UNITS

I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am for this school year. I've worked very hard to change this class and cover a broader spectrum of the history of rock and roll. These units are not set in stone. They are subject to change including the possible addition of one or more units.

areas of study may include:

unit: the birth of rock and roll

There are several significant events that culminate in the sound teenagers would come to worship and Frank Sinatra would call, "The most brutal, ugly, desperate, vicious form of expression it has been my misfortune to hear."

August 1953: Elvis Aaron Presley, 18 years old and fresh off his high school graduation, walks in to 706 Union Street in Memphis, TN, the home of Memphis Recording Services and Sun Records along with its charismatic owner, Sam Phillips, to record two songs as a gift to his mother.
1954: The first generation of rock and roll's pioneers, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Bill Haley and Little Richard, begin to break through the radio airwaves. Teenagers can't get enough. Parents think it is too much.
July 5, 1954: Elvis Presley, frustrated from a recording session that is not producing any music that Sam Phillips deems marketable, begin fiddling with a song called "That's All Right, Mama," originally written and performed in 1949 by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup. Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips (no relation to Sam) loved the song so much that he played it over and over again for TWO STRAIGHT HOURS.
1955: MGM releases "Blackboard Jungle" in theaters across the country. The movie was controversial because of its social commentary about inner-racial, inner-city schools and the teachers who taught these "savages." More importantly, "Blackboard Jungle" was the first movie to prominently feature rock and roll music on its soundtrack. Bill Haley & His Comets' "Rock Around The Clock" was part of the opening scene as well as two other scenes in the movie. This was the big break rock and roll had been waiting for.

unit: "the boys" vs "the bad boys" vs the beach boys

The Beatles, the Rolling Stones & the Beach Boys

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club or Exile on Main Street or Pet Sounds. These are three of the greatest bands in rock and roll history. Each released a Top 10 album of all-time. Let's analyze each album and figure out which is truly greatest.

The Beatles

The Rolling Stones

The Beach Boys

The British Invasion

unit: motown, soul & funk

Detroit, Chicago, Memphis, Muscle Shoals (Alabama) and Atlanta - These cities were the center of the funk and soul movement that permeated the music industry in the early to mid-1960's. This was black music for white audiences, but it was also the music that spurred the Civil Rights Movement. From Chess Records to Stax Records to Motown and James Brown, Otis Redding and many others, this music grabbed hold of American teenagers and has continued to advance today.

unit: the counterculture

Woodstock 1969

America's youth had grown tired of the status quo. They were looking for something different. In the summer of 1967, youth flocked in droves to San Francisco, CA, where the promise of a Utopian society was waiting. The "hippies" were taking over and their ideals were spreading quickly. In August of 1969, over 400,000 people crammed into a field on Max Yasgur's farm and experienced three days of peace and music. The Woodstock Festival became the pinnacle of the hippie and counterculture movement; however, several months later, it all came to a crashing halt at Altamont Speedway in northern California.

unit: punk vs disco - the music of freedom

UNIT: MTV & FM RADIO - "THE NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK"

I want my mtv

In the book, FM: The Rise and Fall of Rock Radio by Richard Neer, "Little" Steven Van Zandt wrote the following in the foreword: "The FM DJ's were very different and would represent the sixties birth of consciousness. There were textures and tones to their voices that we'd never heard on the radio before. They had distinct personalities, they seemed younger - certainly hipper, they were relaxed and took their time, and they communicated a sensibility that was both intimate and intellectual without condescension."

MTV roared into our collective consciousness on Saturday, August 1, 1981, as the Buggles video "Video Killed The Radio Star" transmitted over the airwaves and changed music for the period between 1981 and 1992. But all wasn't rosy. Rob Tannenbaum wrote in the introduction of his book (co-written with Craig Marks), I Want My MTV, "Upon hearing of the plan to launch a TV channel that would show music videos around the clock, businessmen of wealth and experience--worldly men who ran record companies and partied with rock stars, and visionary men who made fortunes by anticipating the explosion of cable TV--scoffed and snicked. Who would watch this channel?"

MTV's Original VJ's: Mark Goodman, JJ Jackson, Martha Quinn, Alan Hunter and Nina Blackwood (Clockwise from top)

UNIT: HEAVY METAL: LOUD GUITARS, BIG HAIR AND BREAKNECK SPEED

Take your ring and middle fingers, fold them over and place your thumb over them. Leave the pointer and pinky straight up. Now, take your arm and hold it high over your head. Start bobbing your head back and forth and let your hair fly unrestrained. That's what heavy metal was about. The higher your raised your arm and the harder you thrashed your head, the louder, the more aggressive and faster the music got.

Led Zeppelin

Black Sabbath

Slayer

Deep Purple

UNIT: WOMEN WHO ROCK - THEN & NOW

"The shores are strewn with the casualties of the feminine mystique," said Betty Friedan about the lives of women prior to the 1960's. "They did give up their own education to put their husbands through college, and then, maybe against their own wishes, ten or fifteen years later, they were left in the lurch by divorce. The strongest were able to cope more or less well, but it wasn't that easy for a woman of forty-five or fifty to move ahead in a profession and make a new life for herself and her children or herself alone."

In February of 1963, Betty Friedan gave a name to what many called "the problem with no name." The Feminine Mystique gave new meaning to being a woman.

UNIT: RAP & HIP HOP: BEATS FROM THE STREETS

Kool Herc

Run-DMC

Eminem

Grandmaster Flash

What started on the island of Jamaica with DJ's spinning and mixing records that people could dance to quickly made its way to the street of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. It was here that DJ Kool Herc, a Jamaican, took to recreating those parties. When local governments began neglecting the African-American communities in New York, a new voice rose from the rubble. This empowered the youth and introduced the world to rap. The music continues to evolve today, but one thing will always remain constant: Rap is the voice and the music of the black community.

UNIT: THE 2000'S - TECHNOLOGY RULES THE INDUSTRY - FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE

In 1877, Thomas Alva Edison invented the phonograph, a device used for the recording and reproduction of sound. Today, there are many ways to listen and record music. Our phones have become a chief source of music. Throughout the years, technological advances have brought wonder and bewilderment to the music industry. While we can now listen to music anywhere we have a WiFi signal, record labels continue to lose anywhere between 10 and 12 billion dollars a YEAR in sales due to the pirating of music. For better or for worse, technology is here to stay and its only going to bring about more innovation and, potentially, devastation.