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20th Century.

History Of Music.

 

Best Of 1990's

Billboard Hot 100 - Top 100 Best Songs Of 1990's

Running Time: 23:03 min

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Popular music in the 1990s saw the continuation of teen pop and dance-pop trends which had emerged in the 1970s and 1980s. Furthermore, hip hop grew and continued to be highly successful in the decade, with the continuation of the genre's golden age. Aside from rap, reggae, contemporary R&B and urban music in general remained extremely popular throughout the decade; urban music in the late-1980s and 1990s often blended with styles such as soul, funk and jazz, resulting in fusion genres such as new jack swing, neo-soul, hip hop soul and g-funk which were popular.

Best of 1980's

The Billboard Top 100 Songs of the 1980's

Running Time: 1:15:39

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The 1980s are commonly remembered for an increase in the use of digital recording, associated with the usage of synthesizers, with synthpop music and other electronic genres featuring non-traditional instruments increasing in popularity. Also during this decade, several major electronic genres were developed, including electro, techno, house, freestyle and Eurodance, rising in prominence during the 1990s and beyond. Throughout the decade, R&B, hip hop and urban genres were becoming commonplace, particularly in the inner-city areas of large, metropolitan cities; rap was especially successful in the latter part of the decade, with the advent of the golden age of hip hop. These urban genres—particularly rap and hip hop—would continue their rise in popularity through the 1990s and 2000s.

Best of 1970's

Top 50 best songs of the 70's

Running Time: 9:43 min

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In North America, Europe, and Oceania, the decade saw the rise of disco, which became one of the biggest genres of the decade, especially in the mid-to-late 1970s.Other genres such as reggae were innovative throughout the decade and grew a significant following. Hip hop emerged during this decade, but was slow to start and didn't become significant until the late 1980s. Classical began losing a little momentum; however, through invention and theoretical development, this particular genre gave rise to experimental classical and minimalist music by classical composers. A subgenre of classical, film scores, remained popular with movie-goers. Alongside the popularity of experimental music, the decade was notable for its contributions to electronic music, which rose in popularity with the continued development of synthesizers and harmonizers; more composers embraced this particular genre, gaining the notice of listeners who were looking for something new and different. Its rising popularity, mixed with the popular music of the period, led to the creation of synthpop. Pop also had a popularity role in the 70s.

Best of 1960's

Top 100 greatest songs of the 60's

Running Time: 14:59 min

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In the late 1950s, a flourishing culture of groups began to emerge, often out of the declining skiffle scene, in major urban centres in the UK like Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and London. This was particularly true in Liverpool, where it has been estimated that there were around 350 different bands active, often playing ballrooms, concert halls and clubs.[1] Beat bands were heavily influenced by American bands of the era, such as Buddy Holly and the Crickets (from which group the Beatles derived their name), as well as earlier British groups such as the Shadows.[2] After the national success of the Beatles in Britain from 1962, a number of Liverpool performers were able to follow them into the charts, including Gerry & the Pacemakers, the Searchers and Cilla Black. Among the most successful beat acts from Birmingham were the Spencer Davis Group and the Moody Blues. From London, the term Tottenham Sound was largely based around the Dave Clark Five, but other London bands that benefited from the beat boom of this era included the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds and the Kinks. The first non-Liverpool, non-Brian Epstein-managed band to break through in the UK were Freddie and the Dreamers, who were based in Manchester as were Herman's Hermits.The beat movement provided most of the groups responsible for the British invasion of the American pop charts in the period after 1964, and furnished the model for many important developments in pop and rock music.

 

Best of 1950's

Top 30 Greatest Songs 1950-1959

Running Time: 10:02 min

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Popular music dominated the charts for the first half of the decade. Vocal driven classic pop replaced big band/swing at the end of World War II, although it often used orchestras to back the vocalists. 1940s style Crooners vied with a new generation of big voiced singers, many drawing on Italian Canto Bella traditions. Mitch Miller, A&R man at the era's most successful label, Columbia Records, set the tone for the development of popular music well into the middle of the decade. Miller integrated country, Western, rhythm & blues, and folk music into the musical mainstream, by having many of his label's biggest artists record them in a style that corresponded to Pop traditions. Miller often employed novel and ear-catching arrangements featuring classical instruments (whooping french horns, harpsichord), or sound effects (whip cracks). He approached each record as a miniature story, often "casting" the vocalist according to type.

Best of 1940's

Top 30 Greatest Songs 1940-1949

Running Time: 13:53 min

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In addition, a new form of popular music, crooning, emerged during the early 1930s. Technology played a large part in the development of this style, as electronic sound recording had emerged near the end of the 1920s and replaced the earlier acoustic recording. While singers such as Al Jolson and Billy Murray had recorded songs by yelling into a Victrola horn, as this was the only way to get audible sound with acoustic recording, the new electronic equipment allowed for a softer, more intimate style of singing. Many of the older singers like Jolson and Murray consequently fell out of favor during the 30s with changing tastes (although Al Jolson managed a successful career comeback after WWII). Bing Crosby was the leading figure of the crooner sound as well as its most iconic, defining artist. By the 1940s, he was an entertainment superstar who mastered all of the major media formats of the day, movies, radio, and recorded music. Other popular singers of the day included Cab Calloway and Eddie Cantor.

