This blog presents our findings of our project work on Rock History. We have been researching on different topics. The entries represent the variety of our interests as well as musical taste... so enjoy...
Dylan originally recorded the song in 1967 under the name Quinn the Eskimo (Mighty Quinn), but didn't release a version. The song was picked up and recorded by the British band Manfred Mann, who released it under the title Mighty Quinn.
House is a style of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago, then in other US cities such as Detroit, New York City, Los Angeles and Miami. It then reached Europe before becoming infused in mainstream pop and dance music worldwide since the early to mid-1990s.
House is strongly influenced by elements of soul and funk-infused varieties of disco. House generally mimics disco's percussion, especially the use of a prominent bass drum on every beat, but may feature a prominent synthesizer bassline, electronic drums, electronic effects, funk and pop samples, and reverb- or delay-enhanced vocals.
Musical elements
House is uptempo music for dancing, although by modern dance-music standards it is mid-tempo, generally ranging between 118 and 135 bpm. Tempos were slower in house's early years.
The common element of house is a prominent kick drum on every beat (also known as a four-on-the-floor beat), usually generated by a drum machine or sampler. The kick drum sound is augmented by various kick fills and extended dropouts.
Electronically-generated sounds and samples of recordings from genres such as jazz, blues, disco, funk, soul, synth pop are often added to the foundation of the drum beat and synth bass line. House songs may also include disco, soul-style, or gospel vocals and additional percussion such as tambourine. Many house mixes also include repeating, short, syncopated, staccato chord-loops that are usually composed of 5-7 chords in a 4-beat measure.
Techno and trance, which developed alongside house, share this basic beat infrastructure, but they usually eschew house's live-music-influenced feel and Black or Latin music influences in favor of more synthetic sound-sources and approach.
History
House is a descendant of disco, which blended soul, R&B, funk, with celebratory messages about dancing, love, and sexuality, all underpinned with repetitive arrangements and a steady bass drum beat. Some disco songs incorporated sounds produced with synthesizers and drum machines, and some compositions were entirely electronic.
Origins of the term
The term "house music" may have its origin from a Chicago nightclub called The Warehouse, which existed from 1977 to 1982. The Warehouse was patronized primarily by gay black and Latino men, who came to dance to disco music played by the club's resident DJ, Frankie Knuckles.
Lyrical themes
House also had an influence of relaying political messages to people who were considered to be outcasts of society. It appealed to those who didn't fit into mainstream American society and was especially celebrated by many black males. Frankie Knuckles made a good comparison of house saying it was like "church for people who have fallen from grace" and Marshall Jefferson compared it to "old-time religion in the way that people just get happy and screamin”. Deep house was similar to many of the messages of freedom for the black community. Both house CDs by Joe Smooth, "Promised Land" and Db "I Have a Dream" give similar messages of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. "Someday" by CeCe Rogers, would move house further into the gospel stream later titled "gospel house". House was also very sexual and had much mystic in it. It went so far as to have an "eroto-mystic delirium". Jamie Principle's "Baby Wants to Ride" begins in a prayer but surprisingly is about a dominatrix who seduces a man to "ride" her through the rest of the song.
This song tells the story of a boy named Johnny and his rise to fame. In the beginning of the story, Johnny is still a young boy and has nearly his whole life ahead of him. He is eager to start learning the guitar, and dreams of becoming a musician some day. In the second verse, Johnny leaves home to pursue his career as a musician. At this point, he knows that he still has most of his life ahead of him. This is suggested when he says that he will be a big star "someday," which means that he most likely doesn’t expect it to be in the near future. In the third verse, his career as a musician really takes off. However, in this verse, there is a bit of a contradiction, where the aspect of time is concerned. Johnny is surprised that his life is going by "so fast," but then he also says he has made the big time "at last," meaning that it seems to him as though it has taken him quite a while to get there. In the last verse, Johnny passes away, and the songwriter, Paul Rodgers, compares Johnny’s life to a "warm summer day". This probably means that like a summer day, it was nice and enjoyable while it lasted, but it went by too quickly and ended too soon. At the end of the last verse, it is said that if you "listen to the wind, you can still hear him play," meaning that Johnny left a lasting legacy.
Another interesting aspect of this song is the question as to whom the song is about. In an interview, the songwriter, Paul Rodgers, stated that the song is a warning to those in the music industry. He also referenced Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. "At that particular time you had Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin...just a catalog of people who didn't make it, who overdosed in their beds...that was the gem of this song. It's a story and it's almost a warning." – Paul Rodgers, Guitar World, April 1999. Another interesting comparison is the story of Johnny in "Shooting Star" to the story of musician Johnny Cash. Cash’s story is quite similar to that of the boy in the song. Although Cash wasn’t inspired by the Beatles like the boy in the song was, Cash started singing at a young age, and eventually left home to pursue his musical career. Similar to Johnny in the song, Cash’s first songs were quite successful, and Cash soon became a famous musician. At the time the song was written, Cash was very famous, but he was also known for doing a lot of drugs. It is possible that when Paul Rodgers wrote this song, he got inspiration for it from Johnny Cash’s story. He used it as warning to musicians about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. However, whether the song really does have a connection to Johnny Cash is unknown, as Paul Rodgers has never mentioned Cash. It may very well be a coincidence.
BAD COMPANY
"Shooting Star"
Johnny was a schoolboy when he heard his first Beatle song,
'Love me do,' I think it was. From there it didn't take him long.
Got himself a guitar, used to play every night,
Now he's in a rock 'n' roll outfit,
And everything's all right, don't you know?
Johnny told his mama, hey, 'Mama, I'm goin' away. I'm gonna hit the big
time, gonna be a big star someday', Yeah.
Mama came to the door with a teardrop in her eye.
Johnny said, 'Don't cry, mama, smile and wave good-bye'.
Don't you know, yeah yeah, Don't you know that you are a shooting star,
Don't you know, don't you know. Don't you know that you are
a shooting star, And all the world will love you just as long,
As long as you are.
Johnny made a record, Went straight up to number one,
Suddenly everyone loved to hear him sing the song.Watching the world go by, surprising it goes so fast.
Johnny looked around him and said, 'Well, I made the big time at last'.
Don't you know, don't you know, Don't you know that you are
a shooting star,
Don't you know, oh, yeah, Don't you know that you are
a shooting star, yeah,
And all the world will love you just as long,
As long as you are, a shooting star.
Don't you know that you are a shooting star, Don't you know, yeah,
Don't you know that you are a shooting star, now,
And all the world will love you just as long, As long you are.
Johnny died one night, died in his bed, Bottle of whiskey,
sleeping tablets by his head. Johnny's life passed him by like a
warm summer day, If you listen to the wind you can still hear him play
Oh oh oh, Don't you know that you are a shooting star,
Don't you know, yeah, don't you know', Don't you know that
you are a shooting star,
Don't you know, yeah,
Don't you know that you are a shooting star,
Don't you, don't you,
don't you, don't you,
Don't you know, don't you
know, oh, yeah, you are,
Yeah, a shooting star, yeah, oh
oh oh oh oh......
Don't you, don't you know
that you are a shooting star,
Don't you don't you know......
