First off, thanks very much for your super kind comment on my last blog post! I really appreciate it, and I’m sure you paid it much more dues than it was worth!
Your independent post on Dr. Dre was not something I would normally read, as Hip Hop has never been a great part of my music library. However, I really enjoyed reading your thorough background on him, as pretty much everything I read was new information. I especially liked your last two paragraphs. Dre’s innovations and ability to conduct himself effectively in the business industry is something that not many rappers can attest to. Dre was very successful at finding a particular niche in the headphone industry that had not yet been filled, and I commend him highly for that.
Overall, this is a really great post (on a very pretty blog by the way!) and I enjoyed reading your thoughts.
The ‘Happy Birthday’ song, named the most well known song in the English language by the 1998 Guinness Book of World Records, is perhaps also one of the most under-rated. The two American siblings behind such a hit were Patty Hill and Mildred J. Hill. ‘Happy Birthday’ was actually derived from a song they wrote in 1893, entitled “Good Morning to All”. You can see the similarity below:
“Good morning to you,
Good morning to you,
Good morning, dear children,
Good morning to all.”
Patty, the main songwriter listed, was in fact a kindergarten teacher, and created the song with such simple lyrics and melody solely for the children’s benefit. Many believe that similar songs released in the nineteenth century inspired her, including: “Happy Greetings to All” by Horace Walters, and “A Happy New Year to All” dating back to 1885. Never the less, her school children so enjoyed the song that they began singing it at birthday parties, just slightly changing the lyrics to the traditional version we now know. It wasn’t until half a century later, in 1935 that “Happy Birthday” was copyrighted, and these copyrights were then later sold to The Time-Warner Corporation in 1998. The company issued an order stating that anyone performing the song for profit must pay royalties, and thanks to the new implementation, they began making about $5000 a day from use in television, radio, film, etc. This is also the main reason that some restaurants will not perform the original version, but will in fact change it to become more unique. Many professionals have heavily researched the expiry date of the song, and some believe that it may actually already have expired. However, the company currently holding the rights states that they will not expire until 2016.
poetichome.com
The song itself is not as simple as you may think. The format ‘AABA’ made use of a call and response technique popular around that time. Many have argued that an ABA format is just as pleasing as an AABA, but AABA is certainly much more popular, at least in music. This ‘call and response’ chant is also advantageous for passing down the song orally. If the caller sings the first line, and the others repeat it, it is much easier to learn. If we look at blues and limericks, the AABA format is much more resonant with us than the ABA format. You can interpret Happy Birthdays format to be a tantalizing pattern that we as humans find enjoyable.
Celebrating birthdays did not become popular until the 12th century, and it was in Germany that the tradition of blowing out candles on a cake and making a wish first originated. Thanks to the ‘Happy Birthday’ song, we have a way to tie in our intrinsic connection to music at one of the most important days of a person’s life. Birthdays are the most celebrated anniversaries of all, so it would only make sense that the happy birthday song is the most sung song in western civilization. It is safe to say that this is the most influential song ever written, and it will continue to transcend into future history as an important part of an individuals life. As a listener you will be very happy, because it most likely means they are singing for you! As an industry professional . . . well, this is your chance to sit back and not take apart every note! Enjoy the moment, and I hope you have many more to come.
Your statement, “this band is credited with being the sole pioneer of electronic music” in the first paragraph is spot on. Kraftwerk was extremely influential in their genre, and would go on to influence hundreds of artists with their stylistic electronic albums. Their first international hit Autobahn was like you said, “a huge success both in European countries and the United States”. Autobahn is what created the image of Kraftwerk early on, with the central theme of road-travel, going on to influence the central themes of every other album they created. I also really liked reading your paragraph on what you personally thought of the album on a technical side. The last two paragraphs were especially insightful and fun to read. Overall, you wrote a great post!
Born in the distant land of Iceland, Björk began her musical career at the young age of eleven, when she started studying piano. Piano lessons soon spurred her onto creating her own punk band at fourteen, a genre that would be influential in her early musical career. Actually, it wasn’t until 1992 that Björk began pursuing a solo career in the dance genre. The change would spell success, with her first solo debut album reaching a double platinum status in America. The album featured several tracks with global instrumentation, and some of these tracks paid tribute to her love of jazz.
