Music,+a+Reflection+of+Society

Music is something that has influenced and reflected us and our society forever. The artists, the sound, the lyrics, everything, even what or who it plays from. Every decade was influenced and reflected differently. Music is almost like a first hand account of life in the past.

**__Music Technology __**
Throughout the decades the record player has turned into a boom box and that changed to the ipod/MP3 player. What music is played from also reflects society, it shows the technology and how advanced it is along with society.

**__The Phonograph __**

The first thing to ever record and playback sounds or music was the phonograph. Thomas Edison happened to come upon the phonograph, more so than inventing it, in the late 1800's while working on a way to improve the the telegraph's efficientcy. The phonograph worked with cylinders and two needles. Edison made it so you spoke into a mouthpiece and one needle etched the sound vibrations into a tinfoil cylinder and when he played it back the other needle ran around the etchings replaying the sound. Before this invention, people listened to music sung by someone or played on an instrument.The phonograph made music portable, moving music technology forward, and society was moving along with it. Society in the 1800's was using more technology, America was industrializing itself. The U.S. was using more electricity, petroleum; steel/iron making improved and the telephone/telegraph were more widely used.

**__The Boombox __** The boombox was iconic of the 80's and 90's, but it was created in the 70's. When some people think of the 80's or 90's they might imagine the stereotype of a guy with baggy pants, a tank-top, baseball cap on crooked, and a boombox on their shoulder.

True, some people did this but most did not. Boomboxes played radio and cassette tapes, (Anybody remember those? You know the things before CD's.). The boombox was easily carried around and it played radio stations so people had their favorite music accessible wherever they went. It ran on batteries so it ran on "portable power". The boombox has also been called the ghetto blaster because the technology allowed for volume. Ghetto blasters were modern in the 80's and 90's and designed to look modern. They were angular and incorporated geometric shapes- circles, rectangles, etc., and they were shiny- made to look like they were chrome. Society was alike in this style, modernization. People who used the boombox were mainly younger, obivously the "modern" people of the decades. **__Music Tech of Today __**

It moves ahead so fast you don't know if you have newest model or if yours is obsolete. Things have gotten so advanced, phones/ipods- they play music, they have internet, they're touchscreen, the only question: What can't they do?; The answer, who knows?(Seriously I'd like to know!) In this generation (the Y), we rely on technology. Some people are so attached to their phones they can't have them put away for over 5 minutes. Our society was built on computers and microchips. People now are defined by their technology.

[] [] [] __ History book __ [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] ||
 * Soruces

**__ Music of the 1920's __**
==The 1920's, or Roaring Twenties, a decade of gangsters, flaming youth, flappers, and jazz. In the 20's, jazz emerged in the U.S. It was hot, new, and good for dancing to; just what the population liked. Jazz and ragtime dominated dance halls, clubs, roadhouses, radios, and the speakeasies; clubs were popping up in the cities, and people flocked to them. The music reflected feelings and lifestyles of society. Since jazz was new in the U.S. new artists tried to find their sound or rhythm. The music surfaced worldwide. It was new and hadn't been done before. America was also breaking out, jazz was the first contribution from America to the music world. ==

==Society and music in this decade went together hand-in-hand, (or like peanut butter and jelly, your preference); where people went music was there, if music went wild and upbeat that's how people danced. The music break out mirrored the emergence of the flaming youth and flappers. These people went against society's "rules" and dared to be different. The flappers were women who weren't afraid wear make-up and shorten their skirts and their hair, they were very popular during the 20's. The flaming youth were the guy equivalent to a flapper, having a different, cool style. Both were against the prohibition, and kept up the demand for alcohol. ==

**__ Music of the 1950's __**
==The 1950's was the birth of Rock'n'Roll. Technology was entering society and making itself comfortable, it was here to stay. These were the "happy days", people's lives were perfect and life was going just swell (no sarcasm intended). These "Happy Days" as people called them were really just that, happy, people just went on with their lives. Society was moving forward and the music shows us how. == ==The biggest effect the music had on this decade was probably that it separated the teenagers from the adults, especially rock'n'roll. But, Rock'n'Roll wasn't the only music, it was the most popular, but there were other genres. The other genres included jazz, bebop, country, rhythm, and the blues. Music in the 50's was about rebellion, just look at the lyrics, writers did not write like this or about this, it was rebellious to "normal" ways. The youth were rebelling in society and that's why they liked the music so much, it's a way to communicate with hundreds of people who share your ideas. ==

[] || [] || [] || ** Too much love drives a man insane ** ** You broke my will ** ** But what a thrill ** ** Goodness gracious great balls of fire! ** ** I laughed at love cause I thought it was funny ** ** but you came along and moooooved me honey ** ** I've changed my mind ** ** This love is fine ** ** Goodness gracious great balls of fire! ** ** Kiss me baby ** ** Mmmm feels good ** ** Hold me baby ** ** Welll I want to love you like a lover should ** ** You're fine, so kind ** ** Got to tell this world that you're mine mine mine mine ** ** I chew my nails and I twiddle my thumbs ** ** I'm real nervous but it sure is fun ** ** C'mon baby, you drive me crazy ** ** Goodness gracious great balls of fire! ** ** (piano solo) ** ** Welll kiss me baby ** ** Mmmm feels good ** ** Hold me baby ** ** Welll I want to love you like a lover should ** ** You're fine, so kind ** ** Got to tell this world that you're mine mine mine mine ** ** I chew my nails and I twiddle my thumbs ** ** I'm real nervous but it sure is fun ** ** C'mon baby, drive me crazy ** ** Goodness gracious great balls of fire! ** == Society was also becoming more technological with TV, the Space Race, and huge computers. (No lie **__ room sized __** computers.) The rebellious teens were listening to "sinful" music, and going to/watching concerts that had scandalous dancing, like Elvis Presley's pelvic thrusts, (What would they say about today's performances?). The rebellion of the 50's somehow morphed into the psychedelic 60's, we'll look over that next. ==
 * Click to hear Nature Boy: Nat King Cole
 * Click to hear Jailhouse Rock: Elvis Presley
 * Click to hear Great Balls of Fire: Jerry Lee Lewis
 * Great Balls of Fire, by Jerry Lee Lewis **
 * You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain **

