Music & Pop Culture
Pop music
Early Pop music (until 1940)
Charleston:
The Charleston is a dance named for the harbor city of Charleston, South Carolina (US). The rhythm was popularized in mainstream dance music in the United States by a 1923 tune called "The Charleston". The peak year for the Charleston as a dance by the public was mid-1926 to 1927.
While the dance probably came from the "star" or challenge dances that were all part of the African-American dance called Juba, the particular sequence of steps which appeared in Runnin' Wild was probably newly devised for popular appeal. Normally, this style used brass instruments within a piano, a double bass, without percussion section. Charleston can be danced solo, or with a partner. Its simple, flexible basic step makes it easy to concentrate on styling, improvisation, and musicality. Josephine Baker was the major artist in this style.
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Today Charleston is an important dance in Lindy Hop dance culture, danced in many permutations: alone (solo), with a partner, or in groups of couples or solo dancers. The basic step allows for a vast range of variations and improvisation. Both the 20s and Swinging Charleston styles are popular today, though swinging Charleston is more commonly integrated into Lindy Hop dancing.
Country:
Country music is a musical genre that originated in the southern United States in the early 1920s. It takes its roots from genres such as folk music (especially Appalachian folk music) and blues, but also European folk music.
Country music often consists of ballads and dance tunes with generally simple forms, folk lyric and harmonies accompanied by mostly string instruments such as banjos, electric and acoustic guitars, steel guitars (such as pedal steels and dobros), and fiddles as well as harmonicas. Blues modes have been used extensively throughout its recorded history.
The term country music is used today to describe many styles and subgenres.
The origins of country music are the folk music of working-class Americans, who blended popular songs, Irish and Celtic fiddle tunes, traditional English ballads, and cowboy songs, and various musical traditions from European immigrant communities.
Instruments used in this style have changed through time, but normally it used a combination of guitars, banjos, piano, harmonica and a little percussion set. There were lots of rock bands in this style, but the first ones to success were the Carter Family and Vermon Halda
Boogie:
Boogie was an American style of music born in the 20's and it got its peak in the 30's. The boogie was originally played on the piano, but the characteristic rhythm and feel of the boogie were then adapted to guitar, double bass, and other instruments. By the 1930s, Swing bands such as Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and Louis Jordan all had boogie hits. By the 1950s, boogie became incorporated into the emerging rockabilly and rock and roll styles. In the late 1980s and the early 1990s country bands released country boogies. Today, the term "boogie" usually refers to dancing to pop, disco, or rock music.
Some regular instruments in boogie music were piano, voices, brass instruments, and drum set. Some people said that the origin of this music is in the 19th Century ragtime. It used a fast tempo, and catchy lyrics. Some artist of this style were the Andrew Sisters, Hersal Thomas and Albert Ammon.
Boogie Woogie Stomp - Albert Ammon & his Rhythm Kings
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy - The Andrew Sisters
The Fives - Thomas Brothes (perf. Luca Sestak)
Hersal's Blues - Hersal Thomas ​
Sh-Boom - The Crew Cuts
Doo Wop:
Doo-wop is a genre of music that was developed in African-American communities of various U.S. cities as New York City or Los Angeles in the 1940s, achieving mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. Its origins are related to swing music from the twenties. Built upon vocal harmony, doo-wop was one of the most mainstream pop styles of the time. Doo-wop features vocal group harmony, nonsense syllables, a simple beat, sometimes little or no instrumentation, and simple music and lyrics. It's featured by the use of a high tenor singing the lead and a bass singer reciting the lyrics in the middle of the song. Instruments are not important but they usually used a piano, a drum set, and a bass. Lyrics are about positive love and good feelings.
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During the late 1950s, many Italian-American groups contributed a significant part in the doo-wop scene. The peak of doo-wop was in 1961. Doo-wop's influence continued in soul, pop, and rock groups of the 1960s. At various times in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, the genre has seen revivals. Doo-wop was a precursor to many of the African-American musical styles seen today. An evolution of jazz and blues, doo-wop also influenced many of the major rock and roll groups that defined the later decades of the 20th century. Doo-wop is iconic for its swing-like beats and using the off-beat to keep time. Doo-wop laid the foundation for many musical innovations, for example, R&B.
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Some artists of this style were The Platters and the Chordettes.
