A History of Rock Music 1951-2008.pdf

(5482 KB) Pobierz
126392535 UNPDF
The History of
Rock Music:
1951-2008
(Copyright © 2009 Piero Scaruffi)
 
Table of Contents
Preface    
1. From subculture to counterculture (roughly 1951‐1966)   
2. The classics (roughly 1966‐1969)   
3. The Seventies (roughly 1970‐75)   
6. Sound 1973‐78    
4. Punk and New Wave (roughly 1976‐88)   
2. The New Wave    
3. Punk‐rock    
8. Gothic Rock    
10. Hardcore    
11. College‐pop    
14. Noise‐rock    
22. Extreme Hardcore    
23. Industrial‐metal    
5. The Indie Revolution (roughly 1989‐1994)   
3. Post‐rock    
11. Slo‐core    
13. Foxcore    
15. Alt‐pop    
16. Grunge    
21. Gothic Rock    
6. The Cyber Age (roughly 1995‐2001)   
2. Drum'n'Bass    
3. Trip‐hop    
5. Ambience    
6. Africa    
8. Exuberance    
10. Violence    
11. Confusion    
12. Depression    
13. Doom    
7. The Digital Age (roughly 2001‐08)   
4. Tunesmiths    
5. Populists    
6. Intellectuals    
7. Clubbers    
8. Rockers    
9. Trippers    
PREFACE
There is not one single history of rock music. There are several.
There is the history of the hits. Most books on rock music are histories of the hits. The
charts decide, i.e. the masses decide. Marx would have loved it, except there is a
catch: the masses tend to buy what is publicized by the media, which is what
corporations pay money to publicize. Marketing decides the charts. Invest a few
million dollars on me and even I, regardless of my musical talent, will break into the
charts, i.e. will become part of "that" history of rock music. Most books on the subject
are, in fact, books about the music industry. Very often, the profile of a musician is
simply a list of her/his successes in the Billboard charts ("that album broke into the
charts", "that album hit #5", "that album sold one million copies"). In other words,
books on rock music tend to treat musicians like corporations or start-ups, judging
them by their revenues, profits and marketing strategy.
Then there are national versions of the history of rock music. Italians have been more
exposed to British music than USA music. The Eagles and Creedence Clearwater
Revival are hardly known, whereas the Moody Blues and David Bowie are almost
household names. The history of rock music viewed from Italy is sharply different
from the history of rock music viewed from, say, Boston.
Finally, there are the individual histories of rock music. Each person grew up with a
different set of idols, and tends to center the history of rock music around those idols,
whether Led Zeppelin or Doobie Brothers.
My history of rock music is not a history of the charts (which i consider an
aberration), it is not a national version (i have lived in three continents and have
traveled to some 120 countries), and it is not an individual version (i grew up with
classical music, literature and science, not with rock music).
I simply listened to a lot of music, researched the origins of the various styles, and
drew my conclusions. Very often, i was unaware of how many records an artist sold (I
learned it later, when thousands of fans sent me nasty complaints). Very often, i am
unaware of what was popular in Italy or Boston.
Also, i feel no particular sympathy for any rock musician. My "idols" are Ernst,
Shostakovic, Pessoa, Coltrane... not rock musicians.
This is the most subjective history of rock music that one could possibly write. But
also the most impartial, independent, and balanced.
It ends up being mostly a history of "alternative" rock music. While this is a gross
approximation, it has become customary to separate "mainstream" music and
"alternative" music. If you do what i did (listen to the music without letting marketing
& sales influence you), it is very unlikely that you will end up selecting the musicians
who topped the charts, and very likely that you will be impressed by countless
obscure recordings that were twenty years ahead of their time even though nobody
heard them.

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika:

Zgłoś jeśli naruszono regulamin