From Billy Joel's inability to resist a good Beethoven melody to Lady Gaga's sampling of rhapsodic violin solos, here are the greatest examples of classical samples in pop.
In 17 cases of chicken and egg, we explore the times pop artists were influenced by their classical predecessors.
"I have not forgiven myself for not being Beethoven," Billy Joel said in an interview for CBS . So, in a classic case of 'if you can't beat them', Joel wove in a swung version of the opening melody from the second movement of Beethoven 's 'Pathétique' Sonata in his chorus for 'This Night'.
For the intro of her single 'Alejandro', Gaga neatly nabbed Csárdás , the rhapsodic concert piece for violin by Vittorio Monti – which itself was based on a traditional Hungarian folk dance.
A great '70s power ballad, reincarnated by Céline Dion in 1996, that finds the melody for its verses in Russian giant Rachmaninov 's most famous piano concerto – pop-classical sampling doesn't get much more iconic than this.
Pachelbel 's ubiquitous cello chord progression has inspired plenty of pop songs – from Kylie Minogue's 'I Should Be So Lucky' to Oasis' 'Don't Look Back in Anger'. Now we can to the list: 'Memories', from Californian pop group Maroon 5.
The chorus of ' Mozart 's House' is the first phrase of the Classical composer's String Quartet No. 21. Band member Grace Chatto says, "Another part of the quartet returns as a breakdown later in the song", while some of the lyrics touch on "a journey to Mozart's House, and use various Italian musical terms".
Music history's most iconic bass guitar riff is inspired by seven notes from the first movement of Bruckner 's Fifth Symphony. Lead singer Jack White had classical training as a student, and while the rhythms here are slightly different, his inspiration is unmistakeable.
Elvis takes on the greats of opera with this romantic little ditty, the melody of which is inspired by ' O Sole Mio ' by Eduardo di Capua (also known as the Cornetto song).
Why K-Pop Deserves Better From the US Music Industry | POPSUGAR Entertainment
'On Record' Book Series: Time Capsules of Pop Music, Year by Year - Variety
A picture paints a thousand words, the old cliché goes, but it’s truly amazing how much publicity photos of musicians can say about a certain year: The clothes, the shoes, the hats, the belt buckles, the scarves — and most of all, the hairstyles (and lack of styles). G. Brown’s collection of photos and words, “ On Record ,” begins with three particularly visually vivid years: 1978, 1984 and 1991, and by the time you’ve seen all 200 photographs, you’re in those years.
Brown, a veteran music writer based in Denver, keeps the text light, but the photos are another story completely. They’re essentially arranged by genre, which means that 1978, for example, ranges from the arena rock of Journey and Boston to pop singers like Kenny Loggins and Barry Manilow; from the satin disco of the Bee Gees and Donna Summer to the Sex Pistols and the Clash; from the of R&B of Parliament-Funkadelic and Boney M to the aging prog-rock of Yes and the Moody Blues. The year also marked the debuts of Prince and Kate Bush; and suffice it to say that the late 1970s were a memorable era for county music fashion. Some of the photos have management or publicity contacts printed on the bottom — who knew that our good pal Larry Solters repped Barry Manilow in 1978?
Some acts, like Rod Stewart, Van Halen, Genesis and Chicago, appear in all three volumes, and like all organisms, some adapted to the changing environment better than others. But along with the bell bottoms of 1978, the poofy hair of 1984 and the baggy suits of 1991, most amusing here are the artists who are clearly fish out of water in a certain era (witness the Doobie Brothers in 1991). These volumes are the first in a series that plans to cover the years 1978-1998 (with 1981 up next).
Cake Pop: Cake Pop 2 Album Review | Pitchfork
Dylan Brady's experimental pop troupe finds idiosyncratic takes on late-aughts pop, but gets bogged down by great gecspectations and its leader's own overwhelming influence.
At 20 minutes, the album doesn't linger on any one idea, which can be both a strength and a weakness. Certain standouts leave you hungry: "Cake Happy" works as a short, bouncy duet, but Golden and Grant's lovers' dialogue is ripe for a plot twist and another key change. "Whistle" is such a robust, whimsical 72 seconds that you're tempted to listen twice. At its best, Cake Pop 2 is like a cypher or a dance circle, where everyone gets a turn in the middle and nobody disappoints. The album teases some compelling concepts ("Candy Floss" stages Minecraft on Broadway) and highlights the talents of Cake Pop's members (Cartier's "Magic" flow, Ketema's Auto-Tune reggae stylings), but doesn't give the artists or their ideas enough room to flourish.
