activist for political causes, including his 1980 campaign to make Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday a holiday in the United States.

***

Sir Duke is a song composed and performed by Stevie Wonder, from his 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life. Released as a single in 1977, the track topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Black Singles charts, and reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart, his biggest hit there at the time.

The song was written in tribute to Duke Ellington, the influential jazz legend who had died in 1974. The lyrics also refer to Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald.

The artists, apart from Stevie Wonder, who perform on the original version were: Raymond Pounds (drums), Nathan Watts (bass), Mike Sembello (lead guitar), Ben Bridges (rhythm guitar), Hank Redd (alto saxophone), Trevor Laurence (tenor saxophone), Raymond Maldonado (trumpet), and Steve Madaio (trumpet).

Wonder re-recorded the song for the 1995 live album Natural Wonder.

[8950 Mothersbaugh / 8950 Wonder / 8948 Paice]

Peter Frampton (b. 1950)

8950-04-22T10:42:00.000-07:00

Peter Kenneth Frampton (b. April 22, 1950) is an English-American musician, singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He was previously associated with the bands Humble Pie and The Herd. Frampton's international breakthrough album was his live release, Frampton Comes Alive!. The album sold over 6 million copies in the United States alone and spawned several hits. Since then he has released several major albums.

He has also worked with David Bowie and both Matt Cameron and Mike McCready from Pearl Jam, among others. Frampton is best known for such hits as Show Me the Way; Baby, I Love Your Way; Do You Feel Like We Do; and I'm in Yo -- which to this day, remain staples on classic-rock radio. He has also appeared as himself in television shows such as The Simpsons, The Colbert Report, and Family Guy.

***

Show Me the Way is a song written by Peter Frampton, which was originally released on his 1975 album Frampton and as a single, but gained its highest popularity as a song from his 1976 live album Frampton Comes Alive!. The song reached number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his biggest hit until I'm in You in 1977.

The song was one of Frampton's earliest to feature the talk box effect, which would become one of his signature sounds.

***

I'm in You is the fifth studio album by Peter Frampton, released in 1977. Frampton returned from touring in 1976 to record this album. Stevie Wonder is also featured.

Under pressure to deliver a studio follow up to one of the biggest selling albums of the decade, Frampton faced a virtually impossible task. He came up with the album I'm in You, recording it at Electric Lady Studios in New York, where Frampton's Camel had been recorded four years earlier, with Frampton demanding bodyguards to protect him from overzealous fans who were going to disrupt the recordings, made even more difficult by the fact that in the two years since he'd cut any new material, he had evolved musically away from some of the sounds on Frampton Comes Alive!

Seven million albums later, he had become a solid lightweight rocker who had set sales records and who would soon find himself welcoming Stevie Wonder, Richie Hayward, Ringo Starr, and Mick Jagger into the studio for his follow-up album.

The result was mostly a surprisingly laid-back album steeped in lyricism and craftsmanship, particularly in its use of multiple overdubs even on the harder rocking numbers.

I'm in You rose to the #2 slot on the Billboard album charts, whose keyboard driven, dominated by the sound of the opening bars Baldwin Piano, ARP String Synthesizer-generated string section, Moog synthesizer, rather than a Guitar, and eventually involves a Gibson Les Paul, and Acoustic Guitar, played by Frampton, it was clear that Frampton was exploring new sides of his music. The title track became his most successful single yet, and the album and same-titled single reached platinum and #2, respectively.

The song Rocky's Hot Club was a novelty song written about Frampton's dog Rocky, who lay across his lap as he wrote the song. On the track Frampton actually plays harmonica, and guitar.

Frank Zappa ridiculed the title track of this album in the song I Have Been in You and in the monologue Is That Guy Kidding or What?

***

I'm in You is the hit title song released by Peter Frampton as a single from his album I'm in You released in 1977. It rose to #2 on the US singles chart, becoming his most successful single.

I'm in You was written by Peter Frampton after returning to New York from touring to record his live album Frampton Comes Alive! in 1976.

The song is about Frampton being recently separated from his first wife, the model Mary Lovett.
The song was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in Manhattan's Greenwich Village. Frampton demanded that bodyguards keep overzealous fans from disturbing his recording sessions.
This title song is mostly a keyboard driven number, featuring background vocals from Mick Jagger, with the sound of a Baldwin Piano, Moog Synthesizer, ARP String Synthesizer, Gibson Les Paul, Acoustic Guitar, Bass Guitar, Drums, Percussion, and Vocals.

Frank Zappa ridiculed this track in the song I Have Been in You on his album Sheik Yerbouti and in the monologue Is That Guy Kidding or What? on Baby Snakes.

[8950 Wonder / 8950 Frampton / 8948 Paice]

Peter Gabriel (b. 1950

8950-02-13T01:53:00.000-08:00

Peter Brian Gabriel (b. February 13, 1950) is an English singer, musician and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis.

After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career. More recently he has focused on producing and promoting world music and pioneering digital distribution methods for music.

Gabriel was also awarded the Polar Music Prize in 2009 and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010.

[8950 Frampton / 8950 Gabriel / 8949 Livgren]

Kerry Livgren (b. 1949) - Kansas

8949-09-18T16:13:00.000-07:00

Kerry Allen Livgren (b. September 18, 1949) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as one of the founding members and primary songwriters for the 1970s progressive rock band, Kansas.

***

Kansas is an American rock band that became popular in the 1970s initially on Album-Oriented Rock charts, and later with hit singles such as Carry On Wayward Son and Dust in the Wind.

They have remained a classic rock radio staple and a popular touring act in North America and Europe.

