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Jangle pop



 
 
Jangle pop is a genre of alternative rock
Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music that emerged in the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s. Alternative rock consists of various subgenres that have emerged from the independent music scene since the 1980s, such as Grunge music, Britpop, gothic rock, and indie pop....
 from the mid-1980s that "marked a return to the chiming guitars and pop melodies of the '60s" bands such as The Byrds
The Byrds

The Byrds were an American Rock music band. Formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964, The Byrds underwent several lineup changes, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group's disbandment in 1973....
, with their electric
Electric guitar

An electric guitar is a type of guitar that uses pickup to convert the vibration of its steel-cored strings into an electrical current, which is made louder with an instrument amplifier and a speaker....
 twelve-string guitars and power pop
Power pop

Power pop is a popular musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American Pop music and rock music. It typically incorporates a combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs....
 song structures. Mid-1980s jangle pop was a non-mainstream, "pop-based format" with "some folk-rock overtones". Between 1984 and 1987, bands included "Southern-pop bands like R.E.M.
R.E.M.

R.E.M. is an American Rock music band formed in Athens, Georgia, Georgia , in 1980 by Michael Stipe , Peter Buck , Mike Mills , and Bill Berry ....
 and Let's Active
Let's Active

Let's Active was a jangle pop band based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The principal songwriter and sole continuous member was Mitch Easter, who kept the band active through most of the 1980s....
" and a subgenre called "Paisley Underground
Paisley Underground

Paisley Underground is a term used to describe a genre of rock music, based primarily in Los Angeles, California, which was at its most popular in the mid-1980s....
" which incorporated psychedelic influences.






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Jangle pop is a genre of alternative rock
Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music that emerged in the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s. Alternative rock consists of various subgenres that have emerged from the independent music scene since the 1980s, such as Grunge music, Britpop, gothic rock, and indie pop....
 from the mid-1980s that "marked a return to the chiming guitars and pop melodies of the '60s" bands such as The Byrds
The Byrds

The Byrds were an American Rock music band. Formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964, The Byrds underwent several lineup changes, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group's disbandment in 1973....
, with their electric
Electric guitar

An electric guitar is a type of guitar that uses pickup to convert the vibration of its steel-cored strings into an electrical current, which is made louder with an instrument amplifier and a speaker....
 twelve-string guitars and power pop
Power pop

Power pop is a popular musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American Pop music and rock music. It typically incorporates a combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs....
 song structures. Mid-1980s jangle pop was a non-mainstream, "pop-based format" with "some folk-rock overtones". Between 1984 and 1987, bands included "Southern-pop bands like R.E.M.
R.E.M.

R.E.M. is an American Rock music band formed in Athens, Georgia, Georgia , in 1980 by Michael Stipe , Peter Buck , Mike Mills , and Bill Berry ....
 and Let's Active
Let's Active

Let's Active was a jangle pop band based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The principal songwriter and sole continuous member was Mitch Easter, who kept the band active through most of the 1980s....
" and a subgenre called "Paisley Underground
Paisley Underground

Paisley Underground is a term used to describe a genre of rock music, based primarily in Los Angeles, California, which was at its most popular in the mid-1980s....
" which incorporated psychedelic influences.

History


Origins


In 1964 The Beatles
The Beatles

The Beatles were a rock music and pop music band from Liverpool, England that formed in 1960. During their career, the group primarily consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr ....
' use of the jangle sound in the songs "A Hard Day's Night
A Hard Day's Night

A Hard Day's Night may refer to:*A Hard Day's Night , a movie starring The Beatles*A Hard Day's Night , an album that serves as the soundtrack to the movie...
" and "Words of Love
Words of Love

"Words of Love" is a song originally written by Buddy Holly and recorded by him on April 8, 1957. Holly harmonized for himself, by tape-recording each part and combining them....
" encouraged many artists to use the jangle sound or purchase a Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker

Rickenbacker International Corporation, also known as Rickenbacker ), is an electric guitar manufacturer, notable for putting the world's first electric guitars into general production in 1932....
 twelve-string guitar. The Byrds
The Byrds

The Byrds were an American Rock music band. Formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964, The Byrds underwent several lineup changes, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group's disbandment in 1973....
 began using similar guitars after seeing them played in the film A Hard Day's Night
A Hard Day's Night (film)

A Hard Day's Night is a 1964 Cinema of the United Kingdom comedy film written by Alun Owen starring The Beatles?John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr?during the Beatlemania....
. Other groups such as The Who
The Who

