SOP - Mark Ronson: Funk Politics

Funk is back! Mark Ronson, hit maker and sage of pop music, has a No. 1 hit with his album Uptown Special. The distinct sounds of 70s funk are clearing out the radio of overplayed and increasingly stale electronic dance music. Why did funk ever die? This podcast can be found here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/SwitchedOnPopPodcast

 

0:00 - 1:30 - Uptown Funk

2:30 - 4:40 - Mark Ronson becomes #1 - Who is a producer and what does this person do?

4:30 - 6:00 - Listen to Uptown Funk

6:15 - Horn sections are tight and loud

6:40 - Funky Drums

7:10 - Wobble Synth and Voices

7:50 - Funky slap bass - it is percussive

8:35 - What is a Vamp - How many chords

9:00 - Rhythmic variation, new instrumental combinations, different lyrics

9:45 - Uptown Funk isn't a typical song structure (verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-verse-chorus). This song is A-B-C-D twice with a riff on the B section at the end.

11:00 - James Brown

11:50 - Complex drum beat with heavy syncopation

12:45 - Mark Ronson - Sampling and adding something new

13:15 - Schoenberg and Bach - It is all about song structure **

15:30 - Guest speaker

16:50 - Funk came back because the public was tired of the softer edges found in current pop music.  Funk was born at the end of the 70's with inter-racial gorups

18:30 - Funk became party music with a mixture of politics

19:30 - Funk promoted Gansta Rap and Hip Hop