Janis Joplin

THE HIPPIES CHALLENGED THE SOCIAL STRUCTURES AND VALUES OF AMERICA IN THE 1960’S A ‘hippie’ can be defined as someone of an alternative appearance and typically ‘associated with a subculture involving the rejection of conventional values.’ The hippies challenged various aspects of American society in the 1960’s, including their mainstream culture and ‘The Establishment.’ They ‘believed the dominant mainstream culture was corrupt and inherently flawed and sought to replace it with a utopian…

Texas, commonly known as “The Lone Star State”, its official nickname, is the 2nd largest state with a population of about 28.2 million people on 268,597 square miles. Beyonce, Matthew McConaughey, and Janis Joplin (a singer from the 80s) were all Texans. If you like sports, you would be happy to know all of the Dude Perfect Crew were born in the Lone Star State. The Texas economy is the 2nd largest with a gross state product of $1.648 trillion. The beautiful Rio Grande is shared by Texas and…

Bill Graham: Rock Impresario Bill Graham was a legendary rock concert promoter from the 1960’s up until his untimely death in 1991. He was born Wulf Wolodia Grajonca on January 8, 1931 in Berlin, Germany and at the age of eleven immigrated to the United States as part of a Red Cross initiative to help Jewish children fleeing the Holocaust. He was fostered by a family in the Bronx and grew up in New York City, graduated high school, and obtained a business degree from City College. When he turned…

The 1960s Musical Style The 1960s were a time of major change in politics, law, and culture. It was a time when many people, especially young people, protested and fought for equal rights in regards to wages, racism, and the Vietnam war. In the 1960s popular music began to diversify and more sub-genres emerged as the worlds of R&B and Rock 'n' Roll became more profitable. It became easier to classify types of music in a very specific way with psychedelic, surf, folk, roots, hard rock, Motown,…

Girl in a Band Book Review “When we came out onstage for our last show, the night was all about the boys” (Kim Gordon). This is the bold first sentence that Sonic Youth vocalist/bassist Kim Althea Gordon writes in her autobiographical memoir, Girl in a Band. The inspiration behind this liberating title is from “Sacred Trickster,” an ode to the quartet’s early 1990s high-gloss hardcore phase that appears on Sonic Youth’s final album, The Eternal. The entirety of this memoir is told from the…

Victor Hugo once said, “Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent” (Hugo). Music is not simply an art form, for music can be seen as a basic function in human existence, providing the necessities needed to survive (Yagelski & Miller). For instance, music is recommended to promote quality health and entertainment. According to Brenda Griffin, music is truly remarkable in that it unites all people; when one listens to music, he or she shares a connection…

1963 – 1973 A Decade of Disillusion The era that I chose to write about was from 1963 to 1973. I felt that this was the decisively time period in America history. The 60’s were ushered in riding on the coattails of the 1950’s and was felt would carry on the hopes and dreams of the post-WWII economic growth which America was enjoying . The 1950’s ideas of bliss in suburbia with dinner promptly at 6 and of a mother doing housework in pearls were about to be shattered by the events of the…

A terrible mistake started something big and strong. Racism has gone on for decades and it was something normal. Nobody said anything about it and even slaves themselves. They didn’t make it a big riot. They didn’t have the right. They were nothing for the “yankees.” So the slaves started something different. Something quiet but loud. They sang! They wrote songs about their slave life and racism that they had to see every day. Their songs had different codes that only, but only they could…

When I first heard Billie Holiday sing Strange Fruit, I was immediately saddened by her tone. It instantly gripped my attention because she started the song off referring to a “strange fruit.” This reference automatically made me listen closely to see what “fruit” she was speaking of. The next line talked about blood on the trees’ leaves and roots which instantly stirred up feeling of sadness. This song describes the lynching of African Americans in the South. I asked myself, what could a man…

Hey guys! Diana here, and today I want to discuss the importance of representation. Only in recent years have queer characters and relationship wiggled onto the big screen. After decades of the queer community being shoved aside for straight story lines, we are finally starting to see our own blossoming in the limelight. But it isn't all sunshine and rainbows (pardon the pun). As a community, we still face a lot of problems when it comes to media, primarily not being represented at all, and when…