The 50’s progression is the name given to a audibly distinct chord progression structure that utilizes, in this order, the first, sixth, fourth (or second) and fifth chords in any given key (the entire key transpositional chart will be posted at the end of the article for reference) .The progression is cornerstone to doo-wop style music and in some cases is referred to as the ‘doo-wop progression’. Utilization can be seen as early as 1934 with Richard Rodgers’ famous song Blue Moon. And since then (and long before), the progression has been used consistently all through popular music with songs even to this day showcasing it’s captivating charm, some examples being; Dy’er Maker by Led Zeppelin (1974), Take it On the Run – REO Speedwagon (1981), and Baby by Justin Beiber (2009). More often than not the 50’s progression is applied to ballad style songs as it introduces a whimsical texture to the feeling of the song. My favourite song that uses the progression would definitely have to be Telephone by Electric Light Orchestra (or E.L.O.), this example seemed glaringly obvious for me to select as the chorus literally begins  with the lyric ‘doo-wop doobie doo-doo-wop”.

The song is in the key of A which is chord number one, next the sixth chord in the key of A which is F#m, then the fourth D, and finally the fifth chord E.  You can hear the progression begin in the chorus at 1:35 into the song with an A (doo), the F#m at 1:37 (wop), D at 1:38 (doobie), and E at 1:40. This repeats once more and then a variation of the chord progression carries you through until the end of the chorus where the hook is (masterfully) introduced. So although the name implies that only songs from the 1950’s would utilize the progression, in fact, there were transcendent ramifications that resulted from the frequency of the progression’s use during that time period which ultimately lead to it’s cohesiveness in popular music. A more appropriate track to assist you in understanding the doo-wop progression might be Earth Angel by The Penguins as it was actually released during the 50’s (1955).

The progression is easier to pick out as it begins at exactly 0:01 and uses only the piano to influence the progression which continues on throughout the entirety of the song aside from the bridge at 1:05- 1:32.

Campbell, Michael. Popular Music in American The Beat Goes On. Boston, MA: Schirmer Cengage Learning, 2013.

“List of songs containing the 50’s progression.” Accessed July 20, 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_containing_the_50s_progression

“Chords by Key” Accessed July 20, 2018. http://www.piano-keyboard-guide.com/chords-by-key.html

“Telephone Line Chords” Accessed July 20, 2018. https://www.e-chords.com/chords/electric-light-orchestra/telephone-line

“The ’50’s doo-wop’ progression” Accessed July 20, 2018. http://openmusictheory.com/popRockHarmony-dooWop.html

The Great American Songbook

The “Great American Songbook” is a an official and recognized set of the most important and influential American popular songs and jazz standards from the early 20th century. It consists of the most known and lasting songs from the 1920’s to the 1950’s that were created for the Broadway theatre, musical theatre, and Hollywood musical film (The Great American Songbook Foundation, 2018).

As noted, the Great American Songbook existed in a time were the world was chaos, from the First World War to the Second World War, and to even when the United States faced the Great Depression. This means that for the songs to be included in the Great American Songbook, they must have been able to strongly influence the people of the United States and even the World in order to maintain such high standards. This is also the period of time were hipsters started to blossom, which meant that songs associated with hipsters also grew in recognition.

The contributors to the book are widespread, they include various artists from different backgrounds such as, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis Jr., Judy Garland, Billy Holiday, Lena Horne, Al Jolson, Dean Martin and even Frank Sinatra (The Great American Songbook Foundation, 2018). There have been conflicts among musical scholars on deciding what should be in the Great American Songbook or even what period of time it should be classified under, but this has not affected the significance of it’s existence. The Great American Songbook is not a physical booklet of the list of songs or lyrics, so it tends to vary depending on who is collecting and presenting them (Yagoda, 2015).

The Great American Songbook signifies the history of music in our society, its development and how it is accepted amongst it’s listeners. It shows the dynamic of “standard”(A song that remains popular well after its initial appearance songs that live on in recordings, films, and live performances) music and its influence. In today’s blog I will talk about one of the most iconic songs in the Great American Songbook, and how it still influences people today.

“Over the Rainbow”

"The Wizard of Oz" movie. "Over the Rainbow" by Judy Garland.

I added the video above to give everyone a clear image of the most recognizable version of the song [in my perspective].

The original song is composed by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Yip Harburg in the year 1939. It was composed for the movie “Wizard of Oz” and was to be sang by the above actress, Judy Garland. After the movie, it gained an enormous and lasting recognition around the world, and it won the Academy award for the best original song  and became a standard in the 20th century (Roberts, 2006). The song is also listed as number one (1) in the “Songs of the Century” list (CNN Entertainment, 2001). This means that it meets all the criteria for it being among the songs in the Great American Songbook.

