I Love Music

What is rockabilly music? I’ve had to think long and hard to answer that question! Technically, rockabilly is a particularly wild and unrestrained form of music that grew out of the roots of country music and blues music in the early 1950s. It raged strong into the early 60s when it was overshadowed by forms that grew out of it, particularly acts that were part of the British invasion. But the form never really died and it was further defined by a resurgence in the 1980s when elements of punk and jazz were infused into the basic form. It continues to evolve today more than 50 years after it first appeared on the pop scene.

Rockabilly music has undoubtedly influenced virtually every form of rock and roll that has come after it. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and countless other bands and artists site rockabilly music and rockabilly musicians as the most influential force in their development as musicians. Once you become familiar with the sound of rockabilly, you will hear it in many popular songs that you’ve known and loved for years never realizing from where the roots sprung.

By and large, the original rockabilly musicians remain mostly unknown to most lovers of modern pop music and of those that they do know, they don’t really understand their rockabilly roots. For example, Elvis Presley is, as everyone knows, the King of rock and roll. But most people don’t really understand where Elvis started: with rockabilly music. In fact, he’s considered one of–if not the–inventor of the genre.

Similarly, virtually everyone knows the song “Blue Suede Shoes” and they may know it as an Elvis song. However, the song was written by a rockabilly legend named Carl Perkins who had an even bigger hit with it than Elvis did. Carl never had another big hit and is sometimes shrugged off as a “one-hit wonder” because of the fact. However, what most people miss when they dismiss him like this is the incredible influence Perkins has had on modern rock and roll music. The Beatles’ George Harrison idolized Perkins and studied his music intensely. And he was by far not the only one who cites Perkins as a major influence. Perkins’ guitar playing has served as the basis of education for countless young guitarists throughout the years.

So, does any of that actually answer the original question? What is rockabilly anyway? Rockabilly is raw excitement. It’s unrestrained music created by brash, young musicians who were inventing the rules as they were going along. It’s no-holds-barred fun. It makes you dance. It makes you smile. And it makes you want to hear more. To millions of fans throughout the world, it’s the perfect form of rock and roll music!

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The world changed dramatically during the second half of the Twentieth Century, as the United States became the most powerful nation both politically and culturally. One American phenomenon that has left its mark in all corners of the world is pop music. Here is my list of the most important pop songs of the Twentieth Century, in chronological order. Perhaps they were not the first, the best or the most original, but they were the right thing at the right time, and they changed history.

1. “Rock Around the Clock,” (1954). Bill Haley and the Comets. In the early years of Rock music, the inclusion of this song would be a no brainer. It was the first great Rock and Roll hit, selling 25 million copies. Nowadays, we may have a desire to right the record, and say that black performers like Big Joe Turner, Bo Diddley and Ike Turner were the real originators of the style, but the fact is that in the segregated atmosphere of that time, it was necessary for a talented white group to champion the music to a larger audience. The Comets were able to rise to the occasion.

2. “Only You,” (1955). The Platters. They became the personification of the emerging doo-wop style which was a blend of rock and roll combos and vocal styling that can be traced back to the Ink Spots and other performers of the Big Band era. Doo-wop was first successfully introduced by the Penguins a year earlier, with “Earth Angel,” but it was The Platters, a classy act from the West Coast that really established the genre. Their many hits, such as “The Great Pretender” and “My Prayer,” served as a standard of quality for other groups to strive for. With its popularity in the multi-ethnic society of the Northeast, doo-wop was the first racially integrated style, and it still has a devoted following to this day, thanks to the many brilliant vocal performances.

3. “Hound Dog,” (1956). Elvis Presley. In that year Elvis exploded on the scene with this hit, plus “Blue Suede Shoes”, “Heartbreak Hotel” and others. He was revolutionary in the McCarthy era age of conformity. The influence of Elvis Presley cannot be underestimated: he introduced national audiences to rockabilly music, white audiences to black rock and roll and his on-stage persona made venues accessible for the even more flamboyant acts like Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis. He created the Rock and roll version of the teen idol, updating the image from Frank Sinatra’s time.

