Pop Music ft. Michael Jackson

Pop music (a term that originally derives from an abbreviation of “popular”) is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented towards a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes. Pop music has absorbed influences from most other forms of popular music, but as a genre is particularly associated with the rock and roll and later rock style.The phrase “pop music” was first coined around the middle of the 1920’s, it meant a piece of music had “popular” appeal. Numerous things that took place during the recordings of the 20’s could be seen as being the start of the modern day pop music industry, which includes rhythm and blues music, as well as, country, folk, and others.

Pop music has been a profitable industry in America since the 19th century, but Early Pop/Rock is a style that took shape in the post-rock & roll era, once the more conservative elements of the record industry had come to terms with the new musical landscape. Popular culture is distributed across many forms of mass communication including newspapers, magazines, radio, television, movies, music, books and cheap novels, comics and cartoons, and advertising. It contrasts with high cultural art forms, such as opera, classical music and artworks, traditional theater and literature. In mass communication, the term popular culture refers to messages that make limited intellectual and aesthetic demands through content that is designed to amuse and entertain audiences.

Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana, the seventh of Katherine and Joe Jackson’s nine children. At the age of 5, Jackson began performing with his older brothers in a music group coached by their steelworker father. In 1968, Motown Records signed the group, which became known as the Jackson 5, and Michael Jackson, a natural showman, emerged as the lead singer and star. The Jackson 5’s first album, released in 1969, featured the hit “I Want You Back,” and the group’s brand of pop-soul-R&B music made them an immediate success. Their musical popularity even led to their starring in their own TV cartoon series in the early 1970s.

Jackson released his first solo album, “Got to Be There,” in 1972, while continuing to sing with his brothers. Six years later, in 1978, he made his big-screen debut as the Scarecrow in “The Wiz,” an adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name. Directed by Quincy Jones, the film starred an all-black cast that included singer Diana Ross as Dorothy. Jones collaborated with Jackson on his 1979 album “Off the Wall,” which sold some 7 million copies worldwide. The pair teamed up again for Jackson’s now-iconic 1982 album, “Thriller,” which went on to sell 50 million copies around the globe, making it the best-selling studio album of all time. “Thriller” is credited with jump-starting the era of music videos and playing a key role in the rise of then-fledging cable TV network MTV, which launched in 1981.With his record-breaking album Thriller and such international hit singles as “Billie Jean” and “Beat It,” Michael Jackson became the quintessential ’80s pop star. Jackson’s ability to blend r&b with pop, rock guitars with dance beats, combined with his cross-format radio success and innovative videos to create a pop music template that is still with us today.

Rhythm and Blues Music History

The term Rhythm and Blues, RnB, was first used by Billboard magazine in the late 1940’s. RnB was an African-American urban sound that evolved from blues and jazz. In the late 1940’s RnB was described as rocking and jazz based with a heavy and insistent beat. RnB was becoming popular because of it dance ability. By 1949 the term had replaced Billboard’s category Harlem Hit Parade.

By the 1950’s RnB was starting to define the sound of Rock n Roll. In the early fifties Little Richard started recording for RCA Records and by the mid fifties had hits with “Tutti Frutti” and “Long Tall Sally.” Fats Domino had a hit with “Ain’t That a Shame.” Bo Diddly and Chuck Berry would influence and create beats that became mainstays in Rock n Roll.

Rhythm performer and recording artist in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Ray Charles pioneered a new style of music that became known as soul,” a blend of gospel music, blues, and jazz that brought him worldwide fame.
Ray Charles and blues (RnB), which combines soulful singing and a strong backbeat, was the most popular music created by and for African Americans between the end of World War II (1941-45) and the early 1960s. Such Georgia artists as Ray Charles, Little Richard, and James Brown rank among the most influential and innovative RnB performers.

Surging employment during World War II accelerated the migration of the rural poor to cities and helped create a younger, more urban black audience. By 1946 the decade-long dominance of swing music was fading, but the demand for exciting dance music remained. Early RnB artists broke away from the big band formula by typically performing in small combos and emphasizing blues-style vocals and song structures. Saxophone and piano were still prominent, but electric guitar and bass added volume and intensity, making the new sound ideal for radio and jukeboxes.
Billboard magazine coined the term rhythm and blues to rename its “race records” chart in 1949, reflecting changes in the social status, economic power, and musical tastes of African Americans. Promoted by new, independently owned record labels and radio stations marketed to blacks, RnB also captured the imagination of young white audiences and led directly to the popularity of rock and roll.

James Brown, and Aretha Franklin, was instrumental in pioneering soul music, a dynamic blend of gospel and rhythm and blues. Two of Brown’s singles in 1965, Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag-Part 1″ and I Got You (I Feel Good),” were milestones of the genre.
James Brown and Aretha Franklin
performer has been more influential than singer and bandleader James Brown. Brought up in Augusta, Brown became known as the “hardest-working man in show business” for his relentless touring and explosive stage performances. His first hit was “Please, Please, Please” (1956). His million-selling Live at the Apollo album (1963) achieved unprecedented crossover success.

Starting with “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” and “I Got You (I Feel Good)” in 1965, Brown evolved a new, funky style that emphasized intense rhythmic interplay between vocals, horns, guitar, and drums. He was a constant presence on both RnB and pop charts through the social turmoil of the 1960s and early 1970s and achieved recognition not only as a performer but also as a symbol of black pride and self-sufficiency.In 1986 Ray Charles, Little Richard, and James Brown were among the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.The end of the classic RnB period was marked by Billboard magazine’s short-lived decision to combine its pop and RnB charts in 1963. Since then “RnB” has been used more broadly to encompass a range of black musical genres, including soul, funk, disco, and rap.