Our Chosen Genre

After thoroughly researching a number of our favourite genres in our group and the mainstream genres of Pop, Rock, R&B and Hip Hop, we came to the conclusion that we as a group will produce a promotional music video for a Pop/Pop Rock song. We came to this decision due to our enjoyment of music videos by artists or this genre such as Lily Allen and Pink. As we our young students we also felt it would be easier for us as a production team and an audience to understand the standards expected by a young target audience. The genre itself of Popular music is very widespread and so it would enable us to try new techniques and ideas inspired by a range of artists.

To become more in touch with our chosen genre I have done some research into the history of pop and its main influences.

The 50's

1954 - Elvis Presley records 'That's All Right Mama' at Sun Studios, Memphis

A 19-year-old truck driver fulfils producer Sam Phillips's dream of finding 'a white guy who sings like a negro'. There were rock'n'roll records before this one, nearly all of them by black artists, but this is the moment when the embryonic form found its perfect embodiment.

1955 - Chuck Berry's 'Maybellene' is released

'Maybellene' was Berry's first paean to cars and girls, two of the constants of American rock'n'roll. His guitar and songwriting style permeated the music of the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys and Bruce Springsteen.

The 60's

1961 - The miracles' 'Shop Around' is released

The first hit bearing the Tamla Motown imprint. The pop-soul label owned by Berry Gordy and operating from downtown Detroit produced more than 100 singles by the likes of Stevie Wonder, the Supremes and the Temptations. Dubbed the Hit Factory, it defined the pop decade more than any other label.

1962 - Phil Spector invents the Wall of Sound

Spector was the first producer as creative artist - and tyrant - treating his vocal groups as just another component in the production process. On multilayered 'wall of sound' songs such as the Crystals' 'He's a Rebel' and the Ronettes' 'Be My Baby', he was the first person to make pop sound epic.

1962 - James Brown: Live at the Apollo

The first million-selling r'n'b album, and a dynamic snapshot of the greatest soul act ever to tread the boards. Brown's influence on modern music is immeasurable, beginning with his impact on Sixties Mod groups and continuing apace with his presence in contemporary urban music.

1964 - The Beatles take America

Already the most popular pop group in Europe, the Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan's television show in early 1964. The following month, 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' shot to the top of the US charts, swiftly followed by their four previous singles. In March 1964, they occupied the top five chart positions in America. Beatlemania was born.

1965 - The Who: 'My Generation'

The Who were the most aggressive - and the artiest - British pop group of the mid-Sixties. Pete Townshend dressed in Union Jack suits, smashed his guitar and wrote songs that perfectly caught the rising tide of teen frustration. The stuttered teen snarl of 'My Generation' remains one of the key moments in British pop, and the most potent evocation of Mod elitism and amphetamine-fuelled aggression ever committed to vinyl.

The 70's

1972 - David Bowie creates Ziggy Stardust

In January, Bowie told an interviewer: 'I'm gay, and always have been.' Whatever the truth of the statement, it announced the imminent arrival of his androgynous alter ego, unveiled the following June on Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars . The first of Bowie s many exotic personae, and the moment that launched glam rock. Perhaps the most influential album of the decade.

1975 - Bob Marley & the Wailers: 'No Woman, No Cry' released

Bob Marley & the Wailers' first hit single, and the beginning of Marley s reign as an international reggae star. As important a catalyst as Dylan or Lennon, he remains the only reggae artist to achieve iconic status. His death in 1981 robbed the music of its one and only global icon.

1977 - n 'God Save the Queen' goes to 'Number One'

The last and greatest outbreak of pop-based moral pandemonium, and punk's crowning glory. Released at the height of the Queen's Jubilee celebrations, the Sex Pistols' single was deemed so unspeakable that workers in a record plant refused to press it and official chart compilers refused to acknowledge its chart-topping position. It sounds gloriously irreverent now; back then it was nothing short of incendiary.

The 80's

1981 - 'Ghost Town' goes to Number One

The Specials were the last and greatest flowering of the socially conscious pop that emerged in Britain in the immediate wake of punk. They invented the short-lived but vibrant Two Tone movement, whose merging of reggae rhythms and punk lyricism reflected the multiculturalism of urban Britain. 'Ghost Town' was a lament for their beleaguered home town, Coventry, an anti-Thatcherist song that topped the pop charts at the very moment the country was torn by inner-city riots. Pop as on-the-spot reportage.

1981 - The launch of MTV
The pivotal moment when the pop video became as important as the pop single. The first television channel devoted totally to music, MTV has grown into a global brand as all-pervasive as Coca-Cola or Nike, colonising and dulling the collective pop consciousness with the tyranny of the rotation play.