4. “La Bamba,” (1958). Ritchie Valens. This song is important on two counts: it brought the Spanish language and Mexican tradition into the mainstream of Rock music. The opening phrase, “Para bailar la Bamba,” sounds like an historic cry, “un grito.” It is also important because it launched the fad of dance songs that conceived of dance as an expression of the inner self, rather than a dating ritual. “In order to dance the Bamba, you have to have a touch of grace,” and listeners began to see dancing in a new light, as communication with their own bodies.

5. “Shop Around,” (1960). Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. A perfectly crafted blend of doo-wop vocals and driving rock and roll beats, this is the recording that launched Motown. The Shirelles, a New York “girl group” had scored a hit a few months earlier with “Dedicated to the One I Love,” (1959), thus establishing the genre. The Shirelles were trailblazers, building on the success of the earlier doo-wop oriented Chantels and leading to many other girl groups, but it was Motown that became the spiritual home of this new musical style that eventually came to be called “soul music,” and so the Motown recording is the one that made history. Motown was one of the richest veins of pop music of this entire period, culminating in the landmark recording, “Papa was a Rollin’ Stone,” (1972) by the Temptations. By that point the cultural revolution that was the 1960s had transformed the Motown sound into something completely different.

6. “At Last,” (1961). Etta James. Mixed the styles of raucous R and B, Rock and roll and the female slow groove. She did not have the jazz cachet of her contemporary Dinah Washington, instead she represented a new, rebellious era of earthy hedonism. She opened the way for the acceptance of other iconoclastic female performers like Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin (with her distinctive version of “Summertime”). It proved to be fertile ground for male singers, as well, notably, Percy Sledge with “When a Man Loves a Woman,” (1969).

7. “She Loves You,” (1963). The Beatles. Though not an American group, they had an enormous influence on the history of American music and the pop culture of the 1960s. “I Wanna Hold your Hand” was their first U.S. hit in January, 1964, and was followed almost immediately by this song. The two songs taken together illustrate the innovative quality of the Beatles in terms of melody, song structure and vocal harmonic style. “She Loves You,” however, was the more iconic of the two, with its “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah” refrain that came to symbolize this genre. The British Invasion that followed changed music history.

8. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” (1965). The Rolling Stones. The Beatles were soon followed across the Atlantic by their bizarro-world evil twins, the Rolling Stones. If the Beatles had little halos, the Stones had horns. Their spirit of rebelliousness would find fertile ground in the atmosphere of the 1960s. They stayed true to their heavy guitar based genre, even as the Beatles became more cerebral and psychedelic. The Rolling Stones can be seen as the fathers of Heavy Metal, and through their influence on groups like the Velvet Underground, the spiritual fathers of Alternative Rock.

9. “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” (1965). Bob Dylan. As a singer of protest songs, Bob Dylan had been one of the leading performers of the early 1960s folk movement. His move to “folk rock” in 1965 was shocking to his fan base, and when he appeared on stage at the Newport Folk Festival with an electric guitar, he was vigorously booed, in one of the most famous incidents of the period. This song was revolutionary not only for its innovative blend of musical styles, but also for its new use of language. The intensity of imagery was something that had never been heard before in pop music and would not be equaled again until Grand Master Flash and “The Message” of 1982. (See below).

10. “White Rabbit” (1967). Jefferson Airplane. This was their second hit song to come out of the album “Surrealistic Pillow,” after “Don’t You Want Somebody to Love.” “White Rabbit” really exemplified the West Coast psychedelic style of the 1967 Summer of Love, with its surrealistic lyrics and mindblowing crescendo. Grace Slick single handedly invented the concept of the powerhouse rocker female. Other important West Coast groups at this time were the Doors with “Light My Fire,” and the Byrds, with their cover of Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man.” Anybody going to San Francisco?

11. “Hey, Joe,” (1967). Jimi Hendrix. Working mainly in New York and London, he represents the Atlantic variant of the psychedelic rock scene. His guitar work and his performance style made him a trailblazer of that period, along with the Who and Cream. He is a giant of pop music history because he bridged black and white musical styles so successfully, and with his creativity helped to launch both the Heavy Metal style and the Funk style of the 1970s.