Analysis of “Over the Rainbow”

In listening to the song, the manner in which it is sang is calm and intimate, like in a crooning way. It allows the listener to feel the meaning of the lyrics and understand them clearly, providing a imaginative visual avenue to interpret the words. It sounds similar to a lullaby, but the melody also makes it a song that people can possibly waltz to.

The lyrics, as serene as it appears to be, it is somewhat of an emotional declaration of dissatisfaction:

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high,
There's a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby.

This lyric that starts the song, straightforwardly shows the lack of certainty and confidence in the singer (in terms of the meaning). He/She appears to be thinking of what they have, or where they are as not being enough. The rest of the song also follows that pattern.

I’ll like to compare the original and a more modern version of the song, consider the above video of “The Wizard of Oz” movie, “Over the Rainbow” by Judy Garland as the original, while the video of a cover of the song below by Pentatonix is the modern.

The first song by Judy was sang and performed in 1939, while the other by Pentatonix was recorded in 2017, which makes it incredibly modern. Both of the songs have the same lyrics and flow, but it can be clearly seen that the modern Pentatonix version is an A Capella, which makes it stand out more tonally. The older version, Judy presents the lyrics in a kind of emotional manner, she keeps the intensity at a stable level (low) and the melody at a soothing pace, while the Pentatonix version seems to focus the energy on how their tones and intensity changes.

It seems that the Original [older] version is more famous than the modern one, or any other cover or version ever, the original has over eleven million views on youtube (11,000,000) and the Pentatonix version has about three hundred thousand views on youtube (300,000) . This is possible because the Judy version is the original, people loved the movie “The Wizard of Oz” and the song became iconic through it.

Conclusion

In my opinion I believe the songs were not added after the 1960’s because if it did, the significance of the Great American Songbook will be lost. The Great American Songbook is seen as a standard (not a musical term but as a basis of comparison) amongst artist that came after that time. It was a mashup of songs that identified the the condition of the United States. It might as well be known as the period and status of music from the 1920’s to 1950’s, just as how the renaissance is used to to describe art from the 14th to 17th century. Therefore, adding songs after that period will take away the meaning and struggle of the individuals who endured the troubling times.

Personally, I believe that musical style can never be irrelevant, because music is sound that brings about a level of satisfaction. It may become outdated as to what the world of music is heading to nowadays but its relevance is still strong. I would hope “someday” (lol like the lyrics of the song) an artist with love for classic music will compose a song that is as soothing and crooning as this song. “Wizard of Oz” is a very iconic movie as well, so there is no chance that it will be irrelevant in the near future, after all various artists are beginning to cover old songs, and nowadays artists are incorporating old songs as samples into their music.

Reference (Bibliography)

The Great American Songbook Foundation, (2018). Retrieved from:

https://thecenterfortheperformingarts.org/Great-American-Songbook-Inititative/About-the-Great-American-Songbook

Yagoda, Ben (2015). Have We Turned the Last Page in America’s Songbook?

Zocalo Public Square. Retrieved from: http://time.com/3916642/america-songwriting-history/

Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.).

London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 134

CNN.com/Entertainment (2001). Retrieved

from: https://web.archive.org/web/20070301125313/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/07/list.top.365.songs/index.html

The Payola Scandal

Radio broadcasting in America was first popular for supplying the general public with the news, sports, political discussions, and entertainment talk shows. In the 1950’s television became more popular and started playing these popular radio broadcasts on the TV screen instead. The radio was losing its most popular broadcasts, so something else had to replace them, which is when playing recorded music tracks on the air was decided. This shifted the main way to listen to music from live performances to radio recordings.

The people who played these recorded tracks on-air for the public to enjoy were called “Disc Jockeys”, or for short “DJ’s”. In 1950 there were approximately 250 disc jockeys in the US, and by 1957 that number grew to over 5000 (1). Disc jockeys jobs were to sort through tracks and decide which ones to air by choosing top hits from readings of radio requests, sheet music, dancehall favorites, and jukebox tabulations (2), but unfortunately, this wasn’t exactly how hits were chosen to air due to the payola scandal.

The Payola Scandal is defined as “the illegal practice of payment or other inducement  by record companies for the broadcast of recordings on commercial radio in which the song is presented as being part of the normal days broadcast” (3). Payola came to light when record company’s found it difficult to get their musicians heard because the competition was heavy, so they thought of the idea of bribing the DJ’s to play their tracks in order to get their music exposed to the public in hopes it would become popular.