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Ruby Mountain's Spiritual Pop Unlocks Our Inner Magic | KQED
For decades, pop music has peddled the idea that we need the adoration of romantic partners—or the envy of peers and rivals—to feel valid, seen and whole. But, slowly, in the mainstream and the underground, a new narrative about self-healing and fulfilling our own emotional needs is starting to emerge.
Ariana Grande sings about it in “ just like magic ,” a track off her latest album Positions , about manifesting her dreams by writing in her journal. And on her viral song “ I Am ,” Yung Baby Tate raps affirmations about being healthy, wealthy, protected and well respected, concluding, “I do what I wanna do / and I’m who I wanna be.” On TikTok , witchy Gen Z girls repeat Yung Baby Tate’s hook as if casting a spell.
Family has always been important to Ruby Mountain’s connection to music. She got her start in music singing traditional Afghan songs and playing the harmonium with her father and extended family. Since then, after training in Mills College’s renowned electronic music program and working with Women’s Audio Mission, her sound has evolved into moody, down-tempo electronic pop that showcases her rich alto and soulful singing style.
Ruby Mountain has released a series of singles and music videos over the past several months that speak to that belief in attracting her heart’s desires. The music video “Seeker” shows her singing alone into a fire, sensually grazing her skin on the bark of 100-year-old redwoods and letting the ocean waves lap at her thighs. The lyrics give voice to her desire for a healthy partnership, and she calls on nature goddesses to be her allies.
“I really saw putting out this call for healthy love, and all the goddesses in all the elements were sprinkling their magic around,” Ruby Mountain says. “[Whispering], ‘Hey, so, who’s gonna be the one to come say what’s up to Ruby?’”
Nature is an important theme in her work, not just as a conceptual element, but as a way to connect to herself and express from a centered place. “Sunrise,” a love song from her 2019 EP Waves , came to her at dawn on the beach in Maui. “I’ll come up with melodies when I’m outside—I love listening to the birds,” she says.
She also revealed at the event that soon she’ll relocate to Los Angeles to pursue her dreams of working in the entertainment industry and collaborating on creative projects.
Already, she’s attracting artists and listeners who find themselves on a similar path. “As I’m sharing [my spirituality], I’m connecting with other artists who also understand this role we have in creating a better world and how we’re doing it with music, with visuals,” she says. “We’re providing other outlets for people to see that aren’t just being created by corporate America.”
Ruby Mountain’s next single, “Moonlight,” comes out on May 26, which coincides with the next full moon and a total lunar eclipse visible from the West Coast. Follow her work here .
Dynamic and Innovative Pop and World Music Fusions: Multi-genre Sensation Prince Kenji STM
With his magnetic and melodious EPs "Betrayed" and "Whatever You Do, Don't Listen To This", rising artist Prince Kenji STM is soaring through the charts
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Ravinia's 2021 pop concerts: Willie Nelson, Gladys Knight and more - Chicago Tribune
Tickets will go on sale in two phases, perhaps easing the long online waits of previous seasons. The two-phase sale also will enable Ravinia to update seating guidelines and any programming changes in the second half of the season. Tickets for the general public will go on sale on Ravinia's website, ravinia.org , on June 16 for concerts between July 1 and Aug. 15, and on July 21 for concerts after Aug. 15.
For this summer, Ravinia will feature shorter concerts without intermissions, reduced capacity and later park openings prior to performances. All public performances will be outdoors, and all CDC and local health guidelines will be followed.
Seating in the Pavilion will be distanced and sold in groups of two or four. The South Lawn will require reservations, with distanced pods for two, four or six people with a video screen showing the performers on stage. On the North Lawn, there will be reduced capacity for general admission access with first-come, first-served seating.
Also new this season, all Metra trains on the Union Pacific North line will honor Ravinia tickets as train fares; patrons can show their concert e-ticket for a free train ride to and from the park on concert days. Also, only the downtown Highland Park park-and-ride lot will be available; buses will have reduced capacity to maintain passenger distancing and cycle as needed.
The "Chicago Festival" — a daylong event for an invited audience of front-line, essential and health-care workers — will feature Ides of March, Shemekia Copeland and other Chicago artists. Saturday, July 3
Alan Cumming and Ari Shapiro with " Och & Oy! A Considered Cabaret." The "Cabaret" and "The Good Wife" actor is touring this summer with "All Things Considered" host Shapiro in what Shapiro told Playbill is a show featuring "storytellers who try to help audiences better understand themselves and the world around them. This show lets us explore those shared ideals on stage together, through stories and songs." Tuesday, July 20.
Michael Feinstein and Betty Buckley , Broadway icons both, were booked for the canceled 2020 season. Buckley was Norma Desmond during the original Broadway run of " Sunset Boulevard," and Feinstein has toured extensively with his "Great American Songbook" of classic tunes. Sunday, Aug. 1.