12. “Respect” (1968). Aretha Franklin. With the overwhelming impact of the British Invasion and the psychedelic styles, soul music had lost its luster as a vanguard form of pop music. Aretha changed that with her infusion of gospel and driving rhythms to the old formulas of Motown music, bringing the music back to its African-American roots. Respect is a perfectly appropriate title for this achievement, because suddenly the centrality of black music to the creative spirit of American pop music became indisputable.

13. “Living for the City,” (1973). Stevie Wonder. Profoundly significant both from a musical and a social perspective. The use of synthesizers and the spoken interlude in the song gave it an innovative structure. The social commentary and spoken dialog led the way for the development of rap music later in the decade.

14. “I Will Survive,” (1978). Gloria Gaynor. It is the anthem of the disco mania of the 1970s. Previous disco hits had been “The Hustle,” (1975) by Van McCoy and the Soul City Symphony, and “Tangerine,” (1976) by Salsoul Orchestra. These instrumentals allowed dancers to focus on the rhythms and steps as they learned the new dance crazes of the period, be they partner dances, like the Latin Hustle, or line dances like the Bus Stop. The 1977 film, “Saturday Night Fever” included songs with vocal parts by the BeeGees (Stayin’ Alive) and the Trammps, “Disco Inferno.” However, the lyrics to these songs were always secondary and usually barely intelligible. With the soaring vocal performance of Gloria Gaynor on this song, and the message in the lyrics, the hustle finally found its voice and came alive.

15. “Rapper’s Delight,” (1979). Sugar Hill Gang. This song marked the beginning of rap music. It is a moment of pop music history every bit as significant as anything done by Elvis or the Beatles. The rap style was soon perfected and packaged by other groups, notably Run-DMC, and went on to permeate Western pop music in the following decades.

16. “The Message” (1982). Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five. By infusing their verses with such powerful social commentary, they demonstrated the immense power of the rap style. The syncopated line of monosyllables, “Don’t push me ’cause I’m close to the edge, I’m try-in’ not to lose my head,” was unprecedented, and the little laugh that followed it was truly haunting. With their virtuoso command of language, they did for rap music what Bob Dylan did for folk rock. The form was brought to complete commercial fruition 13 years later with Coolio’s “Gangster’s Paradise,” (1995).

17. “Thriller,” (1982). Michael Jackson. A huge event. Musically, it was a synthesis of many styles that came before: funk, rock, r n b, disco, novelty song, but it was so much more than its parts, as it seamlessly fused these styles together. It was also the prototypical music video, a visual accomplishment that has never been duplicated. The album is the best selling album of all time.

18. “Like a Virgin,” (1984). Madonna. Both she and Cyndi Lauper crashed onto the music scene at the same time in 1983, as the first female performers to create every aspect of their onstage personas and to present themselves as performance artists rather than simply artists who perform. However, Lauper’s style remained idiosyncratic and inimitable, but Madonna’s style became a genre. She created the sexy, leggy female pop idol, in the tradition of male performers like Michael Jackson and Prince, and she was followed by an endless string of other women, some imitators, some artists in their own right.

19. “Conga,” (1985). Miami Sound Machine. It introduced English speaking music lovers to the Caribbean Hispanic style that had been percolating on the East coast for the previous two decades. Gloria Estefan’s clipped phrasing even gave the English lyrics a Spanish feeling. She matched or even surpassed this achievement with “Oye Mi Canto” in 1989. World Music and Latin fusion are concepts that began to take their present form here.

20. “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” (1991). Nirvana. The grunge style of the 1990s got its most iconic performance in this. Kurt Cobain’s stage persona and aesthetics have influenced all the alternative rock singers that have come after him, giving them an alternative to the fake cockney whines that had dominated before. The members of Nirvana were particularly articulate through their music and artistic statements, thus codifying the characteristics of this new style.

This is a list of twenty very different and unique songs, but there are certain characteristics. One striking thing is the low number of women on this list (six, including Grace Slick and Gloria Estefan). It seems that women have had a hard time being seen as innovators and being given the opportunity to take a lead role. An example of this double standard can be seen in the way that Mick Jagger, with his middle class British background from the opposite end of the English speaking world, never faced serious questioning about his embracing of black performance and musical styles, but Janis Joplin, born and raised in the Deep South, was criticized as being derivative or worse, and her reputation suffered for many years because of this. A clear division of styles along racial lines is, in fact, one of the most persistent traits of pop music even to this day. However, if such divides are normally seen as polarizing and undesirable elsewhere, that is not necessarily the case in pop music.

