Revolver Entry

Prior to the Beatles Revolver album, their mark on popular music and culture was already being established. The Beatles were a British rock and roll band who saw tremendous success in international and American markets. They had an original style of catchy synthesis and American rock and R&B. The band’s increasingly sophisticated experimentation propelled them across a variety of genres, including folk-rock, country, psychedelic, and pop without tarnishing their reputation. Some of the non-musical outside influences came from actor Peter Fonda where in a discussion with group members said that he knew what it was like to be dead because as a boy he almost died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His story was a direct influence for the song titled “She Said She Said.” “Got to Get You Into My Life” was a love song by McCartney dedicated to marijuana and the uses of it. For “Taxman”, the song was influenced and used as an act of protest against the high marginal rates of income tax paid by high earners like the Beatles, which was at times 95 percent of their income.

The Beatles were very known for using the studio as an extension to their music and has an instrument as well. They regularly demanded that something new be tried with the attitude in mind of how it might actually sound good. They constantly used accidents as used portions of their music such as guitar feedback, resonating glass bottle, a tape loaded the wrong way round so that it played backwards, all this mishaps lead to new ideas and recording strategies throughout their recordings.

I feel as though the Beatles may have been one of the most creative, revolutionary, and distinctive groups of their time. Their chart topping success propelled them to a status of musical legends that I feel they deserve to have.

Podcast Entry 1

Here is the link to my Podcast Entry 1- Marvin Gaye Whats Going On

http://soundcloud.com/anthony-wright-mh2/podcast-entry-1-whats-going-on

Podcast Project Two

Here's the link to my podcast on soundcloud

http://soundcloud.com/anthony-wright-mh2/quincy-jones-podcast

Independent Research entry(Quincy Jones)

For my final blog entry and independent research I will be touching on the influence of the producer and composer Quincy Jones. His career spans five decades with a record 27 Grammys and 79 Grammy award nominations, which also includes a Grammy Legend Award in 1991. He is most famously recognized as the producer of the album Thriller by pop icon Michael Jackson. This album went on to sell more than 110 million copies worldwide. Quincy Jones also went on to produce and conduct the charity song We Are The World. Quincy Jones and Bob Russell were the first African American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song titled The Eyes of Love from Universal Pictures film Banning. He is tied with sound designer Willie D.Burton as the most Oscar-nominated African American, with each of them having seven nominations.

I feel as though Quincy Jones made a very significant impact on the career of popular music world icon Michael Jackson. While working on the film The Wiz, Michael Jackson and Quincy descused working a project together, in result they went on to make Off The Wall which sold approximately 20 million copies, making Quincy the most powerful record producer in the industry. Their next collaboration Thriller sold 110 million copies and has become the highest selling album of all time. From there they worked on the album Bad, which sold 32 million copies. After this Jackson went on to different producers to help update and reinvent his sound.

Quincy also played a major role in social activism which began in the 1960’s with his support of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Quincy is on the founders of the Institute for Black American Music (IBAM), whose events are aimed at raising funds for the creation of a national library of African American art and music. He is also a founder of the Black Arts Festival in Chicago, Illinois. Working with Bono of U2, for many years they teamed up on many philanthropic missions and operations. In 2004, Quincy launched the We Are The Future project, which gives children in poor and violence filled cities a chance to live out their child-hoods and create an atmosphere of hope and prosperity.

My impression of Quincy Jones is defiantly a great one. I admire him and am extremely impressed by is hard work, dedication, and legacy that he has left behind for himself alone. Being behind the scenes and also at times in the limelight of things he has made a huge mark and impact on society and the direction of where music has gone today. Quincy Jones single handily help to build the foundation for what popular music is today and everything that he has touched seems to spark and manifest into something worth being called greatness.

