The Drums

Here is "The Drums" video for "Let's Go Surfing".

This video is very simple and would probably be too basic for a coursework piece at A2 because it only captures one camera angle. It shows that making a music video to this type of music is infact do-able because this official video does not have much to it regarding mise-en-scene, etc.

And here is Katy Perry's "California Gurls" music video:

This video is from a completely different genre, pop. There is a blatent difference between these two videos as it would be extremely difficult to make a music video of the standard of "California Gurls". There is lots of Mise-en-scene and superimposed images in the video. The costumes would have cost a lot of money, unlike "The Drums" in their music video who are wearing everyday clothing. Pop artists are often signed by major labels and can achieve success with more ease than artists on an independent label.

These two videos show the contrast between what some indie rock videos may be like and what some pop videos may be like. There is an obvious difference between the two and which would be more possible for students of an A2 standard to make. I chose to research the indie rock genre because of this reason and although not all indie artists have music videos as simple as this one, they do tend to be more do-able than perhaps a pop video.

Indie Rock

Indie rock is a term commonly used for rock music that is produced by small, independant record labels or by artists themselves. The idea of rock music being made independant from major labels began to gain recognition in the UK and in the United States in around the 1980s. It tends to be thougth of as it's own genre of music but it is the terms used to describe its production and distribution, "Independent music".

Indie rock artists release albums on independent record labels (sometimes owned by themselves) and rely on touring through word-of-mouth and independent radio stations, and more recently through internet promotion, using websites such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter where thousands of users intereact and it can gain them a lot of recognition. A lot of indie artists switch to major labels mid-career dependant on their success. This makes it difficult to distinguish indie music with mainstream music and can cause huge debate amongst fans. Some bands have always been associated with major labels but may be referred to as 'indie rock bands' because of the way their music sounds.

There is a variety of genres that overlap and are associated with 'Indie rock'. This includes:

indie pop, post-punk revival, dance-punk, indie folk, indietronica, etc.



The beginning of indie rock:

The roots are often refered back to "The Velvet Underground" debut album, released in 1967. The Beach boys 1966 album "Pet Sounds" is also commonly thought of as a starting point, same with the Kinks.


The 1980's:

In the UK, indie charts have been used since the early 1980s. Some examples of very known British indie rock bands from the 1980s were:

- The Smiths

- The Stone Roses

- Happy Mondays

- The Cure



These bands music heavily influenced the 1990's 'Britpop' movement. In the US, the term 'indie rock' was associated with distortion and heavy sounds such as Sonic Youth.



Record Labels:

The following record labels were founded in the 80's and are very renowned for being indie rock record labels:

- Washington DC's Dischord Records (1980)

- Seattles Sub Pop Records (1986)

- Chicago's Touch and Go Records (founded in 1979, released music in 1980's)


1990s:

In the 1990s there were major changes in the alternative rock scene. Grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam broke into the mainstream, achieving chart success commercially. Punk revival bands such as Greenday also gained popularity and were grouped under the alternative label. The meaning of alternative changed and now refered to new music achieving mainstream success. Indie rock then became associated with bands that still remained underground in the music scene.

Current indie bands:
Indie rock is now hugely thought of as a genre by many people (including myself before researching into it.) It is well liked by many people and some artists that would be included in this type of music would be:

- The Maccabee's
- Vampire Weekend
- The Pigeon Detectives
- The Kooks
- Florence and the Machine
- Foals
- The Drums
- Bombay Bicycle Club
- Bloc Party
- Arctic Monkeys

Lady Gaga - Alejandro

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, more known as 'Lady Gaga' is an American artist who has become huge in the UK. She began performing music in New York city. She signed with Streamline Records and worked as a songwriter for other label artists. She attracted attention from singer, Akon, who recognised her potential and got her signed to his own label, Kon Live Distribution. Lady Gaga released her debut album reached number 1 in UK charts and success immediately started for Lady Gaga. She never fails to amaze people with her music and videos. Comparisons can be made between Lady Gaga and Madonna, as like Madonna, Lady Gaga is so different to anyone else in the music scene.

Lady Gaga's most recent video release 'Alejandro' as proved controversial to some people. It is seen as controversial for religious reasons, just like Madonna's. Here's the video:

The music video, directed by photographer Steven Klein, was inspired by Gaga's love for gay people and her admiration for gay love. The video shows Gaga with a group of soldiers in a cabaret all dancing to the song. It also features scenes of Gaga as a nun swallowing rosary beads, being with near naked man and holding machine guns. The videos recieved mixed reviews, positively because of its dark nature, and negatively by Catholics who have attacked Gaga on her use of blasphemy. The answer director Klein gave to Gaga swallowing rosary beads is Gaga's "desire to take in the Holy". There are a lot of crosses in the background of the video which relates to christianity, and the behaviour she has does not reflect the catholic faith, her expressing for gay love also doesn't fit in with christian beliefs as they are against homosexuality.