Best of 1930's

Top 20 Greatest Songs 1930-1939

Running Time: 6:57 min

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The 1930s was a decade of hard times in the Unites States. The stock market crash of 1929 caused an economic depression throughout the United States and much of the rest of the world. Then in the 1930s, there was a terrible drought in the western United States that led to what became known as the Dust Bowl. Agriculture failed for several years, and many people were forced to leave their jobs and homes. But, in spite of the hardships, the 1930s was a great decade in American music. Anyone with access to a radio could share in it.
 

Best of 1920's

Top 20 Greatest Songs 1920-1929

Running Time: 7:01 min

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Jazz gained popularity in America and worldwide by the 1920s. Nothing quite like it had ever happened before in America. New exuberant dances were devised to take advantage of the upbeat tempo's of Jazz and Ragtime music. Jazz had spread to dance halls and other venues, including speakeasies, all over America by the mid nineteen-twenties. Early jazz influences started to manifest themselves in the music used by marching bands and dance bands of the day, which was the main form of popular concert music in the early twentieth century.

 

The advent of radio and the ready availability of phonograph records which were selling in the tens of millions in the late nineteen-twenties introduced jazz to people living in even the most remote locations. The new media provided an opportunity for many gifted upcoming jazz musicians to get noticed and make a name for themselves. These talented individuals were on their way to becoming major music stars and household names. Radio also had the effect of causing a revival of old songs, as well as popularizing new songs.

Best of 1910's

Top 20 Greatest Songs 1910-1919

Running Time: 7:00 min

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At society dinners and balls, the elegantly-clad dancers waltzed to beautiful music performed by orchestras. At more informal gatherings, guests enjoyed doing the Tango, Cakewalk, One-Step, Turkey Trot, Bunny Hug, Camel Walk and Fox Trot. Other fun dances included the Envelope Flop, Gabby Glide, Hinky-Dink and Kitchen Sink.

At first glance, the Fox Trot would appear to be just another dance with an animal name. It was actually introduced in 1914 by vaudeville performer Harry Fox while he was appearing at the New York Theatre. It became a national craze when it was adopted by dancers at the upstairs roof garden theater and by the famous dance team of Vernon and Irene Castle.

 

Everyone loved a piano in the 1910s. Unfortunately, not everyone could play a piano. The music lover who lacked musical skill could buy a pianola to do the playing for him.

There were two types of pianolas: external piano players and enclosed player pianos. An external player was a separate unit that could be placed in front of a conventional piano keyboard. Enclosed players were modified pianos that played from inside.

Songs were encoded on perforated paper rolls, which were inserted into a sprocket device hidden behind the front panel. The player pianist pumped the foot pedals to activate playback.

Older and less expensive pianolas simply played the notes, while the operator controlled the speed and volume. Newer models could "interpret" the song by using a music roll that had the volume, tempo and accents encoded along with the notes.

Music rolls were made by machine from a master roll, which was cut by having a pianist play the song on a special piano. When you operated a pianola, you were hearing the song exactly as the artist originally performed it.

Music catalogs and labels listed the song title, composer and original pianist. Sometimes the composer was the pianist. Scott Joplin, George Gershwin and Jelly Roll Morton were some of the artists who cut piano rolls of their compositions.

Best of 1900's

Top 20 Greatest Songs 1900-1909

Running Time: 7:00 min

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At the turn of the century, the average worker earned twenty-two cents an hour.  Sheet music and player pianos began selling in substantial quantities.  Sheet music in the 1890s was expensive and it was common to find a copy of a popular song selling for as much as two dollars.  After 1900, cheaper ways to print music were found and gradually booming sales brought along the twenty-five cent song sheet.

 

In 1899, Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag" became the first Ragtime composition to become a sheet music best-seller, detonating an explosion which made Ragtime the big noise in American music.

 

Phonographs and gramophones were making their way into the home.  At first, all sound recordings were made by the acoustic process, without amplification or electricity.  The musician had to play or sing directly into the recording horn.  Electric recording with microphones and amplifiers replaced the acoustic process after 1925.

 

Medicine shows in the late 19th and early 20th centuries provided exposure for mountain music.  The good doctor sold sure-fire cures for ailments to the sound of southern rural musicians turning Anglo-Irish ballads into a uniquely American music.  The hillbilly music heard at barn raisings, quilting parties, log rollings, and fiddle conventions was soon to become (with the help of radio in the 1920s) the multi-million dollar Country Music Industry.

The ragtime music from New Orleans and St. Louis exploded at the end of the decade, influencing the likes of Irving Berlin who said, "Syncopation is the soul of every true American. Ragtime is the best heart-raiser and worry-banisher I know."

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