Rock'n Roll rules (1950's)
Rock'n Roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll or rock 'n' roll) is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and 1950s, primarily from a combination of African-American genres such as blues, and country music. Though elements of rock and roll can be heard in blues records from the 1920s and in country records of the 1930s, the genre did not acquire its name until the 1950s.
In the rock and roll styles, either the piano or saxophone was often the lead instrument, but these were generally replaced or supplemented by guitar. Rock and rollis usually played with one or two electric guitars (one lead, one rhythm), a string bass, and a drum set. Beyond simply a musical style, rock and roll, as seen in movies and on television, influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language. Usually, rock'n roll lyrics were about have a good time, have fun, dance, so lyrics are extremely easy to understand, repetitive specially on the chorus. It's possible to make reference to sex, but always in a hidden way because of the social pressure and the need to sell music.
Rock'n Roll songs are not to long, because of the media (vinyls could only include three minutes) and the bored effect of a repetitive chorus. Almost all rock'n roll songs used the song form (verse and chorus structure).
Rockabilly:
Rockabilly was a musical product taken from the rock'n roll success. Rock'n Roll was black music, and US society and US music industry tried to copy the success of this genre into a new genre. The name 'rockabilly' was taken from a 1940's music, influenced by blues and country music (folk american music). This new style used the same instruments than the rock'n roll, but normally included choir and sometimes a bow string orchestra. The lyrics were softer than R'nR, talking about youth, true love and friendship. Somehow, this music tried to attach a whole white generation to the principles of the former generations. Rhythm in this style was a secondary element, and usually used a slow-mid tempo. It was born in US, specially in Tennessee and and Memphis, around 1955. Initially, it was popularised by artists such as the Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins.
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British Invation (1960's)
Beat:
It was developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. Beat music is a fusion of rock and roll and rockabilly. It is said beat included the rock'n roll rhythm with the rockabilly fancy and lyrics. The genre provided many of the bands responsible for the British invasion of the American pop charts starting in 1964, and provided the model for many important developments in pop and rock music, including the format of the rock group around lead and rhythm guitar and bass with drums. They also took vocal harmonies from rockabilly style.
Lyrics were deep feeling, but simple and easy to remember. The music form used was the song form. The most important rock band was The Beatles, but not the only one: The Hollies, the Searches, the Animals
Rock:
Rock was one of the most famous styles from the sixties. It was a developed of black rock'n roll music, with some characteristics from blues, beat and country music. One of the purposes of rock music was to retake the blues experience. It was developed in both US and UK. It is said that the Beatles and The Rolling Stones developed this style in America, listening to American rock bands. In fact, Rock was the solution to a musical crisis: Rock'n Roll wasn't in fashion and beat was too sweet for a grow-up audience. So Rock music was presented as the music of a new generation.
Rock music used the same instruments than beat music, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, drum set and electric bass, but the way they sang was different: the singer normally used burning-up words and inappropriate language on the lyrics, and kind of broken voice (just like blues did). There was a predominance of the guitar and the drum set (guitars dominated line ups and guitar solo was taken from RnR music, and rock music always used a fast tempo, in 4/4 bar. Some bands were the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Cream, the Yardbirds, the Beach Boys and Fleetwood Mac.
Psychedelic Rock:
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It often uses new recording techniques and effects and draws on non-Western sources such as the ragas and drones of Indian music.
It was pioneered by musicians including the Beatles, the Byrds, and the Yardbirds, emerging as a genre during the mid-1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in the United Kingdom andUnited States, such as Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, the Doors and Pink Floyd. It reached a peak in between 1967 and 1969 with the Summer of Love and Woodstock Rock Festival, respectively, becoming an international musical movement and associated with a widespread counterculture, before beginning a decline as changing attitudes, the loss of some key individuals and a back-to-basics movement, led surviving performers to move into new musical areas.
Psychedelic rock influenced the creation of psychedelic pop and psychedelic soul. It also bridged the transition from early blues- and folk music-based rock to progressive rock, glam rock, hard rock and as a result influenced the development of sub-genres such as heavy metal. Since the late1970s it has been revived in various forms of neo-psychedelia.
Progressive Rock:
Progressive rock, also known as prog rock or prog, is a rock music subgenre that originated in the United Kingdom. It developed from psychedelic rock, and originated, similarly to art rock, as an attempt to give greater artistic weight and credibility to rock music.Bands abandoned the short pop single in favor of instrumentation and compositional techniques more frequently associated with jazz or classical music in an effort to give rock music the same level of musical sophistication and critical respect.