Lady gaga and Madonna can be compared hugely in my opinion, as they are were both so different in the time they hit the music scene to anyone else at the time. The style of this video can be compared Madonna's "like a prayer" as it has many aspects involved that are controversial to religion.

Madonna - Like A Prayer

Madonna is recognised as one of the biggest-selling artists in music history and a huge icon of the 80's. Throughout her career she has had many number one's such as "Like a Virgin", "Papa Don't Preach", "Like a Prayer", "Vogue", "Frozen", "Music", "Hung Up", and "4 Minutes". When Madonna hit the scene of music she was very different to what anyone had seen before and this caused attraction to the general public as they wanted to find out more about her. She has sold more than 250 million records within 20 years of her career.

Her video "Like a prayer" caused a lot of controversy because of the religious references used throughout, here is the video:



The video features Madonna as a witness of the murder of a white girl by three white men, and the arrest of a black man who attempted to save the victim, but ends up being accused of the crime. Following his arrest, Madonna goes to the chapel for safety and at the end testifies the black man's innocence.

The video attracted so much criticism because there is a black man being percieved as Christ. This goes against the typical stereotype people have of Jesus Christ. In the chapel Madonna visits there are black statues of Jesus Christ which is rare as he is often percieved as a white man.

There is use of Catholic iconography in the video, and there is a scene including Madonna developing stigmata. There are also burning crosses in the background which attracted a lot of criticism. She also seduces the man acting as Jesus which obviously caused a lot of commotion amongst viewers.

Madonna knew that she was going to shock viewers with the 'like a prayer' video. Madonna stated "When I think of controversy, I never really think people are going to be half as shocked as they are at what I do." So it seems that she perhaps didn't realise quite how controversial her video would be.

It reached number 1 on MTV's "100 Videos That Broke The Rules".

Genre Research

As a class we came up with over 20 different types of music genres which wasn't much of a surprise as there are hundreds of music genres. Throughout time more and more music genres seem to have stemmed off of one another, some collaborating together and some being completely new. There are always new genres emerging into the music scene.

The genres I thought of from the top of my head included: Rock, Alternative, Indie, Pop, Dance, Club, Trance, Drum n Bass, Dubstep, Electro, House, Funky House, RnB, Hip Hop, Folk, Heavy Metal, Punk, Country, Jazz, Blues, Rap, Grime, Garage. These are just a few of very many genres.

When asked to pick a favourite, it proved difficult as I have a very varied music taste and I feel that many bands fit into more than one genre. On the whole though I mostly enjoy Alternative/Rock, Indie, Electro/House and of course some cheesy pop classics.

Oasis

Oasis were an English rock band who formed in Manchester in 1991. They were previously known as "The Rain". The group was formed by Liam Gallagher.

The Band members are as follows:
- Liam Gallagher (Vocals and tambourine)
- Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs (Guitar)
- Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan (Bass guitar)
- Tony McCarroll (Drums, percussion)
- Noel Gallagher (Lead guitar and vocals)

The beginning of Oasis:

Oasis started as band called 'The Rain'. Liam Gallagher, the creator of the band suggested the band name should change to Oasis. This was inspired from an Inspiral Carpets tour poster that was hung in his room. One of the venues on the poster was the Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon, and 'The Rain' then became 'Oasis'. Oasis played their first live gig in 1992 in Manchester. Noel Gallagher, Liam's older brother went to support the band. Noel saw potential and approached the band with the idea that he could become the bands songwriter. Noel changed the way Oasis worked for good. After a year of live gigs, rehearsals and recording of a demo, the big break came in 1993 for the band where they were spotted by Creation Records. The band opened a show in a club in Glasgow and impressed Alan McGee causing him to sign the band to Creation four days later.



Oasis' first single, "Supersonic" was released in April 1993 reaching number 31 in the charts. Their third single "Live Forever" was the bands first song to enter the top 10 in the UK charts. The bands debut album, "Definitely Maybe" was released in September 1994, this entered the charts at number 1, and became the fastest selling debut album in the UK at that moment in time.

