James Brown, seen as the originator of funk music; Aretha Franklin, referred to as the Queen of Soul and known as one of the most important popularisers of the soul music genre; Otis Reading , considered to be one of the major figures in soul music as well as rhythm and blues – all highly renowned artists whose music combined the elements of African American gospel music and rhythm and blues to create the music genre known as soul music.
Originating in the United States in the 1950s and early 1960s, it has similar roots in the call and response characteristics between the soloist and the chorus and the use of improvisation that can be found in the jazz and Blues genres.
The term “soul” in black American speak has reference to black pride and culture - in the 1940s and 1950s, Gospel groups would occasionally use the term “soul” in their names. Jazz that was derived from gospel became known as soul jazz and as singers and composers began using techniques from gospel and soul jazz in the black popular music in the 1960s, soul music began to be widely seen as the black popular music of the time.
The northern inner cities of the United States, such as Chicago, New York, Detroit and Memphis are often looked upon as where soul music originated from, with each state creating their own soul styles based upon their regional gospel roots.
During the 1970s, Motown artists such as Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson all contributed to the evolution of soul music and by the early 1970s, soul music had been influence d by psychedelic rock and other musical genres.
Throughout the 1970s, groups such as Earth, Wind and Fire, the Commodores and Hall & Oates began to achieve mainstream success in the charts.
Although disco and funk began to dominate during the late 1970s and early 1980s, once this style of music started to decline in the early 980s, soul music became influenced by electro music – more slickly produced and with less of the raw style – resulting in the introduction of a genre that became known as contemporary R&B which had a very different sound to it from the original rhythm and blues style.
There are numerous subgenres of soul music – Detroit soul (known as Mowtown); Memphis soul, Chicago soul, New Orleans soul, Philadelphia soul, British soul, Northern soul and modern soul, to name but a few.
Neo soul emerged in the mid-1990s and as hip hop began to take a more prominent place in the music industry during the 2000s, record label marketing support for the soul genres began to cool.
Listen in to Mick Brown’s Soul show every Friday and Saturday night from 7-10p.m
Trombonist J. J. Johnson, when interviewed in 1988 said: “Jazz is restless. It won’t stay put and never will.”
A musical style that has its roots in black communities in the south of the United States from the beginning of the twentieth century, its style was born from a mix of African and European traditions.
From its origin to the present day, jazz has also incorporated elements from American popular music and as the music has spread throughout the world it has drawn on many different national, regional and local musical cultures creating many distinctive styles such as New Orleans jazz, big band swing, Gypsy and Kansas City jazz from the 1930s and 1940s, be-bop in the mid-1940s and numerous others such as Afro-Cuban jazz, Latin jazz, jazz-funk, acid jazz, jazz rock and many more.
Spanning a vast range of music from ragtime to the present day, over a century’s worth of music, Jazz is very difficult to define, with the one key element being the use of improvisation.
Unlike classical music where the musician dare not deviate from the music he is reading, with jazz a performer can interpret a tune in very individual ways, never playing the same composition twice.
Variation can depend on the musician’s mood, interaction with other musicians or members of the audience or just personal experience – all can mean a jazz musician may alter the melodies, harmonies or time signature at a whim.
Louis Armstrong born in 1901, known as the Jazz Original, one of the most influential artists in the history of music, perfected the improvised jazz solo as we know it today Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, says of Armstrong: “Through his clear, warm sound, unbelievable sense of swing, perfect grasp of harmony, and supremely intelligent and melodic improvisations, he taught us all to play jazz.”
Though an early twentieth-century black music innovation, certain characteristics in jazz, as with classic blues, do have their roots in much earlier musical traditions such as the rhythms and musical traditions brought to the United States in the early nineteenth century by the West African slaves, whose music reflected the African speech patterns and was largely functional for work or ritual.