Payola became very popular and no matter if a record company had a star performer or not, they had to put their money where their mouth was in order to get their tracks played more with certain disc jockeys. The most common pay rate for a disc jockey was approximately $50 per week, per record, but more popular disc jockeys that attracted more of an audience received bigger payouts and perks. (1). There weren’t many laws in place in regards of radio broadcasting music at that time because it was still new, so many people were taking advantage of the payouts for playing music.

Eventually, people started to catch on to what was happening and, therefore, the first investigation into payola started. The Payola Scandal was taken very seriously because what these “bribes” were doing was “abusing the publics trust because the airwaves these stations are broadcasting through are the property of the public”, as described by the Harrison Committee (4). This got congress immediately involved. In 1959, US president Dwight Eisenhower called the Payola Scandal an issue of public morality and the FCC proposed new laws to be made that establish the involvement in payola a criminal act (4).

The base punishment for being involved in payola was a $500 fine and up to one year in prison. In 1959, 335 disc jockeys came forward and admitted their involvement (1). The most famous trials were with two major players who had allegations of accepting payola, but both denied. These two were Allan Freed and Dick Clark who were both extremely famous disc jockeys. The committee questioned the DJ’s and Dick Clark was let off, but Allan Freed’s career was the one to shatter as he took the fall for disc jockeys everywhere. Freed was charged with 26 counts of commercial bribery, but was only fined in the end. Everyone Freed knew had abandoned him and let him take the fall, he was then fired by WABC and his famous role as a disc jockey was no more (1). It was then evident that payola was a serious issue since it destroyed the life of the legendary Allan Freed and threatened the career of Dick Clark (1).

Even though there are serious consequences in the involvement of payola, it still exists to this day just in a different form. Disc jockeys are assumed to still compensated for bribes but through competitions and promotional activities so it looks as if they are being paid for something else (5).

I disagree with the activity of payola because I do believe it is a crime to the public. The public should be able to listen to the music we want to hear and enjoy. The public shouldn’t have to miss an opportunity of hearing amazing tracks by an artist just because some labels can’t afford to bribe for a spot in the same league as the big time labels who can. Investigations into payola activities should happen regularly so every artist has a fair chance and popularity should be judged on pure talent and not just how much your record label and afford to make you famous.

Prepared by: Raeann Schneider

Works Cited

1. Hutchinson, Lydia. “Allan Freed and the Radio Payola Scandal”. Performing             Songwriter Website. August 20, 2017. Accessed July 2018.

http://performingsongwriter.com/alan-freed-payola-scandal/

2. Wikipedia Website. “Payola”. Date n/a. Accessed July 2018

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payola#cite_note-1

3. Neira, Bob. “Payola Scandal 50’s Rock Radio”. Modest Radio Museum.

Date n/a. Accessed July 2018.

http://www.modestoradiomuseum.org/payola.html

4. Skrorup, Brent. “What happened to Radio DJ’s?”. Plain Text Website.

March 2017. Accessed July 2018.

https://readplaintext.com/what-happened-to-radio-djs-payola-rock-and-roll-and-race-in-the-1950s-b5f039041bd

5. Sherwin, Adam. “Payola”. Independent website. August 2015. Accessed July 2018.

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/payola-one-of-musics-oldest-arrangements-back-with-a-bang-on-streaming-playlists-10464513.html

The Payola Scandal

Radio broadcasting in America was first popular for supplying the general public with the news, sports, political discussions, and entertainment talk shows. In the 1950’s television became more popular and started playing these popular radio broadcasts on the TV screen instead. The radio was losing its most popular broadcasts, so something else had to replace them, which is when playing recorded music tracks on the air was decided. This shifted the main way to listen to music from live performances to radio recordings.

The people who played these recorded tracks on-air for the public to enjoy were called “Disc Jockeys”, or for short “DJ’s”. In 1950 there were approximately 250 disc jockeys in the US, and by 1957 that number grew to over 5000 (1). Disc jockeys jobs were to sort through tracks and decide which ones to air by choosing top hits from readings of radio requests, sheet music, dancehall favorites, and jukebox tabulations (2), but unfortunately, this wasn’t exactly how hits were chosen to air due to the payola scandal.

The Payola Scandal is defined as “the illegal practice of payment or other inducement  by record companies for the broadcast of recordings on commercial radio in which the song is presented as being part of the normal days broadcast” (3). Payola came to light when record company’s found it difficult to get their musicians heard because the competition was heavy, so they thought of the idea of bribing the DJ’s to play their tracks in order to get their music exposed to the public in hopes it would become popular.

Payola became very popular and no matter if a record company had a star performer or not, they had to put their money where their mouth was in order to get their tracks played more with certain disc jockeys. The most common pay rate for a disc jockey was approximately $50 per week, per record, but more popular disc jockeys that attracted more of an audience received bigger payouts and perks. (1). There weren’t many laws in place in regards of radio broadcasting music at that time because it was still new, so many people were taking advantage of the payouts for playing music.

