Nonstop of Musical Innovation Essay

In recent times, pop culture had been one of the most evident products of media which had strongly influenced many, many generations including our present society. Legions of different rock bands from the very famous groups such as Beatles, The Who, Metallica and Aero Smith and other different bands and artists have sprung out through the years and have influenced the kind or genre of music that can be currently heard by many people. Different age groups had been affected the lyrics, rhythm, and trends that all the bands had brought to the public. The popularity of the pop culture had spread in different parts of the United States as well as other countries. Aerosmith: In the early times of rock music artist such as Elvis Presley and the band called Beatles had been invading the airwaves. Most of the albums made by these artists had been best sellers in the world having sold millions and millions of copies in every record that they have made. Because of the uniqueness and charm of these artists many people had been captivated by them. Millions of fans adores and put them in a pedestal like they were gods. Devotion to these people was too much that there were horrendous acts done by people just in order to see them live. The frenzy of admiring rock and roll bands had been absorbed by the next generation and was passed to the incoming rock bands of the next generations. In the 1970’s a new rock band paved its way in the rock music scene called the Aerosmith. This group became the most popular hard rock band of the 70’s that have set the sound and style of heavy metal and hard rock for two decades given their rough bluesy attitude. This Boston based group of five discovered a sound between the menace of the band Rolling Stones and campy, grubby grandiosity of the punk rock band called the New York Dolls. In the flowery words of writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine Aero Smith â€Å"developed a lean, dirty riff-oriented boogie that was loose and swinging and as hard as a diamond† (Erlewine n. p. ). The rock band was originally from Boston and was also known as â€Å"The Bad Boys of Boston† and â€Å"The Greatest Rock and Roll Band† due to their attitude on stage and the transform that they have contributed to the American music and its society. The band had mixed the sound of hard rock, metal, and R&B which was imitated by many artists and bands of the following generations. The band have musically innovated this type of music which had been their signature sound. However, this band did not start from the top of the music industry thus they started in Massachusetts, Boston and eventually they were able to acquire supporters that followed them through out their career. The band Aerosmith is composed of 5 group members with Steve Tyler as the lead vocalist, Joe Perry and Ray Tabano as the guitarists, Tom Hamilton as the bassist, and Joe Kramer as their drummer. After a few months of playing together, Ray Tabano was replaced by another guitarist named Brad Whitford. After only 2 years of continuous gigs the band already has recorded songs for Columbia Records and their album was first release in 1973. Their album was entitled Aerosmith which already sold millions of records. Their following album was released and became successful. In 1976, their album Rock has made their existence in the music industry stable. Due to this album, the band had been named as one of the most significant artists that are in the hard rock genre. Through the continuous rise of the band’s career, conflicts within the groups have risen. Misunderstanding among its group members became a problem that they needed to face. Another issue that they have to overcome was the drug addiction of members of their group Due to these concerns two of the band members Perry and Whitford left the band in 1979 and 1981. In the following years of Aerosmith’s career, they have received nominations and gained more fans through the years. Due to the unchanging popularity of the band and their songs, the new generations of listeners were grabbed by this band gaining more support and influence unlike other band did. The ability of the band to relate their lyrics to the current listeners and their talent to mix genres of music had been very helpful for the group because they had been flexible for all their listeners. Though the years, many different songs had been popularized by the band. Many songs made by Aerosmith have topped the charts of MTV, Billboard and the likes. They were also nominated in different parts of the world and had performed in different stages may it be in Europe, Asia, or Latin America. Their songs had been soundtracks for different movies like Armagedon, Charlie’s Angels and other long list of other movies. All the songs that were done by the Aerosmith had been a hit for most people and one of the most popular songs that they had made was â€Å"Walk this Way. † The song was made in 1970s and became one of the most popular songs at that time. The heavy rock blues of the song became one of the most significant symbols of the era due to the honestly of the lyrics and the upbeat rhythm of the song. It had captured the ears of mostly the teenagers who would definitely relate to the lyrics of the song. Walk this Way: Aerosmith and Run DMC In the August of 1975, the song â€Å"Walk this Way† was released by Aerosmith that was in the â€Å"Top of the Attic† album. The song itself had topped the Billboard Charts 100 and America’s top ten (Power 22) when it was released. Based on Maury Dean the author of the book â€Å"Rock ‘N’ Roll Gold Rush: A Singles Un-cyclopedia,† said that the song â€Å"Walk this