HOT SPICE PARTY

T.R.A.C.S at Timothy Plaza on River Island

Land Mark: http://slurl.com/secondlife/River%20Island/221/249/22

Spice Girls

The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of five members, who each later adopted nicknames initially ascribed to them: Melanie Brown ("Scary Spice"), Melanie Chisholm ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham, née Adams ("Posh Spice"). They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe", in 1996, which hit number one in more than 30 countries and helped establish the group as a global phenomenon. Credited for being the pioneers that paved the way for the commercial breakthrough of teen pop in the late 1990s, their debut album, Spice, sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling album by a female group in music history. They have sold over 80 million records worldwide, making them the best-selling female group of all time, one of the best-selling pop groups of all time, and the biggest British pop phenomenon since Beatlemania.

Measures of their success include international record sales, 2007–2008 reunion tour, merchandising, record-breaking achievements, iconic symbolism such as Halliwell's Union Jack dress, representing "girl power", a box-office film, Spice World, and their internationally recognised nicknames. The group became one of the most successful marketing engines ever, with their global grosses estimated at $500–800 million between 1996 and 1998 and the group earning up to $75 million per year. Under the guidance of their mentor and manager Simon Fuller, the group embraced merchandising and became a regular feature of the British and global press. In 1996, Top of the Pops magazine gave each member of the group aliases, which were adopted by the group and media. According to Rolling Stone journalist and biographer David Sinclair, "Scary, Baby, Ginger, Posh and Sporty were the most widely recognised group of individuals since John, Paul, George, and Ringo". With the "girl power" phenomenon, the Spice Girls were popular cultural icons of the 1990s. They are cited as part of the 'second wave' 1990s British Invasion of the US.

Fashion trends and nicknames

As the girls become more popular, their images became as important as their music. In their early days of the band, the girls had a laid back and casual look, and maintained an image of everyday British young females. As their career progressed into a worldwide phenomenon, the girls and their manager Simon Fuller became more aware of the impact their images had. The Spice Girls soon became noticeable just by their clothes and hairstyles, and soon became icons of late 1990s fashion. In a summer 1996 issue of Top of the Pops magazine, editor Peter Loraine gave them nicknames for their images and personalities, and this soon had an impact on their fashion. In contrast to their early career, the girls soon began to differ their images from each other, and each girl had a unique look.

Victoria Beckham: Victoria was called Posh Spice because of her more upper-middle-class background, her choppy brunette bob hairstyle and refined attitude, form-fitting designer outfits and her love of high-heeled footwear.

Ginger Spice

Melanie Brown: Melanie (also called Mel B) was given the nickname Scary Spice because of her outrageous, "in-your-face" attitude, "loud" Leeds accent, throaty laugh, pierced tongue, manner of dress (which often consisted of leopard-print outfits), and her voluminously curly Afro hair.

Emma Bunton: Emma was called Baby Spice because she was the youngest of the group, wore her long blonde hair in pigtails, wore babydoll dresses, had an innocent smile, and had a girly girl personality.

Melanie Chisholm: Melanie (also called Mel C) was called Sporty Spice because she usually wore a tracksuit with her dark hair in a ponytail and sported a tough girl attitude as well as sported tattoos on both of her arms. She also possessed true athletic abilities, her signature being her ability to perform back handsprings.

Geri Halliwell: Geri was called Ginger Spice because of her "liveliness, zest, and flaming red hair." She often wore outrageous stage outfits, as in the iconic Union Jack dress. Geri was seen by some as de facto leader of the group thanks to her articulate conversational style and business savvy nature. She is also the eldest member of the group.

Geraldine Estelle "Geri" Halliwell (born 6 August 1972) is an English pop singer-songwriter, clothes designer, author and actress. Halliwell came to international prominence in the 1990s as Ginger Spice, a member of girl group the Spice Girls. On 30 May 1998, Halliwell left the Spice Girls due to depression and differences within the group. In 2007, it was announced that the Spice Girls had reunited, and that Halliwell had rejoined the group.

Spice

A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetable substance primarily used for flavoring, coloring or preserving food. Sometimes a spice is used to hide other flavors.

Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are parts of leafy green plants also used for flavoring or as garnish.

