Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Lennon/McCartney)

It was twenty years ago today,
Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play
They've been going in and out of style
But they're guaranteed to raise a smile.
So may I introduce to you
The act you've known for all these years,
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
We're Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,
We hope you will enjoy the show,
We're Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,
Sit back and let the evening go.
Sgt. Pepper's lonely, Sgt. Pepper's lonely,
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
It's wonderful to be here,
It's certainly a thrill.
You're such a lovely audience,
We'd like to take you home with us,
We'd love to take you home.
I don't really want to stop the show,
But I thought that you might like to know,
That the singer's going to sing a song,
And he wants you all to sing along.
So let me introduce to you
The one and only Billy Shears
And Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Special task on understanding of the role of music:

• read the quotations, expand and share your opinion on them.
• say, what you think about the role of music in people’s life
• say, what your opinion is on the situation with Russian modern popular music
• say, what factors influence people’s preferences in music
• say, why modern young people do not share their parents’ interest in classical music

Text 17 Modern Tendencies in Music

Rock – (Rock and Roll) grew out of the American Country and Blues musical traditions. From its beginnings as the music of youth and rebellion Rock has constantly evolved. some aspects remained cutting-edge and dangerous while others have gained widespread mainstream acceptance. It splinters and fragments, co-opts and combines, and it does so on any number of different fronts and all at the same time. Rock is such a vague term that could potentially describe thousands of artists, thus creating a large and meaningless category.

Modern Rock – is just modern rock music. More specifically, this term refers to the genres of rock that influenced or were influenced by the advent of punk, a genre, that, in early 90s, crashed into the rock of commercialism and uncommercial Indie rock and radio-friendly Alternative, Goth, Grunge and many other directions.

Alternative Rock is a very broad and rather vague term. Originally it encompassed almost any punk-rock and non-mainstream music. In the early 90s, thanks to the success of Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers, the lines between Alternative and Pop were blurred.

Grunge – began in the 80s as a stoner Punk, combining the sound of early Black Sabbath with Punk attitudes, lyricism, speed and special aesthetic. It became extremely popular after Nirvana’s commercial success.

Indie Rock – refers to all Alternative bands that remained underground and independent with the background of Nirvana’s commercial success and commercial c-opting of Alternative music. Though there is no specific Indie rock sound it is typically guitar-based and made with Punk-inspired Do-It-Yourself (DIY) aesthetic.

New Psychedelia

The late 90s saw a renewed interest, on the part of the Indie Rock community, in the Psychedelic Rock of 60s bands like the Beatles and the Beach boys. This was brought about almost singlehandedly by a loosely organized and artistically prolific the Elephant 6 collective.

Goth Rock

At core, “Gothic”, refers to the style invented by second-generation British Punk bands like Joy division, The Cure, music that embraced darkness of theme and excessively morbid imagery, but the Gothic style is actually quite broad and has serious cultural antecedents in the work of writers like Mary Shelley and Horace Walpole. The pop “gothic” style has deeply influenced our culture and is today represented in the music of a wide variety of bands, from Dead Can Dance to Marilyn Manson. At the worst, Gothic music is laughably hackneyed: a collection of clichéd lines about vampires, blood and creatures of the night. At its best, Gothic music can be terrifying, swooningly romantic, and exorcisingly powerful all the same time.

Rock – (Rock and Roll) grew out of the American Country and Blues musical traditions. From its beginnings as the music of youth and rebellion Rock has constantly evolved. some aspects remained cutting-edge and dangerous while others have gained widespread mainstream acceptance. It splinters and fragments, co-opts and combines, and it does so on any number of different fronts and all at the same time. Rock is such a vague term that could potentially describe thousands of artists, thus creating a large and meaningless category.

Classical Rock – is an umbrella term that basically describes the best work of white hard guitar rock bands from the 60s and 70s. We’re talking cream, Led Zeppelin, and the like. everybody has a classic rock song 9or two) that they secretly love, and that’s why there are so many “Classic Rock” radio stations.

Folk Rock – began by combining the melodies, energy and hooks of 60s British Rock (read early Beatles) with the lyricism and musicianship of the Folk revival (read, Bob Dylan). The ultimate example of this hybrid is the Byrds. The folk Rock exists popular today, though it is rarely called such in the works of Tom Betty, early REM.

Hard Rock – is a vey big term. Essencially, Hard Rock is loud, semi-distorted, guitar based Rock and Roll. It is neither as improvisational as Blues or Psychedeliс Rock nor as fast and aggressive as either Metal or Punk. Aerosmith, Van Halen, Bad Company are but a few examples of the multiplicity of Hard Rock acts out there.

Electronica– everybody hates so much this term, people prefer “dance music” though it sounds lame. Electronic musical experimentation remained in the avant garde of American and European music until the 70s when bands like Kraftwerk rose to prominence. Meanwhile in Jamaica and DJ soundsystem culture had been developing and thriving for years. Technological advances, the death of Disco (as a consumer phenomenon) and the rise of Hip hop and Punk spurred the creation of DIY dance music and the DJ. Underground clubs in New York, London and Detroit began playing a new type of music that soon went global and has quickly fragmented into an infinite number of styles and subgenres. This encompasses all sampler, computer and turnable based except Hip Hop.

Hip Hop – or rap music began as a largely black, inner-city phenomenon of the late 70’s and early 80’s. Hip Hop was originally a strictly live idiom, performed at clubs and parties. the music grew out Jamaican DJ, or Toasting music, disco, electro-funk sound. The music relied mostly on rhythmic phrases and chants. Hip Hop established the DJ innovations of cutting, back spinning and scratching, rather through the work of Grand Master Flash. The Sugarhill Gang recorded the first rap single in ’79 and got success. Hip Hop established itself as commercially viable in the next few years with “Planet Rock”. Then Hip Hop began to crossover into mainstream commercial success with the rock heavy rhythms of Run DMC and the novelty, party raps of the Fat Boys.

Task 1. Read the text

Task 2. On the basis of the information and expressions from the text speak about the modern tendencies in music.

Task 3. On the basis of the text speak about the most important trends is modern Russian music.

Task 4. Speak about the music styles that are most popular with modern youth.

Task 5. Explain, why one of the modern Russian rock singers once wrote in a song “rock and Roll is dead”.

Task 6. Express your opinion on the fates of the modern music in Russia. By the way, why is Russia maximum the second in Eurovision contest?

List of sites:

http://www.rockhall.com/

http://www.ipl.org/div/mushist/

http://cl.mmv.ru/obzory/

http://library.thinkquest.org/15413/

http://bibl.ac.uk/linklm/

http://www2.sibs.fi/