Listening Journal # 8

Bodysnatchers by Radiohead is an interesting song both lyrically as well as vocally. The song is full of electric guitar playing and has an overall electronic feel throughout the song. The rhythm seems to have a rock or even a slight heavy metal feel to it yet I can also hear the basis of early rock music within the song. The lyrics seems to be connected with the title "Bodysnatchers" because of the references extraterrestrial references such as a person being alienated from the world yet confined to their own body with no escape. It appears that "Bodysnatchers" had a political statement or even a personal cry for realworld references by Radiohead. 

Listening Journal #7

The music of the 80's and 90's are what I call landmark music. By this I consider the variations of music from the 80's and 90's to make a huge impact for vernacular music. I have always loved listening to music from the 80's and 90's. However, throughout this course I have gained a much larger appreciation for vernacular music and realized the pathway in which such music has helped listeners embrace American popular music.

One music artist that I feel has made a huge impact in American popular music is Madonna. Some may argue that Madonna is a great vocalist and others may beg to differ. Some people may consider Madonna to be a great stage performer. Meaning that she may lack the necessities of a true vocal and lyrical musician. This is where the rubber meets the road for the great debate to whether or not visual and video appeal takes away from the musical craft of the musician. "Like a Virgin" is a song performed by Madonna near the beginning portions of her career and instantly catapulted her to the top of the music pop charts. Although the song was not written by Madonna, her performance of "Like a Virgin" sold records. I feel that the song itself is bright and has an upbeat dance groove. The synthesized instruments along with the drum set pop and fills gives the song a typical 80's style.  It has great rhythm that accompanies Madonna's light yet strong voice.

Prince is another landmark music artist from the 80's era of music. Prince is what I consider an all around musician. I have yet to see an instrument that Prince could not play. I recall watching a television performance by Prince. He began on the lead guitar then he performed a duet with Sheila E and then he finished the performance on the piano. I was thoroughly amazed because Prince was known for his stage presence and crowd appealing performances. I just didn't realize how musically talented he really was. I can vividly remember listening to "When Doves Cry" growing up as an adolescent. My dad bought me the 45 record and would wear that record out on my little record player. I absolutely love the instrumental value that the song has. There is a well balanced mix with the lead guitar, drums, and synthesized keyboards. Prince shows great vocal range with his voice by singing some low somewhat bass sounding vocals and eventually up to higher pitched vocal sounds in the song which are thought to be sighs and groans.  I always felt as if Prince's intent was to imitate the sounds of doves crying yet in a musical aspect with his higher pitched sighs.

Who can ever forget "Smells Like Teen Spirit" performed by Nirvana. This particular song definitely brings me back to my school days in the early 90's. What made "Smells Like Teen Spirit" so special is that it blended pop lyrics along with heavy metal instrumentals. As I listen to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" I am actually taken on a ride on an instrumental roller coaster. The solo guitar plays the introduction for 4 measures and then the remaining instruments comes in hard, loud and heavy to the point where your want to aggressively bob your head to the rhythm. Then just as quickly the instruments gets soft again yet keeping the same pop/heavy metal groove to make room for the vocals. Then yet again for the chorus the band cranks back into heavy metal mode to accompany the loud growling vocals. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is definitely a song that in my opinion help lead the way for pop music vocals with heavy metal instrumentals.

Listening Journal # 6

For listening journal # 6 there were selections of music that I enjoyed listening to. Module 6 talks about music from the 1970's through the 1980's. As previously noted before, I am a huge fan of music from all genres as well as music eras. Vernacular music of the 70's and 80's made it's mark in the history of American popular music. Being an 80's baby, music from the disco era, rock, pop and early rap will always have a special place in my heart.

When I typically think about music from the 1970's, I always think about disco and rock music. I also take into consideration the cultural attributions that music from the 70's has had on American society. "Stairway to Heaven" is a hit song performed by Led Zepplin in the 70's. The hit British band became an American sensation with their rock and pop feel to their music. "Stairway to Heaven" is a very instrumental with great lyrics. The textbook describes "Stairway to Heaven" to be the anthem of heavy metal music. Although "Stairway to Heaven" isn't like other led Zepplin songs or the typical heavy metal songs with loud guitars and heavy drumming; it still consists of musical value. I love the smooth flow of the guitar accompaniment with the vocals. Near the end of the song the vocals gets a little louder along with the drummer providing drum fills and the guitar breaks. Then at the end of the song the instrumentals fade out as the song ends with a soft vocal.

"Oye Como Va" is a hit song by Carlos Santana. "Oye Como Va" has a Latin rock feel to the music. As we all know, Latin music is filled with great instrumentation ranging from various percussion instruments to brass, strings and keyboard instruments. I feel that the rhythm quickly locks in as soon as the music starts. It has a certain groove and emotion throughout the song. The "groove" is felt from the beginning to the end of the song. What I really love about this song is that it gives a lot of room for instrumental features. Not taking away from the lyrics of Carlos Santana however, I feel that the instrumentation along with the limited vocals has made "Oye Como Va" a hit song.

