Knowledge is power

I've always felt like I don't know enough about music history. When I was growing up, my dad listened almost exclusively to Jimi Hendrix and The Talking Heads, so I've got some of the older rock acts down. But there's still an overwhelming amount to learn about. I don't need to become a walking encyclopedia of music trivia, but it'd be nice to have a better understanding of how today's scene came to be.

A couple of years ago, I blogged about a Coursera class on rock history that helped me start learning the basics. It was interesting, but I didn't want to stop there. Here's how I've continued educating myself lately:

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyonce by Bob Stanley
The amount of work that must have gone into this book is staggering. Of course it's impossible to go too in-depth with most of the artists, but Stanley lays down a solid groundwork of information. I would recommend reading it in pieces--take time to digest each group or genre. Otherwise, you'll be overloaded with information. And make sure you have Spotify available, so you can listen to the songs you're reading about. I found a few new favorites that way!

How Music Got Free by Stephen Witt

I make a point of buying music to support artists I love now, but in the past, I confess I downloaded my fair share of leaked albums. How that music got on the Internet, I had no clue. I assumed someone just ripped it and posted it online. This book starts with the German audio engineers who struggled for years to develop the mp3, and then spreads to a factory worker at a North Carolina CD-manufacturing plant who is responsible for almost two thousand album leaks. Completely fascinating.

All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records
I got to see an advanced screening of this documentary (directed by the fabulous Colin Hanks) and I loved it. Sadly, I was too young to experience Tower Records at its peak, and this film reminded me of how much I missed out on. Despite the inevitable sad ending to the story, the documentary will keep you hooked throughout. Check out the trailer:

I'm currently looking for my next music history lesson, so feel free to send recommendations my way!

Music History 101

It’s always bothered me that I don’t know a whole lot about music history. Sure, I’ve got the last few decades covered, but as far as the 60s and 70s go, I don’t know much beyond obvious acts like The Beatles and Led Zeppelin. So in an effort to change that, I enrolled in a free six-week History of Rock class on Coursera.org. Taught by Professor John Covach of the University of Rochester, this course started around 1970s blues-rock and continued all the way up to the Backstreet Boys. (Obviously I was already an expert on the boy band era, but I’ll take any excuse to rock out to bubble gum pop). It was a fascinating (albeit short) program, and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone looking to improve their music knowledge.

This picture of Dave Grohl and NSYNC pretty much sums up the 90s week of the course.

One of the best parts of the class was being exposed to new music from a different era. Each week, I’d make playlists of all the songs we’d discussed, and spend my afternoons rocking out to everything from Deep Purple to The Temptations. So now that the class is over, I’ve combined a bunch of the songs into one big playlist of the jams that stuck with me the most. So check out the list, and check out the course description if you’re interested. I myself will be participating in the History of Rock, Part I course starting in two weeks. Knowledge is power!