Many spices have antimicrobial properties. This may explain why spices are more commonly used in warmer climates, which have more infectious disease, and why use of spices is especially prominent in meat, which is particularly susceptible to spoiling.

A spice may have other uses, including medicinal, religious ritual, cosmetics or perfume production, or as a vegetable. For example, turmeric roots are consumed as a vegetable and garlic as an antibiotic.

spic·y

adj. spic·i·er, spic·i·est

1. Having the flavor, aroma, or quality of spice.
2. Piquant; zesty: a spicy tomato sauce.
3. Producing or abounding in spices.
4. High-spirited; lively.
5. Slightly scandalous; risqué: a spicy Hollywood romance.

Hot Hot Hot

HOT

adj.hot·ter, hot·test

1. a. Having or giving off heat; capable of burning.

    b. Being at a high temperature.

2. Being at or exhibiting a temperature that is higher than normal or desirable: a hot forehead.

3. Causing a burning sensation, as in the mouth; spicy: hot peppers; a hot curry.

4. a. Charged or energized with electricity: a hot wire.

    b. Radioactive, especially to a dangerous degree.

5. a. Marked by intensity of emotion; ardent or fiery: a hot temper.

    b. Having or displaying great enthusiasm; eager: hot for travel.

6. a. Informal Arousing intense interest, excitement, or controversy: a hot new book; a hot topic.

    b. Informal Marked by excited activity or energy: a hot week on the stock market.

    c. Violent; raging: a hot battle.

7. Slang Sexually excited or exciting.

8. Slang a. Recently stolen: a hot car.

              b. Wanted by the police: a hot suspect.

9. Close to a successful solution or conclusion: hot on the trail.

10. Informal  a. Most recent; new or fresh: a hot news item; the hot fashions for fall.

                     b. Currently very popular or successful: one of the hottest young talents around.

                     c. Requiring immediate action or attention: a hot opportunity.

11. Slang Very good or impressive. Often used in the negative: I'm not so hot at math.

12. Slang Funny or absurd: told a hot one about the neighbors' dog.

13. Slang  a. Performing with great skill and daring: a hot drummer.

                 b. Having or characterized by repeated successes: a player who is on a hot streak.

                 c. Fast and responsive: a hot sports car.

                 d. Unusually lucky: hot at craps.

14. Music Of, relating to, or being an emotionally charged style of performance marked by strong rhythms           and improvisation: hot jazz.

15. Bold and bright.

Hot Hot Hot

"Hot Hot Hot" is a song written and first recorded by Montserrat musician Arrow featured on his 1982 studio album, Hot Hot Hot. The song became an instant dance floor hit and was later covered by artists around the world, most notably in 1987 by American singer David Johansen under the name Buster Poindexter. The song was produced by Leston Paul from Trinidad and Tobago.

The song was Arrow's first chart hit, peaking at No. 59 on the UK Singles Chart. A remix of the song, dubbed as the "World Carnival Mix '94" was later released in 1994 and peaked better than the original, peaking at No. 38 on the UK Singles Chart.

Buster Poindexter version

The song was later covered in 1987 by David Johansen in his Buster Poindexter persona and released as the first single from his album Buster Poindexter. It garnered extensive airplay through radio, MTV, and other television appearances. The music video is unique in the fact that it crosses the two identities: Despite being in the Buster Poindexter persona, the video begins with Johansen briefly mentioning his role in the New York Dolls, showing the band's vinyl and tossing them aside while talking about the "really outrageous clothes" he wore and how he evolved into a "refined and dignified kind of a situation", which leads into the song.

In an interview on National Public Radio, Johansen called the tune "the bane of my existence," owing to its pervasive popularity as a karaoke and wedding song. The Johansen version of the song has long served as the opening theme for Jimmy Buffett's concert appearances.

Bill Murray appears in the music video; Johansen would later costar with Murray in the 1988 movie, Scrooged. In the extended mix, Buster Poindexter says the word "hot" 137 times.

Other cover versions

The song was covered in 1985 by Indian duo Babla & Kanchan recorded as "Kuchh Gadbad Hai" in Hindi. It was also later covered by popular Latin teen group Menudo. In 1986 it was covered by the Central American Grupo Rana as "Caliente Caliente" (credited to Alfonso Cassell, Arrow's official name) in their record De La Cabeza A Los Pies Rana Otra Vez!!