The Who are an England Rock music band formed in 1964. The primary lineup was guitarist Pete Townshend, vocalist Roger Daltrey, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon....
 (in their early "Mod" years), The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys are an American rock band. Formed in 1961, the group gained popularity for its close harmony and lyrics reflecting a California youth culture of cars and surfing....
, The Hollies
The Hollies

The Hollies are an England Pop music band from Manchester formed in the early 1960s. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style they became one of the leading British bands of the era, and they enjoyed considerable popularity in many other countries although they did not achieve major US chart success until the early 1970s....
, and Paul Revere and the Raiders continued the use of twelve-string Rickenbackers. The Byrds, whose style was also referred to as folk rock
Folk rock

Folk rock is a musical genre, combining elements of folk music and Rock and roll.In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and Canada around the mid-1960s....
, prominently featured Roger McGuinn
Roger McGuinn

James Roger McGuinn is an United States singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds' hit records....
's Rickenbacker electric twelve-string guitar in many of their recordings.

The etymological derivation of the term "jangle" is uncertain. The term may be derived from the lyric "In the jingle jangle morning, I'll come following you" from The Byrds' cover of Bob Dylan's song "Mr. Tambourine Man
Mr. Tambourine Man

"Mr. Tambourine Man" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan and featured on his 1965 in music album Bringing It All Back Home, produced by Tom Wilson ....
", or it may be an onomatopoeia that refers to the chiming sound of a 12-string Rickenbacker guitar's upper-register strings. Jangle pop is related to the power pop
Power pop

Power pop is a popular musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American Pop music and rock music. It typically incorporates a combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs....
 genre that developed in the 1970s, including bands like The Raspberries
The Raspberries

Raspberries are a power pop/rock and roll band from Cleveland, Ohio, Ohio, United States. They had a brief run of success in the 1970s with Beatleesque songs, recalling the heyday of the 1960's "British Invasion"....
 and Big Star, who blurred the line between the two styles.

1980s

"Jangle Pop" was "an American post-punk
Post-punk

Post-punk was a popular musical movement with its roots in the mid to late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the early 1970s....
 movement of the mid-'80s that marked a return to the chiming guitars and pop melodies of the '60s." The article claims that while the style was spearheaded by the band R.E.M., it was "essentially a pop-based format" with "some folk-rock overtones." All Music claims that it was non-mainstream music with "deliberately cryptic" lyrics and "raw and amateurish" DIY production. Between 1984 and 1987, bands included "Southern-pop bands like R.E.M. and Let's Active" and a subgenre called "Paisley Underground" which incorporated psychedelic influences. An article in Blogcritics magazine claims that besides R.E.M., the "... only other jangle-pop band to enjoy large sales in America were the Bangles
The Bangles

The Bangles are an American all-female band that originated in the early 1980s, scoring several hit singles through much of the decade....
, from Los Angeles. While better known for their glossy hits like "Manic Monday", their first album and EP were organic, real jangle-pop efforts in a Byrds/Big Star vein, spiced with a dash of psychedelia on their debut."

Jangle pop influenced college rock
College rock

College rock was a term used in the United States to describe 1980s alternative rock before the term "alternative" came into common usage. So named because it was primarily played on campus radio stations, these bands combined the experimentation of post-punk and New Wave music with a more melodic pop style and an underground music sensibilit...
 during the early 1980s, as exemplified by early albums of R.E.M., Game Theory
Game Theory (band)

Game Theory was an United States Rock music band from 1981 to 1989. The group's lead singer, Scott Miller , went on to front the band The Loud Family ....
, The dB's
The dB's

The dB's were a power pop group of the late 1970s and 1980s. The bandmembers were Peter Holsapple, Chris Stamey, Will Rigby and Gene Holder, all of whom were from Winston-Salem, North Carolina....
, Let's Active
Let's Active

Let's Active was a jangle pop band based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The principal songwriter and sole continuous member was Mitch Easter, who kept the band active through most of the 1980s....
, The Connells
The Connells

The Connells are an United States band from Raleigh, North Carolina. They play a guitar-oriented, melodic, power pop style of rock music with introspective lyrics that reflect the American South....
, Guadalcanal Diary
Guadalcanal Diary (band)

Guadalcanal Diary is an alternative jangle pop group from Marietta, Georgia. The band formed in 1981 and disbanded in 1989. They reformed in 1997 and toured without a new album....
 and The Beat Farmers
Beat Farmers

