Search

During the past century recorded music has echoed from phonographs, jukeboxes, car radios, televisions, portable Walkmen, and contemporary digital devices. In addition to general listeners and record buyers, music scholars have taken interest in audio imagery and prominent themes in lyrics. This volume continues that academic tradition. However, it should be noted that rather than just naming isolated subjects in songs, this investigation probes for clusters of ideas that constitute important audio themes. This is the fourth of several volumes in the "Persistent Themes" Series being sponsored by The Paw Paw Press. Each volume examines a few highly important general themes by breaking them down into component topics and illustrating several recordings that constitute the framework for both the smaller topics and the over-arching themes. In an earlier volume, for example, the authors identified "Metropolitan Centers" as an important lyrical theme. They gathered hundreds of recordings that illustrate this theme and arranged these songs by topic, such as "Chicago", "Dancing Cities," "Detroit", "Hometown Reveries" "Kansas City", "Los Angeles", and so on. Thus the general theme was justified by the large number of recordings attributed to each of the related sub-topics.

The function of print resources as instructional guides and descriptors of popular music pedagogy are addressed in this concise volume. Increasingly, public school teachers and college-level faculty members are introducing and utilizing music-related educational approaches in their classrooms. This book lists reports dealing with popular music resources as classroom teaching materials, and will stimulate further thought among students and teachers. It focuses on the growing spectrum of published scholarship available to instructors in specific teaching fields (art, geography, social studies, urban studies, and so on) as well as on the multitude of general resources (including biographical directories and encyclopedias of artist profiles). Building on two recent publications: Teaching with Popular Music Resources: A Bibliography of Interdisciplinary Instructional Approaches, Popular Music and Society, XXII, no. 2 (Summer 1998), and American Culture Interpreted through Popular Music: Interdisciplinary Teaching Approaches (Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 2000), this volume focuses on the growing spectrum of published scholarship that is available to instructors in specific teaching fields (art, geography, social studies, urban studies, and so on) as well as on the multitude of general resources (including biographical directories and encyclopedias of artist profiles).

During the past century recorded music has echoed from phonographs, jukeboxes, car radios, televisions, portable Walkmen, and contemporary digital devices. In addition to general listeners and record buyers, music scholars have taken interest in audio imagery and prominent themes in lyrics. This volume continues that academic tradition. However, it should be noted that rather than just naming isolated subjects in songs, this investigation probes for clusters of ideas that constitute important audio themes. This is the first of several volumes in a "Persistent Themes" Series that is being sponsored by The Paw Paw Press. Each volume will examine a few highly important general themes by breaking them down into component topics and illustrating several recordings that constitute the framework for both the smaller topics and the over-arching themes. For example, the authors have identified "Addictions" as an important lyrical theme. They have gathered hundreds of recordings that illustrate this theme and arranged these songs by topic, such as "Alcohol Abuse", "Cigarette Smoking", "Drug Use", "Gluttony", and so on. Thus the general theme is justified by the large number of recordings attributed to each of the related sub-topics.

B. Lee Cooper offers a kaleidoscopic portrait of contemporary American society as it has been captured and transmitted in the lyrics of more than 3,000 popular recordings. By tracing the permutations of American popular music from the end of the Big Band/Swing Era through the Age of Rock, the author presents a thematically structured analysis of popular music lyrics from 1950 through 1985. Cooper divides his lucid commentaries and lists of songs into fifteen sections, each dealing with a particular social, political, or personal theme. In the brief essays that precede the lengthy discographic sections, the author explores the ways in which popular music has dealt with such issues as religion, death, education, youth culture, transportation, mass media, protest, military activity, women's liberation, and drug use and abuse. An illustrative discography of 45 r.p.m. records follows each section of commentary. An extensive bibliography of books, articles, and special reports appears at the end of the volume, along with a selected discography of album-length recordings which supplements the extensive 45 r.p.m. listings.

This resource volume is designed to highlight soulful artists and their music. It focuses on the 1961-1970 period. The initial section of this guide identifies key soul performers and features brief listings of print resources defining their careers. The second section identifies several important record companies and specific labels that fostered the creative efforts of soul artists and distributed their recordings. The following three sections survey specific vocal and instrumental singles released during the period and provide lists of contemporary compact discs which offer 21st century listeners the opportunity to sample numerous '60s soul classics. The Appendices explore several soul music compilations and artists via record reviews that have previously appeared in POPULAR MUSIC AND SOCIETY or ROCK MUSIC STUDIES. Finally, a large "General Bibliography" features print resources available on specific soul music subjects as well as on general black music development in America over the centuries.