Eventually, people started to catch on to what was happening and, therefore, the first investigation into payola started. The Payola Scandal was taken very seriously because what these “bribes” were doing was “abusing the publics trust because the airwaves these stations are broadcasting through are the property of the public”, as described by the Harrison Committee (4). This got congress immediately involved. In 1959, US president Dwight Eisenhower called the Payola Scandal an issue of public morality and the FCC proposed new laws to be made that establish the involvement in payola a criminal act (4).

The base punishment for being involved in payola was a $500 fine and up to one year in prison. In 1959, 335 disc jockeys came forward and admitted their involvement (1). The most famous trials were with two major players who had allegations of accepting payola, but both denied. These two were Allan Freed and Dick Clark who were both extremely famous disc jockeys. The committee questioned the DJ’s and Dick Clark was let off, but Allan Freed’s career was the one to shatter as he took the fall for disc jockeys everywhere. Freed was charged with 26 counts of commercial bribery, but was only fined in the end. Everyone Freed knew had abandoned him and let him take the fall, he was then fired by WABC and his famous role as a disc jockey was no more (1). It was then evident that payola was a serious issue since it destroyed the life of the legendary Allan Freed and threatened the career of Dick Clark (1).

Even though there are serious consequences in the involvement of payola, it still exists to this day just in a different form. Disc jockeys are assumed to still compensated for bribes but through competitions and promotional activities so it looks as if they are being paid for something else (5).

I disagree with the activity of payola because I do believe it is a crime to the public. The public should be able to listen to the music we want to hear and enjoy. The public shouldn’t have to miss an opportunity of hearing amazing tracks by an artist just because some labels can’t afford to bribe for a spot in the same league as the big time labels who can. Investigations into payola activities should happen regularly so every artist has a fair chance and popularity should be judged on pure talent and not just how much your record label and afford to make you famous.

Prepared by: Raeann Schneider

Works Cited

1. Hutchinson, Lydia. “Allan Freed and the Radio Payola Scandal”. Performing             Songwriter Website. August 20, 2017. Accessed July 2018.

http://performingsongwriter.com/alan-freed-payola-scandal/

2. Wikipedia Website. “Payola”. Date n/a. Accessed July 2018

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payola#cite_note-1

3. Neira, Bob. “Payola Scandal 50’s Rock Radio”. Modest Radio Museum.

Date n/a. Accessed July 2018.

http://www.modestoradiomuseum.org/payola.html

4. Skrorup, Brent. “What happened to Radio DJ’s?”. Plain Text Website.

March 2017. Accessed July 2018.

https://readplaintext.com/what-happened-to-radio-djs-payola-rock-and-roll-and-race-in-the-1950s-b5f039041bd

5. Sherwin, Adam. “Payola”. Independent website. August 2015. Accessed July 2018.

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/payola-one-of-musics-oldest-arrangements-back-with-a-bang-on-streaming-playlists-10464513.html

I chose to do an entry on Mammie Smith becauseof the lack of information available on her and because mom is a big fan. I have so many memories of her and my dad dancing to Mammie’s music and I’m super excited to learn and share my findings on this awesome woman.

Mamie Smith was born in Cincinnati in 1883 with the last name Robinson, she was most known in her life for her theatrical performances; singing, dancing, and playing the piano. Unfortunately, there is little to no documentation on the early years of Mamie’s life. In the nineteenth century African American people, especially ones considered to be of lower class, were not often kept track of.¹ When she was just ten years old she joined a traveling performing group called The Four Dancing Mitchells. This was a group made up of white folk, Mammie’s inclusion wasn’t a common thing. With them, Mammie travelled America ending up in New YorkCity. It was there that she quit their act and began working in performance centers around Harlem, most prominently showcasing in the Ford Theater. In this part of her life she met director and song writer Perry Bradford for whom she acted in a show titled “Made in Harlem”.²

From there on Mamie’s career and achievements were no easy feat. After the tremendous success of Bradford’sshow, Mammie was one step closer to her recording dreams. Perry introduced her to Fred Hagar of Okeh Records with the idea of producing their songs. when word got out Hagar recieved very negative reviews along with people threatening to boycott Okeh. Despite all that Hagar took a chance and the went on to record two songs backed up by a white band. These songs were the first ever to be recorded by a female black blues singer, or by any black blues singer for that matter.³ Her songs “That Thing Called Love” and “You Can’t Keep a Good Man Down” took off and later that year she recorded her biggest hit “Crazy Blues”. The insane amount of records sold opened up the opportunity for many more black artists to record, and in turn had her inducted into the grammy hall of fame.⁴

She later found herself with a full time band of all black race and under the name “Jazz Hounds” they went on an American and European tour and were shown plenty of love for it.⁵

Mammie Smith was the true underdog of her era. She started with the struggle of being a lower class, black female in the 19th century. She poured her sweat blood and tears into doing what she loved, working her way through the industry, climbing up the social ladder, and building connections with the people who could help her. She paved the way for other women and men alike to be involved in the music industry. A girl who started as nothing is now being remebered, quoted, and awarded to this day. Unlike artists whoare credited for braking records or created new sounds, Mammie’s dent on the music world was what allowed more people of all race and gender to express their creativity.