Oasis were heavily associated with drugs and alcohol and the lifestyle of Oasis began to take a toll on the band eventually. During a gig in LA in 1994, Liam was under the influence of Crystal Meth and in the performance he made offensive comments towards American audiences and assaulted his brother with a tambourine. This upset Noel who temporarily quit the band. Creation's Tim Abbot tracked him down and persuaded him to reconcile with his brother in which he did so. The band followed their American tour with their fourth single release of "Cigarettes & Alcohol" which reached number 7 in the UK charts. Their Christmas single "Whatever" entered the charts at number 3, being their biggest hit.

The rise of Oasis:

Oasis had their first UK Number 1 in 1995 with "Some might say", the first single from their second album. At this point Tony McCarroll left the band as he felt there was a personality clash with the Gallagher brothers. Londoner, Alan White replaced him, making his debut for the band at a Top of the Pops performance of the number 1 single. The band went head to head with Blur when they released "Roll with it" the same day as Blur released "Country House". Blur outsold Oasis and many believe it was simply because Blur's single was cheaper than Oasis'. Noel Gallagher told the Observer newspaper that he hoped Damon Albarn and Alex James of Blur would "Catch AIDS and die" which caused a lot of commotion in the media. He apologised for this in a formal letter to many publications.

Paul McGuigan (bassist) left the band in 1995 due to exhaustion but was persuaded to return to the band to complete their tour. Oasis took on a sofer sound in their second album "(What's the story) Morning Glory?" which led to mixed reviews from the public. However, it was a commerical success. It became the third largest selling album of all time in the UK with over 4 million copies having been sold. The album contained two of Oasis' biggest hit singles "Wonderwall" and "Don't Look Back in Anger", which reached numbers two and one in the charts. It also contained a single that wasn't released in the UK but reached number 1 in US modern rock charts 'Champagne Supernova'. Oasis' career reached it's peak and they performed back-to-back concerts at Knebworth which sold out within minutes. 2.5 million people applied for tickets and 375,000 were sold. This was recording breaking for an outdoor concert in the UK and is believed to be the largest demand for a show in British history.



Oasis spent the end of 1996 and start of 1997 recording their third album. Arguments between the Gallagher brothers and heavy drug use affected their recording sessions. "Be here now" was released in August 1997 and was very anticipated by the public. It's first day of release sold over 350,000 copies and by Saturday of that week sales reached 696,000, making the album the fastest-selling in British history. Oasis released a compliation album late in the year of 1998 entitled "The Masterplan".

In 1999, the band began to work on their fourth album. Things weren't going well and Paul Arthurs made a shock departure from the band. Arthurs wanted to concentrate on other things and spend more time with his family. Following this, two weeks later Paul McGuigan departed from the band also. The Gallagher brothers held a press conference ensuring the public that the future of Oasis was secure. The three man band continued with the recording of the album. After the recording was finished the band began to search for replacement members. Firstly announced was Colin Archer as the lead/rhythm guitarist. Andy Bell then joined as their new bassist. Creation records folded and Oasis made their own label, "Big Brother" which released all of Oasis records in the Uk and Ireland. The fourth album was released in 2000 and peaked at number 1 on British charts. Three singles were released from the album, these being "Go Let It Out", "Who Feels Love?" and "Sunday Morning Call" which all made it to the top five in the charts. Following the departure of some of the founding members, the band made several changes to their image and sound. This featured a new "Oasis" logo, designed by Gem Archer, and the album featured a song written by Liam Gallagher, named "Little James".

in 2002, Oasis released another album 'Heathen Chemistry, Oasis". The album reached number 1 in the UK charts although critics gave it mixed reviews.Four singles were released from the album, "The Hindu Times", "Stop Crying Your Heart Out", "Little by Little/She Is Love", and the Liam's "Songbird", Oasis' first single not written by Noel.

Following this albums release, the band had a successful world tour. The band's sixth album was record in LA. Producer Dave Sardy took over the lead producer role from Noel who decided he would step back after a decade of production leadership over the band. Their sixth album "Don't believe the Truth" followed the same path as "Heathen Chemistry" as it was a colloborative project yet again. Alan white left the band and the album featured Zak Starkey, previous drummer of 'The Who'. The album had two UK number 1 singles "Lyla" and "The Importance of Being Idle", whilst "Let There Be Love" entered at number 2.

In 2006, Oasis released a compilation double album titled "Stop the Clocks." This featured what the band considered as their "definitive" songs. In 2008, Starkey left the band following the recording of the seventh album and was replaced by former Robbie Williams drummer, Chris Sharrock. The band also resigned with Sony for a three-album deal. The first single from the bands seventh album "Dig out your Soul" was "The Shock of the Lightning" written by Noel Gallagher. The band toured again with support from Reverend and the makers, The Enemy and Kasabian.



