Song suggestions for a 20th century popular music unit?

[Dmmetler]

I'm working on lesson planning for my 4th-8th (ish) grade homeschool class this fall, and we're going to be focusing on popular music styles from 1900-2000. 

 

So, I thought I'd ask for song ideas to include. My goal is to have both a few we do in class (mostly ones we can sing to, play instruments to, and move to)-and much, much longer playlists available for listening and for each student to pick one to do a short activity on as one of the assignments each week.  

 

So, where better to ask than here? 

 

Thanks in advance!!

[Kareni]

It might be fun to include a satirical song by Tom Lehrer. He gifted his music to the public several years ago. We incorporated a CD of his music when my daughter studied world history 1700 to 2000 as a ninth grader.

A couple examples:

Tom Lehrer - Poisoning Pigeons in the Park

 

Send the Marines

Regards,

Kareni

[Teaching3bears]

How many weeks do you have?  If you had 10 weeks, you could choose one song per decade.  

[catz]

Well Iif I have time on my laptop later I might offer specific suggestions.  Because this sounds super fun!   I would look at early-mid 1900s jazz progression building to rock.  I’d be careful to cover and include AA artists and influences.

 

[marbel]

You might want to look at Bob Dylan's book The Philosophy of Modern Song for some ideas. 

Something that I read about recently: Elvis Presley's hit "Hound Dog," which was originally recorded by Big Mama Thornton. 

[I talk to the trees]

I'd start with some Debussy. (Ok, now I'm thinking of a title for the course. From Debussy to Depeche Mode: Popular music in the 1900s)

Some of the later Sousa marches

You Made Me Love You - or anything Louis Armstrong

In the Mood- or anything Glenn Miller

Johnny B Goode- the Chuck Berry version that’s on the Voyager record

Star Spangled Banner - Jimi Hendrix version. Is your group mature enough to discuss protest songs in general? 
 

Rapper's Delight- Sugar Hill Gang

ETA: I feel like there should also be some mention of synth-pop, so something by Vangelis, Kraftwerk, and of course the scores of 80's synth-pop bands they influenced.

 

 

Edited July 18, 2023 by I talk to the trees

[wintermom]

Is this going to be limited to music in the US? I would absolutely broaden the scope to beyond your borders, and include how jazz has been embrassed by the western world. Then how British bands influenced rock and roll. I love the sharing of music with other cultures. It is fascinating how pop music has evolved because of this.

[WildflowerMom]

Big Band Era: Glenn Miller, The Dorseys

Swing with Benny Goodman

Jazz

Ed Sullivan Show, Rock & Roll, Chubby Checker, Elvis, 

hippie music, music to get thru Vietnam war 

Disco, BeeGees

80s icons: Michael Jackson, Madonna, Whitney Houston

90s grunge Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, 

 

[wisdomandtreasures]

Come Josephine in My Flying Machine for the 1910s

Mairzydotes 1940s

[Junie]

I teach a 20th Century History class to my kids and I have a music list somewhere.  I'll try to remember to look it up later.

I do remember that for the 80s we do "We Are the World" because it includes so many of the greats from that decade in one video.

[I talk to the trees]

6 minutes ago, Junie said:

I teach a 20th Century History class to my kids and I have a music list somewhere.  I'll try to remember to look it up later.

I do remember that for the 80s we do "We Are the World" because it includes so many of the greats from that decade in one video.

Of course! Music videos! "We Are the World" is a must, as is "Video Killed the Radio Star."

[Lady Florida.]

10 minutes ago, Junie said:

I teach a 20th Century History class to my kids and I have a music list somewhere.  I'll try to remember to look it up later.

I do remember that for the 80s we do "We Are the World" because it includes so many of the greats from that decade in one video.

Bye Bye Miss American Pie is a good one for the 70s. It's a fun song to dissect.

For AA artists be sure to include Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, and Ray Charles. For more recent AA artists I'd suggest Michael Jackson and Beyonce. 

Hip hop/rap - I confess I'm not familiar with many artists here but I believe it would be an important genre to include.

If you're not keeping it to American music then The Beatles are a must. You can do some other British invasion artists but at least add the Fab Four. 

The 50s would be fun. Elvis, Carl Perkins, The Big Bopper, and more. 

The 60s would be interesting to see the changes from early 60s being not much different than 50s music, to the later 60s with anti-war songs, psychedelic music, and the early start of heavy metal. 

[marbel]

If you're doing pop music you have to include the British Invasion; so many American artists were influenced by this. 

Video of the Beatles on Ed Sullivan.

[Lady Florida.]

1 hour ago, marbel said:

If you're doing pop music you have to include the British Invasion; so many American artists were influenced by this. 

 

It goes both ways too. Many British artists, including the Beatles and especially the Rolling Stones were influenced by Black American artists.

OP, I think you should include both British and American fwiw.

