Rock Music of the 70's and 80's

Rock Music of the 70's and 80's

Our theme for the "We Are..." project is rock music of the time period and how singers and songwriters were greatly influenced by certain events during and leading up to those years. The chaotic evens of the 60's, including war and social change, continued in the 70's and were a major influence for rock music. Trends that were present during this time include a growing disillusionment of government, advances in civil rights, increased influence of the women's movement, and heightened concern for the environment. These trends gained a wider acceptance in the 70's and were mainstreamed in culture and life in America. Events such as the Vietnam war and African American rights and rebellion against the government greatly inspired songwriters to reach out to the public through lyrics. In the 70's and the 80's, we see more and more songs with anti-war lyrics and lyrics about civil rights and dreams for widespread acceptance throughout the country.

In terms of choosing our items for the project, we first did some research about rock groups and artists in the 70's and 80's. We created a list of various bands whose music reflected emotions about events during and just before the time period. After choosing the bands we wanted to focus on, we looked for records and albums of the bands. We chose a record for Aerosmith that includes the song "Dream On," and we also printed the lyrics for that song because it shows a significant mind-set that many people had during the time: readiness for change and a closer community. We also chose the record by The Eagles with the song "Hotel California," because the song demonstrates the kind of newfound security that Americans felt in the state of California, and the idea that social change was occuring and allowing people to feel safe in their country. We also chose some other lyrics including those for the song "Born in the USA," by Bruce Springsteen, and "Masters of War," by Bob Dylan. These two songs were influenced by the Vietnam war and the anti-war attitudes of many citizens. "Born in the USA" also touches on the undesirable ways that Americans treated war veterans returning from the Vietnam war. Another set of lyrics we used was "Cult of Personality," by Living Colour, because it criticizes the propoganda of the government and our leaders and other famous leaders in the past. For our other items we chose some more records and albums including that of Van Halen, Bruce Springsteen, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. We chose some articles about the bands as well because they described the bands' feelings and accomplishes during their active years. Lastly, we included the picture of the movie Almost Famous because it is about an American band from the 70's and it tells the story of struggles and emotions of growing artists. We also had a couple of quotes from some of the bands we talked about as well as an article about Michael Jackson and his hit, "Thriller," because he, too, was a major part of changing the boundaries of music and rock during the 70's and 80's.

All of our art was found in our houses or on the computer besides the article about Michael Jackson that Mrs. Sanderson gave to us.

Differently, I would gather more gadgets and fun items to decorate the box, such as mini guitars or colorful cds or something to make it more interesting. We only used objects that were closely related to our theme, and didn't include any fun decorations.

My advice for next year's class is to find a topic that is interesting to you because it's a really fun project and it is cool to see how so many things around the house are actual "art" items from thirty to forty years ago.