Judy Collins , still touring into her 80s, the '60s folk and cabaret performer's voice remains "as clear as a spring wending through a field of wildflowers," according to The New York Times. Jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux is also on the bill. Tuesday, Aug. 10.
Willie Nelson & Family lands in August with most recent reports of a highly spirited Nelson onstage when he toured before the pandemic. Saturday, Aug. 14.
Young@Heart sings sweet sounds of rock, pop, soul and more | Claremont COURIER
At first blush, the allure of the Young@Heart Chorus appears novel: a group of 70- 80- and yes, 90-somethings performing an exceptionally eclectic setlist of rock, soul and pop, music decades removed from that with which its members are typically familiar.
But digging into the group’s well-documented 39-year history—sitting for a while and absorbing the pathos of its art and the arc of its existence—leaves one with much more than a smile.
It’s impossible to be unmoved by the chorus members’ powerful, often emotionally raw takes on familiar and more obscure material.
“I think that’s something people really pick up on is that they really know how to stretch the emotion,” said Young@Heart Chorus co-founder and Director Bob Cilman. “They know how to go from really happy to really sad in a way that a lot of groups can’t pull off. I think it has a lot to do with their years of experience. They’re really genuine people.”
Indeed. Any doubts as to that authenticity are quickly laid to rest by viewing the 2007 Fox Searchlight documentary film, “Young@Heart,” currently streaming on Amazon Prime. Originally released on British television in 2006, it served as an introduction to the Northampton, Massachusetts-based group for much of the U.S.
Now local senior services nonprofit AgingNext has lured the Young@Heart Chorus to Claremont for a virtual show fundraiser, which will take place over Zoom at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 20. To purchase tickets online, go to www.youngatheart.eventbrite.com , or send a check to AgingNext, 141 Spring St., Claremont, CA 91711, or by phone at (909) 621-9900.
The show will document how the chorus—ages 75 through 92—has weathered the pandemic. A spoiler: very well.
“It’s hard to talk about having benefit from the pandemic,” Mr. Cilman said. “It’s hard to talk about it in those terms. But as an arts organization, we’ve really done well during this period.”
Like most creatives, COVID’s forced isolation has also compelled the group to find new ways of working. What started out as a clunky, not entirely successful conference call among its members last March morphed into its first forays onto Zoom. Soon after, Mr. Cilman, the wonderful Young@Heart band, and producers began to edit together remote recordings from its members, ultimately creating a sizable cache of music videos.
Bebe Rexha says the music industry is "toxic" - Los Angeles Times
Can it be fair to say that a musician who's sold 10 million copies of a single is still struggling to break out?
Which doesn't mean she's not still hustling. When Rexha and I connect on Zoom on a recent afternoon, she's chilling by the pool at her home in L.A. — "Oh my God, I look crazy," she says as she catches a glimpse of her unkempt hair — until her glam squad arrives to help her prepare for a gig at Charli D'Amelio's 17th birthday party.
"Her mom asked me to perform two songs for her," Rexha says of the TikTok influencer. "I'm bringing the cake out."
On "Baby, I'm Jealous," you talk about wanting to let go of paranoia and insecurity. But you've said you wrote the song about an ex who really was acting shady behind your back. Doesn't that mean you were right to be suspicious?
Yeah, but I don't like being jealous. As a woman in this industry, I was taught this competitiveness, and when I wrote the song I was going through that — comparing myself to everybody, which is so unhealthy.
So why take part?
I don't f— know. Because I like making music, and unfortunately I make music in L.A. And to work with the people I want to work with — people at the level they're at — it's like a game.
When did you discover the truth about the music biz?
I got signed — and he knows this, I don't care, I speak the truth — I got signed by Pete Wentz on Decaydance Records, and then Black Cards was signed at Island through L.A. Reid. And one day, after two years of being in the band and traveling and literally I had no money, I got a call from the management. They were like, "Pete no longer wants you in the band." He didn't even have the balls to call me. I never heard from him.
So that came from a real place.
When I was depressed, I started looking up quotes on Tumblr that would make me feel better. I posted the quote I found on Instagram; it's still on my page if you go all the way down. It says, "When we stop looking for monsters under our bed, we realize they're inside of us."
You read the comments.
I do, but then I stop myself. Katy Perry told me, "Don't read the f— comments."
Did you know anything about country music when you wrote "Meant to Be"?
Nothing. I always feel a little weird about the country song. It helped me a lot in my career, but I didn't feel like it was me as an artist. I thought it was just gonna be a good song that I'd have out, and why not have some country fans? I didn't think it was gonna be as massive as it was.
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