Through the twentieth century, jazz took on many forms from the jazz age of the 1920s and 30s, through to swing, bebop, Afro-Cuban jazz, Dixieland revival, hard bop, modal jazz, free jazz, soul jazz, jazz fusion, smooth jazz, acid jazz and punk jazz – since the 1990s, jazz has been characterised by a pluralism in which there’s not one style that dominates but rather a wide range of active genres and styles.
Jazz, like Blues, is among America’s greatest cultural achievements and exports to the world, giving powerful voice to the American experience. Uniting people across the divides of religion, race and national boundaries, it has always made powerful statements about freedom, creativity and American identity at home and abroad.
Listen in to our newly launched smooth Jazz show, hosted by Julian Perkins, every Sunday and Monday evening from 7-10p.m starting Sunday January 27th.
The history of Blues, along with Jazz, is the only true American music form. Its roots originate from the work songs sung by the West African slaves in the Deep South.
Whilst working in the fields of the Southern plantation owners, the black slaves developed a “call and response” way of singing to give rhythm to the repetitive tasks they were carrying out. It was these “field hollers” that served as the basis for all forms of Blues music that was to follow.
It is the name given to both a musical form and a musical genre and the form, ubiquitous in jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll is characterised by specific chord progressions, of which the twelve-bar blues chord progression is the most common.
The origin of the term itself was most likely derived from mysticism involving blue indigo, which was used by many West African cultures in death and mourning ceremonies where all the mourner's garments would have been dyed blue to indicate suffering.
Once the Civil War ended, black men had one of two options to earn their leaving; the back-breaking manual field work or becoming a travelling minstrel. Many chose to become travelling minstrels, relying on their physical stamina and mental repertoire of many blue songs. Although the lyrics of a large number of blues songs are soulful and melancholic, the music as a whole is very emotive, powerful and full of rhythm, with the purpose being to celebrate the lives of black Americans. The lyrics of the songs reflect the daily themes of their lives such as drinking, murder, poverty, lost loves, hard labour and sex.
Country blues popularity grew among Southern blacks during the teens and 1920s, with some of the more popular blues artists being recorded by Paramount, Aristocrat and other record labels in the late 1920s.
In the early 1940s, the blues folklorist, Alan Lomax, made field recordings of bluesmen in their surroundings which meant white people were exposed to the Blues as well as giving the artists exposure to national, if segregated, record labels.
During the Great Depression blues music migrated towards Chicago and to compensate for the loud crowds and larger venues, blues artistes such as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf switched to electric guitars and added drum sets to their bands, making the new electric Chicago blues much more powerful than its predecessor. From here, Blues then fell out of favour until the late 1950s when in 1958 The Kingston Trio recorded the number one hit “Tom Dooley” which gave birth to the folk revival, and from 1959-1966 the Newport Folk festival reintroduced folk and blues music to a mainstream white American audience.
By the beginning of the 1960s, genres influenced by African American music such as rock and roll and soul were part of mainstream popular music, with artists such as Jimi Hendrix , a blues rock performer, playing psychedelic rock and a pioneer in his use of distortion and feedback in his music.
In the 1980s and 1990s, blues publications such as Living Blues and Blues Revue began to be distributed, major cities began forming blues societies, outdoor blues festivals became more common, and more nightclubs and venues for blues emerged, with the film The Blues Brothers in 1980 being perhaps the most visible example of the blues style of music in the late 20th century.
Listen in to our recently-launched Blues show, hosted by Martin Clarke, every Wednesday from 7-10p.m.
Written by two members of the British rock group, Badfinger, Tom Evans and Pete Ham, the song
was first released on their 1970 album, No Dice.
Since then, it has been re-recorded by over 180
different artists, with one of the most well-known versions being the single by Harry Nilsson in 1971
which became an international bestseller.
At the time, Nilsson was best known for his song
“Everybody’s Talkin” and when he hear Badfingers version of the song at a party, he thought it was a
Beatles track. Once he realised it wasn’t, he decided to cover the song for his 1971 album Nilsson
Schmilsson.
Doing so meant it was then at number one in the US for four weeks in Feb/March 1972
and five weeks at number one on the British pop chart, from March through to April 1972.
