Week 4 Podcast - The Ramones

http://soundcloud.com/jwg915/jonathan-greer-mh2-week-4

Independent Research - The Ramones

Although the term ‘punk rock’ had been used to describe garage bands during the ‘60s, the first real punk scene materialized in the mid 1970s in New York City and the United Kingdom. This new movement railed against social and political norms and many bands intentionally set out to shock and outrage the mainstream audience. The Ramones, a New York based band, were at the forefront of the punk movement. Although they never experienced much commercial success, the Ramones have been described as one of the most influential groups in rock music.

Formed in 1974 in Queens, the Ramones’ first performance was on March 30^th at Performance Studios. The songs they played were raw, fast, and short, usually under 2 minutes each. A few months later, they landed a gig at the famous downtown Manhattan club, CBGB’s (Country, Bluegrass, and Blues), where they became regulars and performed 74 times by the end of the year. Their first album, Ramones, was released in February 1976. Although it received glowing reviews from The Village Voice and Rolling Stone, Ramones met with little commercial success.

On July 4^th, 1976, the Ramones performed at the Roundhouse London. Inspired by this performance were members of the Clash, Sex Pistols, the Damned, and Chrissy Hynde, who would all go on to revolutionize the punk music scene that was beginning in England. Shortly after this, the Ramones played in Toronto, inspiring the growing punk scene there as well. Over the following 20 years, the Ramones would release 13 more albums with very little success on the charts. Drugs, alcohol, personality conflicts, and psychological disorders caused a lot of tension between members of the band, and sometimes with their producers. It is said that Phil Spector clashed with bassist Dee Dee Ramone and once forced him to play at gunpoint.

After I listened to just a few songs from the Ramones’ early recordings, it wasn’t difficult to hear the impact this group had on punk and rock music to come. The simplistic three or four power-chord form being played at blazing tempos and obnoxious volumes can be heard from recent bands such as the Offspring and Green Day. Many award-winning rock, pop, punk, and metal artists have credited the Ramones with inspiring their musical development. This commercially underrated band eventually received recognition for their impact on the music world. In 2002, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011.

One of the main things I’ll take away from what I’ve learned comes from a quote from Johnny Ramone. He was talking to Paul Simonon from the Clash and said, “Wait ‘till you see us – we stink, we’re lousy, we can’t play. Just get out there and do it.” He didn’t care if anyone liked them. I think we could all learn a little from that. Just get out there and do it, right? 

Peer Review

Week 2
In response to Matthew Wheatley's The Velvet Underground and Nico

It really does seem that many of the groups we’re studying were “ahead of their time”, doesn’t it? I translate that into “they were out of their minds”. I suppose that is what it takes at times to break into another phase of music. I can imagine that the Velvet Underground was viewed much like Lady Gaga wearing a meat dress is viewed today. It was that generation’s ‘shock rock’, specifically designed to offend and confuse. I found your blog post thorough and informative. It contained enough information about different aspects of the band and it’s music to give a general understanding of the impact of the Velvet Underground on the music industry. 

Week 3

In response to Bradley Stepp's Electronic Music Innovations:

It really is interesting when the old can become new again. Sometimes I think we get so wrapped around using all these new sample libraries and presets that we forget to develop something of our own. That last line in your post about using guitar effects to process synth sounds really gets me thinking about how unimaginative I can allow myself to get sometimes. These guys in early electronic music weren’t just musically creative (some of them weren’t even musicians at all); they invented and built things that no one had ever even thought about. Dance music owes its very existence to individuals like Gary Numan and his predecessors. Good post!

Week 4
In response to Keith Garceau's Robert "Mutt" Lange - Jedi Producer

This is a truly excellent blog post. It seemed well researched and inspired. I could tell that you’re really interested in studying the life and methods of Robert Lange. I’d seen the name a couple times before but I didn’t realize just how prolific and sought-after he was. I too was an aspiring rock star once upon a time (and still have delusions occasionally) and can relate to your story, especially the part about going over your mixes again and again, always nit-picking and never really being satisfied. Thank you for the informative lesson on one of your heroes. You can be certain that I’ll be digging a little deeper and finding some recordings of his to examine.

Robert (Bob) Moog and Electronic Music

Robert Moog (rhymes with 'vogue') influenced electronic music like no other, not as an artist, but as the inventor of the original (and many say definitive) synthesizer. At 15 years old, he built his own theremin from the instructions in the magazine Radio and TV News and at 19 he established the R. A. Moog Company where he initially sold theremin kits.  Over the following decades he would complete 2 bachelor’s degrees in physics and electrical engineering, and a Ph.D. from Cornell University in engineering physics.

Shortly after this, Robert Moog would invent the Moog modular synthesizer, which was the first to use ADSR (attack, decay, sustain, release) envelopes and low-pass filters that became the foundation for all other synthesizer instruments. This allowed for the synthesis of horn, string, and vocal sounds that were previously unheard of. Moog would continue to design and build Theremins, synthesizers, and eventually guitar effects, amplifiers, and digital effects; over 20 unique products in all.

