Monday, March 4th, 2024
Our strength grows out of our weaknesses.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
MUS106 Lecture: 70s Diversity Part 1
Creative Projects due Friday
- AM radio sucks for music (poor fidelity)
- 1965: FCC mandates AM vs FM programming (FM has much better fidelity; sufficient for studio quality recording)
- radio station can FM bandwidth for free, but need to provide public service (can’t just take existing program on AM to FM, and required to provide better program on the FM band)
- radio stations in need of new content for FM
- Album Oriented Rock (AOR) – radio format
- arose from need for more radio content
- case study #1
- college markets play entire sides of popular & lesser-known albums
- better fidelity, more interesting music (not just billboard top)
- audience develops deeper understanding of artists and discovers new artists/genres
- Davis Bowie
- ”glam rock” / “glitter rock”
- theatrical rock: costumes, make-up, extra-musical devices
- The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust (1972)
- 27 studio albums
- early advocate for gender fluidity
- George Clinton
- member of two bands: Parliament (doo-wop party band), Funkadelic (avant-garde, like Sun-Ra)
- combined the two bands into “P-Funk”
- Mothership Connection (1976?)
- album character: Dr. Funkenstein
- Queen
- commercial success: 16 #1 albums, 16 #1 singles, 300 million units sold
- lead vocal: Freddie Mercury
- what genre?
- Anthem Rock
- ”We Will Rock You” (1977)
- “We Are the Champions” (1977)
- Huh?
- ”Bicycle Race” (1978)
- “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1975)
- mimics operatic structure — 180 overdubs
- Anthem Rock
- case study #2 (winner)
- radio stations hire Network Program Director to create focus-group driven, profit-driven playlists
- record labels hire “independent promoters” to “influence” (lobby) radio stations (Payola workaround)
- limited playlists, broadcast homogeneity
- amplification (amp) technology
- 1966: The Beatles used a 700W PA system at 1st arena show
- band members couldn’t even hear themselves playing (audience too loud, PA too weak)
- 1970: Grateful Dead used 20,000W PA system at Fox Theater
- 1976: The Who used a PA system that produced 126 dB on the street
- three people lost consciousness because of its loudness
- better amp → bigger audiences (20k-50k)
- coincided with NHL & NBA expansions → bigger arenas, can be used by artists to tour
- Arena Rock born
- 1966: The Beatles used a 700W PA system at 1st arena show
- Arena Rock
- aliases: Stadium Rock, Yacht Rock, Dad Rock, Melodic Rock, Anthem Rock, Adult-Oriented Rock (also abbreviated as AOR)
- diverse range: music that people can sing along to, etc
- bands include: Boston, Grand Funk Railroad, Queen, Toto
- big albums
- Frampton Comes Alive! (1976)
- records multiple live shows and mix down into an album
- #1 for 10 weeks
- Rumerous, Fleetwood Mac (1977)
- #1 for 31 weeks
- 10 million units sold in 1st year
- compared to Sgt Pepper’s - 2.5 million sold in 1st year
- Frampton Comes Alive! (1976)
- ”Corporate Rock”
- corporate investment in record industry
- invests in record labels
- looks for big albums & big tours
- AOR ← radio stations + advertising
- Progressive Rock
- innovation-focused
- goal: develop rock into “high art form” (Jon Anderson)
- developed from psychedelic musical ideas
- musical traits
- unusual instrumentation (e.g. synthesizer)
- virtuosity (band members usually have classical training in instruments like flute, violin, sax)
- odd meters & forms
- obscure references in music (e.g. Tolkien)
- long song lengths
- ”Close to the Edge”
- 18 minutes long
- inspired by Tolkien, Sibelius symphonies, Siddhartha, and a dream
- intro: tape loop
- artwork: Roger Dean
- Pink Floyd
- The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
- studio techniques: tape loops, synth, sound effects
- unbanded album
- concept of album: madness
- billboard #1
- The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)