1.
Single (music)
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In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record, an album or an EP record. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats, in most cases, a single is a song that is released separately from an album, although it usually also appears on an album. Typically, these are the songs from albums that are released separately for promotional uses such as digital download or commercial radio airplay and are expected to be the most popular, in other cases a recording released as a single may not appear on an album. As digital downloading and audio streaming have become prevalent, it is often possible for every track on an album to also be available separately. Nevertheless, the concept of a single for an album has been retained as an identification of a heavily promoted or more popular song within an album collection. Despite being referred to as a single, singles can include up to as many as three tracks on them. The biggest digital music distributor, iTunes, accepts as many as three tracks less than ten minutes each as a single, as well as popular music player Spotify also following in this trend. Any more than three tracks on a release or longer than thirty minutes in total running time is either an Extended Play or if over six tracks long. The basic specifications of the single were made in the late 19th century. Gramophone discs were manufactured with a range of speeds and in several sizes. By about 1910, however, the 10-inch,78 rpm shellac disc had become the most commonly used format, the inherent technical limitations of the gramophone disc defined the standard format for commercial recordings in the early 20th century.26 rpm. With these factors applied to the 10-inch format, songwriters and performers increasingly tailored their output to fit the new medium, the breakthrough came with Bob Dylans Like a Rolling Stone. Singles have been issued in various formats, including 7-inch, 10-inch, other, less common, formats include singles on digital compact cassette, DVD, and LD, as well as many non-standard sizes of vinyl disc. Some artist release singles on records, a more common in musical subcultures. The most common form of the single is the 45 or 7-inch. The names are derived from its speed,45 rpm. The 7-inch 45 rpm record was released 31 March 1949 by RCA Victor as a smaller, more durable, the first 45 rpm records were monaural, with recordings on both sides of the disc. As stereo recordings became popular in the 1960s, almost all 45 rpm records were produced in stereo by the early 1970s
2.
The Jackson 5
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The Jackson 5, or Jackson Five, also known as The Jacksons in later years, was an American popular music group. Formed in 1964 under the name the Jackson Brothers, the members were elder brothers Jackie, Tito. Younger brothers Marlon and Michael would join soon after and they participated in talent shows and performed in clubs on the chitlin circuit. They entered the music scene in 1967, signing with Steeltown Records. In 1969, the group left Steeltown Records and signed with Motown, the Jackson 5 was one of the first groups of black American performers to attain a crossover following, preceded by the Supremes, the Four Tops and the Temptations. In 1983, Jermaine reunited with the band to perform on Motown 25, Yesterday, Today, Forever, after the end of their tour to promote the album, Michael and Marlon Jackson promptly left the group. The remaining four released the poorly received 2300 Jackson Street album in 1989 before being dropped from their label. Inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999, following the death of Michael Jackson in 2009, the four eldest of the brothers embarked on their Unity Tour in 2012. The five Jackson brothers interest in music began in Gary, Indiana, bolstered by their father, in 1964, Joe caught Tito playing with his guitar after a string broke. Upon fixing the string, threatening punishment, Titos father had him play and was impressed enough to buy Tito his own guitar, Marlon, then seven years old, eventually joined, playing the tambourine. Johnny Jackson and Ronnie Rancifer eventually replaced Milford Hite and Reynaud Jones, during early 1968, the group also performed at strip clubs on Joes behest to earn extra income. Following initial recordings at Detroits Hitsville USA studio, Berry Gordy sent the Jacksons to Hollywood in July, hiring Suzanne de Passe to become a mentor of the brothers. Starting in August, the Jackson Five performed as the act for The Supremes. In October, their first single for Motown was released and the group promoted it while performing at the Hollywood Palace with Ross hosting, in December, the brothers made their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Afterwards, their album, Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5, was released that same month. In January 1970, I Want You Back topped the Billboard Hot 100, led by the Corporation, the Jackson 5 released two more number-one singles, ABC and The Love You Save. All four singles were almost as popular in countries as they were in the United States. Releasing a succession of four albums in one year, the Jackson 5 replaced The Supremes as Motowns best-selling group
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G.I.T.: Get It Together