The Breakup:
Oasis split up in August 2009 following a row between the brothers backstage at V festival (Weston Park). Supposedly Liam broke Noel's guitar and they quarrelled. They cancelled their performance the following night at V festival (Hylands Park) due to the instant decision of the band splitting.

Success:
- 8 UK number 1 singles
- 7 UK number 1 albums
- 15 NME Awards
- 9 Q Awards
- 4 MTV Europe Music Awards
- 6 BRIT Awards
- Nominated for 3 Grammy Awards
- Listed in Guinness Book of World Records (2010) for "Longest Top 10 UK Chart Run By A Group"
- Hold the Guinness World Record for being the "Most Successful Act of the Last Decade" in the UK (1995-2005)

Record Label:

Members of Oasis were signed to independant record label 'Creation Records'. The band have sold an estimated figure of about 70 million records worldwide.

Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly lived a short life from September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959. His real name was Charles Hardin Holley but he was far better known as 'Buddy Holly'. His success was cut short as he died at just 22 in an airplane crash. Buddy Holly had huge potential and his success only lasted a year and a half. He had only been recording for 2 years, yet during these 2 years he wrote and performed some of the most progressive music of his time, becoming an inspiration to many musicians. He created a musical foundation for bands such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. His early rock and roll/rockabilly genre proved very popular amongst the general public.



The Life of Buddy Holly:

Charles Hardin Holley was born in Texas as the youngest of four children. The 'e' in Buddy Hollys surname was dropped because there was a spelling error on his first recording contract, but due to excitement and not wanting to put his contract in jeopardy he signed it anyway, with his name as 'Buddy' and used his childhood nickname, Holly.

Buddy began making music from a very early age at 11 with piano lessons. Though after 9 months of lessons and being praised by many people including his teacher as one of her top students, without any explanation, Buddy quit. However he took up playing the guitar and entertained friends and family with his talent.

Buddy's and Bob Montgomery went to school together and performed with one another, known by family and friends as 'Buddy and Bob'. They began to perform local events throughout their home town of Texas. Following opening a show for Elvis Presley at a local gig in 1955 Buddy knew where his future lied in music. Buddy and Bob didnt particularly hit off well, so Buddy formed his new group. "The Crickets."

The Crickets consisted of:
- Jerry Allison (Drums)
- Nick Sullivan (Guitar)
- Joe Maudlin (Bass)
- Buddy Holly (Vocals)

The crickets recorded 'That'll be the day' and it became top of the charts in September 1957. Here's a video of it.

The group continued with their success with songs such as "Oh Boy" and "Peggy Sue." Buddy began to get restless and due to legal problems concerning royalty money, he split from the Crickets.

Buddy Holly then joined with Valens and Richardson and toured doing the "Winter Dance Party". The 3 along with pilot Roger Peterson took off from Mason City airport on Feburary 3rd. Their four seat aircraft crashed soon after takeoff. The surviving members did not want to continue the tour but gave in to the pressures of performing the final show. However when they appeared on stage without Buddy, audiences were shocked and it was a tragedy that took the musical community by complete shock as Buddy was a huge upcoming star. Don Mclean dedicated his 1971 hit "American Pie" to Buddy Holly and stated it was “The day the music died.”



Record Label:

Buddy Holly has been signed up to Decca, Brunswick and the one he last signed with was Coral. Coral was based in the USA and various Swing and Jazz recordings were made with Coral.

Discography:

Buddy Holly released 3 albums in his lifetime, but due to the amount of material he had written, Coral were able to release his music for up to 10 years after his death.

Just Jack - The Day I Died

I posted this on my blog for AS as it is one of my favourite music videos. I posted it because the way it has been constructed is very clever and there is a number of aspects in the video that i spotted which interested me.



The images in the video are to do with the words being sung in the song, this is introduced to the viewer instantly. One thing i noticed about the beginning was his little boy sitting playing with toy cars (17 seconds in) crashing them into one another and then bringing an ambulance into the scene meaning somebody has been hurt. This relates to the end of the video because his dad dies through being run over and an ambulance comes in attempt to save him. This relates because the car crash the boys dad dies in is a reinactment of how the boy is playing with the cars at this point in the video.

When James Nesbitt says goodbye to his wife and kids I noticed he has rips in his suit on the way to work. Obviously someone wouldn't leave for work with a ripped suit it was again until later i realised why he had a ripped suit. His suit rips in the car accident shown later on as he is hit and stumbles to the floor causing the rip and a blooded bruise on his head.

When sitting in the park on his work break, at around 1.44 in to the video James Nesbitt picks up a book, he opens it on the last page and then closes it again. This could symbolise he has reached the end of something, the song title gives away what he has reached the end of. As the song is about the day i died and the video is based around a mans last day alive, the closing of the book could symbolise the end of his life.