1982 - Michael Jackson: Thriller released

The biggest-selling pop record of all time, Thriller made Michael Jackson a global icon. Then only 25, he had made his debut at the age of four and had his first hit at 12 sharing the charts with the likes of Jimi Hendrix and the Doors, and was already the subject of much media speculation concerning his eternal childhood. In the light of all that has happened since, it is worth remembering that he was once a pop genius.

1985 - Madonnna's 'Material Girl' is released

The single that propelled Madonna beyond the mainstream and made her the most successful pop brand of modern times. Tied to a video in which she mimicked Monroe, it was the first and most audacious of her various self-inventions, a song that caught the consumerist thrust of the Eighties, even as it supposedly parodied the same.

1985 - Live Aid

A great moment for charity, a dreadful moment for pop. Two all-star concerts organised by Saint Bob Geldof and beamed live into millions of homes worldwide, the event raised £50 million for charity. One of the greatest philanthropic events of all time, but the moment when pop became enshrined as pure showbiz entertainment.

The 90's

1992 - Nirvana: 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'

The single that catapulted Nirvana into the mainstream. A heady mix of metal and punk, with a structural dynamic that alternated Cobain's whisper with his guttural scream, it said all there was to say about America's lost 'Generation X', defining a strain of solipsistic angst that continues to echo through white American rock music.

1995 - Blur v Oasis

Britpop's big stand-off. Orchestrated by their respective record labels - and hyped by the pop and mainstream media - Blur and Oasis went head to head, releasing singles on the same day. Neither were any good, but Blur's 'Country House' was spectacularly bad. It went straight in at Number One.A couple of years later, when Oasis had eclipsed Blur as the biggest band in Britain, Noel Gallagher would be summoned to a New Labour victory party in Downing Street. The beginning of the end of Britpop and the hype that was Cool Britannia.

1995 - The Spice Girls meet Simon Fuller

The Spice Girls were the most unlikely teen-pop phenomenon of the Nineties, not least because they were the first all-girl band in an era dominated by manufactured boy bands. They fused pop, rap and a strident, if inconsistent, 'girl power' message, and their meteoric rise was overseen by Simon Fuller, perhaps the most influential player in modern British pop. In retrospect, their first single, 'Wannabe', was a harbinger of all that followed, from Posh to Pop Idol .

The 00's

2000 - The birth of Napster

A word that still strikes fear into the heart of music business fat cats. Launched by 19-year-old Shawn Fanning from his uncle's garage, Napster was the download service that provided free music to an estimated 100 million users in 2000.Now legal, downloading marks the end of traditional music formats as we know them.

2001 - George Bush declares Eminem 'The biggest threat to American youth since Polio'

At the height of his notoriety Eminem, who had singlehandedly made rap a medium for the kind of solipsistic whining usually expressed by pampered white guys with guitars, received the kind of endorsement even the biggest promo budget could not buy. Two years later, a poll of American parents found that 53 per cent agreed that 'America's youth find more truth in Eminem than George Bush'.

2002 - Teen Pop Rock

A new "teen pop rock" movement began. Avril Lavigne was arguably the first and lead artist to take this new direction in pop music, with hits such as "Complicated", "Sk8er Boi" at the begining of the decade and "Girlfriend" at the end. American Idol winners become a big part of the American pop sound, but only one winner became a staple. Kelly Clarkson experienced huge success and tons of hit radio singles with her pop-rock sound including worldwide hit "Seen U Been Gone" at the middle of the decade. The younger sibling of Jessica Simpson, Ashlee Simpson, experienced a breakthrough success with her teen pop-rock sound as well. Other artists reflecting the genre are Lindsay Lohan, Hilary Duff and later Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift.

2003 - Beyonce and the triumpth of R&B

For the first time since the dawn of rock'n'roll 50 years ago, none of the artists in the official Billboard American Top 10 was white. The ascendancy of rap and contemporary R&B as the music of choice for young Americans, black and white, was total and irrefutable (most notably Alicia Keyes, 50 Cent and OutKast). If the music has a figurehead, it is Beyoncé Knowles, the only woman in that Top 10 and currently the biggest pop star of the new century.

2004 - The Boybands Revival

Boybands do not completely die out, but rather evolve into teen pop-rock/pop punk acts, with artists such as Busted and McFly. Take That reunite in 2005 and recreate their earlier success, which once again sparks a flurry of other 90's pop bands following suite. Bands such as Boyzone also find success, whilst others such as 5ive and East 17 fail and once again disband. Animated musicians become popular, with the likes of Crazy Frog, Gorillaz, and Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil. Girl groups Sugababes and Girls Aloud span successful careers throughout most of the decade.

2005 - Pop turns to Reality TV

Reality talent shows which gave people the opportunity of a singing career became very popular with UK TV audiences. Shows included Popstars, Pop Idol, Fame Academy and The X Factor. Eurovision Song Contest is very important for the European Music. The most succesful artists to come out of this process include Lemar, Leona Lewis, Alexandra Burke, Girls Aloud, Will Young and JLS.