Electronic Music Innovations

The music producer/ artist that I will be discussing on the topic of Electronic Music Innovations is none other than the producer of Wu-Tang Clan, aka RZA. He is well known and respected as one of the greatest producers in the Hip- Hop genre for his unique style and creative innovations in that sound. Now Rza is originally known for his gritty sounds of production, from frenetic piano loops, heavy bass and drums, with the experimentation of more melodic sounds as well. RZA's style varies from chopping up and speeding or slowing down soul and electronic samples to fit his beats, which have left impacts on other notable producers styles such as Kanye West and Just Blaze. Towards the mid 2000’s, Rza became more experimental towards smoother and tightly assembled productions and elements that play off of each other than in his previous beats.

Far as his influence and innovation, with Reakwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx album and GZA’s Liquid Swords, RZA went on to immerse these sounds in dark, soul samples pioneering the technique of speeding up and slowing down samples to fit a beat. He realized the potential of the skit, using samples from John Woo films and stringing them together to form a loose story line within the albums he produced. This sound and style of production in later years would go on to be the backbone of the sound of Rocafella records with their heavy soul sampled hip-hop beats. With Kanye being the forefront producer for Rocafella he has stated that he pulled a lot of influence from Rza’s style, and in response RZA explains it as being more of a passing of the torch type of situation that Kayne must fulfill now on.

Rza was always one of my favorite producers, with me being a Wu-tang Clan fan growing up I always appreciated the uniqueness and individuality that this group has brought to the genre of hip-hop with Rza being the main player behind that direction.

Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk is an electronic music band from Germany formed in the 1970’s. They were known for their classical style of harmony and heavy electronic instrumentation. They were one of the first groups to popularize electronic music and were recognized as pioneers in the field. In their early years throughout the time of their first three albums were free form experimental styles. During this time they played on an arrangement of traditional instruments such as guitar, bass, drums, electric organ, flute, violin, and also the vocoder, which would become one of Kraftwerks trademark instruments.

The Release of Autobahn in 1974 was the start of the band branching off from their previous sound. With this new album it opened up the door for them to be able to perform Internationally in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. They later followed up with their second album titled Radio-Activity. In return to this they were able to establish King Klang Studios as a staple in the industry. After this Kraftwerk went on to release a slew of albums. In 1977 Trans- Europe Express, 1978 The Man Machine and after this there was not another album released for 3 years. However in 1981 Kraftwerk released Computer World on EMI records, where they reached number one position with their track titled The Model, making it their most successful record in the UK.

A major part of Kraftwerk’s influence comes from their live show presentation and electronic creativity. They would actually pack up their whole studio, Kling Klang Studio, and take it on the road with them. Their visual elements were filled with projected slides and films all synchronized with their music as technology grew, even replica mannequins of themselves were used while performing their song called The Robots. Throughout their career, Kraftwerk pushed the limits of music technology with notable innovation, self-made instruments, and custom built devices. Kraftwerk would go on to influence such genres as hip hop, house, drum and bass, and many more, notably with Planet Rock by Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force, also with Jay-z and Foxy Brown on the track titled Sunshine. Kraftwerk leaves a strong impression with me being that I'm a very heavy synth producer myself, and the technological advancements that were made because of this group helps me to this day put together the exact sound that I choose to go for.

