Space Age Pop
| Space age pop | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Late 1950s United States |
| Typical instruments | |
| Regional scenes | |
Space age pop is a music genre associated with Mexican and American composers and songwriters in the space age of the 1950s and 1960s. It is also called bachelor pad music or lounge music. Space age pop was inspired by the spirit of those times, an optimism based on the strong post-war economy and technology boom, and excitement about humanity's early forays into space. Although there is no exact album, date, or year when the genre was born, producer Irwin Chusid identifies its heyday as "roughly 1954 to 1963—from the dawn of high-fidelity (hi-fi) to the arrival of the Beatles."
The music is not limited to a single style, and it is not always easily categorized. There are several styles that can be recognized as an influence: classical composers like Ravel and Debussy; the big bands of the 1940s; and different exotic styles, such as samba, Latin, and calypso jazz. Space Age pop is related to the genres of lounge music, exotica, or beautiful music, and may be regarded as a precursor to the musical genre of space music.
Space age pop brought innovation to popular music in several ways. Its LPs in the early 1950s included some of the earliest examples of concept albums, and embraced the earliest form of multi-channel surround sound known as quadraphonic, four-channel recordings on LP introduced in 1957.
Even though the space age pop-music takes on a variety of approaches in style, rhythm, composition and arrangement, it also shows some similarities. For instance, many of the composers associated with the genre used a string orchestra for applying warmth and color to the sound, often combined with a Latin percussion section. A variety of keyboard instruments, from piano to marimbas to organ, are frequently used, and occasionally even the theremin for that out-of-this-world sound. The arrangements of the instruments tend to be highly original, conveying a sense of humor and playful charm. Even the album covers often have space or modernist themes.
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