Popular Music

50s, 60s, 70s, 80s

The 1950s

• Big Band and Swing era ends. Pop music begins.• The beginning of fan hysteria.• First half – Crooners Dominate (Perry Como, Patti

Page)• Second half – Rock and Roll Dominates (Elvis

Presley, Chuck Berry, Pat Boone)• Electric instruments developing.• Development mainly in North America.• The focus is on an individual artist.

Popular Genres and Artists of the 1950s

• Crooners – Patti Page, Perry Como, Nat King Cole

• Rock and Roll – Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Pat Boone

• R&B – Little Richard• Blues – Fats Domino,

Ray Charles• Jazz – John Coltrane,

Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk

Popular Genres and Artists of the 1950s

• Country – Patsy Cline, Bill Monroe, Chet Atkins, Johnny Cash

• Folk – The Kingston Trio, Harry Belafonte, Pete Seeger

• Latin – Ritchie Valens, Daniel Flores

The 1960s

• Formation and evolution of Rock.• Development in N. America and Europe.• More international sound (influences from foreign music).• Singer – songwriter – more musicians wrote their own

original music.• British Invasion• Woodstock – August 1969• More genres and subgenres.• More of a focus on the group, rather than the individual.

Popular Genres and Artists of the 1960s. - UK

• Rock, British Invasion – The Beatles, The Kinks, The Yardbirds

• Blues Rock – Rolling Stones

• Psychedelic –The Who, Cream

Popular Genres and Artists of the 1960s. - USA

• Folk – Bob Dylan, The Mamas and the Papas, Simon and Garfunkel

• Psychedelic – The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix

• Surf – The Beach Boys, The Surfaris

• Pop – The Monkees, Chubby Checker

• Motown – The Temptations, The Supremes

• Bossa Nova – Stan Getz, Sergio Mendes

The 1970s

• Psychedelic rock loses popularity after deaths and break-ups of performers.

• Growth in electronic music.• Emphasis on dance music (disco)• New genres.• Development spreading around the world,

however main developments in music are still in the USA and UK.

Popular Genres and Artists of the 1970s

• Disco – the Bee Gees, Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor

• New Wave –The Knack, Blondie

• Hard Rock/Heavy Metal – Led Zeppelin, Queen, Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, AC/DC

• Southern – Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers

Popular Genres and Artists of the 1970s

• Punk –The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, The Clash

• Soft Rock – The Osmonds, The Carpenters, Fleetwood Mac

• R&B – James Brown, Stevie Wonder

• Country – Willie Nelson, Glen Campbell, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn

Popular Genres and Artists of the 1970s

• Pop – Elton John, ABBA

• Progressive – Pink Floyd, Yes, Jethro Tull

• Reggae – The Wailers, Desmond Dekker

The 1980s

• Emergence of new genres.• Continuation and development of genres from the

late 70s.• Rise in dance and pop music.• Increase in use of digital synthesizers and

improved recording technology.• MTV gave viewers easy access to new music.• Pop as we know it today became a prominent

genre.

Popular Genres and Artists from the 1980s

• Pop – Michael Jackson, Madonna, Rick Astley, Whitney Houston, Phil Collins… tons

• Hard Rock – Guns n’ Roses, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Joan Jett

• Metal – Metallica, Iron Maiden• Alternative Rock – R.E.M.,

The Bangles, The Pixies• Post Punk- The Smiths,

The Police, The Cure

Popular Genres and Artists from the 1980s

• Contemporary R&B – Kool & the Gang, Diana Ross, Earth, Wind, and Fire

• Hip Hop – Doug E. Fresh, Biz Markie, Beastie Boys

• Soft Rock – Bruce Springsteen, Tracy Chapman

• New Wave – The Go-Gos, Duran Duran, the B52’s, Culture Club

• Synth Pop – Pet Shop Boys, Eurythmics, Depeche Mode

Popular Genres and Artists from the 1980s

• Latin – Menudo, Los Chicos de Puerto Rico

• Japan – Shonen Knife, X Japan