In 2010, the track was sampled by British electro DJ Hervé in his track "Hot! Drum Attack".

In 2013, reggaeton artist Don Omar released a cover titled, "Feeling Hot" for his upcoming live album Hecho en Puerto Rico. His version peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart in the United States. Omar's cover led to Arrow posthumously wining the ASCAP Latin Award on the Urban category.

Also in 2013, the track was re-interpreted/covered by Dutch eurodance group Vengaboys in their track of the same name. This cover adds a dutch house sounding drop, a reggaeton style rap and extra lyrics.

PARTY CANCELLED!

This morning I got the message that DJ Anj is sick and he won't be able to play at T.R.A.C.S and at the other clubs he has a gig this weekend. Anj says; "I'll be back on Tuesday if I'm any better."

Of course I could get another deejay for the party but I decided to cancel the party for today and take a party break. No worries we are back next Saturday with a HOT SPICE PARTY with our Brazilian DJ "Hotter-as-Chili" Rik and there will be a Roller Skate Party when Anj is well again.

Christo

ROLLER SKATE PARTY at T.R.A.C.S

T.R.A.C.S at Timothy Plaza on River Island

Land Mark: http://slurl.com/secondlife/River%20Island/221/249/22

Roller Skates

Roller skates are devices worn on the feet to enable the wearer to roll along on wheels. The first roller skate was effectively an ice skate with wheels where the blade goes. Later the "quad" style of roller skate became more popular consisting of four wheels arranged in the same configuration as a typical car.

History

The first patented roller skate was introduced in 1760 by Belgian inventor John Joseph Merlin. His roller skate wasn't much more than an ice skate with wheels where the blade goes, (a style we would call inlines today). They were hard to steer and hard to stop because they didn't have brakes and as such were not very popular. The initial "test pilot" of the first prototype of the skate was in the city of Huy, which had a party with Merlin playing the violin.

• Merlin wore a pair of his new skates to a masquerade party at Carlisle-House in London. Though he was a well-known inventor, he was not a good skater. He could not control his speed or direction and crashed into a large mirror, severely injuring himself and possibly setting back the sport of roller skating for years.

Monsieur Petitbled was the first to patent a roller skate, doing so in 1819, while in Paris, France.

The Petitbled skate was an in-line skate with a wood sole, leather straps and three wheels made of wood, metal, or ivory. These skates only went forward, even turning corners was a major feat!

 

In 1863, James Plimpton from Massachusetts invented the "rocking" skate and used a four wheel configuration for stability, and independent axles that turned by pressing to one side of the skate or the other when the skater wants to create an edge. This was a vast improvement on the Merlin design that was easier to use and drove the huge popularity roller skating through the 1930s. The Plimpton skate is still used today.

Eventually, roller skating evolved from just a pastime to a competitive sport; speed skating, racing on skates, and figure skating, very similar to what you see in the Olympics on ice. In the mid 1990s roller hockey, played with a ball rather than a puck, became so popular that it even made an appearance in the Olympics in 1992. The National Sporting Goods Association statistics showed, from a 1999 study, that 2.5 million people played roller hockey. Roller Skating was considered for the 2012 Summer Olympics  but has never become an Olympic event. Other roller skating sports include jam skating and roller derby. Roller skating popularity exploded during the disco era but tapered off in the 80s and 90s.

 

The Roller Skating Rink Operators Association was developed in the United States in 1937. It is currently named the Roller Skating Association. The association promotes roller skating and offers classes to the public, aiming to educate the population about roller skating. The current President is Bobby Pender. The Roller Skating Association headquarters is located in Indianapolis.

Roller skating

Roller skating is the traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a form of recreational activity as well as a sport, and can also be a form of transportation. Skates generally come in three basic varieties: quad roller skates, inline skates or blades and tri-skates, though some have experimented with a single-wheeled "quintessence skate" or other variations on the basic skate design. In America, this hobby was most popular, first between 1935 and the early 1960s and then in the 1970s, when polyurethane wheels were created and "Disco" oriented roller rinks were the rage and then again in the 1990s when in-line outdoor roller skating, thanks to the improvement made to in-line roller skates in 1981 by Scott Olson, took hold.