What’s Going On Entry

Prior to the recording of What’s Going On, Marvin Gaye was considered a sex symbol and an American R&B sensation. His work was mainly consisted of strong passionate love ballads with heart-felt lyrics. Now in 1970 a close friend of Marvin’s, Tammi Terrell died as a result of a brain tumor which was an extremely emotional time for him where he insisted that he would no longer record duets with any other female performer nor was he going to perform on stage again since the incident. However June 1^st 1970 he returned to Hitsville to record the song “What’s Going On”, which was inspired by Marvin’s brother and his experiences in the Vietnam War. Co-writer Renaldo “Obie” Benson of the Four Tops also played a major role in the input of the song with his own experiences of police brutality against anti-war protesters in San Francisco. However Motown CEO Berry Gordy was not as enthusiastic about releasing the song, afraid that it could interfere with Marvin’s image as a sex symbol, and after many meetings and even some very heated debates between Motown and Marvin, Berry Gordy eventually gave in certain that it would flop. Now one of the main differences between this album and other R&B albums at this time would be its socially standing in society and the viewpoints that were hit on from the lyrics of the album. It was a very risky call for Marvin to make due to the fact that he did not have much support from his label and was pretty much taking a shot out on his own. It was amongst the first soul albums to touch on such social concerns such as environmentalism, political corruption, drug abuse and the war, and was known as the first soul concept album due to the structure of the songs leading into the next. This album left me with an impression that even though socially driven music may not appear popular, its really exactly what people want to hear because it’s the issues that they deal with on a day to day basis and to hear someone else touch and relate on those topics is a sure way to generate a large mass of people behind the cause and that is what this album was for people at that time.

Velvet Underground & Nico Entry

From my opinion the imagery of this album was pretty dark in comparison to the context of the songs and the stories that were depicted through them. With such lyrics bringing to life stories about a mans efforts to obtain heroin and the effects that it has on people and the type of highs that you receive. With at least four songs on the album foreshadowing drugs and the use of them, Im pretty sure that was the direction they were going in. Lou Reed was responsible for writing majority of the albums lyrics and being a fan of poetry, he could easily translate that content over to rock and roll music. Reed always was an English major studying at Syracuse University. Now John Cale was more responsible for the “sound” of the album and really took on a big role with being experimental and trying some new innovative things. He would often tune the guitars down a whole step to produce a lower, fuller sound that he called “sexy”. Although Andy Warhol was credited as the producer for the album, he really did not have much direct input on it besides paying for the recording sessions. However John Cale and Tom Wilson were better known for the acting producers, handling majority of the albums musical arrangements. Far as some characteristics of the album I feel as though it was ahead of its time for when it was released due to its lacking debut success. It was fresh, new, and very experimental and I feel as though sometimes and takes the music industry and its listeners to catch up to the hears of the artists to grasp what was really a great album and what was not. My impression on the album comes with all high regards. I appreciate the realism of its stories and the truth behind the times and era that was depicted.

Pet Sounds Entry

Prior to the Recording of Pet Sounds, the Beach Boys sound was very raw and somewhat ragged but yet spirited with group harmonies, and color beach imagery, helping to spark the California Sound Revolution. Their sound was the California boys dream, filled with ambitions of hot rods, leading up to their song “409” which in-turn kick started the hot rod music craze. Brian Wilson played a major role in the sound of the beach boys due to his original and unorthodox way of bringing a sense of authenticity to his recordings. For example with “409” he decided that he wanted to record the sound of a real car for the demo, so around 2 a.m they placed a tape recorder beside the car’s hood and repeatedly reved the engine to get the sound that he had in his head. Brian’s influence for Pet Sounds was different than all the rest as he wish to only do better and top himself with every recording while trying something fresh. With Pet Sounds a lot of things were done differently. None of the Beach Boys were used in the instrumentation of the album, just soley their vocals and harmonies, with avant-garde string and horn arrangements to unorthodox instruments such as the theremin, bicycle bells, and makeshift percussion instruments. The album also included two instrumental tracks as well which was far left from their original direction. I feel as though Pet Sounds is what good music and being a producer is all about, breaking the mold and setting the foundation for others to follow through creative experimentation and fearless direction. The ability to run with what you hear in your head and have it put to life not just for sales but for your own approval is something I can respect and appreciate as a listener and industry professional.

Welcome Entry

Well I guess its best to start with my name, being Anthony Wright. I was born and raised in Richmond Virginia prior to becoming a student here at FullSail. I developed my passion for music at an young age with strong influences from Funk, R&B, and the Hip-Hop genres. My focus in the music industry would have to be more along the lines of production or A&R work. So until that time comes here I hear am fulfilling my role as a student.