Students of pop music and pop culture as well as fans who have loved the music since it came into being will gain valuable insight into this genre of the 1970s and 1980s.Listen to New Wave Rock!: Exploring a Musical Genre contains background on new wave music in general, with an overview and history of new wave rock in particular.While the bulk of the book is devoted to analysis of 50 must-hear musical examples, which include artists, songs, and a...

This four-volume work provides provocative critical analyses of 160 of the best popular music albums of the past 50 years, from the well-known and mainstream to the quirky and offbeat.The Album: A Guide to Pop Music's Most Provocative, Influential, and Important Creations contains critical analysis essays on 160 significant pop music albums from 1960 to 2010. The selected albums represent the pop, rock, soul, R&B, hip hop, country, and alternative genres, ...

This book provides in-depth analysis of the words, music, and recordings of Elvis Costello, one of the most enigmatic, eclectic, and critically acclaimed singer-songwriters of the rock era.Elvis Costello is one of the greatest pop songwriters of his generation as well as one of the most significant songwriters of the 20th century. His career's length now approaching four decades, Costello continues to be vital part of pop culture through live performances, recordin...

This book introduces readers to the most significant technological developments in music making and listening, including such topics as metronomes and the development of music notation as well as synthesizers, the latest music collaboration apps, and other 21st-century technologies.Rather than focusing on technical and mechanical details, Music and Technology: A Historical Encyclopedia features the sociological role of technological developments by highlig...

Listen to Soul! Exploring a Musical Genre provides an overview of soul music for fans of the genre, with a focus on 50 must-hear singers, songs, and albums that define it.This book provides both an overview and a critical analysis of what makes soul music in the United States. A list of 50 songs, albums, and musicians includes many of the best-known hits of the past and present from artists such as Alicia Keys and Stevie Wonder, as well as several importan...

A valuable resource for James Taylor fans and a fascinating read for anyone interested in autobiographical popular music of the past 50 years.What kinds of unusual musical forms and lyrical structures did American singer-songwriter James Taylor incorporate into his songs? What role did Taylor play in the introspective singer-songwriter movement of the 1970s? How did Taylor write and record songs that were inspired from his own experiences in life that touched so ma...

For a quarter century, Melissa Etheridge has been one of the most iconic and prolific female rock musicians. This book critically examines this songwriter's portrayal of universal human emotions and experiences against the context of her life.Songwriter. Pop star. Gay activist. Cancer survivor. Advocate for cancer victims. Human being. Melissa Etheridge is all of these things, and all of these elements of who she is have played an instrumental role in her music fro...

Exploring musical theater on film for fans of the genre, Listen to Movie Musicals! focuses on 50 must-hear movie musicals featured in the United States.In this book, 50 movies featured for critical analysis include many of the best-known film musicals of the past and present, from The King and I to La La Land. The list also includes several important movie musicals that were popular successes that are not necessarily on the "best-of" list...

We are what we listen to. That's the premise of this study of 100 songs that have shaped and defined the American experience, from the Colonial period to the present.Well-known music author James Perone looks at 100 songs that helped tell America's story. He examines why each song became a hit, what cultural and social values it embodies, what issues it touches upon, what audiences it attracted, and what made it such a definitive part of American history and popula...

This scholarly analysis of the music of Taylor Swift identifies how and why she is one of the early 21st century's most recognizable and most popular stars.By the age of 13, singer-songwriter Taylor Swift had already inked a development deal with a major record label. This early milestone was an appropriate predictor of what accomplishments were to come. Now a superstar artist with an international fanbase of millions and several critically acclaimed and commercial...

Listen to Pop! discusses the evolution of pop music in America from the 1950s to the present, diving into its impact on American culture, particularly through its association with television, and its enduring legacy.Listen to Pop!: Exploring a Musical Genre provides readers with an overview and a history of the pop music genre. The bulk of the book is devoted to analysis of 50 must-hear musical examples, which include artists, songs, and albums. ...

Listen to the Blues! Exploring A Musical Genre provides an overview of this distinctly American musical genre for fans of the blues and curious readers alike, with a focus on 50 must-hear artists, albums, and subgenres.Unlike other books on the blues, which tend to focus on musician biographies, Listen to the Blues! devotes time to the compositions, recordings, and musical legacies of blues musicians from the early 20th century to the present. Alt...