Roller skates in popular culture

• 1955 - Gene Kelly used roller skates as part of a dance routine in It's Always Fair Weather.
• 1971 - The song Brand New Key by Melanie Safka uses roller skates as a theme. It features the lyrics "I got a brand new pair of roller skates".
• 1975 - Rollerball - A dystopian SciFi centered around a roller skate based tournament.
• 1977 - For the opening verse in "Hollywood" from The Runaways second album Queens of Noise, Joan Jett sings, "Each night alone I dream that I'm a rebel roller queen".
• 1979 - Roller Boogie with Linda Blair

• 1979 - Vance, the leader of the "The Punks", a gang from the cult movie The Warriors, is recognizable for wearing the roller skates.
• 1980 - Xanadu, with Olivia Newton-John, has rollerskating as a recurring theme.
• 1980 - Heaven's Gate with Kris Kristofferson and Christopher Walken, which is set in 1890s Wyoming, features a scene in an early roller skating rink called "Heaven's Gate".
• 1984 - Starlight Express, a musical written by Andrew Lloyd Webber opened on London's West End. The cast perform on quad skates.
• 1995 - Man of the House features a scene where Jonathan Taylor Thomas uses early model rollerblades to get around Seattle.
• 1998 - In the Disney Channel Original Movie Brink!, in-line skating is presented as an extreme competition for teens in California.
• 2003 - The band known as The Penfifteen Club released their single "Ms.Hilton" which has a reference to roller skates in the song "roller skates on a social butterfly".
• 2005 - The plot of the film Roll Bounce centered around a group of teenagers who compete in a rollerskating competition in the late 1970s.
• 2005 - Miss'ile, founded and directed by choreographer/performer Cecile Klaus, is a female skate dance company that has appeared at the Paris Slalom World Cup and in various shows, commercials and music videos. Based in France, the Miss'iles have a sport team for inline skate competitions (downhill, speed, skate cross, cones) and an artistic team for inline/quad skate shows (cones, high-jump, skate dance).
• 2006 - In Madonna's "Sorry" video she uses roller skates.

• 2006 - In Jessica Simpson's music video for her song “A Public Affair”, starring Simpson, Christina Applegate, Eva Longoria, Christina Milian, Andy Dick and Ryan Seacrest, and a skating dance crew named Breaksk8.
• 2006 - In the movie ATL, set in Atlanta, the protagonist – rapper, T.I. – and his friends had a great love for skating.
• 2008 - MTV's Americas Best Dance Crew auditioned Breaksk8, a group of Hip Hop dancers on roller skates.
• 2008 - The songs "Seventies" by Laurent Wolf and "Kim&Jessie" by M83, featured the "Miss'ile" skate dancers
• 2009 - The movie Whip It, starring Ellen Page and Drew Barrymore – Barrymore also directing – Ellen Page as a teenager who rebels against her mother's wish for her to be a beauty queen in favor of joining a roller derby team.
• 2010 - In the movie Skateland, starring Shiloh Fernandez and Ashley Greene, which is set in the 1980s, when roller skating was very popular and many teenagers used to go to roller rinks.

The Rollerskate Song

"Brand New Key" is a pop song written by folk singer Melanie, which became a novelty hit in 1971-72. Taken from Melanie's album Gather Me, it was also known as "The Rollerskate Song" due to its chorus. It was her biggest hit, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in December 1971 and January 1972 and it reached No. 1 in Canada and Australia and No. 4 in the UK charts. Melanie's version of "Brand New Key" was featured in the 1997 film Boogie Nights as well as the 2010 film Jackass 3D.

Overview

The song is lighthearted in tone, sung from the viewpoint of a girl with roller skates trying to attract the attention of a boy:

I got a brand new pair of roller skates,

 You got a brand new key.

 I think that we should get together and try them out, to see ...

The roller skates in question would have been children's quad skates, which were clamped to the soles of ordinary shoes. The clamps were tightened with a special "key" that was basically a very simple socket wrench. If the key was lost or misplaced, a screwdriver or other tool could usually substitute, though at some inconvenience. Although the lyrics claim that the roller skates are "brand new," the girl has presumably either lost her key, or the boy of the song is now in possession of it, the key being "brand new" as well:

 I roller skated to your door at daylight [...]

