MTVs, CDs, & Pop
This digital format, introduced in 1983, promised longer playing times and better sound quality than LPs.
What is the compact disc (CD)?
This genre, known for bands like Devo, bridged punk’s rebellion with quirky, mainstream-friendly visuals on MTV.
What is New Wave?
This NYC borough is considered the birthplace of hip-hop.
What is the Bronx?
This city is widely considered the birthplace of grunge music.
What is Seattle?
This controversial industrial rock band, often linked with heavy metal and the occult, was criticized after the 1999 Columbine High School shooting due to its violent imagery.
What is Marilyn Manson?
This cable channel launched in 1981 and revolutionized music promotion with nonstop music videos.
What is MTV?
Coined from a lyric in Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild,” this genre features loud guitars, long solos, and dark themes.
What is heavy metal?
This Jamaican-born DJ is credited with pioneering hip-hop in the 1970s by isolating and looping breakbeats.
Who is DJ Kool Herc?
Nirvana’s leader, who was hailed as a spokesperson for Generation X, took his own life in 1994.
Who is Kurt Cobain?
This style of country music, blending traditional country with roots rock and punk, emerged in the 1990s as an alternative to mainstream Nashville country.
What is alt-country?
Accused of hurting record sales in the late '70s, this practice involved duplicating music without permission.
What is using blank audiocassettes (or What is music piracy)?
Bands like Black Flag and the Circle Jerks led this genre, known for short, fast, angry songs and an antifashion aesthetic.
What is hardcore punk?
The name for the early hip-hop dance form developed by b-boys and b-girls.
What is breaking (or breakdancing)?
This industrial rock musician, known for his dark, electronically-processed sound, is the mastermind behind the project Nine Inch Nails.
Who is Trent Reznor?
This Grammy-winning artist’s song “Give Me One Reason” was the last top 10 hit in Billboard’s Top 10 Blues Chart before the genre faded out of popularity.
Who is Tracy Chapman?
Directed by John Landis, this groundbreaking video combined narrative storytelling with horror tropes, helping to define music videos as a serious art form.
What is Thriller?
Los Angeles gave rise to this subgenre, pioneered by bands like Metallica and Megadeth, known for speed, aggression, and political themes.
What is thrash metal?
This DJ technique involves moving a vinyl record back and forth under the stylus to create rhythmic sounds.
What is scratching?
This artist, known for her feminist-driven music, formed her own record label, Righteous Babe, to distribute her albums independently.
Who is Ani DiFranco?
The 1990s cultural movement that connected punk with feminism and advocated for women’s empowerment in music, including bands like Bikini Kill, was called this.
What is riot grrrl?
Initially dismissed as a “channel of commercials,” MTV’s early audience was concentrated in these two U.S. regions due to cable infrastructure.
What are the Midwest and the South?
Emerging from college radio and indie labels, this broad genre included R.E.M. and Sonic Youth, and by the 1990s became a major musical force.
What is alternative rock?
This 1979 song by the Sugar Hill Gang became the first commercially successful rap single.
What is "Rapper’s Delight"?
This gospel artist, whose 1997 album God’s Property topped the Billboard Hip-Hop/R&B chart, combined hip-hop and gospel music in a revolutionary way.
Who is Kirk Franklin?
This obscure, 1970s-era keyboard instrument, originally marketed as an amateur’s version of the Mellotron, is featured prominently in the production of Gillian Welch’s song “Orphan Girl.” Its distinctive sound, produced by optical soundtracks, is integral to the song’s intentionally lo-fi production, evoking a sense of historical authenticity while blending elements from the 1930s Carter Family, 1950s Hank Williams, and
What is an Optigan?