It was
also number one in countries such as Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. In 1973, Nilsson won
the”Best Male Pop Vocal” Grammy award for the song.
The song itself was generated through the real-life events of the two Badfingers band members- Pete Ham had initially written a song called “If It’s Love” but it was lacking a strong chorus.
One evening, Ham and his girlfriend were heading out for dinner when Evans stopped him and said he had an idea for a song.
Ham was tempted not to stay, his girlfriend encouraged him to and, through his worry that she was still unhappy about it, the immortal line “Well I can't forget tomorrow, when I think of all my sorrow, I had you there but then I let you go, and now it's only fair that I should let you know..if it's love “. Evans then met the woman who would become his future wife, the relationship was fiery, and on one occasion when she left him he flew to Bonn to find her and penned the song “I Can’t Live “with the lyrics being “I can’t live if living is without you, I can’t live, I can’t give any more.” The two songs were merged resulting in “Without You” – a sentimental verse with an intense and heart-breaking chorus.
In parallel to the song lyrics, both Ham and Evans later took their own lives.
'Without you' lyrics
No, I can't forget this evening
Or your face as you were leaving
But I guess that's just the way the story goes
You always smile but in your eyes your sorrow shows
Yes, it shows
No, I can't forget tomorrow
When I think of all my sorrows
When I had you there but then I let you go
And now it's only fair that I should let you know
What you should know
I can't live if living is without you
I can't live, I can't give any more
Can't live if living is without you
I can't give, I can't give any more
No, I can't forget this evening
Or your face as you were leaving
But I guess that's just the way the story goes
You always smile but in your eyes your sorrow shows
Yes, it shows
Can't live if living is without you
I can't live,
I can't give anymore
I can't live if living is without you
Can't live, I can't give anymore
(Living is without you)
Graham Dene is a famous British radio presenter, most widely-recognised for his work as the breakfast presenter on London Capital radio during the 1970s and 1980s, following on from Kenny Everett’s Breakfast Show, and later working for Virgin Radio.
In 2006 he could be found on Magic 105.4fm and in 2008 he was the breakfast host for Smooth Radio 102.2.
He started his career at UBN, playing records for the workers of United Biscuits, before doing a brief spell at Liverpool’s Radio City as mid-morning host and Head of Presentation. His big break then came with the move to London Capital Radio.
Nine months ago, in April 2012, Graham was one of the launch presenters, along with David Hamilton, on another internet -based radio station called The Wireless , which is operated by Age UK and is aimed for older listeners over the age of 50 throughout the UK.
The station, which can reach over 12 million people on DAB, plays music from the fifties to the eighties, with specialist programmes on genres such as jazz, classical, folk and country whilst also giving advice on health, money and family matters.
A north Londoner all his life, he can now also be found south of the river, presenting on Radio Jackie.
Graham is known to have been Princess Diana’s favourite DJ when he was at London Capital Radio in the Eighties – and there is even a rumour that Her Royal Highness secretly joined Graham in the studio for one of his breakfast shows…..
Mick Brown is a radio presenter and one half of the late eighties/early nineties duo of Pat and Mick (Pat Sharp and Mick Brown) who released eight singles and one album, six singles produced by Stock Aitken and Waterman and two by Stock and Waterman, all of whose record sales of nearly £500,000 were donated to London Capital FM’s “Help A London Child” Charity.
Joining 107.8 Radio Jackie in October 2008, Mick has since been hosting the Drive Time and Saturday Breakfast shows.
Mick spent 29 years at London Capital Radio and its sister stations, before moving to host the Breakfast Show on Capital Gold in 1993 and leaving there in September 2007.
He began his career in 1974 as an advertising junior in Selfridges Department Store before being promoted to the producer for their in-house radio station throughout the store.
It was in 1978 he moved to London Capital Radio, beginning by joining as a copywriter.