 I'm okay alone, but you got something I need

In an interview with classic rock music journalist Ray Shasho on July 22, 2013, Melanie describes the inspiration behind "Brand New Key" ... "I was fasting with a twenty seven day fast on water. I broke the fast and went back to my life living in New Jersey and we were going to a flea market around six in the morning. On the way back …and I had just broken the fast, from the flea market, we passed a McDonalds and the aroma hit me, and I had been a vegetarian before the fast. So we pulled into the McDonalds and I got the whole works … the burger, the shake and the fries … and no sooner after I finished that last bite of my burger …that song was in my head. The aroma brought back memories of roller skating and learning to ride a bike and the vision of my dad holding the back fender of the tire. And me saying to my dad …“You’re holding, you’re holding, you’re holding, right? Then I’d look back and he wasn’t holding and I’d fall. So that whole thing came back to me and came out in this song."

Lyrics

Melanie Safka - Brand new key

I rode my bicycle past your window last night

 I roller-skated to your door at daylight

 It almost seems like you're avoiding me

 I'm okay alone, but you got something I need

Well, I got a brand new pair of roller skates

 You got a brand new key

 I think that we should get together and try them out you see

I been looking around awhile

 You got something for me

 Oh! I got a brand new pair of roller skates

 You got a brand new key

I ride my bike, I roller skate don't drive no care

 Don't go too fast, but I go pretty far

 For somebody who don't drive

 I been all around the world

 Some people say, I done all right for a girl

Oh, yea yea, oh, yea yea yea, oh yea yea yea yea yea yea

I asked your mother if you were at home

 She said yes but you weren't alone

 Oh, sometimes I think that you're avoiding me

 I'm okay alone, but you got something I need

Well, I got a brand new pair of roller skates

 You got a brand new key

 I think that we should get together and try them out to see

 La la la la la la la la, la la la la la la

 Oh! I got a brand new pair of roller skates

 You got a brand new key

LATE 50's SOUL PARTY at T.R.A.C.S

Short after DJ Corvus and I agree that she would be the deejay for the soul party, I thought that I gave her a tough job. So I propose to her to do a theme that would fit more with the music she plays normally. But she insisted to do this gig. Saturday she played a great set of R&B, funk and other danceable music, related to soul music. Most of the songs she did hear for the first time. Great work you did, Corvus.

Here are my snapshots, I made during the party.

▲▼ DJ Corvus in her late 50s dress

▼ the photo shoot at the end of the party

Soul & Late 50s Party at T.R.A.C.S

T.R.A.C.S at Timothy Plaza on River Island

Land Mark: http://slurl.com/secondlife/River%20Island/221/249/22

Late '50s Clothes

For most men and women, the clothes of the late 1950s carried on in the same vein as the rest of the decade, with an interest in color and opulence that was a reaction to the trauma and austerity of the World War II years. The only dissenting voices were those of the beatniks and some teenaged rebels, although these were well-publicized in films such as "Funny Face" and "The Wild One."

Women's Clothes

The late 1950s offered women a costume for every occasion. A well-to-do housewife might wear a trim cashmere twinset for her morning engagements, a short raincoat and scarf for going out shopping, a skirt-suit with a small hat and gloves for afternoon tea, and a cocktail dress with either a bolero jacket or large bell-shaped overcoat for dining out or going to the cinema.

The New Look

Still dominating women's fashion during the late '50s was the 
so-called New Look created by Christian Dior in 1948. Despite its name, the New Look was in fact a revival of a pre-World War II sense of extravagance, updated with modern "blotch design" prints referencing the latest trends in art, such as the abstract paintings of Jackson Pollock. The key features of the look were narrow, sloping shoulders, a nipped-in waist and a flared skirt resulting in a sleek, new version of the classic hourglass figure. The iconic New Look garment was the cocktail dress with its combination of modern skirt length and plunging neckline. The addition of a matching bolero jacket lent the outfit versatility, making it the perfect choice for both entertaining in one's own home and going out on the town.

Men's Clothes

While the dominant influence on women's clothes was France, for men it was Italy. For formal occasions and work, an Italian suit, be it single-breasted with slim lapels or double-breasted with wide shoulders, was the standard of masculine chic. In more relaxed surroundings, the average man would wear flannel slacks, a tweed jacket and a knitted sports shirt.