Mamie Smith’s first song, “A Thing Called Love”, is nothing spectacular when it comes to the music itself. The vocals don’t have a huge range and the instrumentals are a very mellow sound, keeping the same tempo all the way through. Overall it is a very calm sounding song, groundbreaking only for the time and person it was released by.

“You Can’t Keep a Good Man Down” I’d say is definitely the better of the two songs she recorded together. She shows more talent here by hitting, and holding, higher andlonger notes. Mamie also throughout the song controls her voice by using quivering notes and changing her pitch frequently. Even the band picks it up in this song by changing up their sound on the chorus but holding the same beat.

I chose these first two songs as they were the first Mammie ever recorded. These were the songs that impacted the system and I think it’s important for people to understand that it wasn’t some amazing qualities of them that made a difference in the music world, it was the artist.

Mamie’s song “Crazy Blues” as stated before, was her best selling record, and for good reason. The instrumental was much more technical, the tempo was ever changing and the beat stayed on point keeping the song to remain sounding smooth and without drowning out Mamie’s voice. The conjunct melody kept the song easy to sing and tap alng with as the note weren’tjumping all over the spectrum. Along with that, Mamie’s singing abilities, the fluxuation in her voice, kept the song interesting. She was able to match the pitch changed of the instruments and did so well.

I chose this as my third song because it was Mammie’s best hit. Although she is known for her groundbreaking involvement in female black reccording, this song is the title that pops into peoples head when they think of Mammie. I wanted to explore a little further into why that was, and what made it great.

Sources Cited

1. Tracy, Steven C. (1998). Going to Cincinnati: A History of the Blues in the Queen City. University of Illinois Press. p. 5. ISBN0-252-06709-6.
2. Gates, Henry Louis; Higginbotham, Evelyn Brooks (2009). Harlem Renaissance Lives from the African American National Biography. Oxford University Press US. p. 458. ISBN0-19-538795-3.
3. Oakley, Gilles (1976). The Devil’s Music: A History of the Blues. Da Capo Press. pp. 83–84.
4. Du Noyer, Paul (2003). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music. Fulham, London: Flame Tree Publishing. p. 154. ISBN1-904041-96-5.
5. Kernfeld, Barry Dean (2002). “Mamie Smith”. The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, vol. 3(2nd ed.). London: Macmillan. p. 615. ISBN 1-56159-284-6.

The term Payola is defined as a secret payment given out in return for the promotion of a product (Dictionary.com). It comes from the words Pay and Victrola. “Pay” comes from the payment/bribe that record companies would offer to radio broadcasters in exchange for more radio air time for the songs recorded by their company. “Victrola” is the name of a phonograph which is a device that can mechanically record and reproduce sound, it was manufactured by the Victor Talking Machine Company.

The Scandal started in 1958 with an investigation into the popular NBC game shows “Twenty-One” and “$64,000 Question”. There was evidence that these shows were fixed by the producers as a method to increase their television ratings (Neira). This scandal resulted in the cancellation of the guilty shows and led to a similar investigation into the radio broadcasting industry.

As Payola in the radio broadcasting industry was being brought into the light, numerous disk jockeys from across the United States admitted to receiving payments from record companies in order to get their records played more often on the radio which in turn would increase the popularity of their music (History.com). Although Payola wasn’t investigated until 1958 it had actually been around in the vaudeville era of the 1920’s and the big band era of the 1930s/40s.

In 1960 the National Association of Broadcasting proposed legislation that would see any disk jockey who accepted payment be fined $500 and possibly spend a full year in prison (Neira). The President of the United States at the time was Dwight D. Eisenhower, he expressed his strong disapproval of Payola calling it an issue of public morality.

Congressman Oren Harris from the state of Arkansas conducted a set of investigative hearings in February of 1960. Harris stated that the reason for the hearings was that Payola was an abuse of public trust. At these hearings Wesley Hopkins from KYW Cleveland and Stand Richard from WILD Boston confessed to receiving thousands of dollars in what they called “listening fees” from the record producers (History.com). Although Richard stated he never actually let the bribe persuade his selection of music to put on the air. Other popular Dick Jockeys who were a part of these hearings were Alan Freed and Dick Clark. Freed is known for being the man who coined the term “rock and roll”.

