1 Topic by gitaardocphil (edited by gitaardocphil 2007-07-19 12:42:26)

  • From: BELGIUM
  • Registered: 2007-01-27
  • Posts: 3,403

Topic: the roots of POP music

I posted a topic a few days ago about the contemporary music in the USA, and what are the main influences in the development of blues, R&R, bluegrass, Country & Western.
But this is more an European phenomenon, WHERE AND WHEN can you start to speak about POP MUSIC, like BRIT POP, the kinks, the who, the animals.
I know that blues records where very hard to find, because most of the performers where afro-americans. Groups like the Stones and the Beatles, not forgetting people like Peter Green (early Fleetwood Mac) Clapton, Jeff Beck and more, they started often in groups like Alexis Corner, John Mayall, and that's where they started to talk about BLUES-ROCK, with a "central role" for the electric guitars. The products of this school are guitarists and groups like ROLLING STONES, early BEATLES and guitar gods like Clapton, (too much to name them all) and in the US, it started maybe a little bit later, with Johnny Winter, Canned Heat.
BUT here we are discussing again about blues and rock.
So is there someone, or I hope a lot, who can tell us: WHERE CAN YOU FIT IN POPMUSIC.
It is not easy, like who wrote the first Rock Song: Bill Haley? not convinced. ELVIS PRESLEY: probably more. I go for Chuck Berry & Johnny Lee Hooker. Again this is ROCK.
BUT POP MUSIC is the topic, where does it come from, POP(ular) MUSIC??, who are the pioneers?
Help me please .
THANKS

[color=blue]- GITAARDOCPHIL SAIS: TO CONQUER DEAD, YOU HAVE TO DIE[/color]   AND [color=blue] we are born to die[/color]
- MY GUITAR PLAYS EVERY STYLE = BLUES, ROCK, METAL, so I NEED TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY IT.
[color=blue]Civilization began the first time an angry person cast a word instead of a rock.[/color]

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  • upyerkilt
  • upyerkilt
  • Unofficial king of Scotland
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  • From: Balloch, Scotland, UK, Earth
  • Registered: 2006-03-04
  • Posts: 3,290

Re: the roots of POP music

pop musc as far as I am led to believe is short for popular music.
This wuld mean that pop musics root would have to derive from elsewhere. Any kind of muic could be described as popular if lots of people listen to it, therefore it is popular.
But we live in a world that has to label everything, put things in to categories unessesarily.
take for instance punk music, there is no such a thing really, it is rock music, mod music ( modern) no such a thing, it is rock too. It is the fans that categorise it by following who they decide they like. I think it is a dress sense more than a music thing sometimes, although "mod" music will sing about getting laid, getting high, where "punk music" will sing about how bad the governments are, how bad society is etc. these two forms of rock have also been catogorised as pop. The clash " london burning" a big hit, therefore in the charts, listened to lots, makes it pop ( popular), The jam ( mod music after their first album which was punk) number one hit with a few songs, town called mallice, in the charts, #1, pop!!

If the majority of heavy metal fans enjoyed abba music they would have been classed as easy listening heavy metal or some silly thing like that. and if it got in the charts then it would be easy listening heavy metal pop. lol

Ken

ye get some that are cut out for the job and others just get by from pretending
  • From: Almancil, Algarve, Portugal
  • Registered: 2006-09-02
  • Posts: 6,198

Re: the roots of POP music

Further to Ken's explanation of 'Pop' music my dictionary defines it as "music of general appeal especially to young people (short for popular)".  My feeling is it probably came from the 'Popular Music Charts' and TV programmes like 'Top Of The Pops' helped 'Pop' become a general term. In the 60's many words were shortened, like 'Fab' (fabulous) and 'Brill' (brilliant) and 'Pop' may well be another.

I'm showing my age now but in my day there was just 'Classical', 'Rock', 'Folk', and 'Country'. There are now so many descriptions I get confused.

Does 'Garage' mean you turf the car out of its home and play in there, or 'Hip Hop' mean you have to play hopping on one leg? lol

Seriously though, I feel that there are too many music descriptions and, in a lot of instances, the definitions overlap.

Roger

"Do, or do not; there is no try"

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  • From: BELGIUM
  • Registered: 2007-01-27
  • Posts: 3,403

Re: the roots of POP music

Thanks Mr. Administrator, Roger. I looked on the internet, and as far as I know, pop at least on that site, I believe it is wikipedia, they also speak about pop(ular) music, that pop is not a short word for popular music, personally I don't believe it.
What I don't find is when popmusic "popped" up. Is it related with American music? Suddenly there was a bunch of groups, most of them trying to compete with the Beatles, and a lot located around the Mersey. If you want, you can find a very interesting item about the beatles: songs the beatles gave away. Look Obladi Oblada, a hit for the Beatles and almost at the same time Marmelade. I was also told, even years ago, that Mozart would have been the king of pop, if he lived in this time. I think it is easier to follow the origine of rock & blues than to find, what I call an ancestor of the real POP music. Maybe it is easier to mention, knowing, writing and talking about all the thiny categories, like psychedelic music, or mod, garage etc.
Even if you listen carefully to the first Pink Floyd albums, that they were in fact (my opinion) quit bombastic, followed by others of course like soft machine, for example.
Isn't it always so, that when a style becomes popular, a lot of others start to play in the same style, and just look the movies, a big smash box office hit let's say about sport like base ball, are within 1 year followed by similar movies. I am really breaking my head on this topic, WHERE DID POP MUSIC starts (talking about the sixties), and often very catchy tunes, but I am getting crazy, by searching a song that can be considered as well boys, this must be the first pop song.
If you see the guitar chords, you will use, and at that point, if you can play fluently this chords on guitar, there are ONLY 7 chords, of course you have to add the minor, the 7th, like A7, and when practising and patience, you are considered as a very good player if you can play and it is possible, I can play about 40 chords on guitar. As I wrote, and with the theory of 7 major chords, it is in a lot of songs: hearing, stealing with your ears, and maybe 3 years later, even ABSOLUTELY NOT THINKING at the song you heard 3 years ago, that you write a very similar song.
Very interesting Rog is: STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN and SPIRIT by TAURUS (or taurus by spirit) YOU CAN NOT BELIEVE WHAT YOU HEAR. Starting with this knowledge, you can indeed explain a lot.
I posted also a topic: North-American music, blues, R&R, country, how did it start? It is a very hard topic, but interested in music, just like you and a lot of us, I think that this topic has to be interesting. How, for example, slaves started singing, rather monotone, but very creative, and singing african songs, gospel, blues, BUT also influence of the immigrant groups (italie, germany, ireland) and also what about native music? IT IS A VERY HARD ONE, but I still hope to get answers. BTW this is in my case (accident, remember?) the best site on the internet, and even better than best if you like to play music. I don't know how to thank you, because it is so interesting, questions are answered, it takes probably a few hours a day. Congratulations, thanks and I wish you and the team the best. I will hear you soon again, I guess

[color=blue]- GITAARDOCPHIL SAIS: TO CONQUER DEAD, YOU HAVE TO DIE[/color]   AND [color=blue] we are born to die[/color]
- MY GUITAR PLAYS EVERY STYLE = BLUES, ROCK, METAL, so I NEED TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY IT.
[color=blue]Civilization began the first time an angry person cast a word instead of a rock.[/color]

gitaardocphil's Website