The CD was released 1982. By 1986, the eight track had been replaced by the cassette. But, vinyl was still very much alive. Many had made the case that vinyl offered some very unique advantages. One such advantage was the art work. Each 12" by 12" jacket was an opportunity for some graphic artist to maybe make a name for his or her self.
Maybe you purchase all of your music as digital downloads. If so, you may not care one way or another about the art work that comes with an album. This might remain true until someone, maybe a friend of yours, shows you an amazing poster that came with the same CD that you have, that they ordered from Amazon.com.
OK, maybe that's not good enough. Have you ever heard a great song, bought the download and then wondered what the artist was singing? If it had come on vinyl, and all you wanted was the lyrics, you might just look on the back or on the inner sleeve. And, while you were perusing the words, you might actually end up checking out the great illustration that so aptly fits or ably depicts the concept of the music that you're listening to. Then, maybe what the band is trying to say with their music begins to not only to make sense, but you may also realize both the music and the illustrations are a total work of art.
Album cover art began in the late 1930s and was the brain child of Alex Stienwiess. Early work was primarily drawings and reflected social values, racial attitudes, lifestyles, fashion, and/or political views. Most of the decisions about album art were maintained by the record labels.
Through the 50s, photography was the major source of images on album covers as the artist or band would be brought front and center. This would last into the 60s until the release of the Beatles "Sgt. Pepper album." The cover consisted of the Beatles surrounded by photos of all of their friends or heroes. The album was a smash and served to change what was acceptable on album covers.
Throughout the decade of the 70s music fans were treated to some of the most memorable cover art ever made. Covers like Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy, The Eagle's Hotel California, or Yes', Relayer were just a few of the most notable. Some others to consider are Sly and the Family Stone's, There's A Riot Going On, the Ohio Players, Honey, and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.
By the mid 80s the switch to CD created a change in packaging which reduced an albums cover size to 12cm by 12cm. This smaller size left little room for detail. Eventually, the fold out booklet allowed for the addition of more art, lyrics and album credits. As vinyl and then cassettes were phased out, the digital download of the 90s did away with album art altogether, as the Mp3 became popular.
But, the 90s also brought back the artist photo as the principle image on album packaging. As the careers of more and more recording artist became dictated by their image, and while more emphasis was put on hit singles, less importance was being place on the music as a concept that needed to be illustrated.
In this new millennium, with the rise of the DIY movement, there has been a resurgent interest in album art. Bands and artists are finding ways to get the art to their fans. Whether they're doing it themselves or getting outside help, including the art work as a value added feature of a CD purchase or full length LP download is just one way that it's being done. This has the makings of a possible music renaissance.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
There And Back (Part III)
It was August 1979. One month before, music fans and consumers had staged what turned into a violent protest against, "Disco," The fans had spoken and the recording industry responded. The "Disco," moniker was quickly dropped as radio stations and night clubs around the world moved to distance themselves from the whole fiasco. As the labels groped for something to replace "Disco," what seemed like a lost for them was actually a victory. "Disco," was gone, but with it went the creative and artistic freedom which artists had fought so hard for.
The major labels had been successful in pressuring some of the top artist of that time into adding at least one "Disco," track to their latest releases. By doing so, they set a new standard for what the market would bare. New, up and coming artists essentially lost any small amount of power that they might have had to say what their music should sound like. For several months after the incident in Chicago's Comisky Park, all "Disco," music was labeled as "Dance," music and would be so from then on. If you wanted to get signed, this is what you played. R&B and Funk artist were most profoundly effected, because, "Disco," made use of many of the qualities of those genres.
December of that year, a Rap artist named Kurtis Blow arrived on the scene. The release of Christmas Rappin' made him the first Rapper to be signed to a major label. The song was pure novelty. It had sketchy, but original music, while the words were spoken in rhythm over it. It was a hit, selling more than 500,000 copies and it marked the beginning of what would go on to be Rap's dominance over the global music scene. Later in 1980 he released, "The Breaks," which also sold 500,000 copies and fueled the next trend that the music industry had been looking for.
Hot on the heels of Kurtis Blow's success, came the Sugar Hill Gang in 1980. The band was produced by Sylvia Robinson and the single release of, "Rapper's Delight," went platinum selling a million copies. This must have been most pleasing to the labels, who were still releasing "Disco," left overs, passed off as, "dance," music. The track featured an extra long loop of Chic's hit, "Good Times," with the words spoken with a rhythmic flare.