After the conclusion of the investigation Freed along with several other radio personnel were arrested under the suspicion of commercial bribery. Freed ended up being charged with 26 counts of commercial bribery but only had to pay a fine. Clark denied any involvement in the payola scandal saying that he never received any payments (Hutchinson, 2015).

What came from the investigation performed by the government, was the amendment of the Federal Communication Act. This act abolished any under the table payments to disc jockeys and stated that broadcasters must disclose if a record company had purchased airtime for their music (Institute, 2010). Payola was also classified as a misdemeanour and a penalty of a $10,000 fine and a possible year in prison were set in place. However, there was a loophole in the legislation as record companies continued to send secret undisclosed payments, because of this loophole Payola was thought to have been only reorganized and not completely eradicated as first hoped.

Fast forward to the modern era and Payola still very much exists and is still illegally performed in the radio broadcasting industry. In 2005 one of the biggest record labels in the world Sony BMG was forced to pay a $10 million fine in New York after they were caught in their own payola scandal. The majority of the charges against Sony were for the playing time of Jessica Simpson and her most recent album at the time (Macdonald, 2018). To avoid being caught for Payola some record labels today will hold promotional competitions with a preselected DJ as the winner. This is used a way to conceal the prize money and claim that every contestant had the same opportunity to win the prize, when in reality the money would go to the DJ who agreed to participate in Payola.

In my opinion I am against Payola and I believe Payola laws should be heavily enforced. The popularity of the songs played on the radio shouldn’t be decided by the record companies who produce the songs or the DJ’s who work for the radio stations. Popularity should be solely based on what appeals to the listeners of the radio.

Bibliography

Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Payola Definition. Retrieved from http://www.dictionary.com/browse/payola

History.com. (n.d.). The Payola scandal heats up. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-payola-scandal-heats-up

Hutchinson, L. (2015). Alan Freed and the Radio Payola Scandal. Retrieved from http://performingsongwriter.com/alan-freed-payola-scandal/

Institute, R. (2010). Communications Act of 1934. Retrieved from http://rooseveltinstitute.org/communications-act-1934/.

Macdonald, H. (2018). Payola: Influening the charts. Retrieved from https://www.thebalancecareers.com/payola-influencing-the-charts-2460759

Neira, B. (n.d.). Payola Scandal Rocks 50’s Radio. Retrieved from Modesto Radio Museum: http://www.modestoradiomuseum.org/payola.html

The First wave of Rock n roll met its Apex in the mid to late 50s, and essentially two events led to its decline. The first being a plane crash on February 3, 1959, that claimed the lives of the Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson. The second reason was the Payola scandal of 1959.
So, what exactly is payola? Similar to advertisements on radio or television, it is the act of making a financial transaction based on controlling and promoting a musical talent. In short, paying Disc Jockeys to play specific artists regardless of public demand. The two Jockeys who were on the front lines of the payola scandal were, Alan Freed and Dick Clark.
Alan Freed as known to had “accepted bribery in return for guaranteed airplay” unlike Dick Clark who was according to himself very diversified in the music industry. Regardless both Freed and Clark to the lion’s share of the brunt when the U.S. government lead investigations to pursue the scandal. According to Clark who fully cooperated with the federal government, he had his home broken into and phones tapped, as well as warned by senators regarding the matter at hand.
Dick Clark on the Payola Scandal
The investigations led to an Amendment of the Communications Act of 1934, which heavily regulated all forms of media mainly at the time, radio broadcasting. Thus, ending the corruption of radio, until 1996. The Telecommunications act of 1996 was designed to deregulate media, to break down barriers to entry into the market of media. This was done mainly due to the recent development of the internet. To some who are unfamiliar with government intervention in markets, it creates far more loops for firms to jump through in order to be successful and in order to be successful you must be very well established. So, by deregulating the industry, doors are open to any new potential entrepreneurs eager to start a firm in media.
What is also created was an opportunity for large corporations to dominate the industry by buying up competitors and seizing the majority of the market. Clear Channel or now known as iHeart Radio, controls just shy of 50% of the U.S. radio market (1,200 stations) and spent $30 billion to acquire them. Also, now that the market is unregulated the broadcasting firms are able to choose without interference from the government what they can play and are also able to be incentivized financially.
What we see in today’s radio in regard to payola is a large sum of independents approaching record labels of all types with artists varying in talent and offering these labels more artist exposure via radio time. In return, the Independents or “indies” receive a large “payola” bonus of cash. Once the transaction is made the “indies” approach a company like iHeart Radio and offer to give them help in tracking down firms to buy radio time or provide iHeart Radio with more exposure through different marketing tactics. What the “indie” will demand in return for a firm like iHeart is to be able to control a stations playlist.
This is a very unorthodox method of payola. It is far less black and white than the original form in the 60s. However, it is a loophole that is exploited greatly in the industry today. It also is visible in the opposite effect when artists are blacklisted in order to preserve the popular fan base of a station. The prime example of that is the Dixie Chicks when their lead singer spoke out against former president Bush. Every Dixie Chicks song was pulled off the radio and it did serious damage to the band. It may not be an exact form of payola, but it proves the radio companies can control the public interpretation of the music industry.
As a man who believes in a free market economy, I support the media industry being unregulated. However, music is one of those industries where someone could spend countless hours working and never achieve success and is simultaneously competing with someone from a wealthy background that can be fast-tracked to stardom. It may not be fair but is the nature of the beast. As a concept, Payola was not overly shocking, and through studying it certainly became interesting has it plays more than just a roll in the music industry, but rather is affecting the economy, government policy and social interpretation is truly fascinating.