As of late, Björk has effortlessly been joining music with technology. Perhaps the most recent example of this is her newest project, Biophilio. Her album is the “first to be released as a suite of iPad and iPhone apps, intended as a ‘semi-educational project for children’”. This album combines music with technological innovations, including an “app album”. Each song has a separate app, designed by some of the leading designers. This album also consists of several custom built instruments just built for this project. However, it’s not just in the technological community that Björk has had a strong influence; she is also involved with many younger up-and-coming bands. Besides using her website and numerous radio interviews through her successful career to promote new acts, she also created a record label, Ear Records, to support a friend. She has had a hand to play in the successful careers of more than five different artists.
Björk has been a favourite artist of mine for a long time. I truly believe that she is one of the best artists in the electronic genre; and learning that she is also heavily invested in furthering young artist’s careers and is involved with numerous charities just furthers my respect for her as a person. Björk’s new album is probably one of her best albums experienced as a whole. As a buyer, not only can you experience the album by listening, but you can also play apps that relate to each song. This album is so far ahead of its time, that there is no questioning its quality in this case. Everything from the lyrics, to the instrumentation, to the arrangement, is so beautiful. Björk, in my opinion as an industry professional, should be considered the highest technological innovator and musician that the electronic genre has seen in years.
Hailing from Dusseldorf, Germany, Kraftwerk ignored the poppy Beach Boys trend so popular at the time, and instead set their sights on creating an innovative new electronic genre. Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider met as two students at the Robert Schumann Academy in Dusseldorf, both interested in the art and experimental scene.1 Their band began relatively small, but over the years accumulated many other musicians that would be replaced quite frequently. In the end, the most memorable line-up would include Ralf Hutter, Karl Bartos, Wolfgang Flur, and Florian Schneider.
Their first albums were mostly experimental, and lacked the solidarity that they would go on to develop. They would begin by free-styling on traditional instruments like bass, drums, guitars and violins. Then these recordings would be distorted and manipulated with the help of electronic means. Their release would be purely instrumental. In 1973, the band released Ralf and Florian. This album would play a big role in their future, as it began focusing more on the drum machines, synths and vocoders that the group would become known for.
1974-1984 brought about some of their most appreciated and esteemed work yet. They met graphic artist, Emil Schult, around the time of their release Autobahn. He created much of the bands image and artwork. They also developed a relationship with the record label Phonogram in the US. With their support financially, they were able to tour internationally across Canada, the US, and the UK. Upon ending this tour, Kraftwerk invested in new equipment and really brought their studio, Kling Klang, up to date. This makeover would play a large part in their new album, Radio-Activity. Radio-Activity showed that the band was developing a more electro-pop style, and used a central theme focusing on the bands love of radio communication.
Three more albums were released in the space of four years. Trans-Europe Express was the first in 1977 and marked the first meeting between the group and David Bowie, although nothing would come of this. The Man-Machine was released in May, 1978, and although it was recorded in their own Kling Klang studio, would have to be sent to Dusseldorf to be mixed due to its intricacy. After that came Computer World in 1981, an album that would be taken on tour and also happened to contain their smash hit in the UK, “The Model”.2
My favourite work from them was in the album Techno Pop, released in 1982. Hutter used the theme of bicycles in the song “Tour de France”, and although he couldn’t persuade the band to use the theme throughout the album, this song was done very creatively with real bike sounds. I think it is this sort of ingenuity that earns them the title of one of the biggest influences on electronic music. Besides the fact that technologically, they created numerous devices like electronic drums kits and vocoders that would influence future designs; they also enlightened artists and musicians all over the world, such as Franz Ferdinand, Depeche Mode, David Bowie, and even Jay-Z. As a listener, their hooks and melodies are extremely likable, and you can’t help but appreciate each theme found on every album they have released. As an audio professional, you wish you could thank them for setting the standard so high when it comes to innovative and technological progress in electronic music.
