#111 - 6 Memorable Moments in Music’s History
The music industry has served up some incredible moments throughout history, things that have changed the landscape of music and shaped it to be what we know today. In a time where things feel to be moving slower than usual, it can be nice to reflect on the past. Here are just a selection of some of the most memorable moments in music’s history…
Woodstock, 1969
Held on Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Bethel New York, 1969; a festival to pioneer all festivals, and a three day event to be remembered throughout history. Woodstock was promoted as “an Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music” and set the bar for festivals as we know them today. Originally predicted to attract 50,000, Woodstock saw an influx of more than 400,000 people. There were reported to be 742 overdoses and organisers “scrambled to keep up” with food, water and sanitisation, being far too over subscribed to handle the amount of punters they were eventually greeted with. One of the poignant moments of the festival was the appearance of Jimi Hendrix who brought with him a political message and reminder of the goings on in America and the wars overseas. Woodstock has gone on to be one of the most memorable events in history and has been listed as “number 19 of the 50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock and Roll” by Rolling Stone .
MTV Adding R&B to It’s Repertoire
The launch of MTV (or ’Music TV’) on August the 1st 1981 was a pivotal moment in the world of pop, creating a more accessible way to experience commercial music. It goes without saying that this was certainly a memorable moment in music’s history, however an equably notable moment was MTV’s addition of R&B to its repertoire. Previously the cable channel launched as Sight on Sound, featuring the likes of The Beatles, before relaunching in ’81 and becoming the channel we know today. A major barrier to the channels’ initial success was a failure to represent enough artists of colour, rotating a small selection and rejecting many others on the basis that they wanted to maintain a focus on album-oriented rock. However their narrow mindset saw them begin to plummet due to a lack of diversity; the addition of rhythm and blues artists not only saved the channel from drowning, but would pave the way for its success and lead a generation. Throughout the remainder of the 1980s the channel went on to host many more artists from the emerging genres of hip hop and rap, representing a large portion of artists from the East Coast.
Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin’ Performance at the VMAs
At the very first evening of the VMAs, Madonna delivered a show stopping and unforgettable performance. Despite not knowing that it would cause such an uproar, her adaptation of ‘Like a Virgin’ saw her flirt her way around the stage in a white wedding dress, contrasting any themes of innocence or purity. The decision to take this song to the VMAs was a last minute one which she argued for, and resulted in a fair bit of improvisation;
"I was standing on top of a wedding cake—as one does...and I walked down these steps which were the tiers of a wedding cake, and I lost...my white stiletto. I thought, 'Oh my God; how am I going to get that? It's over there and I'm on TV.' So I thought, 'Well, I'll pretend I meant to do this,' and I dove onto the floor. And I rolled around and I reached for the shoe, and as I reached for the shoe, the dress went up, and then the underpants were showing. And I didn't mean to.”
Although she received critical backlash for her ‘shocking’ and ‘daring’ performance, Madonna’s strong choice paved the way for women to express themselves sexually, much of which is beginning to become normalised in modern day music; a performance of this nature wouldn’t have nearly the same impact of effect today.
Check it out here.
Bob Dylan Going Electric
An incredibly controversial moment in Dylan’s career was his decision to ‘plug in’ and go electric. As a leading presence in American folk music revival , his choice to take a step away fro his trademark sound was not accepted with open arms. During the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, (the very same festival that in 1964 propelled his success) his swapped his well known acoustic guitar for a Fender Stratocaster and was sadly booed off stage. There are however two theories as to why this happened; whilst it is clear that his change in style was not immediately well received, there are theories that the booing was a response to poor sound quality
You can watch the performance here.
The Tragic Death of Tupac
Tupac Shakur remains to be one of the most well known names in hip hop and a world wide icon. Aside from being an artist, Tupac studied acting and dance, performed in Shakespeare plays and also turned his hand at poetry; he was an incredibly gifted individual. However his life sadly ended prematurely in a tragic drive by shooting in Las Vegas, 1996, Tupac being only 25 at the time. Tupac’s death was put down to an evolving rift between to different sides of hip hop and supposedly began the West Coast/ East Coast rivalry. Coming from a poor background and rising to success, this truly was a harrowing moment in music; however Tupac remains to be one of the most well known and recognisable voices of hip hop and his art lives on, he was even brought back as a hologram at Cochellea in 2012 which you can watch here…
Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness, 1991
In response to the tragic death of Freddie Mercury on the 24th of November 1991, the remaining members of Queen collaborated with their manager Jim Beach to host a memorial concert in his name, celebrating Mercury’s life whilst also creating a major focus around AIDS. The proceeds from the concert went towards AIDS research with a hope to tackle the disease and spread awareness. The evening boasted a star filled line-up including David Bowie, George Michael, Annie Lennox, and Elton John to name just a few, many of whom paid their tributes by playing renditions of Queen’s hits. Def Leppard joined forces with Brian May who together performed their version of ‘Now I’m Here’, Extreme also honoured the occasion by integrating a Queen medley into their set. The penultimate performance reached new heights as Liza Minnelli joined the stage to lead the night’s line up into a rendition of ‘We are the Champions’, safely securing this concert as the ‘greatest gig of the ‘90s’. The evening of the concert recorded 72,000 audience members; it was broadcast live on both TV and Radio reaching a magnificent 76 countries worldwide.
