Awakenings from Then ’til Now allows you to Embrace Your Past, Empower the Present, Enrich Your Future.
Welcome to Awakenings
Life IS history in the making. Every word we say, everything we do becomes history the moment it is said or done. Life void of memories leaves nothing but emptiness. For those who might consider history boring, think again: It is who we are, what we do and why we are here. We are certainly individuals in our thoughts and deeds but we all germinated from seeds planted long, long ago.
Awakenings touched on the Sights and Smells of Christmas so it is logical to follow up with the sounds of Christmas. Jolliness naturally accompanies Christmas Time mainly because of the music ever present on the scene...along the sidewalks, down the city streets, ringing from church steeples, within the comfort of our own homes, permeating the air like the aroma of freshly baked bread or cinnamon-laced apple pies.
As you listen to some of the ageless Christmas songs of the past, see how many you recognize and perhaps include in your own Christmas music collection. Then, compare the classics with the more modern Christmas tunes and decide which of the newer ones you think will be remembered in future decades. Will they last through the century?
With each decade comes a change in music...style, beat, melody, rhythm. Music from one decade often influences music of another as has been witnessed into the 21st century. Many songs from the 50s all the way through the 90s are still popular. Of course, it was by way of the 20s, 30s and 40s that music has evolved into a passion relative to survival as many listeners would so declare today.
Each decade has offered its own unique genres of music. Below are the #1 hits in the US on October 20 of each decade from the 1940s to 2010.
Entering the era of the 40s doesn't leave the Swing behind but instead, finds it going strong as ever! Early in the decade swing, jazz and big band tunes rocked the radio and jukebox of young and old alike. Many
musical scores tried to capture the pain and suffering of World War Il remaining upbeat even though the impending
future of the country was uncertain. MORE @Awakenings...
It's the 50s - Rock and Roll, Rock & Roll, Rock 'n' Roll, Rockin' and Rollin'! During the 30s and 40s, combinations emerged binding country singing and steel guitar with big band jazz influences and horn sections. These two-beat jazz rhythms preceded rockabilly recordings. A mixture of musical genres definitely made and kept the 50s rockin' and rollin'! MORE@Awakenings...
During a time of racial division amid the turn of the civil rights movement, Motown became the sound that changed America with the spirit of the 60s music. Popular music, pop-culture, sprang forth with a tremendous influence on young and old. Now, after over 50 years of success, Motown's sound still reverberates worldwide. Long live rock 'n' roll! MORE@Awakenings...
This was a time often described as s.h.r.i.l.l, colorful and simply cr-r-r-r-r-azy. When was it? If you guessed the super groovy 70s, also known as the Decade of the Disco, you nailed it! This was an era filled will the mads, glads and the fads. What do you remember best? Do you ever feel Stuck in the 70s? MORE@Awakenings...
Pop stars and their music changed in the 80s with the help of MTV and a greater focus on image. Thanks to MTV the images accompanying recording artists became more important than ever. Several new genres popped up and by early 80s, hip-hop's distinctive place in music history was set. Unique techniques were established as a new genre of music. MORE@Awakenings...
With the coming of the new millennium, the music industry entered a
crisis. The advent of digital downloading took quite a toll on single
records and albums with sales tumbling within the first decade.
Simultaneously, though, hip hop, aka rap music, solidified its standing as the dominant influence on global youth culture. MORE@Awakenings...
Rock music has remained popular, though it declined in
charts presence beginning in the late 2000s, alongside changes in radio format.
It has also moved from hard rock and heavy metal genres that have
dominated the genre since the Mid-1980s. Pop Rock music since the early
2010s has become softer and more refined, such as Indie Rock. MORE @wikipedia.com
Music Memories @Awakenings help you identify with your own special kind of music as you visit Music Through the Centuries. No.1 hits have been featured with legendary musicians being in the spotlight, especially through the decades of the Spirit of the 60s, Stuck in the 70s Groovy Times, 80s Music Mania and Into the 90s. By some accounts Music into the 21st Century lacks creativity and substance with less emphasis being placed on melody and rhythm; instead, it is all about showmanship. Make your own decision as you listen and remember some of the songs that hit No.1 on October 18, 2000 - 2016. Click the year for a list of all songs that hit No.1 that year.
What do you think of the music in the 21st Century? Will any of these join the ranks of the classics, icons of the century? Is the music of the 21st century still 'music'?
With each decade comes change...fashion, music, electronics and simple everyday sayings that at the time just catch on for really no unknown reason. These may come from entertainers or movie lines with not much thought being put into how the same things are being said but quite differently. The intended meaning is indeed the same. With a flashback in time, let's relive some of the conversational phrases and famous movie lines of past decades. Interesting enough is the decline in the usage of the number of words as the decades progress.
~Better to have it and not need it,
than need it and not have it. ~Hope for the best, but expect the worst. ~Live hard, die young and make a good looking corpse. ~I have been here longer than I am gonna be here... so I'm gonna have fun. ~Look at that cat’s 'zoot' suit. It’s crazy, man.
Movie Line: "Well, it's not the men in your life that counts. It's the life in your men."- I'm No Angel (1933), "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." - Gone with the Wind (1939), "Here's lookin' at you, kid." - Casablanca (1942)
Movie Line:"I'm gonna
make him an offer he can't refuse."- Godfather (1972), "May
the force be with you." - Star Wars (1977),"I love the smell of
napalm in the morning." - Apocalypse Now (1979)
Movie Line:"Do. Or do
not. There is no try." - Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back (1980),"Surely
you can't be serious." "I am serious, and don't call me Shirley!" -
Airplane! (1980),"I'll be back." - The
Terminator (1984), "Carpe
diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary." - Dead Poets
Society (1989)
~What's up girl? ~All that and a bag of chips ~As if! ~Dude that guy freaked out. ~Chill out!
Movie Line: "Hasta la vista, baby!" - Terminator 2 (1991), "My momma
always said, life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're
gonna get." - Forrest Gump (1994), "Houston, we have a problem." - Apollo 13 (1995), "I see dead people." - The Sixth Sense (1999)
Movie Line: "Are you not entertained?! Are you not entertained?! Is this not why
you are here?" - Gladiator (2000), "King Kong ain't got s--t on me!" - Training Day (2001), "Shake and Bake..." - Talladega Nights (2006),
What's next?
We'll just have to wait 'til the end of the second decade of the new millennium!
Of the best so far...
"Life was given to us a billion years ago. What have we done with it?" - Lucy (2014)
♫Dance, Dance, Dance!♫ took us back in time to dancing hits of September 7, 1976, 1985 and 1997. Justin Timberlake keeps the dance on going in his No.1 hit "Can't Stop the Feeling"!