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Get It Together is the tenth studio album by The Jackson 5, released in September 1973 for the Motown label. During the groups last years with Motown, the label struggled to come up with material for the group, as a result, the Jackson 5 fell into a period from 1973 to 1974 where they scored no Top 10 singles. By this point, most of the Jackson 5s members, and their manager/father Joseph Jackson, were complaining about the groups direction. The only member not to complain about Motowns handling of the act was Jermaine Jackson, get It Together would go on to sell over two million copies worldwide. The album was arranged by Arthur G. Wright, David Blumberg, get It Together was the first album to feature Michaels noticeable growth spurt. Now aged 15 and with a slightly deeper singing voice, the sound of the group changed as well. With Michael now a full-fledged tenor and it was also on this album that he first employed what would later be known as his vocal hiccup, notably on the song Its Too Late to Change the Time. As Motown frowned on any sort of control being relinquished to the group, get It Together was one of the earliest albums to experiment with a pre-disco sound, released at a time before the genre was mainstream. The album was a breakaway from the groups bubblegum soul sound as they came up with a more funk-oriented album similar to The Temptations Norman Whitfield-produced albums, two of Whitfields Temptations songs — You Need Love Like I Do and Hum Along and Dance— appeared on Get It Together. The sequence of songs was also arranged for Get It Together. There was no silence separating one song from the other, each track flowed together thematically, a technique borrowed from Stevie Wonders landmark album Music of My Mind, released the year prior. Get It Together was also the first Jackson 5 album to all five Jackson brothers sharing lead vocals. Marlon, in particular, is featured on Mama I Gotta Brand New Thing and Jackie and Tito lead the brothers through Hum Along. In addition, the album did not feature production or songwriting from any of the now-disbanded Corporation, Motown head Berry Gordy, a member of the Corporation, was busy expanding his Motown empire into movie ventures, mostly starring Diana Ross. Lead vocals are as of noted in superscripts, Michael Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, Jackie Jackson and this album was paired up with Skywriter. The bonus tracks were the outtakes Pride and Joy, Loves Gone Bad, Love Is the Thing You Need and Pride and Joy were released on Joyful Jukebox Music in 1976, and Loves Gone Bad was released on Boogie in 1979. Get It Together overview at www. jackson5abc. com
4.
Dancing Machine (album)
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Dancing Machine is the eleventh studio album released by Motown quintet The Jackson 5 in 1974. The albums title track was a #2 pop hit and a #1 R&B hit in the United States, the group released two additional singles from the album, the funky Whatever You Got, I Want and the groups last top twenty hit for Motown called I Am Love. Although the Jacksons were back on the charts, the brothers still complained of their artistic direction, nonetheless, the album became another disco concept album for the group, and showcased lead singers Michael and Jermaine Jackson. This album also marks the first time all the brothers sang in their natural voices on the same song. The order is Tito, Jackie, Michael, Marlon and Jermaine, around this time, the Jacksons were performing in Las Vegas with the rest of the family leaving this album with low promotion. According to an interview with Don Cornelius on R&B TV show Soul Train, Michael said that his songs were If I Dont Love You This Way. The album was arranged by Arthur G. Wright, Jerry Marcellino, Mel Larson, John Bahler, James Anthony Carmichael and this album was paired up with Moving Violation. The bonus tracks were the outtakes Through Thick and Thin and the Disc-o-Tech #3 Remix of Forever Came Today
5.
Funk
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Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid- 1960s when African American musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of soul music, jazz, and rhythm and blues. Like much of African-inspired music, funk typically consists of a groove with rhythm instruments playing interlocking grooves. Funk uses the same richly-colored extended chords found in jazz, such as minor chords with added sevenths and elevenths. Other musical groups, including Sly and the Family Stone and Parliament-Funkadelic, soon began to adopt, Funk samples have been used extensively in genres including hip hop, house music, and drum and bass. It is also the influence of go-go, a subgenre associated with funk. The word funk initially referred to a strong odor and it is originally derived from Latin fumigare via Old French fungiere and, in this sense, it was first documented in English in 1620. In 1784 funky meaning musty was first documented, which, in turn, in early jam sessions, musicians would encourage one another to get down by telling one another, Now, put some stank on it. At least as early as 1907, jazz songs carried titles such as Funky, as late as the 1950s and early 1960s, when funk and funky were used increasingly in the context of jazz music, the terms still were considered indelicate and inappropriate for use in polite company. According to one source, New Orleans-born drummer Earl Palmer was the first to use the word funky to explain to other musicians that their music should be made more syncopated, the style later evolved into a rather hard-driving, insistent rhythm, implying a more carnal quality. This early form of the set the pattern for later musicians. The music was identified as slow, sexy, loose, riff-oriented, a great deal of funk is rhythmically based on a two-celled onbeat/offbeat structure, which originated in sub-Saharan African music traditions. New Orleans appropriated the bifurcated structure from the Afro-Cuban mambo and conga in the late 1940s, New Orleans funk, as it was called, gained international acclaim largely because James Browns rhythm section used it to great effect. Funk creates an intense groove by using strong guitar riffs and bass lines, like Motown recordings, funk songs used bass lines as the centerpiece of songs. Slap basss mixture of thumb-slapped low notes and finger popped high notes allowed the bass to have a rhythmic role. In funk bands, guitarists typically play in a style, often using the wah-wah sound effect. Guitarist Ernie Isley of The Isley Brothers and Eddie Hazel of Funkadelic were notably influenced by Jimi Hendrixs improvised solos, Eddie Hazel, who worked with George Clinton, is one of the most notable guitar soloists in funk. Ernie Isley was tutored at an age by Jimi Hendrix himself. Jimmy Nolen and Phelps Collins are famous funk rhythm guitarists who both worked with James Brown, on Browns Give It Up or Turnit a Loose, Jimmy Nolens guitar part has a bare bones tonal structure
6.