Way† of the year 1975 said that â€Å"its lyrics get often smushed by screeching guitars, smashing crash drum thunder, whooshing keyboards, and keening guitar phrasers. Then the bass uppercuts the overwhelmed singer off an amp the since of a Rolls-Royce† these were that words expressed by the author as he describes the song launched by the Aerosmith. In another book written by Martin Power, he also described the song and said that the song â€Å"Walk this way† is a â€Å"wise –cracking tale of lost virginity† (Power 22). In Songfacts. com, it was understood that the song was about a â€Å"promiscuous cheerleader who leads a school boy through his first sexual experience. † In the following facts, it was said that the song was inspired by the movie â€Å"Young Frankenstein. † In the movie, Igor tries to teach Frankenstein to â€Å"walk this way. † Franskenstein then imitates the walk of Igor and learns how to walk. Aerosmith finds Frankenstein’s walk funny and then they decided to make it as the title of the song. Immediately, the song was written by Steve Tyler however, when they were about to record the song, he left the lyrics in the cab that they rode. Steve Tyler immediately ran outside of the studio but he was not able to neither call the cab nor obtain the lyrics again. In the last minute, Tyler wrote the lyrics on the wall. A fresh material such as the talk box was used in making this hit song. For your added information, a device box is used by guitarists to create vocal sounds through a vinyl tube that is fastened to the unit that is attached to the output/speakers of the guitar amplifier. An example is in the video of the Bon Jovi â€Å"It’s My Life,† where in the guitarist was controlling the sound of the guitar to create new dynamics of sounds being radiated by the guitar. In the continuing years, the song â€Å"Walk this Way† was stuck into the minds of people as well as many artists. The song was well appreciated by many and due to this a remake of this song was made in 1986 by a group called Run DMC. The group is composed of 3 African-American men that had made a mark in the musical industry similar to Aerosmith. The genre of this group is Rap and Hip-Hop which is very different from the genre of the rock band. Parallel to the rock band Aerosmith, Run DMC are legendary in their specialized genre. They had also won awards in the MTV music awards and Billboard Awards. Currently they are seen as hip-hop legends and an inspiration for many aspiring artists of the present time (Sony BMG Music Entertainment n. p. ). The remake of the song â€Å"Walk this Way† by Run DMC made a unique strike in the music industry. The two very different musical genres have come together in one song without over powering or overlapping the unique sounds of the two bands. The rugged sound of Aerosmith and the upbeat tempo of Run DMC were both evident and enjoyed by their followers. Due to remake and the collaboration of the song, the lyrics of the next version were changed to fit the rap part of Run DMC which elaborated the theme of the song. In the book written by Anthony De Curtis, he stated that â€Å"it was one of the first rap videos to get heavy play on MTV† (DeCurtis 248). In another phrase stated in the book of DeCurtis he said that, â€Å"the video was a successful attempt to introduce rap music to the white audiences† (De Curtis 248). In the point of view of DeCurtis, he sees that the collaboration of these two legendary artists have opened up the white Americans and African-American supporters of these groups to open up the minds of in the types of music that they are hearing. Although in the 1990s, racism was not a big issue unlike in the history of the United States, the types of music that person chooses reflects of the cultural background of the listener. The labeling of the hard rock genre is the type of music that white Americans wants to hear while the African-Americans listen to rap and hip hop music. Through this song, the strictly limited genres of hard rock and hip hop opened up to the whole society while showing that White American music and African-American music could be combined and eventually creating a new type of music. In addition, the video of the song was very symbolic in a sense that the video showed a wall separating the two artists—which were purely whites (Aerosmith) and purely African-Americans (Run DMC) on the other side. In reality, the invisible wall that is separating the two races was very present due to many factors of the society. As mentioned earlier, the connotation of white Americans as listeners of the hard rock genre and the African-Americans as listeners of the hip hop culture. In the conservative view, any person that is showing interest in a genre not usually appreciated by his/her race is seen as unfaithful to his/her community but through the music made by these artists. In some sense, the capability to hatch up the two very different musical genres was made possible. Aerosmith and Run DMC were able to reach the masses and were able to communicate their intentions. The successful collaboration of these two legendary artists led the way for the younger generations to appreciate the new genre created by these artists. In much recent times, the very obvious collaborations of various artists with different types of genres had somehow been a trend. Current artists such as Linkin Park, Limp Biscuit, Korn, Papa Roach, Incubus and Blink 182 are some of the most popular bands who had been exemplifying the great influence Aerosmith and Run DMC. The mixture of hip-hop, rap and rock is in fact manifest in the music made by these artists. Still, the upbeat tempo of rhyming words and the heavy