Here, they have created the terrain for multi-faceted and rich traditions that thrive on cross-pollination, and when we allow performers to bridge these gaps with their creativity, we get some of the greatest performers, such as Elvis Presley and Jimi Hendrix. As American pop music has grown in complexity, the opportunities have emerged for more productive mixtures, but the innovative spirit seems to have hit a dry patch. It remains to be seen where the next great song will come from; it’s been a long time coming.

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iPhone owners are getting excited about loading their new gizmos with iPhone music downloads. After all, the phone-cum-digital portable media player can store up to 100 songs easily and allow a playtime of up to 24 hours of audio. This article will show you 7 hot tips to find the top service befitting of your new toy when it comes to iPhone music downloads.

1. Free or Paid

Freebie seekers probably would argue with me on this. There is nothing wrong with wanting free iPhone music downloads. Who doesn’t anyway? But the trouble is that free websites that give you music for free are often associated with exposure to viruses, spyware and adware when downloading media files there. Our phones are too new and precious and to risk exposing them to these harmful elements is a No No.

How about downloading each iPhone song for $0.99 or more at online music services like HMV, iTunes and so on? People wouldn’t mind if it is only one or two song. But if we are going to load up at least a 100 songs or soundtracks, this is going to be expensive.

There are now services that offer a lifetime membership for a flat fee of lower than $49.95 to access unlimited iPhone music downloads. These are the real gems!

2. Variety & Size of iPhone Music Library

Music lovers probably have their preferred music. You may not like pop but to another, pop may really sound heavenly. If you love all kinds of music, go with the services that offer multiple genres from Rock, Hip Hop, R&B, Classical to many unheard music genre. Several top sites now offer over 100 million media files including music videos, TV shows and even movies and games.

3. Download Interface

This is a key feature that must not be overlooked. For easy navigation, the interface must be simple to use and does not take long to search and find your music files. One way to get a rough idea is to see how professionally done the site is and to read comments of existing users.

4. Software Applications for Download and Conversion

Several of the more established services are providing free software applications required to download iPhone music as well as movie and video files. They also provide the conversion software needed to convert movies and music file formats into iPhone-compatible formats. The top services also offer you a free DVD conversion software that transfer movies from DVDs to your iPhone.

5. Fast Downloading Speeds

Make sure that the download speeds are fast. Music file sizes are about 3-4 MB per song. Assuming you are downloading 20 songs at a go, the service must not limit your bandwidth usage by slowing down the speed. This is what some poorly run B-grade services do.

6. Safe Download Environment

Some services do not provide good secured environment with a high level of security and safety when you download iPhone music downloads. The last thing you want to worry about is adware, spyware and viruses that could make their way to your computer because the music store refuses to buck up on its system architecture.

7. After-sales Customer Care and Support

Many services just want to make more money. While they promise a 24/7 technical support to entice you to join them, they are hardly around when you need them to help troubleshoot when you face difficulties. Thankfully, there are a few reputable ones who can deliver an excellent level of after-sales service.

The origin of hip-hop can be traced back as far as the ancient tribes in Africa. Rap has been compared with the chants, drumbeats and foot-stomping African tribes performed before wars, the births of babies, and the deaths of kings and elders. Historians have reached further back than the accepted origins of hip-hop. It was born as we know it today in the Bronx, cradled and nurtured by the youth in the low-income areas of New York City.

Fast-forward from the tribes of Africa to the ghettos of Kingston, Jamaica in the late sixties. The impoverished of Kingston gathered together in groups to form DJ conglomerates. They spun roots and culture records and communicated with the audience over the music. At the time, the DJ’s comments weren’t as important as the quality of the sound system and its ability to get the crowd moving. Kool Herc grew up in this community before he moved to the Bronx.