[Dmmetler]

7 hours ago, Teaching3bears said:

How many weeks do you have?  If you had 10 weeks, you could choose one song per decade.  

That's the plan. We have 12 weeks, so we can do one decade a week, with a couple of ones to tie things together and recap/intro.  

 

I have 90 minute classes, and the plan is to spend half of it on the decade of the week in class, and then to have a bunch of songs and videos and other stuff in a Google classroom that they can access, as well as some assignment options for parents who want something graded. The other half will be other music class stuff (like learning to play some of the instruments we have in the room) and, as the semester progresses, concert prep. 

 

Realistically, I could easily do a college class on one style in a single decade-but I'm thinking this will provide a framing device for my middle school kids that they'll enjoy-and that will feed well into my high school class where the goal is to compose music. I'm limiting this to English-language popular music of it's time just to keep the scope reasonable-but also that there's a lot of similarity between the kind of stuff that makes it on the top 40 lists, and by sticking to stuff that was on radio/TV, it also means that it meets FCC regulations, which is a pretty good initial appropriate for the age filter.  Realistically, I could easily do the same thing next semester,but do TV/Movie music-and another semester on theatrical music :). 

 

I definitely plan to include the British Invasion-invariabky, my students know the Beatles, Queen, and Elvis when they talk about "old music". Dolly Parton, of course, is simply immortal. 

 

 

 

Edited July 18, 2023 by Dmmetler

[Lady Florida.]

12 minutes ago, Dmmetler said:

my students know the Beatles, Queen, and Elvis when they talk about "old music"

Not sure if that deserves a shocked emoji or laughing one. Probably both. Elvis was my mom's music, The early Beatles belonged to my older cousins. The later Beatles and Queen were mine.

What I love though is that ds25 loves 70s and 80s bands, as well as some 90s stuff. I taught him well. 😄

[MrsMommy]

We Didn't Start the Fire

[Dmmetler]

7 minutes ago, MrsMommy said:

We Didn't Start the Fire

That could be a whole 20th century history course by itself....

[Kidlit]

9 minutes ago, MrsMommy said:

We Didn't Start the Fire

 

2 minutes ago, Dmmetler said:

That could be a whole 20th century history course by itself....

I used it when I taught high school world history!

[kbutton]

1 hour ago, Dmmetler said:

Dolly Parton, of course, is simply immortal. 

I was going to suggest some country music too! Johnny Cash for sure. Country was a really big deal post-WWII, and I was surprised to see how it influenced other genres and artists when I watched the Ken Burns documentary. 

Have you considered adding a smallish timeline aspect so that they can see which songs and genres were contemporaries of the others? If you filled in a couple from each genre, maybe the kids could look up other songs to add to the timeline.

[Cecropia]

https://tsort.info/

Maybe helpful?

[marbel]

Look up the song "Crossroads" by Robert Johnson -  which I first heard of via Eric Clapton but which has a long history well before him. 

There is also a Coursera course, The History of Rock, which may or may not be useful to you. My kids and I went through it some years ago. 

Edited July 18, 2023 by marbel

[Lady Florida.]

1 hour ago, MrsMommy said:

We Didn't Start the Fire

Billy Joel hates this song but it's a fun intro to history of part of the 20th century. I used it with ds when we were homeschooling mainly because he heard the song and started asking about the lyrics.

[Garga]

Maybe a little hard rock, too? Metallica once played to an audience of literally 1.6 million people in Russia in a live concert. I never knew that until a few weeks ago. They might deserve a spot in your class. (One point six! Million! Yikes!) https://www.wearethepit.com/2023/04/that-time-metallica-played-a-free-concert-for-over-1-million-fans/  (ETA: I see now that there were some other bands at that same concert. So, feel free to include them, too, for a little hard rock section.)

For a Metallica song, I’d pick Enter Sandman. Here’s a flash mob of 500 people in Central Europe all playing it together: 

 

Edited July 18, 2023 by Garga

[Caroline]

Maybe some different versions of the same song? Like Simon and Garfunkel vs  Disturb’s Sounds of Silence. Or multiple versions of Proud Mary. 

Edited July 18, 2023 by Caroline

[CindyH in NC]

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy - the Andrews Sisters 

WWII era

[wintermom]

Stevie Wonder and other Motown musicians would be my picks. There's way too much white music suggested on this thread. The most interesting thing about US music, from the outside looking in, is the amazing musical influence from the African American musicians. It is what is unique about the US compared to other western countries, IMO. It is what truely made pop music the huge sensation it is. At least in my humble opinion. Spiritals, blues, jazz - truly amazing. 

I'd also add in some Latin American influence. I believe that Miami Sound Machine may just fit into the century. This group managed to cross the bridge between Cuban and western pop, opening up the amazing Latin music to North America.

[CindyH in NC]

Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag - WWI