screeching of the guitar had been a great influence for many artists today and is continuously developed to create new genres of music. Looking at the current music industry, more and more artists had been collaborating with one another. One example is Mariah Carey which never fails to include collaborations in her album and it eventually became her signature style. Artists such as the Black Eyed Peas have collaborated with a couple of various artists that has different genres such as Sergio Mendez (Bossa Nova) , Justine Timberlake (pop/ R&B) just to name a few. Jack Johnson an acoustic artist allows his music to be mixed which house music in order to create new a fresh sound out of the old ones. Timbaland a very well known producer and artists is one of the most famous individuals in Hollywood that made collaborations of artists. Most of the collaborations that he produced topped the charts in different parts of the country and the world. Through the continuous creativity, innovation and talent of the current generation as well as the influences that they had in the past, the simple genres of pop, rock, rap, had became much more diverse and fluid. The conservative notion of just following the current trend in music, brave souls that are willing to be rejected and ridiculed by the society due to the music that they believe is beautiful are very well known and very much appreciated by the listeners not only in the United States but also in various parts of the world. Conclusion: Through the analysis of the artists: Aerosmith and Run DMC, the song: Walk this way (1975) and Walk this Way (1986), the video of the song, the current artists and their new innovation in their music, it is evident that the song and the legendary artists who bravely produced this song made a history in the music industry. The groups have opened up the creative minds of the new generation in creating new types of genres which could be more appreciated by various types of people because of the diverse mixture of sounds and rhythm. The one-time collaboration of Aerosmith and Run DMC have paved the way to many artist not to fear in creating the type of music that they really believe is striking and also be appreciated by many people. The constant innovation of music creates diversion of the music appreciated by everyone. The social construct of limiting a person or a race with the type of music that she or he should listen is now gone. The racial separation within the choice of music within the society had now been lessened. This creates a more diversified society and limits the barriers that are restrain the society from totally mixing with one another. Music is evidently one of the strongest influences that the society has. The wide scope of media and technology has allowed everyone to listen, and watch how various artists live their lives and inspire themselves in creating good music. The availability of the internet had created a much more intimate relationship between the artists and their supporters which creates much stronger connection between them. More and more artist had been influencing the people and society which creates more power and persuasion towards the people. WALK THIS WAY Aerosmith feat. Run DMC (1987) There’s a backseat lover, that’s always undercover and I talked till my daddy say, said â€Å"ya ain’t seen nothin till your down on a muffin, and theres sure to be a change in way† now theres a cheerleader, that’s a real big pleaser as far as I could reminice and the best thing lovin’ was you sister and your cousin and it started with a little kiss, like this She start swingin’ with the boys in school and her feet are flyin’ up in the air singin hey diddle diddle with the titty in the middle, and you swingin like you just dont care so I took a big chance at the highschool dance with a lady who was ready to play it wasn’t me she was foolin’ cause she new what she was doin when she told me how to walk this way, she told me to CHORUS walk this way, talk this way (x2) she told me to walk this way, talk this way (x2) just give me a kiss†¦ like this school girl sleezy with a classy kinda sassy little skirt hangin way up her knee there were three young ladies in a school gym locker and I find there were lookin at D I was a highschool loser never made it with a lady till the boys told me somethin’ i miss then my next door neighbor had a daughter, had a favour and I gave the girl a little kiss, like this she start swingin’ with the boys in the school, with your feet flyin up in the air singin hey diddle diddle with the titty in the middle I was swingin like I didnt care so I took a big chance at the highschool dance with the miss who was ready to play wasn’t me she was foolin, cause she knew what she was doin when she told me how to walk this way, she told me to CHORUS Works Cited Aerosmith, â€Å"History. † 2 July 2008. Aerosmith. com. 2 July 2008. . Aerosmith and Run DMC, â€Å"Walk this Way (AeroSmith Run DMC). †2 July 2008. Lyrics007. com. 2 July 2008. . Dean, Maury. â€Å"Rock ‘N’ Roll Gold Rush A Singles Un-cyclopedia. † Newyork: Algora Publishing, 2003. 380. Power, Martin. â€Å"The Complete Guide To the Music of Aerosmith: The Complete Guide. † New York: Omnibus Press, 1997. 22. Rubey, Dan. â€Å"Voguing at the Carnival: Desire and Pleasure on MTV. † Present Tense: Rock & Roll and Culture. Ed 1992. DeCurtis, Anthony. United States of America: Duke Publishing Press, 1992. 248. Run DMC Featuring Aerosmith. â€Å"Walk this Way. † Posted on: 2 February 2007. Retrieved 2 July 2008. . Song Facts. â€Å"Walk this Way† 2 July 2008. Songfacts. com. 2 July 2008. . Sony BMG Music Entertainment. â€Å"Bio. † 2 July 2008. Run DMC. 2 July 2008. .