Beatniks and Rebels

The Beatniks were by and large young intellectuals who showed their rejection of what they saw as the thoughtless consumerism of their elders by dressing in a unisex costume of black slacks and black polo-necks. You can see a mocking portrayal of their ways in the Audrey Hepburn musical "Funny Face," which also parades the fashions of the day. The rebels were young outsiders typified by the sort of character played by James Dean in his tragically short film career, but their style icon was Marlon Brando in "The Wild One" with his uniform of jeans, white T-shirt and leather jacket.

1950s

The 1950s or The Fifties was a decade that began on January 1, 1950 at 12:00am and ended on December 31, 1959 at 11:59pm. By its end, the world had largely recovered from World War II and the Cold War developed from its modest beginning in the late 1940s to a hot competition between the United States and the Soviet Union by the beginning of the 1960s.

Clashes between communism and capitalism dominated the decade, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. The conflicts included the Korean War in the beginnings of the decade and the beginning of the Space Race with the launch of Sputnik I. Along with increased testing of nuclear weapons (such as RDS-37 and Upshot-Knothole), this created a politically conservative climate. In the United States, the Red Scare (fear of communism) caused public Congressional hearings by both houses in Congress and anti-communism was the prevailing sentiment in the United States throughout the decade. The beginning of decolonization in Africa and Asia occurred in this decade and accelerated in the following decade, the 1960s.

Music

Popular music in the early 1950s was essentially a continuation of the crooner sound of the previous decade. Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Frankie Laine, Patti Page, Judy Garland, Johnnie Ray, Kay Starr, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Dean Martin, Georgia Gibbs, Eddie Fisher, Teresa Brewer, Dinah Shore, Kitty Kallen, Joni James, Peggy Lee, Julie London, Toni Arden, June Valli, Doris Day, Arthur Godfrey, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Guy Mitchell, Nat King Cole, and vocal groups like The Mills Brothers, The Ink Spots, The Four Lads, The Four Aces, The Chordettes, Fontane Sisters, The Hilltoppers and The Ames Brothers. 

The middle of the decade saw a sudden, volcanic change in the popular music landscape as classic pop was swept off the charts by rock-and-roll. Crooners such as Eddie Fisher, Perry Como, and Patti Page, who had dominated the first half of the decade, found their access to the pop charts significantly curtailed by the decade's end. Doo Wop entered the pop charts in the 1950s. Its popularity soon spawns the parody "Who Put the Bomp."

Novelty songs come into popularity, such as "Beep Beep"

Rock-n-Roll emerged in the mid-50s with Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Gene Vincent, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Little Richard, James Brown, Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly, Bobby Darin, Ritchie Valens, Duane Eddy, Eddie Cochran, Brenda Lee, Bobby Vee, Connie Frances, Johnny Mathis, Neil Sedaka, Pat Boone and Ricky Nelson being notable exponents. In the mid-1950s, Elvis Presley became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll with a series of network television appearances and chart-topping records. Chuck Berry, with "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll over Beethoven" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music" (1957) and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958), refined and developed the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive, focusing on teen life and introducing guitar solos and showmanship that would be a major influence on subsequent rock music. Bill Haley, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Everly Brothers, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty, Johnny Horton, and Marty Robbins were Rockabilly musicians. Doo Wop was another popular genre at the time. Popular Doo Wop and Rock-n-Roll bands of the mid to late 1950s include The Platters, The Flamingos, The Dells, The Silhouettes, Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers, Little Anthony & The Imperials, Danny and the Juniors, The Coasters, The Drifters, The Del-Vikings and Dion and the Belmonts.

The new music differed from previous styles in that it was primarily targeted at the teenager market, which became a distinct entity for the first time in the 1950s as growing prosperity meant that young people did not have to grow up as quickly or be expected to support a family. Rock-and-roll proved to be a difficult phenomenon for older Americans to accept and there were widespread accusations of it being a communist-orchestrated scheme to corrupt the youth.