Progressive rock abandons the danceable beat that defines rock& roll and beat and is more likely to experiment with compositional structure, instrumentation, harmony and rhythm, and lyrical content. It may demand more effort on the part of the listener than other types of music. Musicians in progressive rock typically display a high degree of instrumental skill. Musical forms are blurred through the use of extended sections and of musical interludes that bridge separate sections together, which results in classical-style suites. Early progressive rock groups expanded the timbral palette of the then-traditional rock instrumentation by adding instruments more typical of folk music, jazz or music in the classical tradition. A number of bands, especially at the genre's onset, recorded albums in which they performed together with a full orchestra. Progressive rock artists are more likely to explore complex time signatures such as 5/8 and 7/8. Tempo, key and time signature changes are common within progressive rock compositions.
Songs were replaced by musical suites that often stretched to 20 or 40 minutes in length and contained symphonic influences, extended musical themes, philosophical, mystical and/or surreal lyrics and complex orchestrations.
Progressive rock saw a high level of popularity with bands such as Jethro Tull, The Moody Blues, Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer or Deep Purple.
Rhythm'n Blues:
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Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B or RnB, is a genre of popular African-American music that originated in the 1940s, but took some relevance during the 60's. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a heavy, insistent beat" was becoming more popular. In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, the bands usually consisted of piano, one or two guitars, bass, drums, saxophone, and commonly background vocalists. R&B lyrical themes often encapsulate the African-American experience of pain and the quest for freedom and joy. Lyrics focus heavily on the themes of triumphs and failures in terms of relationships, freedom, economics, aspirations, and sex.
In its origins, RnB got the musical feeling of jazz, especially blues, but with the born of R'nR the style suffered a mix-up with new genres.
Some artist of RnB were Aretha Franklin, The Chords, BoDidley, Sam Cooke
Soul:
Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the United States in early 1960s. It combined elements of African-American gospel music, rhythm and blues, and often jazz. Soul music became popular for dancing and listening in the United States – where record labels such as Motown, Atlantic and Stax labels were influential during the period of the civil rights movement. Soul also became popular around the world, directly influencing rock music and the music of Africa.
Just as the word describes, soul style is full of passion, sousually lyrics are about love, civil rights or personal freedom. The tempo uses to be slower than RnB and it uses a choir and even a string orchestra. Perhaps the most important enhancement was the kind of voice required for this style: a powerful voice full of vibrato. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps and extemporaneous body moves, are an important feature of soul music. Other characteristics are a call and response between the soloist and the chorus, and an especially tense vocal sound. The style also occasionally uses improvisational additions, twirls and auxiliary sounds.
Some artist in this style were Ray Charles, Otis Redding, Ben E. King, Marvin Gaye or the Temptations.
Folk:
It is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States around the mid-1960s. The genre was pioneered by the Los Angeles band The Byrds, who began playing traditional folk music and Bob Dylan-penned material with rock instrumentation, in a style heavily influenced by The Beatles and other British bands.
In a broader sense, folk rock includes later similarly-inspired musical genres and movements in the English-speaking world (and its Celtic and Filipino fringes) and, to a lesser extent, elsewhere in Europe. As with any genre, the borders are difficult to define. Folk rock may lean more toward folk or toward rock in its instrumentation, its playing and vocal style, or its choice of material; while the original genre draws on music of Europe and North America, there is no clear delineation of which folk cultures music might be included as influences.
Folk music tries to use non-electric instruments, but it can be perfectly normal to use them from time to time. The most important instrument is the acoustic guitar, but sometimes it can be a bass, drum set or another kind of instruments. The lyrics are usually about your own experience in life, spiritual issues or even political criticism.
This style was very close to the hippie movement and philosophy. Some rock bands and artist related with this style were Bob Dylan, The Animals, Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, Simon & Garfunkel or Donovan.
Country:
Country rock music is a genre of American popular music that originated in the United States in the 1960s. It takes its roots from the southeastern genre of American folk music called Country music and Bluegrass from jazz.
Country music often consists of ballads and dance tunes with generally simple forms and harmonies accompanied by mostly string instruments such as banjos, electric and acoustic guitars, dobros and fiddles as well as harmonicas. Drum sets put a rock taste in this music.
