Images like this one are quintessential American, the view of a family or even an individual huddled around a radio listening to anything and everything. It could be a baseball game, a radio drama, a commercial or even the president of the United States for that matter. The fact is the radio has serious impact on the lives of American’s as well as other people’s lives all around the globe.
The radio in its current version as with many other technologies like it, evolved into the profile it now holds. Born out of the development of the telegraph, the radio was a kind of wireless telegraph. Its root date back to the mid-1800, when Rudolph Hertz demonstrated varying electricity can generate radio waves, around the end of the 1800’s. Besides the radio technology itself, the world patent system was being tested as well. Two inventors where fighting for the right to say they were the first to patent the radio technology. Marconi and Tesla both transmitted radio signals; Tesla eventually won the fight in court in 1943. The technology was further expanded by the introduction of the Radiotelegraph and Spark-Gap Transmitter. These technological improvements were used in ship to ship and ship to shore communications. Further development followed and changed the radio into the likeness we know and love even today. The AM radio coined by Lee Deforest, soon after this development with the release of the U.S. patents commercial broadcast by civilians started to be made. True broadcast started showing up around the globe in New York and Paris (at the Eiffel Tower) for example. The last and most significant improvement in my opinion was in the development of FM transmissions (About.com Inventors n.d.). The radio has survived in this form for alm...
... middle of paper ...
...on: a history of the United States. Since 1865, Volume 2. Cengage Learning, 2009.
Mierau, Christina B. Accept no substitutes!: the history of American advertising . Twenty-First Century Books, 2000.
Modern Mechanix. "CHINA’S MILLIONS Twist the DIALS." Jun 1937.
Niiya, Brian. Japanese American history: an A-to-Z reference from 1868 to the present. VNR AG, 1993.
Pieslak, Jonathan R. Sound targets: American soldiers and music in the Iraq war. Indiana University Press, 2009.
Pieslak, Jonathan R. Sound targets: American soldiers and music in the Iraq war. Indiana University Pres, 2009.
Popular Mechanics. "Political Spellbinding by Radio." Dec 1924: Page 879 – 881.
Stearns, Peter. World civilizations: The Global Experience. 6th ed. . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Longman, 2011.
Stephen Quinn, Vincent F. Filak. Convergent journalism: an introduction. 2005: Elsevier, n.d.
play to look at the reality of the day to day life of soldiers. Prior
Howard, John Tasker. Our American Music. 1946. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1954. 666. Print.
Hillstrom, Kevin and Hillstrom, L.C. (1998). The Vietnam Experience: a Concise Encyclopedia of American Literature, Songs and Films. Wesport, CT: Greenwood Press, Inc.
To the persistent individual, though, there is a body of music in existence that merits regard. It is powerful music written by the youth of America, youngsters who did have a stake in the Vietnam War. There can be little question about the origins of the power which American protest music conveyed: those who wrote such music lived each day with the real knowledge that they were losing friends in, and could possibly be forced themselves to go to, Vietnam. One such group, Creedence Clearwater Revival, made its contribution to this genre near the end of the Vietnam War.
"HUT, TWO, THREE, FOUR...HUT, TWO, THREE, FOUR...” What do a bunch of grunts calling out raunchy marching cadences have to do with pop culture? There’s more to the cadence then just keeping soldiers in step, there is a deep sense of pride, patriotism, unity, motivation, and nostalgia, which can be found within these songs. The Military cadence is used to motivate, inspire, and foster company cohesiveness while keeping soldiers steps in time and hands down the rich oral traditions of the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air force. The cadence is a song sung when marching or running and the songs require a caller, who normally sets the pace and leads the formation. Like robots, the soldiers echoed their leader's sing-song" Jody Call" in beat to their pounding footsteps. The way a unit sounds while running or marching tends to reflect on that unit's morale and leadership. This paper will illustrate the similarities that cadences share with pop culture music through lyrical examples. As you will see, the lyrics of these cadences are expressions of individual feelings, goals, and fears, and are quite similar to the themes of other popular culture musical genres. The theories of subculture, appropriation and improvisation that have been proposed in lecture will be reviewed and illustrated within cadences. The military cadence as a subcultures oral tradition will be examined, through analyzing the theories of popular music which can be applied to the genres’ history, structure, and socio-political influences.