Jazz stars in the 1950s who came into prominence in their genres called Bebop, Hard bop, Cool jazz and the Blues, at this time included Lester Young, Ben Webster, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Art Tatum, Bill Evans, Ahmad Jamal, Oscar Peterson, Gil Evans, Jerry Mulligan, Cannonball Adderley, Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Dave Brubeck, Art Blakey, Max Roach, the Miles Davis Quintet, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Sarah Vaughn, Dinah Washington, Nina Simone, and Billie Holiday.

The American folk music revival became a phenomenon in the United States in the 1950s to mid-1960s with the initial success of the Weavers who popularized the genre. Their sound, and their broad repertoire of traditional folk material and topical songs inspired other groups such as the Kingston Trio, the Chad Mitchell Trio, The New Christy Minstrels, and the "collegiate folk" groups such as The Brothers Four, The Four Freshmen, The Four Preps, and The Highwaymen. All featured tight vocal harmonies and a repertoire at least initially rooted in folk music and topical songs.

On 3 February 1959, a chartered plane transporting the three American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson goes down in foggy conditions near Clear Lake, Iowa, killing all four occupants on board, including pilot Roger Peterson. The tragedy is later termed "The Day the Music Died", popularized in Don McLean's 1972 song "American Pie". This event, combined with the conscription of Elvis into the US Army, is often taken to mark the point where the era of 50s rock-and-roll ended.

SOUL MUSIC

Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the United States in the 1950s and early 1960s. It combined elements of African-American gospel music, rhythm and blues, and often jazz. Soul music became popular for dancing and listening in the United States – where music such as that of the Motown, Atlantic and Stax labels was influential during the period of the civil rights movement – and across the world, directly influencing rock music and the music of Africa.

According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, secular testifying." Catchy rhythms, stressed by hand claps and extemporaneous body moves, are an important feature of soul music. Other characteristics are a call and response between the soloist and the chorus, and an especially tense vocal sound. The style also occasionally uses improvisational additions, twirls and auxiliary sounds.

Origins

Soul music has its roots in traditional African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues, and the hybridization of their respective religious and secular styles, in both lyrical content and instrumentation that began to occur in the 1950s. According to musicologist Barry Hansen;

"Though this hybrid produced a clutch of hits in the R&B market in the early Fifties, only the most adventurous white fans felt its impact at the time; the rest had to wait for the coming of soul music in the Sixties to feel the rush of rock and roll sung gospel-style."

According to another source, "Soul music was the result of the urbanization and commercialization of rhythm and blues in the '60s." The phrase "soul music" itself, referring to gospel-style music with secular lyrics, is first attested in 1961. The term 'soul' in African-American parlance has connotations of African-American pride and culture. Gospel groups in the 1940s and 1950s occasionally used the term as part of their name. The jazz that self-consciously derived from gospel came to be called soul jazz. As singers and arrangers began using techniques from gospel and soul jazz in African-American popular music during the 1960s, soul music gradually functioned as an umbrella term for the African-American popular music at the time.

Ray Charles

Important innovators whose recordings in the 1950s contributed to the emergence of soul music included Clyde McPhatter, Hank Ballard, and Etta James. Ray Charles is often cited as popularizing the soul genre with his string of hits starting with 1954's "I Got a Woman". Singer Bobby Womack said: "Ray was the genius. He turned the world onto soul music." Charles was open in acknowledging the influence of Pilgrim Travelers vocalist Jesse Whitaker on his singing style.

Little Richard (who was the inspiration for Otis Redding), Fats Domino and James Brown were equally influential. Fats Domino originally called himself a rock and roll performer, while James Brown was known as the "Godfather of Soul". However, as rock music moved away from its R&B roots in the 1960s, Brown claimed that he had always really been an R&B singer. Little Richard proclaimed himself the "king of rockin' and rollin', rhythm and blues soulin'", because his music embodied elements of all three, and because he inspired artists in all three genres.

Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson are also often acknowledged as soul forefathers. Cooke became popular as the lead singer of gospel group The Soul Stirrers, before controversially moving into secular music. His recording of "You Send Me" in 1957 launched a successful pop career, and his 1962 recording of "Bring It On Home To Me" has been described as "perhaps the first record to define the soul experience". Jackie Wilson, a contemporary of both Cooke and James Brown, also achieved crossover success in 1957 with "Reet Petite", and was particularly influential for his dramatic delivery and performances.

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