The term country music is used today to describe many styles and subgenres. The origins of country music are the folk music of mostly white, working-class Americans, who blended popular songs, Irish and Celtic fiddle tunes, traditional ballads, and cowboy songs, and various musical traditions from European immigrant communities.
Some artist are Johnny Cash, Charlie McCoy and Creedence Clearwater Revival
Reggae:
Reggae is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. Stylistically, reggae incorporates some of the musical elements of rhythm and blues, jazz, African music, as well as other genres. One of the most easily recognizable elements is offbeat rhythms; staccato chords played by a guitar or piano (or both) on the offbeats of the measure. The concept of "call and response" can be found throughout reggae music.
The bass guitar often plays the dominant role in reggae. The bass sound in reggae is thick and heavy and equalized so the upper frequencies are removed and the lower frequencies emphasized. The guitar in reggae usually plays on the offbeat of the rhythm. It is common for reggae to be sung in Jamaican English. Reggae is noted for its tradition of social criticism and religion in its lyrics, although many reggae songs discuss lighter, more personal subjects, such as love and socializing.
Reggae has spread to many countries across the world, often incorporating local instruments and fusing with other genres. The main character of this style was Bob Marley. Other artists were Jimmy Cliff or Prince Buster
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Dance & Rock (1970's)
Hard Rock
Hard rock is a subgenre of rock music which has its earliest roots in garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock. It is typified by a heavy use of aggressive vocals, distorted electric guitars, bass guitar, drums, and often accompanied with pianos and keyboards. It usually uses burning up lyrics, about sexual love and music essence. In this style, singers always tries to cheer up the audience.
Hard rock developed into a major form of popular music in the 1970s, with bands such as Led Zeppelin, The Who, Deep Purple, Aerosmith and AC/DC. Established bands made a comeback in the mid-1980s and it reached a commercial peak in the 1980s, with glam metal bands like Van Halen, Bon Jovi and Def Leppard and the rawer sounds of Guns N' Roses, which followed up with great success in the later part of that decade.
Some Rock Bands were ACDC, Black Sabbath, Aerosmith and Van Halen.
AC/DC - Highway to hell
AC/DC - Jailbreak Black Sabbath - Iron Man Van Halen - 316 (solo) Queen - Sheer Heart Attack Alice Cooper - School's out
Glam Rock
Glam rock (also known as glitter rock) is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter. The flamboyant costumes and visual styles of glam performers were often camp or androgynous, and have been connected with new views of gender roles.
The origins of this style were in the progressive rock, soul and beat. The tried to make a fancy and elegant music. Normally, they used pianos (or keyboards), electric guitar, electric bass, drum set and choir. Sometimes they can use bow strings.
Unlike hard rock, glam rock used a very technical voice, well-temperated. As in progressive rock, musical form is beyond the song form.
Some Rock Bands in this style: Queen, Kiss, David Bowie, Roxy Music, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed.
Queen - Don't stop me now
Kiss - I was made for loving you David Bowie - Changes Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody Kiss - Sure know something
Symphonic Rock
Symphonic rock is a sub-genre of progressive rock. Since early in progressive rock's history, the term has been used to distinguish more classically influenced progressive rock from the more psychedelic and experimental forms of progressive rock.
They took a lot of elements from classical music:
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Rock arrangements of themes from classical music
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Classical composition structures
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The accompaniment of a symphony orchestra
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Use of classical instruments, such as strings, harpsichord and woodwinds
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Higher complexity than other subgenres of rock and pop
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Elaborate compositions in the formats of concerti, suites, symphonies, tone poems and operas
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Prominent use of the synthesiser as a substitute for symphonic orchestration
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Frequent use of the mellotron or other tape based keyboards for the simulation of strings, choir and woodwinds.
Some rock bands were Genesis, Pink Floyd, the Moody Blues, King Crimson, Renaissance, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Yes and Electric Light Orchestra.
Pink Floyd - Echoes
Deep Purple - Concerto for group The moody blues - The day begins Renaissance - Kings and queens
Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Pictures at an exhibition Pink Floyd - Wish you were here Queen - Love of my life The Beatles - She's living home
Soft Rock
Soft rock (or lite rock) is a subgenre of pop music or rock music that largely features acoustic guitars and slow-to-mid tempos. Originating in the early 1970s in southern California, the style smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. Soft rock dominated radio throughout the 1970s and eventually metamorphosed into the synthesized music of adult contemporary in the 1980s.