During the late sixties, reggae wasn’t popular with New Yorkers. As a DJ, Kool Herc spun rhythm and blues records to please his party crowd. But, he had to add his personal touch. During the breaks, Herc began to speak to his audience as he had learned to do in Jamaica. He called out, the audience responded, and then he pumped the volume back up on the record. This call and response technique was nothing new to this community who’d been reared in Baptist and Methodist churches where call and response was a technique used by the speakers to get the congregation involved. Historians compare it to the call and response performed by Jazz musicians and was very much a part of the culture of Jazz music during the renaissance in Harlem.

Herc’s DJ style caught on. His party’s grew in popularity. He began to buy multiple copies of the same albums. When he performed his duties as a DJ, he extended the breaks by using multiple copies of the same records. He chatted, as it is called in dance hall, with his audience for longer and longer periods.

Others copied Herc’s style. Soon a friendly battle ensued between New York DJs. They all learned the technique of using break beats. Herc stepped up the game by giving shout-outs to people who were in attendance at the parties and coming up with his signature call and response. Other DJs responded by rhyming with their words when they spoke to the audience. More and more DJs used two and four line rhymes and anecdotes to get their audiences involved and hyped at these parties.

One day, Herc passed the microphone over to two of his friends. He took care of the turn table and allowed his buddies to keep the crowd hyped with chants, rhymes and anecdotes while he extended the breaks of different songs indefinitely. This was the birth of rap as we know it.

Hip-hop has evolved from the days of the basement showdowns to big business in the music industry. In the seventies and eighties, the pioneers and innovators of the rap record was the DJ. He was the guy who used his turntable to create fresh sounds with old records. Then, he became the guy who mixed these familiar breaks with synthesizers to produce completely new beats. Not much has changed in that aspect of hip-hop. The guy who creates the beat is still the heart of the track. Now, we call him the producer. Even though some DJs work as producers as well as DJs (quite a few start out as DJs before they become producers), today’s title “DJ” doesn’t carry the same connotative meaning it did in the eighties. Today’s hip-hop producer performs the same tasks as the eighty’s DJ.

Are you ready for Music Festivals 2011? We have a list of some of the most anticipated events of the year.

If you have an eclectic taste for music, there is no doubt that you enjoy attending festivals that offer a diverse range of bands. While there are a number of local music festivals that are held in metropolitan areas in the United States, there are also festivals that tour North America and have become infamous in the community of music lovers. If you are searching for a comprehensive music festivals 2011 calendar full of events that are planned for the upcoming year, refer to the most popular gatherings listed below:

Lollapalooza 2011

Lollapalooza is an annual music festival that features popular heavy metal, hip hop, rock, punk, and alternative bands to offer a diverse platform of music. Created in 1991 to expose newer bands to the community, Lollapalooza once toured United States and Canada. Now, after signing a deal to keep Lollapalooza in Chicago, the annual event is expected to be held in the Windy City between August 5 and August 7 in 2011. While the featuring bands still have not been listed, the music festivals future dates are expected to be the biggest in history as Lollapalooza 2011 marks the 20th birthday of the renowned event.

Coachella 2011

With the countdown on, music die-hards are anticipating Coachella 2011. While dates are set for April 15th through the 17th, the headliners and performing artists have yet to be confirmed. Coming off as the best-attended musical festivals 2010, 2011 is expected to be just as big. Organized by Goldenvoice and held in Indio, California, the event features a variety of different genres of music ranging from alternative rock and electronic music to hip hop and punk rock. With several different stages set up throughout dedicated camp grounds, live music is played continuously throughout the three day event. While the concept originated in 1993, Coachella has become a music festival that has gained a loyal fan following from music lovers around the nation.

South by Southwest 2011

South by Southwest is an annual music and film festival that encourages rookies to showcase their musical and artistic talents. With compelling entertainment for audiences, this launching pad has been a success year after year and sparked career development for many. In 2011, South by Southwest celebrates its 25th anniversary and this event is expected to be the best yet. While there are thousands of registrants wanting to showcase their talents, no announcements have been made yet as to who will perform.

Be sure to keep your ears open for news of the lineups as most are still unconfirmed. However, go ahead and schedule that time off for your favorite music festivals 2011, you won’t want to miss it.