Rockin' Out

by Garofalo, Reebee

• ISBN13: 9780205137039
• ISBN10: 0205137032
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-09-01
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon

Summary

This book proceeds from the assumption that music is always a social indicator; that is, it tells us something about the world around us. It responds to, mirrors, and influences the society in which we live. This comprehensive social history is organized chronologically around themes and issues which explicate the connection between music and other social processes. These include the multicultural influences in US popular music; the impact of technological advances; the significance of class, race, gender, ethnicity, and region; the importance of political context; and the power of consumer preferences. Rockin' Out is necessarily encyclopedic; still, it balances information with analysis. The text begins with the invention of sound recording and the rise of Tin Pan Alley, and proceeds through discussions of blues, country, and rhythm and blues as historical background. As such, it provides students with significant discussions of the preconditions and formative influences of the music. Garofalo discusses rock and soul, punk and disco, rap and metal, and alternative music as well as all of the sub-genres and stylistic variants of these sounds. This is the only text that covers the total range of US popular music in the 20th century, locates them in their social context, and provides an interdisciplinary analysis of their significance.

Author Biography

Reebee Garofalo has taught at the University of Massachusetts Boston since 1978.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Introduction: Definitions, Themes, and Issues	p. 1
Into the Twentieth Century: Popular Music and Mass Culture	p. 2
Rock 'n' Roll: The Birth of a New Era	p. 4
Marketing and the Politics of Race, Language, and Gender	p. 9
No Hablamos Espanol: The Language Barrier	p. 12
The Long, Hard Climb: Gender Discrimination	p. 13
Regulating Popular Music	p. 14
Mass Technology and Popular Taste: The Tin Pan Alley Era	p. 17
Sound Recording: From Cylinder to Disc	p. 18
Tin Pan Alley Constructs the Mainstream Tradition	p. 24
Tin Pan Alley Incorporates African American Music	p. 26
Tin Pan Alley Consolidates Its Power	p. 29
Commercial Broadcasting: A Very Private Enterprise	p. 32
The Growth of Network Radio	p. 33
The Advertisers Versus the Programmers	p. 35
Hollywood Bolsters Tin Pan Alley	p. 37
Blues and Country Music: Mass Media and the Construction of Race	p. 43
Blues and Country: More Equal than Separate	p. 44
"Race" Music: The Popular Sounds of Black America	p. 46
"Hillbilly": The Music of the White Working Class	p. 51
The Dissemination of Blues and Country: More Separate than Equal	p. 55
The Long Road Back for Records	p. 59
"Good Rockin' Tonight": The Rise of Rhythm and Blues	p. 65
The Publishers and the Broadcasters: ASCAP Versus BMI	p. 66
Enter the Deejay: The Broadcasters Versus the AFM	p. 68
From Big Bands to Solo Singers	p. 71
The Major Labels Reclaim Country Music	p. 73
The Independents Promote Rhythm and Blues	p. 76
High Fidelity/Low Overhead	p. 82
Television and the Suppression of FM Broadcasting	p. 84
Independent Radio: Deejays in Your Face	p. 86
Crossing Cultures: The Eruption of Rock 'n' Roll	p. 93
Cultural Diversity: The Roots of Rock 'n' Roll	p. 94
Structural Changes in the Music Industry	p. 98
Sounds of the Cities	p. 101
New Orleans: The Fertile Crescent of Rock 'n' Roll	p. 101
Los Angeles: From Jump Blues to Chicano Rock	p. 108
Chicago: The Blues Electrified	p. 111
Cincinnati: The Crossroads of Blues and Country	p. 115
RandB Sanctified: The Gospel Connection	p. 116
Doo Wop: The Intersection of Gospel, Jazz, and Pop	p. 121
Rockabilly: The Country Strain	p. 131
The Empire Strikes Back: The Reaction to Rock 'n' Roll	p. 149
The Established Powers Fight Back	p. 152
Covering the Bases	p. 154
Pop Diversions: From Kingston Town to the Kingston Trio	p. 157
Schlock Rock: Enter the White Middle Class	p. 160
Television's Greatest Hits	p. 165
The Brill Building: The New Tin Pan Alley	p. 167
The Official Attack on Rock 'n' Roll	p. 169
Surf's Up!	p. 175
Popular Music and Political Culture: The Sixties	p. 183
The Civil Rights Movement and Popular Music	p. 184
The "Girl Groups" and the Men behind Them	p. 186
Motown: The Integration of Pop	p. 191
Folk Music: The Voice of Civil Rights	p. 196
The British Invasion Occupies the Pop Charts	p. 200
Breaking the Sounds of Silence	p. 209
Folk Rock: Adding Substance to Form	p. 210
Black (Music) Is Beautiful	p. 213
Against the Grain: The Counterculture	p. 217
Blues on Acid: Psychedelic Rock	p. 218
Commercializing the Counterculture: The Monterey Pop Festival	p. 222
Riding the Storm	p. 226
Woodstock and Altamont: Reaching the Heights, Taking the Fall	p. 231
Music Versus Markets: The Fragmentation of Pop	p. 239
The Music Industry: A Sound Investment	p. 240
Merger Mania	p. 241
Expanding the Infrastructure: Counterculture as Commodity	p. 243
Creativity and Commerce: Rock as Art	p. 248
Sweeter Soul Music	p. 257
Singer/Songwriters, Soft Rock Solutions, and More	p. 264
Women's Music: The Feminist Alternative	p. 273
From Country Rock to Southern Boogie	p. 277
Mad with Power: Heavy Metal	p. 285
All That Glitters Does Not Sell Gold	p. 294
Punk and Disco: The Poles of Pop	p. 301
Punk Versus Disco	p. 303
Punk: Rock as (White) Noise	p. 305
Born in the USA	p. 308
Anarchy in the U.K.	p. 317
Flirtation with Fascism: The Underbelly of Punk	p. 322
Rock Against Racism: The Progressive Rejoinder	p. 325
Riding the New Wave	p. 329
Disco: The Rhythm without the Blues	p. 334
Proto-Disco: The Funk Connection	p. 335
Up from the Disco Underground	p. 339
Mainstream Disco: The Bee Gees Boogie Down	p. 343
The Hard-Rock Reaction	p. 347
Music Videos, Superstars, and Mega-Events: The Eighties	p. 353
Early Music Television: They Want Their MTV	p. 355
Superstars: The Road to Economic Recovery	p. 365
Charity Rock and Mega-Events: Who Is the World?	p. 375
Christmas in Ethiopia: The Advent of Charity Rock	p. 376
Mega-Events: The Politics of Mass Culture	p. 381
Technology and the New International Music Industry	p. 390
Rap and Metal: Youth Culture and Censorship	p. 395
The Continuing History of Heavy Metal	p. 397
Heavy Metal: The New Wave	p. 397
Metal Fragments	p. 402
Hip Hop, Don't Stop	p. 408
Old School Rap	p. 409
Hip Hop: The Next Generation	p. 412
Popular Music and the Politics of Censorship	p. 423
The Parents Music Resource Center	p. 424
The Issues: Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll Revisited	p. 427
Alternative to What?	p. 443
Strange Bedfellows: Alternative and the Mainstream	p. 446
Marketing Categories and Monster Contracts	p. 453
Country and RandB: The Other Alternatives	p. 457
Lollapalooza: Countercultural Sensibilities, Mainstream Clout	p. 460
Bibliography	p. 467
Index	p. 475
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