At 2.19 in the video, James Nesbitt is pictured on "top of the world". He donates money to an artist painting the world on the floor but this could be a hidden metaphor in the video. The video is based around the day he died being the best day of his life, and him standing on top of the world thats been painted could relate to when people do feel on top of the world. Following this he misses the bus, and this could have meaning behind it because by doing a good deed, admiring and giving the artist money for his work he has missed his bus.

James Nesbitt is then walking across the street and the lyrics say 'I guess I never saw that taxi'. When this happens there is no singing from Just Jack anymore but what sounds like choir voices. This could be the realisation hitting him that he's been hit by a car and how his life froze at that point. During this we see him touch his head and it strikes him that he's been hit, we also see the ambulance that has come to attempt to save his life. This could be the way of showing somebody looking back at their death as it is acted out before the crash and then James Nesbitt just falls to the floor which indicates his death. As he falls to the floor, Just Jack begins to sing again.

As he lies on the floor, he has a flashback of his wife and kids and it relates to the lyrics once again. The music video is based around a mans flashback in the dying moments of his life featuring his wife and kids, and that day being the best day of his life.

Madness

Madness are a British Ska band from Camden Town, London. They formed in 1976 and have continued to perform for fans with their recognised seven members. Madness were one of the biggest bands in the late 1970's and contributed to the rise of Ska music.




Madness achieved most of their success from the early 1980s up until the mid 1980s. Madness spent 214 weeks on the UK singles chart over the course of their success. They beat UB40's record for most weeks spent by a group in the 1980s UK singles chart during their success period from 1980-1986.

The formation of whom makes up Madness has changed slightly over the years, but the main people are:

- Graham McPherson better known as 'Suggs' – Lead Vocals.
- Mike Barson also known as 'Monsieur Barso' – Keyboards, Pianos, Vibraphone.
- Chris Foreman also known as 'Chrissy Boy' – Guitar.
- Mark Bedford also known as 'Bedders' – Bass Guitar.
- Lee Thompson also known as 'Kix' – Saxophone, Backing vocals.
- Daniel Woodgate also known as 'Woody' – Drums, Percussion.
- Cathal Smyth better known as 'Chas Smash' – Backing vocals, dancing


The Beginning of Madness:

In 1979, the band recorded famous single "The Prince." This single was released through 2 Tone Records, the label of the founder of The Specials, Jerry Dammers. "The Prince" was a surprise hit for madness, as it peaked to number 16 in the UK charts. Performing this song on popular TV music show 'Top of the Pops' helped Madness gain recognition from the public. Following this single gaining some success, Madness then toured with fellow 2 tone bands, The Specials and The Selecter, before recording their debut album, "One Step Beyond..." (Released by Stiff Records.) The album stayed in the British charts for 37 weeks, and reached its peak at number 2. Madness then went on to release another 8 albums, which all contributed in making them who they are today.

The Breakup:

Following Mike Barson leaving in 1984, Madness' success started to decline and after one self titled album, and two other albums which failed to reach the top 40 in the UK charts, Madness completely split in 1988.



The Reunion:

Towards the end of 1991, massive hit "It Must Be Love" was re-released and reached number 6 in the UK singles chart in Feburary of 1992. Following the success of this re-release, an album "Divine Madness" was released with some of the greatest hits from Madness and peaked at number 1 in the album charts. Madness then announced a reunion concert, "Madstock!". This was held at Finsbury Park, London with the original lineup of Madness reunited performing for the first time since Barson left Madness in 1984. Over 75,000 fans attended the weekend festival and the boisterous crowd caused Madness to officially reunite. The band did Christmas season tours and held three more Madstock! festivals. In June 2008, "The Liberty Of Norton Folgate" was released, currently the most recent Madness album. This reached number 5 in UK charts.

Awards:

1983: Ivor Novello Award - Best Song, "Our House".
2000: Ivor Novello Award - Outstanding Song Collection
2005: MOJO "Hall of Fame" Award - for being 'an artist's artist'.
2009: 'Silver Clef' Icon Award.



Music Label - Lucky 7 Records:

This label was actually founded by Madness themselves. The launch of the label enabled Madness to release new material. So far the label has released 5 Madness singles and the album "The Liberty of Norton Folgate".Madness also set up their old label 'Zarjazz Records".

The other labels Madness have also been part of are as follows:
- 2 Tone
- Stiff
- Zarjazz
- Virgin
- V2 Sire
- Geffen
- Union Square Music

Here is the video of one of Madness' biggest hits, "One Step Beyond". The video portrays them as a lively band.