I thought that this would be my first time hearing "Psycho Killer" by Talking Heads. However, after listing to the song I soon realized I had heard this song on the hit video game Guitar Hero! This is a great song and it's a shame that I haven't heard it on the airwaves on any radio station in my area. However, for that simple reason I am glad we have the opportunity to listen to such great music for our listen journal exercises. "Psycho Killer" also helped to lead the way for the punk rock era in music. The lyrics may have been out of the ordinary but I feel that it's unorthodox style gave listeners another style of popular music to enjoy. Hence in which I feel serves the purpose of vernacular music.

Listening Journal # 5

For listening journal # 5 I had the opportunity to listen to music selections that were popular during the early 60's and into the mid to late 60's. I personally enjoy music from the 60's because overall instrumental sound that went along with the lyrics. I have always wondered why the music in the 60's had such powerful lyrics and emotion. I often asked my parents about the life and times of the 60's. As I have found out through the readings in chapter 9, many of the songs that were created in the 60's were full of emotion due to the cultural events during that time period. Music of the 60's consisted of political events, racial frustration, war and even happiness.

During the 60's, rock and roll as well as r&b quickly emerged as popular music in America. However, the "British Invasion" took America by storm. Not by war but through the popularity of their music. A group called the Beatles topped the charts by having and maintaining # 1 records in America. "Please Please Me" was one of the Beatles first hits in the UK however was also one of the most unsuccessful songs to be released in America. The song consists of energetic vocals as well as excellent instrumental attributes. The form of this particular song is in a typical AABA. Until my further readings in chapter 9, I never realized how much emphasis that the Beatles put on pronouncing words and phrases that assisted in making the words rhyme. For example, as described in the textbook, "complainin" is intended to rhyme with "rain-in".

The Beach Boys also emerged as a group that were famous for popular music in America. The textbook describes the music of Beach Boys as "surf music" which became popular in California. 'Good Vibrations" was a successful released song by the Beach Boys in 1966. Although this was music from the 60's it has a feel good sensation to it. Just like the Beatles hit "Please Please Me", "Good Vibrations also had great lyrics to go along with great instrumentation. However, the sound of the vocals were a bit different than other music. The high pitched vocals help to make a distinct sound that the Beach Boys became famous for. The lyrics of the song gives a description of a woman that gives them happiness.

Music of Motown was also a huge success in the 1960's. Rhythm and blues became a popular genre of music as well as assisting with the crossover and interrelations of other music genres. We have learned through our readings that r7b as well as rock and roll definitely had culture influences. The textbook describes r&b music as "soul music". Through current and previous listening activities, I feel that r&b is mixed with blues as well as jazz and pop. "Papa's Got a brand New Bag" is a classic song that contains rhythm as well as blues. The sound of James Brown's vocals provides listeners with emotion and soulfulness. The rhythm of the band accompanies the soulful lyrics of James Brown's vocals. As we all know and have seen; the stage presence of James Brown is like non other . In the music performance world we call that "showmanship"

Listening Journal #4

Chapters 7 and 8 describes music of the "Postwar Era. The styles and genres of music that were considered Postwar music provided America with a new found sense of enjoyment for music and life in general. The terms "rock and roll" "rhythm and blues", country and western, and the mambo came into play on television sets and radio stations. The listening exercise for module 4 has provided me with a better understanding of the music itself as well as possible contributing factors that led to the names of the genres of music of the Postwar Era.

As stated in the readings of chapter 7, many of the song from the 1940's and 1950's were romantic songs about love and possessed sentimental value. However, the Postwar Era music consisted of a mixture of current thoughts and emotions of life after the war, depression, as well as music that was uplifting and happy. Choo Choo Ch' Boogie by Louis Jordan was considered to be in a category called "jump blues. Choo Choo Ch' Boogie as a jazz feel in regards to rhythm, however had a slightly different style and feel. Choo Choo Ch' Boogie has a feel good sensation to it. It also has the feel that it is the type of music that is played at parties and jazz clubs. The hard swinging style, the not so ordinary lyrics and lively performances led to the name for another genre of music called rhythm and blues.

Rhythm and blues has become a well know style and description of music from yesterday to today. This particular style of music also had a new flavor and feel to the music. Surprisingly, until I completed my readings of chapter 7; I did not realize that rhythm and blues was considered music for African Americans. There were many contributors to the evolution of rhythm and blues. As I listened to " Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean", I could definitely still hear the jazz feel in regards to rhythm as well as the jump blues style feel. However, the lyrics and stylistic approach was quite different form other earlier songs that I have listened to in the past. I feel that this is what help set the scene for the standards of music for rhythm and blues, especially for women performers.

Rock and roll was another genre of music that took flight and never looked back during the Postwar Era. Like rhythm and blues, I did not know prior to my readings I chapter 8 that the term "rock and roll' was referencing music for whites. The term was first used commercially by Alan Freed; a disk jockey in Cleveland. Elvis Presley became the face and the king of rock and roll music. As I listened to "Don't be Cruel" I could definitely feel the expression of Elvis Presley's lyrics. The music was rhythmic and has a type of feel in which makes you want to dance along with the heartfelt lyrics.

 "You know I can be found,
sitting home all alone,
If you can't come around,
at least please telephone.
Don't be cruel to a heart that's true".

"Baby, if I made you mad
for something I might have said,
Please, let's forget the past,
the future looks bright ahead,
Don't be cruel to a heart that's true.
I don't want no other love,
Baby it's just you I'm thinking of"