New Look
Yes, I changed the blog template. No more sunburst background.
I like how the pages of this blog (the syllabus, class schedule, etc.) show up as easy-click tabs right under the blog’s title, as well as being listed in the right-hand sidebar. I hope this makes it easier for you to find the information you need.
Finding scholarly journals
I’ve gotten some questions about finding scholarly journals articles for your “summarize a scholarly journal article” assignment. As Librarian Paul Kauppila noted during the library research session we attended at the MLK Library last month, you can find scholarly journal articles through the library’s databases.
- the MLK Library’s resources/links for students
- the library’s list of music-related links and databases
- Paul Kauppila’s library research home page for journalism students (includes his contact information)
- the library’s web page on scholarly and popular articles, explaining how to tell the difference between a scholarly journal article and a popular magazine article
General research databases like Academic Search Premiere include scholarly journals from a variety of sources and fields, including music and popular culture. When you conduct a database search on a specific topic (such as “Motown” and “music”), just be sure to specify (check the box) that you are looking for “peer-reviewed” articles. That way, you’ll get only scholarly journal articles — not articles from popular magazines and newspapers and such.
When you write your scholarly journal article summary, be sure to identify the title of the article, the author(s), and where and when the article was published in your opening paragraph. Then you can go on to summarize the article.
Class schedule update
I’ve updated the class schedule to reflect the delay in discussing the opening chapters of All Shook Up, due to problems with acquiring copies of the book. We will discuss the first two chapters on Monday, Sept. 14, so please come to class prepared to discuss a couple of interesting points/ideas you found when reading these chapters of the text.
Also, the due date for the “Google This” blog post is Wednesday, Sept. 16, not the 14th, as I told those of you in Section 1 (oops!). You can find directions for this assignment on the Assignment page at the top of the “Essays and Reflective Writing” section.
Music, extra credit … what’s not to like!
You can get a head start on the “Non-MUSE event” assignment by attending the Classical Mystery Tour, a Beatles tribute band featuring original cast members of the Broadway hit BEATLEMANIA. They’ll be performing on campus Saturday evening with Symphony Silicon Valley.
When: 7-8:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 29
Where: SJSU’s Paseo de San Carlos (you can bring lawn chairs and picnics, but no alcoholic beverages please)
To get credit, just show me that you attended (how about a cell phone photo?). Even better, write about the experience on your class blog, and you can earn 10 points extra credit for this class.
What a way to get the semester off to a good start!
Welcome to the class
Lucky you! You got into the most fun and interesting class in the entire SJSU catalog.
In addition to having some fun this semester, you’ll learn a lot about the history of rock ‘n’ roll and its impact on society (and vice versa). You’ll also pick up some tips on how to find your way around campus, and how to succeed in college … and in life.
It should be a good semester. See you in class!
So You Want to Be a Rock Star?
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Yes, fashion is one more sphere where Rock ‘n’ Roll’s influence is felt … with a little work (and a little money), you too can look like a rock star.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite R’n'R links are here. |
Is pop music dead?
That’s the question asked by Joel Selvin, senior pop music critic at the SF Chronicle, a couple weeks ago in his story, Grammy nominations a snooze.
Selvin said “so-called illegal downloads” are no longer the biggest threat facing the recording industry. “Just plain bad music may be what ultimately does the business in,” he said.
These days, he says, records are “ProTooled into submission, every wrinkle smoothed out, every squeak, belch, intake of air digitally manipulated into a perfect, lifeless aural confection.” Who, he asked, would sign a band like the Talking Heads today?
“The marketing departments run the major labels,” Selvin continued. And the independent labels – where rock and soul music were born – are long gone.
He calls 21st century pop music a form of “corporate entertainment, a lifestyle accessory…that has practically returned the hit parade to the puerile, pointless days of “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window.” (Note: I remember that song. It was recorded by Patti Page in 1953, the year I was born. My Mom had her album and used to sing it to me when I was a kid.)
The real problem with the music industry today, Selvin said, is that “nobody makes records anymore simply because they like the music and, truth be told, many people in the industry don’t like the music they are making. They go home and listen to old Van Morrison records like everyone else.”
What do you think?
Top lip sync performances
This lip sync performance to “My Girl” by the Temptations, performed by a team of students in Dona Nichol’s section of Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll, gets our top honors. The students recorded it with a MacBook, using its built-in iSight camera and iMovie. Way to go!
Here’s a short clip from another fine lip sync performance, from Cynthia McCune’s section of the class, featuring Marion, Michael and Camille performing “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”
The end of the semester is nigh
OK, so we’ve tweaked the class schedule again. As previously noted, there’s no class on Monday, Dec. 1. That’s your comp day for attending the Chris Jackson presentation last Wednesday evening.
Our last regular class will be Wednesday, Dec. 3. It will include some “team time” so you can finish preparing for your group presentations on Monday, Dec. 8.
Our last day of class is Wednesday, Dec. 10. In addition to wrapping up the class, and the semester, we’ll celebrate the holidays with a short video and a cheapskate gift exchange ($5 or less, or handmade) and maybe make some paper snowflakes (BTW, if you’d like to try making a “digital flake,” check out the make-a-flake site).
And finally, the final exam is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 12, 8-9:30 a.m., in Clark 129.
DJ Chris Jackson
DJ Chris Jackson
DJ Chris Jackson, who’s half of the morning drive-time team at KFOX 98.5 FM, spoke tostudents about his experiences as a DJ and about sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll last night.
front row recliners
Rock'n' roll fans at SJSU
SJSU students
