Music News: 08.31.12

• 546 days later, Adele's 21  drops out of Billboard's Top 10 (MTV)
• Clay Aiken and John Rich in a Twitter feud (Huffington Post)
• Are Rihanna and Chris Brown reuniting at the VMAs? (Examiner)
• The death of a hip hop mogul (Rolling Stone )
• Spike Lee on the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson's Bad  (MTV)
• Musical chairs at American Idol  (Entertainment Weekly )

Reflection 01: Been Around the World—Exploring International Music

Momoiro Clover Z, "Moretsu Uchu Kokyokyoku Dai 7 Gakusho 'Mugen no Ai'" (Japan, 2012)

We don't often get the opportunity to hear non-English music on American commercial radio. While we might hear the occasional song sung partially in another language (e.g. "Macarena," "Time to Say Goodbye," "Bailamos"), songs sung entirely in a foreign language are still rare (e.g. "La Bamba," "Bamboleo"). That's not the case around the world, where foreign language songs, including American music, routinely become hits in a number of markets. Americans, however, are notoriously resistant to songs that aren't in English. So, while the rest of the world gets to hear a variety of international artists, Americans are largely limited to music from English-speaking countries. For your first reflection, you'll take a musical trip around the world. Choose three of the following international music websites and sample some of the local fare. Consider what are these countries' musical tastes are at this moment, and to what degree American music has penetrated their charts. Finally, do you you believe any of the music you sampled could have a shot at success in America? Why or why not?

Write about music from three of the following international markets.

• Mexico: Top 100 México (Amprofon)—Click: "Lista Semanal"
• Israel: Israel Radio Chart (100FM)
• Belgium: Singles Top 50 
• Africa: The Official African Chart (MTV Base Africa) 
• Italy: Classifiche Musicali (MTV Italy)
• Japan: Japan Hot 100 (Billboard/Hanshin)
• Portugal: Portuguese National Top 50 
• Sweden: Top 60 Singles  
• Middle East: Hitmarker Weekly Top 20
• French Canada: Super Décompte (Rouge FM)
• Latin America: Tu Top 10 Sur (MTV Latinoamérica)
• Hong Kong: Hit Radio Charts (997)
• Argentina: Top 20 (FM88)
• Norway: Top 20
• Russia: 2M/Tophit's Russian Music Charts and Top 20 (MTV Russia)
• Asia: Chart Attack (MTV Asia) 
• France: SNEP's Top 100
• India: Mirchi Top 20 [Bollywood] and Angrezi Top 20 [English] (Radio Mirchi)
• Brazil: Brasil Hot 100 Airplay (Billboard Brasil) 
• United States: Top 20 (Tr3́s)—Click: "Articles"

Requirements:

• Be in MLA Style
• Be two full pages in length

Due: Wednesday, Sept. 5th

WEEK 02: MADONNA

Madonna, "Take a Bow" (US #1, 1994)

Week 02: Madonna

Mo 08.27

Class: Introductions; Lecture—“A PowerPoint Presentation How-to”

We 08.29

Read: eR—“Does Pop Sound Louder, Dumber, and More and More the Same? One Study Says So” (Slate), “Growing Up Gaga” (New York), “Musicians' Brains Might Have an Edge on Aging” (US News & World Report), “Stanford Researcher Maps Melodies Used in Holocaust to Control Prisoners” (Stanford University)

Class: Lecture—“Writing as a Process”

Upcoming:

Week 03: Buddy Holly & The Crickets

Mo 09.03

NO CLASS—LABOR DAY

We 09.05

Read: BRAIN—“I Love Music and I Love Science—Why Would I Want to Mix the Two?” – “Behind the Curtain” 

Class: DIAGNOSTIC ESSAY 

Due: REFLECTION 01 

PowerPoint Presentations, Pt. I: Sec. 12

"America" from West Side Story (USA, 1961)

As you know, this semester you and a classmate will be responsible for a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation and a class hand-out.

By midnight on Friday, August 31st, you and a partner should be signed-up for a topic and date.  All topics and dates are first-come first-served. Topics will be crossed off as they are chosen. Anyone that has not chosen by this time, will automatically be assigned a partner, topic, and date.

Follow these steps:

1. Click on "Comments" at the end of this post.
2. In the "Post a Comment" box, leave the group's names (first and last), section, topic, and the preferred date—only one entry per group is required.

Example:
David Cortez and Kerry Clancy: The Music of Leonard Cohen, 10.16.12

Follow these are the guidelines for the presentation:

Requirements:

1. The work distribution is up to each pairing, though it should be somewhat equitable
2. The presentation must be approximately 10 minutes in length
3. There should be approximately 10  slides, including at least one video clip (no more than 2-3 minutes in length)
4. Must include a handout outlining your presentation (25 copies) 
5. On the day of your presentation, email both your presentation and handout to me at dhdelao@gmail.com.