Two years later he returned to producing, working with DJs such as Kenny Everett and Chris Tarrant. In 1987, he made the leap from producing to presenting, which is where he joined forces with the DJ Pat Sharp to create the “Pat and Mick Show”, from which union led the release of the charity singles.
In 2004, Mick wrote and performed the hit FA Cup Final song for his football team Millwall FC, called “Oh Millwall” which charted in the Top 40, followed by the 2006 Capital Gold’s Official Song for Euro 2006 called “Sing For England”.
Throughout his career he was written for many newspapers, magazines and websites and has also had a career in television, presenting shows such as “Video and Chips”, a high-tech show aimed at children and music magazine shows such as “Night Network” and “Sidestep”.
In 1993 he also joined Sky Sports to present “You’re On Sky Sports”, a phone-in show and “Sports Sunday”, a 4 hour Sunday morning show based on all manner of sports.
He has hosted a number of the world’s biggest music stars, having been the warm-up for stars as large as Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Madness and Take That, amongst others, with his personal favourite being when he hosted the first Aids Day concert with Princess Diana.
Released as the lead single from English singer-songwriter, Dido’s, second album on 1st September 2003, “White Flag” is the biggest hit of Dido’s career and helped the album sell over ten million copies worldwide.
It won the Best British Single at the 2004 Brit Awards and peaked at number one in the charts of Australia, Austria, Norway, Germany and Italy.
In the UK it reached number two, being held off of the top spot by the Blackeyed Peas “Where Is The Love?”
Dido wrote the song about a past relationship and initially regretted writing it as the success of the song meant it caused more problems with the person involved.
The song is about a person who is unwilling to give up on their relationship, even if they know the relationship is over.
In a war or battle, the surrendering of a white flag means conceding defeat and by stating “There will be no White Flag..” Dido is saying she will not give up on the relationship but will continue to fight until the bitter end.
In the video, you see a couple whose relationship is over but who are both still in love with each other, bumping into each other wherever they go and trying not to acknowledge each other. At the end of the video both their apartments are filled with photos of the other.
The single sold one million copies in five days, with total sales of over five million, which made it the fastest selling album by a female artist.
'White Flag' lyrics
I know you think that I shouldn't still love you,
Or tell you that.
But if I didn't say it, well I'd still have felt it
where's the sense in that?
I promise I'm not trying to make your life harder
Or return to where we were
I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be
I know
I left too much mess and
destruction to come back again
And I caused nothing but trouble
I understand if you can't talk to me again
And if you live by the rules of "it's over"
then
I'm sure that that makes sense
I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be
And when we meet
Which I'm sure we will
All that was there
Will be there still
I'll let it pass
And hold my tongue
And you will think
That I've moved on.... I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be
I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be
I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be
This song, originally written by Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry and entitled “Then He Kissed Me”, was released as a single by The Crystals in 1963, peaking at number two in the UK hit singles chart.
It tells the story of a young woman’s meeting, romance and eventual marriage with a fellow boy. In 2004 it was named as number 493 on the Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Two years later, this version was releases by The Beach Boys on their 1965 album “Summer Days (And Summer Nights!) and was re-worded to be “Then I Kissed Her”.
It was released as a single in the UK in April 1967 and charted at number four. The group The Tremeloes also covered a version by this re-worked title.
'Then I kissed her' lyrics
Well I walked up to her and I asked her if she wanted to dance
She looked awful nice and so I hoped she might take a chance
When we danced I held her tight
Then I walked her home that night
And all the stars were shining bright
And then I kissed her
Each time I saw her I couldn't wait to see her again
I wanted to let her know that I was more than a friend
I didn't know just what to do
And so I whispered I love you
And she said that she loved me too
And then I kissed her
I kissed her in a way that
I'd never kissed a girl before
I kissed her in a way that I hope she liked for evermore
I knew that she was mine so
I gave her all the love that I had
Then one day shell take me home to meet her mom and her dad
Then I asked her to be my bride
And always be right by my side
I felt so happy that
I almost cried
And then I kissed her
And then I kissed her
And then I kissed her