While the songs written for the American Revolutionary war were somewhat speculative, and depending on the song, poked fun at their enemies. The songs written and sung about the war in Iraq were anything but. They outlined the issues and say everything that they feel is true regarding the situation the United States is in. For example in the song written by Neil Young "Lets Impeach the President." The lyrics in this song are deep and correlate directly with the feelings of many American citizens. For example “Let 's impeach the President for lying and misleading our country into war” (YouTube) these lyrics as well as the video depict a propaganda style. Following life changing events, such as a new life experience or a national crisis, songs are written to show and demonstrate its impact. Whether it is in the 18th century or the 21st century the premise is still the same and can be seen throughout the
The improvements in radio will most likely attract people who are irritated by the difficulty of finding a station that suits their interests. It may take a while for this new product to become popular, but with the information that I have researched it is likely that it will catch on in the near future. Also, if this does catch on, then the number of people who listen to the radio instead of watching television should increase as the years go on. Some people think that XM Radio could take over FM and AM radio because of its overall superiority to them. Whether or not this happens, it is definitely a step forward in creating more luxuries for those who feel the need to be entertained.
Stewart, Lauren. The effects of Music during the Civil Rights Movement. n.d. 28 April 2014 .
Throughout time, music has been an influential part of society. As a form of entertainment and expression, its impact has always been felt both economically and emotionally. During the Vietnam war, music evolved into more a form of expression rather than pure entertainment. Emotionally charged songs became a method to oppose the war, and vent frustrations. While many songs opposed the war, numerous others focused on peace and happiness. They provided a positive perspective in an otherwise depressing time. Along with incorporating passion into music, cultural diversity increased in music greatly. Black artists became progressively more popular and accepted in the musical scene. This respect carried over to society slowly but surely. During the Vietnam war, music played a crucial role in the societal evolution into a state where emotions fueled actions, more emphasis was put on equality, all opinions counted.
The 1960’s was one of the most controversial decades in American history because of not only the Vietnam War, but there was an outbreak of protests involving civil and social conditions all across college campuses. These protests have been taken to the extent where people either have died or have been seriously injured. However, during the 1960’s, America saw a popular form of art known as protest music, which responded to the social turmoil of that era, from the civil rights movement to the war in Vietnam. A veritable pantheon of musicians, such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan sang their songs to encourage union organizers to protest the inequities of their time, creating a diverse variety of popular protest music, which has reached out to the youthful generations everywhere demanding for a revolutionary change. The protest music took the children of the 1960’s to a completely new different level. Musicians of this generation were not going to sit and do nothing while the government lied to the people about what was going on in Vietnam. Instead, they took their guitar-strumming troubadours from the coffee houses, plugged them in, and sent the music and the message into the college dorm rooms and the homes of the youth of America. However, as decades went by, protest music does not have much of an impact as it use to because of the way things have changed over the years. Through the analysis of the music during the 1960’s, there shall be an understanding on how the different genres of protest music has affected social protesters based on how musicians have become the collective conscience of that generation through their lyrics and music and the main factors that contributed to the lack of popula...
There is one universal language: the language of music. Music has a special quality and ability to bridge both social and cultural divides. A proposed theory by Dr. Gray, Founder and Director of National Musical Arts’ BioMusic Program; describes music has been around longer than human-beings have. Music is the one thing human beings from various backgrounds can relate to. Every living creature would agree. Music is heard everywhere not just among humans, but in nature as well, through the twitting of birds, winds blowing, the soft sound of raindrops against a windowpane, the ocean waves moving back and forth and the hum of the ocean rushing in a sea shell. There is no escaping it; music lives in and surrounds us steadily. While there are countless songs which confer social or cultural consciousness, this paper will analyze and address the dynamics of M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes”, video. Stylistically, the paper will examine the artist point of view, the unique use of lyrical analysis and sound description in relation to its historical, social, political and/or cultural context. This essay will also trace the lyrical analysis and sound description of song and discuss how the elements (visually, sonically, and lyrically) interplay with the theme of immigration and/or violence.
The 1920's brought many advancements in technology which allowed Americans to entertain themselves at home; the radio was one of them. The radio was actually developed before the 1920's; however, it was banned during World War I and allowed to reappear after the Prohibition ended in 1919 (Events 72). After the Prohibition ended, and radio broadcasting was being brought back to life, many people started up their first stations, like Frank Conrad (Events 72). Frank Conrad's first broadcast consisted of the Presidential Election results (Events 72). As Conrad was one of the first people to broadcast, KDKA was one of the first radio stations to appear in the Unite...
Paxton, Tom. (2011). "Music as a Tool of Social Protest." Squidoo: Welcome to Squidoo. Retrieved November 13, 2011, from .
During the 19th and 20th century, America –mostly white collar, middle class Americans- saw a great increase in salaries and a huge rise in mass production which paved the way for the modern American consumerism which we know today. The advertising scene saw a dramatic boost during that period and tried to latch on to this growing pool of emerging consumers. Although only limited to print, advertising during this pivotal period showed panache and reflected American society
Goodrum, Charles and Dalrymple, Helen, Advertising in America: The First 200 Years. (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 1990). 37.