The best presentations will:

• Open with cover and introduction slides
• Begin by contextualizing the topic, then presenting relevant information
• Avoid a heavy use of animation and effects, choosing instead a simpler visual style (illustrations are highly recommended)
• Engage the class through a conversational style, utilizing questions and/or activities
• Utilize multimedia, such as YouTube*
• Conclude with a summarization of the information presented 

*Here is a quick video explaining how to embed a YouTube clip into PowerPoint 2007. Embedding clips can save time during a presentation.

Remember, you are responsible for providing your own laptop.

Choose from a list of topics, then dates, below:

1. All About New Wave 
2. Icons of Opera: Giacomo Puccini and Maria Callas
3. Game Changers: Nirvana's Nevermind
4. All about the British Invasion
5. Grease is the Word: History and Legacy of a Legendary Musical
6. Singers and Songwriters: Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell, and Jim Croce
7. Icons of Country: Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton
8. The Folk Music of Ireland
9. Icons of Rock: The Who and Led Zeppelin
10. The Holy Sites of Rock: Graceland, Yasgur's Farm, and The Apollo
11. Les géants de la musique Française: Charles Aznavour, Maurice Chevalier, and Edith Piaff
12. All About Bluegrass
13. Inside the Bollywood Musical 
14. Icons of Jazz: Thelonius Monk and John Coltrane
15. Vienna and the Classical Period
16. Music in the Classroom: A Crisis
17. The Sisters of Hip Hop: Lady B to Nicki Minaj
18. Go, Man Go: Inside West Side Story
19. Icons of Hip Hop: Run-DMC and Public Enemy
20. Remembering the Ladies of Motown
21. Game Changers: The Jimi Hendrix Experience's Are You Experienced
22. Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and the Day the Music Died
23. Chinese Opera 101
24. MTV: The Early Years 
25. Where Things are Poppin': American Bandstand
26. Mexico's Mariachi Tradition
27. Icons of Folk: Bob Dylan and Joan Baez
28. The Musical Returns: Moulin Rouge to Les Misérables
29. Music Cities: Nashville, Detroit, and Seattle
30. Woodstock: Three Days of Peace and Music

Choose from these dates:

Week 05: 2Pac
Mo 09.17
1.
2.

Week 06: Michael Jackson
We 09.26
1. Truc Nguyen-Pham and Pho Chau Nguyen: Chinese Opera 101
2.

Week 08: Judy Garland [CLOSED]
Mo 10.08
1. Janice Lo and MingDa Zeng: Game Changers - Nirvana's Nevermind
2. Alana Weaver and Linda Truong: Game Changers - The Jimi Hendrix Experience's Are You Experienced

We 10.10 [CLOSED]
1. Janette Avila and Brigette Bruno: Inside the Bollywood Musical
2. Raghav Ravichandran and Maria Lara: Grease is the Word - History and Legacy of a Legendary Musical

Week 09: Led Zeppelin [CLOSED]
We 10.17
1. Fernando Garcia and Jesse Martinez: Icons of Hip-Hop - Run-DMC and Public Enemy
2. Danna Eulalia and Laura Robles: Music Cities - Nashville, Detroit, and Seattle

Week 11: Frank Sinatra
Mo 10.29
1. Peter Paychev and Nicole Peletta: The Sisters of Hip Hop - Lady B to Nicki Minaj
2.

Week 12: Bee Gees
We 11.07
1. Ryan Chung and Jimmy Phan: Icons of Jazz - Thelonius Monk and John Coltrane
2.

Week 13: Stevie Wonder [CLOSED]
We 11.14
1. Tony Nguyen and Christine Nguyen: MTV - The Early Years
2. Jackeline Orta and Maritza Magana: Mexico's Mariachi Tradition

Week 14: Lady Gaga
Mo 11.19
1.
2.

PowerPoint Presentations, Pt. I: Sec. 02

"Chamma Chamma" from China Gate  (India, 1998)

As you know, this semester you and a classmate will be responsible for a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation and a class hand-out.

By midnight on Friday, August 31st, you and a partner should be signed-up for a topic and date.  All topics and dates are first-come first-served. Topics will be crossed off as they are chosen. Anyone that has not chosen by this time, will automatically be assigned a partner, topic, and date.

Follow these steps:

1. Click on "Comments" at the end of this post.
2. In the "Post a Comment" box, leave the group's names (first and last), section, topic, and the preferred date—only one entry per group is required.