Motown
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Motown is an American record company. The record company was founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12,1958, the name, a portmanteau of motor and town, has also become a nickname for Detroit. Motown played an important role in the integration of popular music as an African American-owned record label that achieved significant crossover success. In the 1960s, Motown and its subsidiary labels were the most successful proponents of what came to be known as the Motown Sound, a style of soul music with a distinct pop influence. During the 1960s, Motown achieved spectacular success for a record company,79 records in the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100 record chart between 1960 and 1969. The company was sold to MCA Inc. Motown was later sold to PolyGram in 1994, before being sold again to MCA Records successor, Universal Music Group, Motown spent much of the 2000s as a part of the Universal Music subsidiaries Universal Motown and Universal Motown Republic Group, and headquartered in New York City. From 2011 to 2014, Motown was a part of The Island Def Jam Music Group division of Universal Music. On April 1,2014, Universal Music Group announced the dissolution of Island Def Jam and it now operates out of the landmark Capitol Tower. For many decades, Motown was the highest-earning African American business in the United States, Berry Gordy got his start as a songwriter for local Detroit acts such as Jackie Wilson and the Matadors. Wilsons single Lonely Teardrops, written by Gordy, became a huge success and he realized that the more lucrative end of the business was in producing records and owning the publishing. In 1959, Billy Davis and Berry Gordys sisters Gwen and Anna started Anna Records, Davis and Gwen Gordy wanted Berry to be the company president, but Berry wanted to strike out on his own. On January 12,1959, he started Tamla Records, with a loan from his family. Gordy originally wanted to name the label Tammy Records, after the hit song popularized by Debbie Reynolds from the 1957 film Tammy, when he found the name was already in use, Berry decided on Tamla instead. Tamlas first release, in the Detroit area, was Marv Johnsons Come to Me in 1959 and its first hit was Barrett Strongs Money, which made it to number 2 on the Billboard R&B charts. Gordys first signed act was the Matadors, who changed their name to the Miracles. Their first release, Got a Job, was a record to the Silhouettes Get a Job. The Miracles first, minor hit was their single, 1959s Bad Girl, released in Detroit as the debut record on the Motown imprint
7.
Songwriter
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A songwriter is an individual who writes the lyrics, melodies and chord progressions for songs, typically for a popular music genre such as rock or country music. A songwriter can also be called a composer, although the term tends to be used mainly for individuals from the classical music genre. The pressure from the industry to produce popular hits means that songwriting is often an activity for which the tasks are distributed between a number of people. For example, a songwriter who excels at writing lyrics might be paired with a songwriter with a gift for creating original melodies, pop songs may be written by group members from the band or by staff writers – songwriters directly employed by music publishers. Some songwriters serve as their own publishers, while others have outside publishers. The old-style apprenticeship approach to learning how to write songs is being supplemented by university degrees and college diplomas, a knowledge of modern music technology, songwriting elements and business skills are necessary requirements to make a songwriting career in the 2010s. Several music colleges offer songwriting diplomas and degrees with music business modules, the legal power to grant these permissions may be bought, sold or transferred. This is governed by international copyright law, song pitching can be done on a songwriters behalf by their publisher or independently using tip sheets like RowFax, the MusicRow publication and SongQuarters. Skills associated with song-writing include entrepreneurism and creativity, songwriters who sign an exclusive songwriting agreement with a publisher are called staff writers. In the Nashville country music scene, there is a staff writer culture where contracted writers work normal 9-to-5 hours at the publishing office and are paid a regular salary. This salary is in effect the writers draw, an advance on future earnings, the publisher owns the copyright of songs written during the term of the agreement for a designated period, after which the songwriter can reclaim the copyright. In an interview with HitQuarters, songwriter Dave Berg extolled the benefits of the set-up, unlike contracted writers, some staff writers operate as employees for their respective publishers. Under the terms of work for hire agreements, the compositions created are fully owned by the publisher. In Nashville, young writers are often encouraged to avoid these types of contracts. Staff writers are common across the industry, but without the more office-like working arrangements favored in Nashville. All the major publishers employ writers under contract, songwriter Allan Eshuijs described his staff writer contract at Universal Music Publishing as a starter deal. His success under the arrangement eventually allowed him to found his own publishing company, so that he could. keep as much as possible, songwriters are also often skilled musicians. In addition to selling their songs and musical concepts for other artists to sing, songwriters need to create a number of elements for a song