Hard rock had been established as a mainstream genre by 1968. From the end of the 1960s, it became common to divide mainstream rock music into soft and hard rock, with both emerging as major radio formats in the US. By the early 1970s, softer songs by the Carpenters, Anne Murray, John Denver, Barry Manilow, and even Barbra Streisand began to be played more often on "Top 40" radio and others were added to the mix on many adult contemporary stations.
Popular instruments in this style were acoustic guitar, piano, but also electric guitar and drum set.
The term "yacht rock" appeared in the 2000s as a catch-all term for anything "soft" and reminiscent of the 1970s, although not all yacht rock can be characterized as "soft".
Kansas - Dust in the wind
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The Eagles - Hotel California James Taylor - You've got a friend Chicago - If you leave me now Cat Stevens - Father and son Janis Ian - At seventeen
Punk
It was a rock style that tried to revive and nourish the rock spirit from the 60's. This style was full of amateur musicians, because there was no need to play right. It was a develope of other rock styles from the 60's, specially rock and psychedelic rock. They called themselves the "Real Rock", so they used drum set, electric guitars (wide distorted), and electric bass. They used more shouting than singing, and very aggressive lyrics, with a explicit sexual content and political criticism. Punk was always attached to anarchism.
The apperance was quite peculiar: leather jackets, spiked bracelets, mohack haircut... It was usual to make wild performances, on stage and out of it.
Some of the most known rock bands was Sex Pistols, The Clash, Ramones
Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the U.K.
Ramones - Hey ho, let's go The Clash - London Calling Dead Kennedy's - Holiday in Cambodia Sex Pistols - My way
Motown
Motown is an American record company. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. on January 12, 1959, in Detroit, Michigan, as Tamla Records, and was incorporated as "Motown Record Corporation" on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit. Crafted with an ear towards pop appeal, the Motown Sound typically used tambourines to accent the back beat, prominent and often melodic electric bass-guitar lines, distinctive melodic and chord structures, and a call-and-response singing style that originated in gospel music. Pop production techniques such as the use of orchestral string sections, charted horn sections, and carefully arranged background vocals were also used. Complex arrangements and elaborate, melismatic vocal riffs were avoided.
In the late 1960s, Motown and its subsidiary labels were the most successful proponents of what came to be known as the Motown Sound, a style of soul music with a distinct pop influence.
Some artist were The Jacksons 5, Steve Wonder, Lionel Ritchie or Diana Ross.
The Jackson Five - Dancing Machine
Diana Ross - Do you know? Lionel Ritchie - All night long Stevie Wonder - Sir Duke The Jacksons - Can you feel it?
The Jackson Five - I want you back Stevie Wonder - Superstition
Funky
It was a danceable new form of music through a mixture of soul music, jazz, R&B and Motown.
Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground.
Funk songs are often based on an extended vamp on a single chord, distinguishing it from R&B and soul songs, which are built on chord progressions. Rhythm is everything in funky music: the back beat is always in syncopation.
The common instruments are: electric guitar, electric bass, Hammond organ, and drums playing interlocking rhythms. Funk bands sometimes have a horn section of several saxophones, trumpets, and in some cases, a trombone, which plays rhythmic "hits".
Some bands and artists were James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, Kool and the Gang, P Funkadelic or Afrika Bambaataa
James Brown - Sex Machine
Sly and the family stone - Thank you Kool and the Gang - Get down on it Parliament Funkadelic - Bring the funk
Kool and the Gang - Celebration Earth, wind and fire - Boogie Wonderland James Brown - I feel good
Disco
It was an evolution of funky, more commercial and easy to dance. Funky was too complicated to dance or sing, and too close to black subculture, so disco music tried to transform that music into something more commercial and for all kinds of people.
The instruments commonly used in this style were piano, organ (during early years), electroacoustic keyboards and Synthesizers. The use of strings was common, and this is one of the main difference with the funky style. It had an enormous success, and created an own dressing fashion. The disco sound has soaring, often reverberated vocals over a steady "four-on-the-floor" beat.
Some artists were ABBA, Donna Summer, The Bee Gees, KC and the Sunshine Band, The Trammps, Van McCoy, Gloria Gaynor and The Village People.
ABBA - Gimme gimme gimme
The Bee Gees - Stayin' alive Dschinghis Khan - Moskau Gloria Gaynor - I will survive Donna Summer - She works hard for the money
Metal
Heavy metal (often referred to as metal) is a genre of rock music that developed during the 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and the United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and hard rock, bands that created heavy metal developed a thick, massive sound, characterized by highly amplified distortion, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats, and overall loudness.
