2004-4-4
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VOICE ONE:
Rock music has influenced American culture for fifty years. I'm
Ray Freeman with Rich Kleinfeldt. Today, we continue the story of
rock and roll on THIS IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English.
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VOICE ONE:
Rock and roll music developed in the United States in the early
nineteen-fifties. It was based on the music called rhythm and blues
that was performed by African American musicians.
Early rock and roll singers developed their own kinds of music.
Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, the Beach Boys, and Bob Dylan were the
most popular rock and roll musicians in the early nineteen-sixties.
All were American. Then, in nineteen-sixty-four, a new rock and roll
group from England invaded America: the Beatles.
VOICE TWO:
Some people say the Beatles' music shook America like an
earthquake. The Beatles changed rock and roll forever. Their early
songs were influenced by American rock and roll musicians, including
Chuck Berry. But the Beatles looked different and sounded different
from any musical group before them.
VOICE ONE:
The Beatles released their first
album in the United States in nineteen-sixty-four. That year, all of
the top five records in America were by the Beatles.
In nineteen-sixty-seven, they released an album called "Sergeant
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." It was one of the first "concept"
albums. That is, all the songs were linked by a common story or
idea. Here is the title song from that album.
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VOICE TWO:
The popularity of the Beatles led the way for more rock and roll
bands from England to become popular in America. The Rolling Stones
was the most important of these bands. The Rolling Stones is one of
the few groups from the nineteen-sixties that is still performing
and recording today. In nineteen-sixty-five, the group recorded one
of its most famous songs, "Satisfaction."
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VOICE ONE:
The musical instrument most linked
to rock and roll is the guitar. Experts say Jimi Hendrix was one of
the most influential guitar players in rock and roll during the late
nineteen-sixties. He made electric guitar music more expressive by
creating new sounds on the instrument. Here is Jimi Hendrix playing
"Purple Haze."
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VOICE TWO:
By the nineteen-seventies, rock and roll music became known as
rock music. It expanded into many new forms. For example, there was
country rock, hard rock, acid rock, and heavy metal rock. Punk rock,
jazz rock, and glitter rock.
Rock music became a bigger business than ever. It was the most
popular music in America's music industry.
VOICE ONE:
In the middle nineteen-seventies, experts say rock music regained
some of the energy of early rock and roll. Bruce Springsteen and the
E Street Band became popular with their album "Born to Run."
Springsteen's music was like the lively rock and roll music of
the early nineteen-sixties. Many of his songs were about social
issues. He sang about the effects of unemployment and the war in
Vietnam. Here, he sings "Born to Run."
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VOICE TWO:
A new kind of music, called rap music, became popular in the
nineteen-eighties. It developed from the culture of young African
Americans in big cities. Rap songs are spoken over the sounds of
electronic rhythms.
Rap artists express the concerns of young African Americans in
their songs. However, some people have denounced rap music that is
about sex and violence.
VOICE ONE:
During the nineteen-eighties, many rock performers began to show
their music in short films called music videos. These videos may
include music, acting, dancing, and unusual special effects. A new
music network began showing these programs on cable television in
America in nineteen-eighty-one. It was called the Music Television
Network, or MTV. It showed rock music videos all day and all night.
VOICE TWO:
Singer and dancer Michael Jackson
made several very successful music videos. In nineteen-eighty-two,
MTV began showing music videos from his album "Thriller." These
included the video for his song "Beat It." The videos helped make
"Thriller" the biggest-selling album in popular music history. And
Michael Jackson became one of the most popular performers in the
history of rock music. Here is his song "Beat It."
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VOICE ONE:
In the early nineteen-nineties, a new sound known as "grunge"
became popular. Grunge bands were influenced by the hard rock, punk
and heavy metal bands of the nineteen-seventies. Bands like Nirvana
with Kurt Cobain came out of Seattle, Washington, in the Pacific
Northwest. Here is one of Nirvana's major hits, "Smells Like Teen
Spirit."
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Today there are new sounds, but much of rock music is still
played by males for males. Women have worked hard for success in
this industry. In two-thousand-one, Time magazine declared the group
Sleater-Kinney "America's Best Rock Band." Yet radio stations rarely
play their music. Sleater-Kinney is an all-female band that formed
in nineteen-ninety-four. Here is Sleater-Kinney with the song "Oh."
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VOICE ONE:
Rock and roll changed a lot in its first fifty years. Yet rock is
still just as difficult to define. It continues to reinvent itself,
and the appeal now reaches far beyond America. Today, rock is often
called the music of the world.
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VOICE ONE:
Our program was written by Shelley Gollust and produced by Caty
Weaver and Lawan Davis. I'm Ray Freeman with Rich Kleinfeldt. Listen
again next week for THIS IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English.
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