The next several years of the 80s saw Rap slowly become Hip Hop. Early artists included, Whodini, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, The Fat Boys and Run DMC. These acts used their own music, however sparse the arrangement. The songs were mostly about partying and having a good time, but often, songs like Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five's, "The Message," actually decried the state of life in the ghetto. But, the sound of Hip Hop would be most notably defined by the much sparer and harder edge sound of Run DMC.
Run DMC have been considered the originators of the, "New School." They wore black denim pants and black leather jackets, along with unlaced Adidas and bowler hats. With them, the ghetto, a place of misery and despair, would become, "The Hood," the place where you were proud to be from. Their hard edge style and choice of fashion would set the trend for those Hip Hop artists that followed them.
Meanwhile, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Prince, Madonna, and Phil Collins were all hugely successful, both as pop artists and within their own genres, going into and through to the mid 80s. However, some artists such as the Eagles, the Doobie Brothers, Parliament/Funkadelic, and the Average White Band disbanded for a while. Apparently, the sound of the market, seemingly had no place for what they had to offer. "Disco," had become "dance," Rock went toward power chord ballads, while Jazz became , "smooth." R&B/Funk became a muddle of sythn/dance/slow jams, or what ever it took to sell.
Rap and Hip Hop was on the rise, but wouldn't really break through until 1987, when word spread that a local area Rap artist had made $750,000 selling home made Rap tapes from the trunk of his car. When this news reached industry bigwigs, one thing was very clear, they had of get a piece of that action.
The major labels had been successful in pressuring some of the top artist of that time into adding at least one "Disco," track to their latest releases. By doing so, they set a new standard for what the market would bare. New, up and coming artists essentially lost any small amount of power that they might have had to say what their music should sound like. For several months after the incident in Chicago's Comisky Park, all "Disco," music was labeled as "Dance," music and would be so from then on. If you wanted to get signed, this is what you played. R&B and Funk artist were most profoundly effected, because, "Disco," made use of many of the qualities of those genres.
December of that year, a Rap artist named Kurtis Blow arrived on the scene. The release of Christmas Rappin' made him the first Rapper to be signed to a major label. The song was pure novelty. It had sketchy, but original music, while the words were spoken in rhythm over it. It was a hit, selling more than 500,000 copies and it marked the beginning of what would go on to be Rap's dominance over the global music scene. Later in 1980 he released, "The Breaks," which also sold 500,000 copies and fueled the next trend that the music industry had been looking for.
Hot on the heels of Kurtis Blow's success, came the Sugar Hill Gang in 1980. The band was produced by Sylvia Robinson and the single release of, "Rapper's Delight," went platinum selling a million copies. This must have been most pleasing to the labels, who were still releasing "Disco," left overs, passed off as, "dance," music. The track featured an extra long loop of Chic's hit, "Good Times," with the words spoken with a rhythmic flare.
The next several years of the 80s saw Rap slowly become Hip Hop. Early artists included, Whodini, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, The Fat Boys and Run DMC. These acts used their own music, however sparse the arrangement. The songs were mostly about partying and having a good time, but often, songs like Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five's, "The Message," actually decried the state of life in the ghetto. But, the sound of Hip Hop would be most notably defined by the much sparer and harder edge sound of Run DMC.
Run DMC have been considered the originators of the, "New School." They wore black denim pants and black leather jackets, along with unlaced Adidas and bowler hats. With them, the ghetto, a place of misery and despair, would become, "The Hood," the place where you were proud to be from. Their hard edge style and choice of fashion would set the trend for those Hip Hop artists that followed them.
Meanwhile, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Prince, Madonna, and Phil Collins were all hugely successful, both as pop artists and within their own genres, going into and through to the mid 80s. However, some artists such as the Eagles, the Doobie Brothers, Parliament/Funkadelic, and the Average White Band disbanded for a while. Apparently, the sound of the market, seemingly had no place for what they had to offer. "Disco," had become "dance," Rock went toward power chord ballads, while Jazz became , "smooth." R&B/Funk became a muddle of sythn/dance/slow jams, or what ever it took to sell.