#M2Q3

William Christopher Handy, better known as “W. C. Handy” was born on November 16th, 1873 in Florence, AL. As his nickname describes “The Father of Blues”, Handy was a pioneer for the blues. Though the blues originated sometime between the mid to late 1800s in the backwoods of the deep south, Handy is responsible for bringing the blues out of the woods and into the mainstream music scene.  Prior to his fame, he worked as a skilled carpenter and a teacher. I believe his humble roots helped him become the great racial activist we see in history books. Bringing the blues to the mainstream was a huge stride for the African-American racial movement. The history books appear to get muddy around the exact time, but it is believed Handy’s success with the blues in the mainstream music scene came around 1909, where he and his band would play in Memphis nightclubs. That year he was noted creating the base work for his first known blue’s tune Memphis Blues.  It was originally created for a mayoral campaign, then rewritten in 1912 and is the same Memphis Blues we know today

Some historians believe that Memphis Blues was the first published blues song. During a time where there was a significant amount of racial tension, long after the civil war, it was extraordinary that white mayoral candidate Edward Crump allowed W. C. Handy, a black man, be responsible for a significant part of his campaign. Edward Crump went on to win his first major political role as the mayor of Memphis and eventually led to a short-term as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for the state of Tennesee.

It is hard to find specific examples if Mr. Handy was ostracized or mistreated for being black, but I can guarantee it was not easy for him to be growing up in the southern United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Whether he strived for equality or not, W. C. Handy let his music do the talking.

The great success of Memphis Blues lead to other great compositions such as St. Louis Blues.

In 1917, Handy moved to New York. In Handy’s autobiography titled Memphis Blues, he claims that his song, which shares the title of the book created the foxtrot dance style [1, 4]. Foxtrot is normally danced to the ragtime genre. Below is the song Ole Miss Rag, which was written and composed by W. C. Handy during the peak of the foxtrot era [1, 3, 4].

As we have learned throughout the first half of this class, the blues have had a significant influence on today’s popular music and racial movements. The Father of Blues has made waves in today’s popular music and culture and most of the world has no idea who W. C. Handy is [4].

References:

[1] “W. C. Handy.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 July 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._C._Handy.https://www.allaboutjazz.com/a-brief-history-of-the-blues-by-ed-kopp.php

[2] “W.C. Handy.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 27 Oct. 2015, www.biography.com/people/wc-handy-39700.

[3] Tucker, David. “Edward Hull ‘Boss’ Crump.” Tennessee Encyclopedia, Tennessee Historical Society, 1 Mar. 2018, tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/edward-hull-and-crump/.

[4] Nager, Larry, and Bill Monroe. “W.C. Handy.” Memphis Music Hall of Fame, memphismusichalloffame.com/inductee/wchandy/.

It may seem farfetched that Elvis aka “The King of Rock and Roll” inspired an underground hip hop group in Minnesota [1]. This is not a direct connection, but there is a lineage that explains how the hip hop group Atmosphere received musical influences from Elvis Presley [1].  As seen below, Atmosphere’s influence from Elvis can be traced directly through The Beastie Boys and Led Zeppelin [1].

[1] Elvisualization (Spotify, 2018)

Atmosphere

[2] Sean “Slug” Daley (left) and Anthony “Ant” Davis (right)

Atmosphere is no longer considered an “Underground Hip Hop” group, due to their success in the late 2000s but for a long period of time they weren’t selling out major concert halls. Since their inception in 1989, they have stayed true to their storytelling rapping lyrical measures and have remained with their small record company Rhymesayers Entertainment since they both founded it in 1995 [3, 4]. The song Yesterday (2008) is a great representation of their style, unlike most hip hop groups their lyrics are easily understood and the message is clear. They are aware of their audience and the influence their music has on their fans and are very cautious to avoid references that involve breaking the law.