At the end of the decade, it took a lot of elements from symphonic rock, specially the music form. The Heavy metal lyrics and performance styles are often associated with masculinity, aggression and machismo.
Normally, metal uses a lot of different dynamics and tempo changes.
There's a lot of subgenres of metal, just like thrash metal (Metallica) or Epic metal (Blind guardian). Some Rock bands were Judas priest, Motörhead, Ironmaiden, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax.
Metallica - One
Judas Priest - The ripper Motorhëad - Overkill Dragon Force - Through the flames and fire Iron Maiden - Hallowed by thy name
Metallica - Master of Puppets Blind Guardian - Into the Storm Iron Maiden - The number of the beast
Hip-Hop
Hip hop is a broad conglomerate of artistic forms that originated within a marginalized subculture in the South Bronx and Harlem in New York City among black and Latino youth during the 1970s.
It is characterized by four distinct elements, all of which represent the different manifestations of the culture: rap music (oral), turntablism or "DJing" (aural), breaking (physical) and graffiti art (visual).
Despite their contrasting methods of execution, they find unity in their common association to the poverty and violence underlying the historical context that birthed the culture.
Rapping (also known as rap music, emceeing) refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components: content, flow (rhythm and rhyme), and delivery. It was an evolution of funky music. Rap had no melody, instead Hip-hop music used to get a melody at least in the chorus. It was very common to use the melody or the bass line of very known songs. The hip-hop music as a develop of rap, and had a great success in the 80's. Some bands and artist was: Sugar Hill Gang, Vanilla Ice, MC Hammer, Snap or Eminem.
It had different techniques to develop the style, just like:
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Scratching is a DJ or turntablist technique used to produce distinctive sounds by moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable while optionally manipulating the crossfader on a DJ mixer.
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Beatboxing (also beatbox, beat box or b-box) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of producing drum beats, rhythm, and musical sounds using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice. It may also involve singing, vocal imitation of turntablism, and the simulation of horns, strings, and other musical instruments.
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B-boying or breaking, also called breakdancing, is a style of street dance that originated among Black and Puerto Rican youths in New York City during the early 1970s
Grandmaster Flash - Wildstyle
Dancers from South Korea
Greatest artists (1980's)
New Wave
Cindy Lauper - Time after time
It was born with the punk style, but used any influence from other pop styles, specially beat and disco. They only used the punk style on the appearance.
They could use any instrument, specially the electronic devices like synthesizers and keyboards. The basic of the style was in the melody's attraction and the meaning of the lyrics. A little subgenre called Symphonic Pop appeared during the 80's, with a predominance of the piano, vocal power and string arrangement. It was the most successful style in the 80's.
New wave music is an umbrella term for several late-1970s to mid-1980s pop/rock musical styles with ties to 1970s punk rock. The wide range of bands categorized under this term has been a source of much confusion and controversy. The new wave sound of the late 1970s moved away from the smooth blues and rock & roll sounds to create music with a twitchy, agitated feel, choppy rhythm guitars and fast tempos. This style incorporated electronic/experimental music, mod, disco and pop. It subsequently engendered subgenres and fusions, including New Romantic and gothic rock.
New wave has been called one of the definitive genres of the 1980s, after it grew partially fixated on MTV (The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star" music video was broadcast as the first music video to promote the channel's launch), and the popularity of several new wave artists, attributing the exposure that was given to them by the channel. In the mid-1980s, differences between new wave and other music genres began to blur. New wave has enjoyed resurgences since the 1990s, after a rising "nostalgia" for several new wave-influenced artists.
Culture Club - Karma Chameleon
U2 -With or without you Madonna - Like a prayer Blondie - Heart of Glass Michael Jackson - Man in the Mirror
Symphonic Pop
It was a subgenre of New wave, but softer than this one. It was similar to the relationship between RnR and Rockabily in the 50's. The main instrument is the piano, and it is common to find a group of strings instruments in this genre, as well as drum set, sometimes electric guitar.
Lyrics in this genre are very gentle and kind. They are about personal issues, romantic in the widest way. They always use a very tuned voice, and sometimes choir.
The origin of this genre is in the develope of the 70's symphonic Rock into a more commercial genre. They took away experimental techniques and became a softer music. It was developed under the influence of the 60's soul music and 50's rockabilly.