Rap and Hip Hop was on the rise, but wouldn't really break through until 1987, when word spread that a local area Rap artist had made $750,000 selling home made Rap tapes from the trunk of his car. When this news reached industry bigwigs, one thing was very clear, they had of get a piece of that action.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Something To Blog About
I tried to listen to the radio again. As a songwriter, you're told that if you want to write a hit, you need to listen to the radio. There are a couple of things that I hear when ever I do. Granted, if you you've only been listening to the radio for only the last fifteen years, you probably don't think that there's anything wrong. And, maybe there isn't. But, I think that if you're fifteen years or more older, there's a good chance that you know what I'm talking about.
The first thing that I noticed, when I listen to top forty especially, is the increasing number of songs that make use of what's become known as, the auto-tune effect. The auto-tune effect is essentially the robotic sound that used to be created with a vocoder or talk box. Now, pitch correction gear made by such companies as Antares can, if adjusted just right, produce the same effect. For many years, vocal tuning was was the recording industry's biggest and best kept secret. That is, until a very well know and popular pop singer released a song in 1998 where the vocals were tuned until the sound of her voice became robotic and mechanical.
Since then, the use of pitch correction hardware, and now software, has been growing at a steady pace. I won't lie to you, I am not against the occasional use of such gear. In cases where studio time is at a premium and/or deadlines have to be met, this hardware and software can save countless hours, days, months, or maybe even years, trying to nail a particular vocal line or phrase. But, when many fellow artist and producers start to decry its over use, maybe there's something to what they are saying. Tune into any Urban or Hip Hop station and it seems like every two or three songs is making use of it. God forbid if auto tune gets turned into its own genre.
The second thing that I noticed, is that melodies are getting weaker and weaker as rhythm is taking over. It seems, and this is just my opinion, that more songs feature the artist sing/talking, nearly rapping their lyrics. And, at times it sounds like they're squeezing more and more syllables into every line. I've said this before, there is more than one way to write a song. But, I've also said, that there's nothing that makes a song more memorable than a good melody.
Some Neo Soul artists are beginning to put more emphasis on real instrumentation, but they are merely going for a retro feel while maintaining their Urban or Hip Hop sensibilities. All they would really have to do is sit down with a piano or keyboard, write a melody first and then fill in the rest.
Maybe it's just enough to pass the whole thing off as changing times. But, what will happen when the latest hit song is a patch work collage of bits and pieces of other songs, while someone talks over it? Sound like the makings of a classic to you?
The first thing that I noticed, when I listen to top forty especially, is the increasing number of songs that make use of what's become known as, the auto-tune effect. The auto-tune effect is essentially the robotic sound that used to be created with a vocoder or talk box. Now, pitch correction gear made by such companies as Antares can, if adjusted just right, produce the same effect. For many years, vocal tuning was was the recording industry's biggest and best kept secret. That is, until a very well know and popular pop singer released a song in 1998 where the vocals were tuned until the sound of her voice became robotic and mechanical.
Since then, the use of pitch correction hardware, and now software, has been growing at a steady pace. I won't lie to you, I am not against the occasional use of such gear. In cases where studio time is at a premium and/or deadlines have to be met, this hardware and software can save countless hours, days, months, or maybe even years, trying to nail a particular vocal line or phrase. But, when many fellow artist and producers start to decry its over use, maybe there's something to what they are saying. Tune into any Urban or Hip Hop station and it seems like every two or three songs is making use of it. God forbid if auto tune gets turned into its own genre.
The second thing that I noticed, is that melodies are getting weaker and weaker as rhythm is taking over. It seems, and this is just my opinion, that more songs feature the artist sing/talking, nearly rapping their lyrics. And, at times it sounds like they're squeezing more and more syllables into every line. I've said this before, there is more than one way to write a song. But, I've also said, that there's nothing that makes a song more memorable than a good melody.
Some Neo Soul artists are beginning to put more emphasis on real instrumentation, but they are merely going for a retro feel while maintaining their Urban or Hip Hop sensibilities. All they would really have to do is sit down with a piano or keyboard, write a melody first and then fill in the rest.
Maybe it's just enough to pass the whole thing off as changing times. But, what will happen when the latest hit song is a patch work collage of bits and pieces of other songs, while someone talks over it? Sound like the makings of a classic to you?
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