Musical Mechanics & Vocal Styles
The core rhythmic element in Rock and R&B placing heavy drum accents or handclaps strictly on beats 2 and 4.
What is the Backbeat?
Chuck Berry’s 1957 hit famous for its double-string opening guitar riff that mimics a train whistle.
What is "Johnny B. Goode"?
The illegal 1950s practice where record labels secretly paid radio DJs under the table to force specific songs onto airwaves.
What is Payola?
The February 3, 1959 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper.
What is "The Day the Music Died"?
Clean-cut, heavily managed pop singers marketed by corporate labels in the late 1950s/early 1960s to suburban youth.
What are Teen Idols?
The vocal technique popularized by Buddy Holly where the singer abruptly closes their vocal cords to create a "hiccup" sound.
What is a Glottal Stop?
Recorded in 1951 by Jackie Brenston and Ike Turner, widely considered the first Rock & Roll record.
What is "Rocket 88"?
The NYC music publishing hub in the late 1800s and early 1900s that generated revenue by selling printed sheet music.
What is Tin Pan Alley?
Why CBS camera operators were ordered to film Elvis Presley strictly from the waist up on Ed Sullivan in January 1957
What are parent complaints about his gyrating hips?
Frankie Avalon's 1959 hit single featuring lush orchestral strings, polite choir backing, and smooth vocals.
What is "Venus"?
A fast, rolling piano style characterized by a continuous, repetitive left-hand bass rhythm heavily used by Little Richard.
What is Boogie-Woogie?
The 1892 parlor piano ballad that became the first piece of sheet music to sell 5 million printed copies.
What is "After the Ball"?
The practice where major labels had white artists record sanitized, polite versions of Black R&B tracks for pop radio.
What is Whitewashing (or Cover Songs)?
The reason Little Richard suddenly quit Rock & Roll in late 1957 to join the ministry.
What is seeing a flare in the sky (Sputnik) as a sign from God?
Post-WWII economic factor that gave 1950s youth the power to buy personal radios, records, and cars.
What is disposable income / post-war prosperity?
An overdriven audio signal created by overdriving amplifier vacuum tubes or physically damaging speaker cones.
What is Distortion?
Link Wray’s 1958 track that became the only instrumental song ever banned on radio for fear of inciting teenage gang violence.
What is "Rumble"?
Segregated 1920s marketing categories created by record labels based strictly on performer race and target audience.
What are Race Records vs. Hillbilly Records?
How 17-year-old Ritchie Valens won his seat on Buddy Holly’s fatal plane flight.
What is winning a coin toss against guitarist Tommy Allsup?
The term describing widespread adult anxiety that Rock & Roll was a dangerous physical disease causing juvenile delinquency.
What is a Moral Panic?
Rhythmic technique where accents bounce across off-beats against a steady, ticking bass pulse, central to Ragtime
What is Syncopation?
Scott Joplin’s 1899 masterpiece that popularized syncopated piano ragtime music.
What is "Maple Leaf Rag"?
The polite pop singer whose whitewashed cover version of Little Richard’s "Tutti Frutti" vastly outsold the original.
Who is Pat Boone?
The novelty sound effect used by The Crew-Cuts to replace the saxophone solo when covering The Chords' "Sh-Boom"
What is a kettle-drum (timpani) "boing" sound?
The surf-rock group that adapted Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" backing track to record "Surfin' USA".
Who are The Beach Boys?