Billy Joel - Lullabye
Mecano - Hijo de la luna Billy Joel - Piano Man Elton John - Your Song Extreme - More than words
Power Pop
It was a style attached to the rock spirit. They took the influence of the rock of the 70's (specially hard and glam rock), but with a very passion and deep feeling on the lyrics. They used the song form, with a main role of the lead guitar. The lyrics were spicer than the new wave's ones. Same formation than rock, and sometimes they use keyboards.
The most important thing in this style are the lyrics: romantic, full of passion and a little spice and arrogant. The punk motto "No future" was changed to "Youth power". Guitar soloes (and sometime other instruments like keyboards) became a cliché, taking from the hard rock.
This style was very commercial, and tried to put an alternative to the mainstream new wave. New wave is more about dancing, Power pop is more about rocking and feeling.
Boston - More than a feeling
Europe - The final countdown Aerosmith - Crazy Roxette - How do you do? Poison - Talk dirty to me
Pat Benatar - Hit me with your best shot Bon Jovi - Living on a player
Techno
It was a dance music, born at the end of the 80's. It took influences from funk, disco and hiphop music. It used only electronic devices, just like synthesizers, keyboards and computers.
It was a very repetitive music, with an evident dance purpose. Sometimes there was even no melody at all. During the 90's, techno transformed into House, with an emphasis over a hooked melody, and in the late 90's into Progressive House, with a predominance of the low electronic sounds, specially the kick effect. In Spain, it was a success the subgenre Bakalao.
Snap - The Power
Technotronic - Pump up the jam Twenty 4 seven - I can't stand it Daft Punk - One more time Aqua - Barbie World
Pop-Rap
Pop-rap is a genre of music which combines hip hop music with elements of pop music, which gained mainstream popularity during the 2000s, but its origin is in the late 80's. It tends to combine hip-hop beats with catchy hooks and choruses similar to what's heard in pop music. They use some techniques from hip-hop music like human beatbox, street dancing or scraching, linked to a commercial sense of music, reflected in some melodies in the background. Normally, artists and rock bands in this genre take a famous tune or melodie from other music genres, specially soul, RnB, or funky.
Instruments: Drum machine, keyboards, rapping, sampler, robotic voice effects, singing.
Vanilla Ice - Ice ice baby
MC Hammer - Can't touch it Run-DMC - Walk this way Vanilla Ice - Play that funky music C&C Music Factory - Gonna make you sweat
Alternative Rock
The Alt Rock was a reaction against the commercial music of the 80's, specially the new wave. They tried to recover the idea of rock band from the 60's, and be loyal to the music spirit, beyond fame and money.
There was a lot of influences for these musicians: rock, RnB, Symphonic Rock, hiphop or even punk.
The instruments they used was the rock ensemble (two guitars, bass and drum set), but any instrument was welcome.
They used a deeper lyric than power pop, usually focused on personal issues.
At the end of the decade, most rock bands tried to look for a new way of expression, to recover the glory and fame of the greatest bands of the 60's.
Red Hot Chili Peppers - By the way
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Otherside REM - Losing my religion REM - Imitation of life Guns'n Roses - Sweet child of mine
New Age
New-age music is downtempo music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often associated with environmentalism and New Age spirituality.
New age includes both electronic forms, frequently relying on sustained synth pads or long sequencer-based runs, and acoustic forms, featuring instruments such as flutes, piano, acoustic guitar and a wide variety of non-western acoustic instruments. Vocal arrangements were initially rare in new age, but as it has evolved vocals have become more common, especially vocals featuring Native American-, Sanskrit-, or Tibetan-influenced chants, or lyrics based on mythology such as Celtic legends or the realm of Faerie.
New-age music is defined more by the effect or feeling it produces rather than the instruments used in its creation; it may be electronic, acoustic, or a mixture of both. New-age artists range from solo or ensemble performances using classical-music instruments ranging from the piano, acoustic guitar, flute or harp to electronic musical instruments, or from Eastern instruments such as the sitar, tabla, and tamboura.New-age music with an ambient sound that has the explicit purpose of aiding meditation and relaxation, or aiding and enabling various alternative spiritual practices, such as alternative healing, yoga practice, guided meditation, chakra auditing, and so on.
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
Enya - The memory of trees Kitaro - Matsuri George Winston - Longing Love