The Beat Farmers were a cowpunk band who formed in San Diego, CA in August 1983, and enjoyed a cult following throughout the 1980s and early 1990s before the premature death of lead singer and drummer Country Dick Montana....
. In Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Travis County, Texas. Situated in Central Texas and part of the Southwestern United States, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 16th-largest in the United States....
 the term "New Sincerity
New Sincerity

New sincerity is a term that has been used in music, aesthetics, film criticism, poetry, and philosophy, generally to describe art or concepts that run against prevailing modes of postmodernism irony or cynicism....
" was loosely used for a similar group of bands, led by The Reivers
The Reivers (band)

The Reivers were a pop band from Austin, Texas formed in 1984 as Zeitgeist. However, they were forced to change their name in 1987 due to another band claiming prior rights to the name....
, Wild Seeds and True Believers.

The U.K. C86
C86 (music)

C86 is a audio cassette compilation released by the United Kingdom music magazine NME in 1986 in music, featuring new bands licensed from independent labels of the time....
 scene and twee pop share qualities with jangle pop. There were vibrant scenes in the UK (The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses

The Stone Roses were an English alternative rock band formed in Manchester in 1984. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement that was active during the late 1980s and early 1990s....
, The Brilliant Corners
The Brilliant Corners

The Brilliant Corners, a United Kingdom indie pop band from Bristol, England, recorded throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The group formed in 1983, taking their name from a Thelonious Monk jazz Brilliant Corners....
, Jazz Butcher
Jazz Butcher

The Jazz Butcher, also known as The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy and The Jazz Butcher And His Sikkorskis From Hell, are a blackly humorous and prolific Great Britain musical group founded by Pat Fish, a philosophy graduate from Oxford....
, Monochrome Set, The Popguns
The Popguns

The Popguns were an indie rock band which played a part in the United Kingdom jangle pop scene. Originally from Brighton, East Sussex, they formed in 1986 in music by vocalist Wendy Morgan, Electric guitar Simon Pickles and Greg Dixon plus Bass guitar Pat Walkington and were joined by Shaun Charman, the former Drum kit for The Wedding Present...
, Loft
Loft (band)

Loft is a German Eurodance band who had a number of hits in the 90's, including Hold On, Love Is Magic, Don't Stop Me Now, Mallorca and Wake The World....
, The Family Cat
The Family Cat

The Family Cat were a United Kingdom independent band formed in Stoke Newington, London in 1988. Three members were originally from Cornwall, one from Plymouth and one from Southampton....
, Felt
Felt (band)

Felt were a 1980s United Kingdom alternative rock band, named after the way Tom Verlaine enunciated the word "felt" in the Television song "Venus", and led by Lawrence Hayward ....
, James
James (band)

James are an England Rock music band from Manchester. They formed in 1981 and were active throughout the 80s, but most successful during the 90s....
), Australia (The Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens

The Go-Betweens were an internationally influential indie rock band from Australia, formed by guitarists Robert Forster and Grant McLennan in Brisbane in 1977....
, Hummingbirds, The Church) and New Zealand (The "Dunedin Sound
Dunedin Sound

The southern New Zealand university city of Dunedin spawned a style of indie pop music in the early 1980s known as "The Dunedin Sound"....
" of bands such as The Clean
The Clean

The Clean were an influential first-wave Punk rock band that formed in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1978. Led through a number of early rotating line-ups by brothers Hamish Kilgour and David Kilgour , the band settled down to the well-known line-up with bassist Robert Scott ....
, Mad Scene, Jean-Paul Sartre Experience
Jean-Paul Sartre Experience

The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience, later renamed JPS Experience after a lawsuit by the estate of Jean-Paul Sartre, were an indie rock band on New Zealand's Flying Nun Records....
, The Bats
The Bats

The Bats are an influential New Zealand Rock music Musical ensemble formed in 1982 in Christchurch by Paul Kean , Malcolm Grant , Robert Scott and Kaye Woodward ....
, The Chills
The Chills

The Chills are a guitar and keyboard-based rock band from Dunedin, New Zealand.In terms of public acclaim, The Chills were possibly the most successful proponent of the Dunedin Sound in the 1980s and 1990s, although they never achieved breakout sales or financial success....
).

See also

  • List of jangle pop bands
    List of jangle pop bands

    This is a list of jangle pop bands. Jangle pop is a genre of alternative rock popular in the 1980s.*The Bangles*The Beat Farmers*Belly*Big Dipper ...