His first modular synths were huge, much too large to perform live, so they were confined to studio settings. Early electronic music bands, such as Kraftwerk, embraced Moog’s products. In 1968, the album Switched-On Bach by Wendy Carlos featured the relatively unknown instrument. This record was a complete recreation of 12 compositions of J. S. Bach using the Moog synthesizer. The album won 3 Grammy Awards in 1969, giving world-wide attention to this new electronic music innovation. In 1971, he built the Minimoog, a smaller, portable, and affordable synthesizer that exploded onto the live music scene.

The list of artists and bands that have used Bob Moog’s instruments would be too much to annotate here. It may be easier to list the artists that HAVEN’T used Moog synths. Moog’s designs are still being recreated today in the form of DAW plug-ins. New versions of his synthesizers and low-pass filters are still being sold for hundreds and even thousands of dollars. Ever the innovator, he was still developing new technologies and products up until his passing in 2005. Bob Moog’s legacy lives on through his impact on literally every genre of popular music. 

Kraftwerk

In the late 1960’s, a new wave of experimental music emerged in Germany. This electronic music was developed in response to the American and British popular music of the time. Kraftwerk is considered one of the pioneers of electronic music. Created by Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider in 1970, Kraftwerk was one of the first groups to introduce electronic popular music into the mainstream. Their first two albums were completely instrumental in nature and consisted of traditional acoustic instruments in addition to the electronic element. The third album, Ralf and Florian, began relying more heavily on electronic instrumentation, setting the tone for future releases.

Between 1974 and 1981, Kraftwerk released 5 albums and experienced varying degrees of success. The first of these, a concept album called Autobahn, propelled them into spotlight in 1974. The use of flute and guitar started to fade on Autobahn and completely disappeared on their next album, Radio-Activity. Although the follow-up album Trans-Europe Express in 1977 was not commercially successful, it was during this time that Kraftwerk and other German electronic music bands attracted the attention of David Bowie and Brian Eno who would travel to Germany and bring this style of music increased attention.

The largest impact that Kraftwerk had on electronic music is probably through the artists that they influenced. Bands such as Depeche Mode, Bjork, and Soft Cell attribute Kraftwerk as being influential to their music. Kraftwerk influenced the creation of entire genres of music like electro, hip-hop, house and techno as well. They also had an effect of the evolution of electronic instruments. Kraftwerk was one of the first bands to use a vocoder live and in the studio. Ralf and Florian also held the patent for an electronic drum kit that was first used on Autobahn.

I have recently become more of a fan of electronic music (after being forced to create a techno music track a few months ago). While Kraftwerk music isn’t something I’d listen to on my way to work, I recognize the impact that the group had on the music industry.

The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

I grew up listening to the Beach Boys. My little brother and I spent many hours in the back seat of our ’84 Caprice Classic (AKA The Boat) on long car trips while my parents blasted "Surfin’ USA", "In My Room", and "Little Deuce Coupe" from their vast collection of Beach Boys tapes. I honestly think it’s why I can harmonize so well today.

Prior to 1966 when their album Pet Sounds was released, the Beach Boys’ music had themes of surfing, hot-rods, and girls. It had elements of rock and RnB of the era but added more intricate vocal jazz harmonies and instrument arrangements. The driving force behind the Beach Boys’ success was Brian Wilson. Brian sang many of the lead vocals and acted as the band’s primary songwriter, arranger, and producer.

In 1964, the stress of his workload and touring with the band had taken its toll on Brian. He suffered a serious nervous breakdown and decided to stop touring with the Beach Boys. This freed him up to experiment with new ideas in the studio, resulting in several smash hit singles over the following year. In 1965, Brian was inspired by the release of the Beatles album, Rubber Soul. He set out to record the “greatest rock album ever made.” This inspiration coupled with the influence of LSD led to the Beach Boys’ next album, Pet Sounds.

Pet Sounds was an innovative work in many ways. Aside from a departure from the Beach Boys’ mainstream sound, this new album featured instrumentation and arrangements that were just not heard in pop music, such as the use of accordions, a theremin and brass instruments. Brian also used some unusual multi-track recording methods. He doubled many of the instrumental parts and blended them with reverb and echo techniques he was experimenting with, essentially using multiple sources to create a brand new sound.

I still find this album enjoyable to listen to. The vocal textures and harmonic content is amazing. It really is a breath of fresh air compared to much of today’s mainstream music. I read that pro audio companies spent decades trying to design processors to recreate what Brian Wilson did in the studio on this album. It’s truly a testament to ingenuity. Listening to Pet Sounds again not only brought back memories, but stirred up some of what first interested me in music all those years ago.

Welcome

Welcome to my Music History 2 blog. I’m Jonathan and I’m a Music Production major. I’ve been a military musician for 15 years now and have been playing at least some kind of musical instrument for over 20. I enjoy listening to a wide variety of styles, mostly Christian-based music. Some of my favorites are NewWorldSon, Flyleaf, Altar’d, Kutless, and Fireflight. I have yet to find a niche to really focus my efforts on so I’m trying to learn everything I can in each of my classes. I’m pretty strong in music theory, arranging and mixing. I really enjoy building backing tracks for bands I play/sing in. Thanks for stopping by!

Jonathan Greer