THIS IS AMERICA - Rock and Roll History, Part 2

THIS IS AMERICA - Rock and Roll History, Part 2
By Shelley Gollust

Broadcast: Monday, April 05, 2004

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VOICE ONE:

Rock music has influenced American culture for fifty years. I'm Ray Freeman with Rich Kleinfeldt. Today, we continue the story of rock and roll on THIS IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English.

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VOICE ONE:

Rock and roll music developed in the United States in the early nineteen-fifties. It was based on the music called rhythm and blues¹ that was performed by African American musicians.

Early rock and roll singers developed their own kinds of music. Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, the Beach Boys, and Bob Dylan were the most popular rock and roll musicians in the early nineteen-sixties. All were American. Then, in nineteen-sixty-four, a new rock and roll group from England invaded America: the Beatles.

VOICE TWO:

Some people say the Beatles' music shook America like an earthquake. The Beatles changed rock and roll forever. Their early songs were influenced by American rock and roll musicians, including Chuck Berry. But the Beatles looked different and sounded different from any musical group before them.

VOICE ONE:

 
The Beatles
The Beatles released their first album in the United States in nineteen-sixty-four. That year, all of the top five records in America were by the Beatles.

In nineteen-sixty-seven, they released an album called "Sergeant² Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." It was one of the first "concept" albums. That is, all the songs were linked by a common story or idea. Here is the title song from that album.

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VOICE TWO:

The popularity of the Beatles led the way for more rock and roll bands from England to become popular in America. The Rolling Stones was the most important of these bands. The Rolling Stones is one of the few groups from the nineteen-sixties that is still performing and recording³ today. In nineteen-sixty-five, the group recorded one of its most famous songs, "Satisfaction."

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VOICE ONE:

 
Jimi Hendrix
The musical instrument most linked to rock and roll is the guitar. Experts say Jimi Hendrix was one of the most influential⁴ guitar players in rock and roll during the late nineteen-sixties. He made electric guitar music more expressive⁵ by creating new sounds on the instrument. Here is Jimi Hendrix playing "Purple Haze⁶."

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VOICE TWO:

By the nineteen-seventies, rock and roll music became known as rock music. It expanded into many new forms. For example, there was country rock, hard rock, acid rock, and heavy metal rock. Punk rock, jazz rock, and glitter rock.

Rock music became a bigger business than ever. It was the most popular music in America's music industry.

VOICE ONE:

In the middle nineteen-seventies, experts say rock music regained⁷ some of the energy of early rock and roll. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band became popular with their album "Born to Run."

Springsteen's music was like the lively rock and roll music of the early nineteen-sixties. Many of his songs were about social issues. He sang about the effects of unemployment and the war in Vietnam. Here, he sings "Born to Run."

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VOICE TWO:

A new kind of music, called rap music, became popular in the nineteen-eighties. It developed from the culture of young African Americans in big cities. Rap songs are spoken over the sounds of electronic rhythms.

Rap artists express the concerns of young African Americans in their songs. However, some people have denounced rap music that is about sex and violence.

VOICE ONE:

During the nineteen-eighties, many rock performers began to show their music in short films called music videos. These videos may include music, acting⁸, dancing, and unusual special effects. A new music network began showing these programs on cable television in America in nineteen-eighty-one. It was called the Music Television Network, or MTV. It showed rock music videos all day and all night.

VOICE TWO:

 
Michael Jackson
Singer and dancer Michael Jackson made several very successful music videos. In nineteen-eighty-two, MTV began showing music videos from his album "Thriller⁹." These included the video for his song "Beat It." The videos helped make "Thriller" the biggest-selling album in popular music history. And Michael Jackson became one of the most popular performers in the history of rock music. Here is his song "Beat It."

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VOICE ONE:

In the early nineteen-nineties, a new sound known as "grunge" became popular. Grunge bands were influenced by the hard rock, punk and heavy metal bands of the nineteen-seventies. Bands like Nirvana with Kurt Cobain came out of Seattle, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. Here is one of Nirvana's major hits, "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

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Today there are new sounds, but much of rock music is still played by males for males. Women have worked hard for success in this industry. In two-thousand-one, Time magazine declared the group Sleater-Kinney "America's Best Rock Band." Yet radio stations rarely play their music. Sleater-Kinney is an all-female band that formed in nineteen-ninety-four. Here is Sleater-Kinney with the song "Oh."

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VOICE ONE:

Rock and roll changed a lot in its first fifty years. Yet rock is still just as difficult to define. It continues to reinvent itself, and the appeal now reaches far beyond America. Today, rock is often called the music of the world.

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VOICE ONE:

Our program was written by Shelley Gollust and produced by Caty Weaver¹⁰ and Lawan Davis. I'm Ray Freeman with Rich Kleinfeldt. Listen again next week for THIS IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English.

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1 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

2 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

3 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

4 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

5 expressive   

adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的

参考例句：

• Black English can be more expressive than standard English.黑人所使用的英语可能比正式英语更有表现力。
• He had a mobile,expressive,animated face.他有一张多变的，富于表情的，生动活泼的脸。

6 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

7 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

8 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

9 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

10 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。