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(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Although the Beatles broke up in 1969, Beatlemania continues to this day.\n"The best of any kind of music lives on," Professor of music Glenn Gass said.\nIt seems that fans of the Beatles also live on, as was evident Sunday at Gass's Beatlemania lecture. The lecture was filled with fans from a variety of generations, reiterating Gass's emphasis that the Beatles appeal to all ages. Professors, students and children were all in attendance. The lecture was a multimedia delight with songs, pictures, videotapes and movie clips shown on three screens in Sweeney Hall.\nIn fact, the release of Beatles 1 in 2000 went to No. 1 on the billboard charts more than 30 years after the mop tops stopped making music together.\n"It was mainly the younger generation discovering the Beatles in a big way," Gass said of the album's success.\nGass took the audience through a timeline of the Beatles' career and creative process.\n"It's breathtaking," he said of the six-year time span. "The sense of time is so elongated because it was such a quick, dense time."\nThe lecture traveled back in time, beginning in 1957 on the day when John Lennon met Paul McCartney.\n"It's like looking into destiny," he said of a picture of Lennon, on stage with his first band, The Quarrymen. \nHe also added that fate was on the side of both the Beatles and their fans, resulting in detailed documentation of the Beatles' lives.\nHe jumped quickly ahead to the Beatles' American invasion. His stories were mixed with historical facts and personal anecdotes. Gass said Mick Jagger once called the Beatles "the four-headed monster," because when they came to America they all looked the same -- the hair, the clothes, the accents.\n"The only one you knew for sure was Ringo," Gass said. "America discovered Ringo."\nIt was on the "Ed Sullivan show" in 1964 that America fell in love with the Beatles.\n"It was the 'that's it' moment for the second generation of rock," Gass explained. "Everything was different now; everything was new."\nGass took the time to explore the structure of a rock-and-roll song and how the Beatles manipulated that structure to create such successful songs. His enthusiasm poured out as he boasted about the way the Beatles used harmony, melody, rhythm, mood, lyrics, song form and instruments to create their masterpieces.\nThe rest of the lecture was a journey through one group's development of rock music to this day. The Beatles' wrap sheet of successes took two hours to explain on even the most minimal of levels. Gass explained the variety of techniques used by the Beatles as a palette to which they continuously added colors.\nThere was the introduction of a string quartet with the song "Yesterday" -- "another color added to the palette," Gass said.\nOther "colors" included feature films, introspective lyrics, the introduction of new instruments and experimental recording techniques.\nTheir last album included \nthe George Harrison song, "Something." Gass showed a short music-video-like film that the Beatles made to go along with the song.\n"It points to new lives, new wives and a new focus," Gass said.\nThe focus of fans, however, has not changed. Beatles music will continue to be popular.\n"It's like Mozart," Gass said. "It's not dated at all"
(06/11/01 4:39am)
After weeks of rain and cloudy skies, Bloomington celebrated the summer sun at the World Folk Festival Saturday afternoon in Bryan Park. \nThe afternoon kicked off at 3 p.m. when John Cate took the stage. A crowd of music lovers had already assembled. Cate performed a set of original songs on his acoustic guitar.\nThe Rashers performed next, playing a mix of Celtic and Irish music. After their first song the band asked that fans get up and dance to their jigs. A few fans couldn\'t resist the request and danced along to the intricate melodies they played. The Rashers were also the favorite of Jolene Boas, a Bloomington resident who enjoyed the event. "I was so happy to hear that it was free and out in the park. It makes me happy to hear that they do things like this and that it\'s so family oriented."\nAs the crowd grew, Tom Roznowski and The Plain Gold Band took the stage. Roznowski put the event into perspective, saying, "I want you all to take a moment, take a deep breath and let it all sink in, it's summer." He went on to play a set of upbeat, storytelling songs. He even encouraged the audience to "howl along" to one song written about a hound dog. \nBy now the crowd had filled in entirely and the grassy hill was covered by patchwork quilts, lawn chairs and coolers. Carrie Newcomer came out next, declaring \"This is one of my favorite shows of the entire year.\" She performed a long set, playing a couple of songs alone and the rest with her band. Her voice was soulful and her music multifaceted. Her song "Gathering of Spirits" seemed to define the event, telling a story about a festival of friends.\nLast but certainly not least, Alma Azul took the stage around 8 p.m. Their style of Latin and Salsa music brought the crowd to its feet. Its percussive, rhythmic sound had the crowd clapping along. As the band members danced on stage, fans young and old salsaed along in the front of the stage.\n"We are really happy with the turn out, the music and the weather," said event coordinator Marcia Veldman. "This is the first year for this and there's a real good chance we'll make it an addition to the performing arts series." The crowd seemed to realize today just how fun these concerts can be. In the words of Carrie Newcomer, "these concerts in the park are like a community treasure"
(01/18/01 6:10am)
Evan Tobias and Adam Pieroni might have begun a literary movement in Bloomington, but they seem to be lost for words on their newest endeavor. \nWhat started as a simple poetry reading in honor of the latest edition of the literary magazine, Cocked and Ready, has developed into a release party so complicated it can't be named, said senior Tobias, co-editor and founder of the magazine.\n"(The party) is a free-for-all," Tobias said. "It's going to combine all the arts of Bloomington for free." \nThe multimedia extravaganza will include open mic poetry readings and live music, and will showcase artwork, photography, film and a slideshow. The event kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday at the John Waldron Arts Center, 122 S. Walnut St.\nFeatured musicians will include Das Spooky, Sabotuers, Matt Meehan and Mike Dickson. \nThe party will celebrate both the latest issue of the magazine and its latest goal, said senior Pieroni, Cocked and Ready's co-editor and founder.\n"We want to bridge the gap between music and poetry," Pieroni said. "They are so similar, it's just natural to link them." \nFor the first time, the magazine includes a spoken word and music CD in addition to its literary content. \nCocked and Ready began last year when Tobias and Pieroni saw potential in the poetry scene in Bloomington but were not satisfied with the current publications.\nTo improve the publication's quality, Tobias and Pieroni decided to work with the authors, editing and refining the works they publish. The magazine's third edition contains writing by 11 authors and a bonus 14-track CD. The issue features topics ranging from prostitutes to celibacy, from divorce to parents. \nMary Elizabeth Davis, a senior majoring in journalism and English, heard about the publication through an English class. Three pages of the magazine are now devoted to her poetry. \n"It's a venue that students can go to aside from what the English department publishes," she said. "It's good to get my poetry out for people around campus and around town to read." \nOther people seem to feel the same way, judging from the overwhelming response to the new issue, Pieroni said. \n"In the first week we have already had a better response than we had for the last issues combined," Pieroni said. "We restock daily." \nThe publication's circulation has reached 1,000. \nCocked and Ready is funded by the Collins Living-Learning Center and is free. The magazines are available at coffee shops, music stores and bookstores downtown and at Collins Center and the School of Fine Arts. \nDavis said she is looking forward to the promotional party.\n"It's something different that people can go to and enjoy," Davis said. "I plan on being there." \nCocked and Ready is accepting submissions of poetry, fiction and visual art for the next issue. E-mail Tobias at eftobias@indiana.edu and Pieroni at apieroni@indiana.edu for more information.\nThe poetry reading and concert is free and open to the public.