How does rock music impact culture? According to authors B. Lee Cooper and Wayne S. Haney, it is central to the definition of society and has had a great impact on shaping American culture. In Rock Music in American Popular Culture, insightful essays and book reviews explore ways popular culture items can be used to explore American values. This fascinating book is arranged alphabetically for quick and easy reference to specific topics, but the book is equally enjoyable to read straight through. The influence of rock era music is evident throughout the text, demonstrating how various topics in the popular culture field are interconnected. Students in popular culture survey courses and American studies classes will be fascinated by these unique explorations of how family businesses, games, nursery rhymes, rock and roll legends, and other musical ventures shed light on our society and how they have shaped American values over the years.

During the past century recorded music has echoed from phonographs, jukeboxes, car radios, televisions, portable Walkmen, and contemporary digital devices. In addition to general listeners and record buyers, music scholars have taken interest in audio imagery and prominent themes in lyrics. This volume continues that academic tradition. However, it should be noted that rather than just naming isolated subjects in songs, this investigation probes for clusters of ideas that constitute important audio themes. This is the second of several volumes in the "Persistent Themes" Series being sponsored by The Paw Paw Press. Each volume examines a few highly important general themes by breaking them down into component topics and illustrating several recordings that constitute the framework for both the smaller topics and the over-arching themes. For example, the authors have identified "Military Conflicts" as an important lyrical theme. They have gathered hundreds of recordings that illustrate this theme and arranged these songs by topic, such as "Anti-War Songs", "Patriotic Anthems", "Peace Hymns", "Soldiers", "The Vietnam War, and so on. Thus the general theme is justified by the large number of recordings attributed to each of the related sub-topics. This combined thematic and topical approach to the lyrical content of popular recordings is extremely detailed. It requires several volumes to present a sufficiently diverse examination of theme patterns. Currently, the authors are pursuing 21 different themes. The discographic presentation required to illustrate the breadth and scope of these 21 themes will require the production of five volumes of "Persistent Theme" studies over the next five years. The anticipated timeline and thematic structures being pursued are listed below: PERSISTENT THEMES IN SOUND RECORDINGS -- Five Volumes Volume One (2016) -- Addictions, Christmas, Death, and Religion Volume Two (2016) -- Animals, Dance Styles, Halloween, and Military Conflicts Volume Three (2017) -- Communications, Marriage, Transportation, and Traveling Volume Four (2019) -- Education, Occupations, Physical Appearance, and Political Commentaries Volume Five (2020) -- Romantic Relationships, Technology, Time, Weather Conditions, and Youth Culture The structure throughout these volumes is alphabetical, with major themes, secondary support topics, and all individual recordings that illustrate the topics presented from A-thru-Z. Recordings constitute the heart of these studies. Each record citation consists of a full song title, the record label and number, the name of the recording artist, and the date of release. The authors acknowledge that no single research volume could capture all themes, all topics, or all recordings that have been circulated. This project is designed to be illustrative and representative rather than comprehensive.

From “Who Put the Bomp (in the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)?” to a list of all song titles containing the word “werewolf,” Rock Music in American Popular Culture II: More Rock ’n’Roll Resources continues where 1995’s Volume I left off. Using references and illustrations drawn from contemporary lyrics and supported by historical and sociological research on popular cultural subjects, this collection of insightful essays and reviews assesses the involvement of musical imagery in personal issues, in social and political matters, and in key socialization activities. From marriage and sex to public schools and youth culture, readers discover how popular culture can be used to explore American values. As Authors B. Lee Cooper and Wayne S. Haney prove that integrated popular culture is the product of commercial interaction with public interest and values rather than a random phenomena, they entertainingly and knowledgeably cover such topics as: answer songs--interchanges involving social events and lyrical commentaries as explored in response recordings horror films--translations and transformations of literary images and motion picture figures into popular song characters and tales public schools--images of formal educational practices and informal learning processes in popular song lyrics sex--suggestive tales and censorship challenges within the popular music realm war--examinations of persistent military and home front themes featured in wartime recordingsRock Music in American Popular Culture II: More Rock ‘n’Roll Resources is nontechnical, written in a clear and concise fashion, and explores each topic thoroughly, with ample discographic and bibliographic resources provided for additional research. Arranged alphabetically for quick and easy reference to specific topics, the book is equally enjoyable to read straight through. Rock music fans, teachers, popular culture professors, music instructors, public librarians, sound recording archivists, sociologists, social critics, and journalists can all learn something, as the book shows them the cross-pollination of music and social life in the United States.

This unique volume examines a variety of social and cultural issues including censorship, Christmas songs, death, foolish behavior, hoaxes, jobs and workplaces, military involvements, novelty recordings, patriotism, postal images and much more. You will find that the integration of lyrical analysis and social/cultural imagery is unique with respect to highlighting recorded music as a source of learning, information transmission, and self-identity.