***

Carry On Wayward Son is a progressive rock single recorded by Kansas and written by Kerry Livgren for their 1976 album Leftoverture. In 1977, the song peaked at #11 on the Billboard pop singles chart, becoming their first Top 40 hit.

The 7" single has been certified Gold by the RIAA. This version was a much shorter version of the song, edited down to 3:26, a version that was also the band's only single to chart in the UK, reaching the top 60 there.

It was also the first 12" single released anywhere by the band when it was released in the UK in that format, though it was the edited version. All initial releases of the single had a B-side of Questions of My Childhood, continuing the tradition of Kansas and many other bands with multiple songwriters of putting a song by the band's other primary writer on the B-side of any single.

This song is 96th on VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs.

***

Dust in the Wind is a hit single released by the American progressive rock band Kansas in 1977. It peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week of April 22, 1978, making it Kansas' only top ten Billboard Hot 100 charting single. The 45-rpm single was certified gold for sales of one million units by the RIAA shortly after the height of its popularity as a hit single. More than 25 years later, the RIAA certified gold the digital download format of the song, Kansas's only single so certified as of September 17, 2008.

Written by Kerry Livgren, it was one of the band's first acoustic tracks; its slow melody and melancholy lyrics differ from their other hits, such as Carry On Wayward Son and The Wall. The guitar part is played by two guitarists on six-string guitars, one in standard tuning and the other in Nashville tuning, in unison to create a chimy sound similar to a twelve-string guitar.

The song's instrumental bridge contains a distinctive and highly memorable melodic line and harmony for violin and viola played by Robby Steinhardt.

Kansas also released a live version of the song on their album Two for the Show.

***

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949), nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band. Springsteen is widely known for his brand of Heartland rock infused with pop hooks, poetic lyrics, and Americana sentiments centered on his native New Jersey.

Springsteen's recordings have included commercially accessible rock albums and somber folk-oriented works. His most successful studio albums, Born to Run and Born in the U.S.A., showcase a talent for finding grandeur in the struggles of daily American life; he has sold more than 65 million albums in the United States and 120 million worldwide[3] and he has earned numerous awards for his work, including 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes and an Academy Award.

[8950 Gabriel / 8949 Livgren / 8948 Paice]

Ric Ocasek (b. 1949) - The Cars

8949-03-23T17:26:00.000-07:00

Ric Ocasek (b. Richard T. Otcasek, March 23, 1949, Baltimore, MD) is an American of Czechoslovakian heritage, and is a musician, and music producer. He is best known to the public as the former lead vocalist, and rhythm guitarist for the new wave band, The Cars. Ric lived in Baltimore until he was 16, at which time his father, a computer analyst for NASA, was transferred to Cleveland, Ohio. After graduating high school in Cleveland, Ric then attended Bowling Green State University near Toledo, Ohio.

***

The Cars are an American rock band that emerged from the early New Wave music scene in the late 1970's. The band consisted of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ric Ocasek, lead singer and bassist Benjamin Orr, guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes and drummer David Robinson. The band originated from Boston, Massachusetts, and were signed to Elektra Records in 1977.

The Cars were at the forefront in merging 1970's guitar-oriented rock with the new synth-oriented pop that was then becoming popular and which would flower in the early 1980s. Robert Palmer, music critic for The New York Times and Rolling Stone, described The Cars' musical style by saying: "they have taken some important but disparate contemporary trends—punk minimalism, the labyrinthine synthesizer and guitar textures of art rock, the '50s rockabilly revival and the melodious terseness of power pop—and mixed them into a personal and appealing blend."

Allmusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine commented on their style saying "the Cars were nevertheless inspired by proto-punk, garage rock, and bubblegum pop."

The band broke up in 1988, and Ocasek has always discouraged talk of a reunion since then, telling one interviewer in 1997 "I'm saying never and you can count on that."

In 2005, Easton and Hawkes joined with Todd Rundgren to form a spin-off band, The New Cars, which performed classic Cars and Rundgren songs alongside new material. On October 21, 2010, the Cars confirmed that they have reunited and are recording their first album in 23 years. Greg Hawkes will fill in on bass for Benjamin Orr, who died in 2000.

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My Best Friend's Girl is a song by American rock band The Cars from their 1978 self-titled debut album on Elektra Records. Written by Ric Ocasek and produced by Roy Thomas Baker, the song was released as the album's second single. It peaked at number 35 on the U.S. Hot 100 chart, and reached number three in the UK. My Best Friend's Girl was included on the soundtrack to the 1979 film Over the Edge, and the song appears on numerous compilation albums, such as the band's 1985 Greatest Hits, 1995's Just What I Needed: The Cars Anthology, and 2002's Complete Greatest Hits. A live version of the song by The New Cars appears on their 2006 debut album, It's Alive!.

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Panorama is the third studio album by American new wave band The Cars, released in 1980. It represented a change from the upbeat, hook-based pop rock of previous albums to a more aggressive and cynical sound. Panorama hit the #5 spot on the Billboard 200 chart.

All songs written by Ric Ocasek (Copyright Lido Music).

Side One

"Panorama" – 5:42
"Touch and Go" – 4:55
"Gimme Some Slack" – 3:32
"Don't Tell Me No" – 4:00
"Getting Through" – 2:35

Side Two

"Misfit Kid" – 4:30
"Down Boys" – 3:09
"You Wear Those Eyes" – 4:55
"Running to You" – 3:22
"Up and Down" – 3:31

Ric Ocasek – rhythm guitar, lead vocals on 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10
Elliot Easton – lead guitar, backing vocals
Greg Hawkes – keyboards, backing vocals
Benjamin Orr – bass, lead vocals on 4, 7, 8, 9
David Robinson – drums, percussion

[8949 Livgren / 8949 Ocasek / 8948 Paice]