Spoiler Alert!

Yesterday is a story about a mysterious influential person (usually assumed to be a friend or ex-lover), where Slug describes all the lessons he learned from this person and the regret he carries with him. Just as he is coming to grips of being a better person and is ready to reconcile with this individual, he explains the song is about his dad whom passed away. Then the tables are turned and the song has a new meaning about how he never achieved the peace he wanted with his father [5].

The Beastie Boys: Influence on Early Hip Hop

[6] The Beastie Boys

According to the influence web from Spotify, Atmosphere’s music was influenced by the Beastie Boys [1]. The Beastie Boys were an American punk rock band turned hip hop/rap rock group in the 1980s [7]. When listening to their tracks, it is difficult to draw parallels. Being that The Beastie Boys were pioneers in hip hop, it perhaps influenced Slug and Ant into the genre at a young age.

Led Zeppelin: Influence on Evolution of Music

[8] Led Zeppelin

The Beastie Boys were influenced by new genre of punk rock. According the Ramones, whom were a significant pioneer for punk rock claimed that Led Zeppelin were the creators of punk rock with the hit Communication Breakdown (1969) [9, 10]. It is believed that punk originated in 1975, where the Ramones lead the punk movement in 1976 [9, 11]. Though The Beastie Boys eventually switched genres, their roots and influence of Led Zeppelin remains.

Elvis: Influence on Rock and Roll

[12] Elvis Presley

Elvis did not create rock and roll, but he is known to be the first “rock star”. He has been granted the official nicknames of “The King of Rock and Roll” and even more impressively “The King” [13].

Did Elvis Influence Underground Rap?

[14]

A direct relationship between Elvis and Atmosphere is not apparent; however, there is a relationship as seen through the Elvisualization chart [1]. His impact on certain genres of music is debatable, but it is evident without Elvis, today’s popular music would be very different [1].

References:

[1] The Elsvisualization. Spotify, 2018, static.echonest.com/insights/elvis/elvisualization.html.

[2] “Atmosphere.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 18 July 2018, www.imdb.com/name/nm2282786/mediaviewer/rm3956212480.

[3] “Atmosphere (Music Group).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 10 July 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_(music_group).

[4] archive-Kyle-Anderson. “Atmosphere’s Slug Tips Many Glasses To The Absent Beastie Boys At Outside Lands.” MTV News, MTV, 31 Aug. 2009, www.mtv.com/news/2576539/atmosphere-beastie-boys-outside-lands/.

[5] B, Nihal. “My Creative Creative Writing Blog.” Atmosphere-Yesterday Song/Poetry Analysis, 2010, nihalbhakta.blogspot.com/2010/03/atmosphere-yesterday-songpoetry.html.

[6] Hart, Ron. “How The Beastie Boys Perfected Rap-Rock (Before Everyone Else Ruined It).” Observer, Observer, 21 Apr. 2017, observer.com/2017/04/beastie-boys-check-your-head-album-anniversary-review/.

[7] “Beastie Boys.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 18 July 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beastie_Boys.

[8] Zorthian, Julia. “Led Zeppelin Wins Stairway to Heaven Copyright Trial.” Time, Time, 23 June 2016, time.com/4380339/led-zeppelin-win-stairway-to-heaven/.

[9] “Discover Who Influenced Beastie Boys.” MAROON 5’s Biggest Music Influences, 18 July 2018, inflooenz.com/?artist=Beastie

[10] “How Led Zeppelin’s ‘Communication Breakdown’ Sparked The Ramones’ American Punk Rock Revolution.” Don’t Forget The Songs 365, 3 Oct. 2013, dontforgetthesongs365.wordpress.com/2013/10/01/how-led-zeppelins-communication-breakdown-sparked-the-ramones-american-punk-rock-revolution/.Boys&follower=atmosphere.

[11] “U.S. Pop Music Timeline.” HUMAN IMPACT, www.factmonster.com/cool-stuff/music/us-pop-music-timeline.

[12] Einhart, Nancy. “I Love Elvis, and These Are My Favorite Songs.” POPSUGAR Tech, 18 Aug. 2017, www.popsugar.com/entertainment/Best-Elvis-Songs-Live-43883018.

[13] “Elvis Presley.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 20 June 2018, www.biography.com/people/elvis-presley-9446466.

[14] “Elvis Presley.” Freaking News Pictures, www.freakingnews.com/Elvis-Presley-Pictures–1286.asp.