Example:
David Cortez and Kerry Clancy: The Music of Leonard Cohen, 10.16.12

Follow these are the guidelines for the presentation:

Requirements:

1. The work distribution is up to each pairing, though it should be somewhat equitable
2. The presentation must be approximately 10 minutes in length
3. There should be approximately 10  slides, including at least one video clip (no more than 2-3 minutes in length)
4. Must include a handout outlining your presentation (25 copies) 
5. On the day of your presentation, email both your presentation and handout to me at dhdelao@gmail.com.

The best presentations will:

• Open with cover and introduction slides
• Begin by contextualizing the topic, then presenting relevant information
• Avoid a heavy use of animation and effects, choosing instead a simpler visual style (illustrations are highly recommended)
• Engage the class through a conversational style, utilizing questions and/or activities
• Utilize multimedia, such as YouTube*
• Conclude with a summarization of the information presented 

*Here is a quick video explaining how to embed a YouTube clip into PowerPoint 2007. Embedding clips can save time during a presentation.

Remember, you are responsible for providing your own laptop.

Choose from a list of topics, then dates, below:

1. All About New Wave 
2. Icons of Opera: Giacomo Puccini and Maria Callas
3. Game Changers: Nirvana's Nevermind
4. All about the British Invasion
5. Grease is the Word: Legacy of a Legendary Musical
6. Singers and Songwriters: Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell, and Jim Croce
7. Icons of Country: Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton
8. The Folk Music of Ireland
9. Icons of Rock: The Who and Led Zeppelin
10. The Holy Sites of Rock: Graceland, Yasgur's Farm, and The Apollo
11. Les géants de la musique Française: Charles Aznavour, Maurice Chevalier, and Edith Piaff
12. All About Bluegrass
13. Inside the Bollywood Musical 
14. Icons of Jazz: Thelonius Monk and John Coltrane
15. Vienna and the Classical Period
16. Music in the Classroom: A Crisis
17. The Sisters of Hip Hop: Lady B to Nicki Minaj
18. Go, Man Go: Inside West Side Story
19. Icons of Hip Hop: Run-DMC and Public Enemy
20. Remembering the Ladies of Motown
21. Game Changers: The Jimi Hendrix Experience's Are You Experienced
22. Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and the Day the Music Died
23. Chinese Opera 101
24. MTV: The Early Years 
25. Where Things are Poppin': American Bandstand
26. Mexico's Mariachi 
27. Icons of Folk: Bob Dylan and Joan Baez
28. The Musical Returns: Moulin Rouge to Les Misérables
29. Music Cities: Nashville, Detroit, and Seattle
30. Woodstock: Three Days of Peace and Music

Choose from these dates:

Week 05: 2Pac
Mo 09.17
1.
2.

Week 06: Michael Jackson
We 09.26
1. Britney Brooks and Anissa Amezcua: Remembering the Ladies of Motown
2.

Week 08: Judy Garland
Mo 10.08
1.
2.

We 10.10
1. Janette Avila and Brigette Bruno: Inside The Bollywood Musical
2.

Week 09: Led Zeppelin [CLOSED]
We 10.17
1. Erika Tunney and Vanessa Zamudio: Woodstock - Three Days of Peace and Music
2. Ereday Chavez and Tina Nguyen: Grease is the word: Legacy of a Legendary Musical

Week 11: Frank Sinatra
Mo 10.29
1.
2.

Week 12: Bee Gees
We 11.07
1.
2.

Week 13: Stevie Wonder
We 11.14
1.
2.

Week 14: Lady Gaga
Mo 11.19
1.
2.

Music News 08.20.12

Rihanna on Chris Brown: "He was the love of my life."

• Rihanna opens up to Oprah about Chris Brown (MTV)
• A school debates: When does music become prayer? (MSNBC)
• What we can learn from the Pussy Riot saga (CNN)
• A look back at the music of the films of Tony Scott (Los Angeles Times)
• Pandora and Spotify push digital music sales past those of CDs (Bloomberg Businessweek)
• The fur flies: Lady Gaga vs. PETA (New York)

WEEK 01: THE BEATLES

The Beatles, "Help!" (US #1, 1965)

Week 01: The Beatles

We 08.22

Class: Syllabus review

Upcoming:

Week 02: Madonna

Mo 08.27

Class: Introductions; Lecture—“A PowerPoint Presentation How-to”

We 08.29

Read: eR—“Does Pop Sound Louder, Dumber, and More and More the Same? One Study Says So” (Slate), “Growing Up Gaga” (New York), “Musicians' Brains Might Have an Edge on Aging” (US News & World Report), “Stanford Researcher Maps Melodies Used in Holocaust to Control Prisoners” (Stanford University)

Class: Lecture—“Writing as a Process”