**__ Music of the 1960's __**
==The 60's was the decade of war and peace, the Vietnam War and the peace loving hippies, who were protesting the war. (There were some normal people; you just don't hear about them because they were hiding.) 60's music is probably the most colorful, psychedelic music you'll ever hear. It was a mix of protesting, drug influences, Woodstock, and well, everything. == ==The early 60's music was influenced by the "British Invasion", dominated by The Beatles. Other bands taking part in the invasion: The Rolling Stones, Herman's Hermits, The Kinks, The Dave Clark Five, and many more. (I'm not a 60's fan. So if anyone knows a lot about any of these bands, please enlighten me.) The songs by the bands of the "British Invasion" were about ideal everyday life, like falling in love, having everyone work together, the usual theme for songs. ==

[] || [] || ==<span style="background: #1affc5; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">By the Mid to Late 60's motown, classic rock, and the hippie/folk music started to play a bigger role in what people listened to. Motown was an African American dominated music genre, that brought African American's voices out in the decade. This was also a step further towards their Civil Rights because the motown "industry" was built and controlled by African Americans. It was also the most successful black owned record company in the U.S. Singers you may have heard of in motown include: Diana Ross & The Supremes, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, and many others. ==
 * Click to hear I'm into Something Good: Herman's Hermits
 * Click to hear Come Together: The Beatles

[] || [] || ==<span style="background: #1affc5; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">The Hippie's music was similar to folk music, it sent people a message. Their music represented their wants and beliefs, which shaped the Hippie Society. Hippies wanted peace, free use of drugs, and free love; so naturally, they wrote that into songs. Musicians such as The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, and many, many others. This music was widely heard at Woodstock, 3days of peace, free love, drugs, etc. (It was hippie heaven.) The counterculture of the 60's is truly revealed through music. ==
 * Click to hear I Heard It Through The Grapevine: Marvin Gaye
 * Click to hear My Girl: The Temptations

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 * Click to hear Purple Haze: Jimi Hendrix
 * Click to hear Piece of My Heart: Janis Joplin
 * Click to hear Evil Ways: Santana

**__ Music of the 1980's __**
==<span style="background: #9f0404; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">The 80's is most famous for Rock'n'Roll and hair bands. The 80's had boomed in technology, with the boombox, the electric guitars, CD's instead of the huge records, video games, space technology, and even more. ==

==<span style="background: #9f0404; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">The music of the 80's was Rock and Pop was up and coming quickly, there was also metal, country, and other genres, but Rock was the primary choice of music. The hair bands, we can all picture them: leather, make-up, and of course big hair. These things represent 80's music. The music was about mainly love and politics in the world (Example "The Man in Charge".), there were some other subjects but they were more random. ==

[] || [] || [] || ==<span style="background: #9f0404; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">Society was reflected in music, AIDS had an epidemic in the U.S., (you can fill in the rest on that one), the Berlin Wall came down, and communism ended. Rockstars and Popstars were huge Celebrities, like Def Leppard, Madonna, Arrowsmith, Kiss, and that's not even the begining. The young people followed Madonna's and Michael Jackson's fashion as well as other stars. The 80's was a decade where the older adults thought the young adults and teenagers just didn't care what happened. The 80's is also known as the "ME" decade. == <span style="background: #9f0404; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;"> <span style="background: #9f0404; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">
 * Click to hear Paradise City: Guns N Roses
 * Click to hear Pour Some Sugar on Me: Def Leppard
 * Click to hear Like a Prayer: Madonna

**__ Music of Today __**
==<span style="background: #eb009b; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">(Note: When I give song examples, it doesn't mean I'm trying to dis them, they just work really well as an example.) == ==<span style="background: #eb009b; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">Today we rely so much on technology for everything and music is no exception. There is a variety of music but the central genre is pop. There are hundreds of artists in pop music, which is why the genre is so diverse. (If you're complaining right now your music is rock, stop; I'm catagorizing by what the radio and computer say. See more technology!) Music of today uses technology for basically everything, even buying/downloading music. We have computers with us constantly, laptops, phones, ipods, etc. Our society is built on computers. ==

==<span style="background: #eb009b; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">The music of today is very suggestive and influenced with sexuality, in some songs it is more obivous than others. (Rihnna's S&M, very obvious.) In the present music is written all to do with love; falling in love, breaking up, suggesting things, and an occasional other subject. Some songs have no meaning at all and are just for pleasure of dance or listening, like Lady Gaga's Just Dance. ==

==<span style="background: #eb009b; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">A lot of people listen to music, few actually hear what it's saying. (Give a try you'd be surprised what you notice.) Going back to technology, in some songs it is used so much that there's barely any singing. Some songs are created almost all on the computer. The Black Eyed Peas' Just Can't Get Enough has lots of technology involved in the song and other songs. ==

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 * Click to hear Just Can't Get Enough: Black Eyed Peas
 * Click to hear Country Song: Seether
 * Click to hear Poker Face: Lady Gaga