It is often credited to Henry VIII, but while he was supposedly an accomplished musician, he probably can't claim this one. The words were first published around some years after they were written. This very different song has lasted as long as "Greensleeves," and like so many early songs has a simplicity that has turned it into children's song.
Its lyrics are nonsense, obviously not written for worship or information, but for pure entertainment value. In fact, the words were possibly racist, referring to Elizabeth I's French suitor, the Duke of Anjou. A "pop song" by almost any definition. Written by John Howard Payne, the simple lyrics and hummable melody made this opera song a hit with the masses. Yet even as late as , over three-quarters of records sold were classical pieces. Still, recorded music allowed a greater audience for music than ever before, no longer limited to households with a piano or a sight-reading singer.
Pennsylvania-born Stephen Collins Foster's songs were inspired by and often mistaken for Negro spirituals, with their smoother and more accessible melodies than the intricate, opera-inspired tunes of the time. Exactly how successful is difficult to say, because song piracy was an issue even in the midth century. Over 20 editions of the sheet music, mostly illegal, had spread all over the U. In , "Old Folks at Home" had unprecedented sales of , in legal copies , back when 10, was considered a good sale and 50, a major hit.
During the Civil War, it was sung by soldiers on both sides. Foster still didn't become wealthy from his success.
Before the war was over, he had died in New York at age 38, reportedly suicide. The success of "After the Ball" was truly amazing. Before it was published, million-selling songs were unheard of. The secret: a new ish concept called PR. Charles K Harris, one of America's first songwriter-publishers, cannily promoted his song. In the U. Aldrich Libbey performed it at beer halls and theaters, in return for a share in the royalties. In Britain, it was a music-hall favorite.
The mournful ballad also established Tin Pan Alley a group of music publishers clustered around New York's Broadway as the Mecca of popular song. Despite the detailed story told by the lyrics, the tune itself was simple enough. Harris couldn't even read music. The touring minstrel shows of the 19th-century, in which white singers would perform popular songs in blackface, are now dismissed as racist.
But in a way, they were a compliment to black music. Despite their low social status, African-Americans were considered good musicians, partly due to their "sense of rhythm. Even "After the Ball," inspired more by English ballads, was written for a minstrel show.
With Barney Fagan's now-forgotten "My Gal is a High Born Lady," black as opposed to black-inspired music finally filtered into the mainstream, introducing a new, 'boppier' style: ragtime. At the time, nobody knew how important this would be.
But ragtime was the forerunner of jazz, rock and roll, and almost every other major style of popular music in the next century. With the style known as swing, big bands also came into their own, with tunes like Glen Miller's "In The Mood" becoming standards. Curiously, pop music charts as such didn't exist until , when the first Top Twenty was recorded. It came at an interesting time, as "teenagers" really came into being.
Historically there'd been no transitional period between childhood and adulthood. Now, after World War II, that seemed to begin, imported from America, and in skiffle, an interpretation of American folk music personified by Lonnie Donegan , teens found their music.
Rock'n'roll brought much more of that, and Elvis Presley became a global star, the biggest of the late s and early s. But he would find himself supplanted by the Beatles, who revolutionised pop by writing their own material, instigating a fashion that remains undiminished.
The Beatles set the standard for pop music, and it remains undiminished - Beatlesque has become a standard descriptive adjective. From until their break up in they dominated the charts in Britain and America. The Beatles influenced a generation - more than one, really - with their melodies and harmonies, and that was apparent in the s, when pop careened through several styles, from the Glam Rock of T.
Rex to the raw fire of punk. But the biggest pop star to emerge from the period was a singer and pianist, Elton John, whose popularity has remained constant.
The idea of artists writing their own material remained in the wake of the Fab Four, although professional songwriters stayed in demand for those unable to pen a tune. From the early days of rock there had been "manufactured" stars - people taken on board for a pretty face rather than any innate talent, and made into stars by producers. It had happened to Adam Faith, Alvin Stardust and many others, most of whom only enjoyed short careers.
The s proved a moribund decade for pop. Styles came and went, but it was an era short on memorable music. Only Wham! The s was the time of boy bands, perhaps the ultimate in manufactured acts. A group of young male singers was assembled for their looks, given catchy songs and arrangements and pushed to fame. It happened to East 17 and, most memorably, Take That. America saw how it worked and gave the world the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync, and for a few years it worked very well, selling millions of records.
But like any fashion, it passed. A female version, the Spice Girls, was briefly huge. America tried a similar tactic with female pop stars, and both Mariah Carey and Britney Spears became massive manufactured stars, followed, to a lesser degree, by Christina Aguilera.
0コメント