r
gg
Sep 2017 - p.5
Birmingham's culture of popular music first
developed in the mid 1950's. By the early 1960's
the city's music scene had emerged as one of the
largest a most vibrant in the country; a seething
cauldron of musical activity with over 500 bands
constantly exchanging members and performing
regularly across a well-developed network of
venues and promoters. By 1963 the city's music
was also already becoming recognised for what
would become it's defining characteristics: the
refusal of it's musicians to conform to any single
style or genre.
Birmingham's tradition of combining a highly
collaborative culture with an open acceptance of
individualism and experimentation dates back as
far back as the 18th century and musically this
has expressed itself in the wide variety of music
produced within the city, often by closely related
groups of musicians, from the "rampant
eclecticism" of the Brum Beat era, to the cit city's
"infamously fragmented" post punk scene, to the
astonishing range of distinctive and radical
electronic music produced in the city from the
1980's to the early 21st Century.
The diversity and culture of experimentation has
made Birmingham a fertile birthplace of new
musical styles. During the 1960's the Spencer
Davis group combined influences from folk, jazz,
blues and soul.
Heavy metal was born in the city in the 1970's by
combining the melodic pop influence of Liverpool
the high volume guitar based blue sound of
London and compositional techniques from
Birmingham's own jazz tradition.
The Ska revival grew out of the West Midlands
uniquely multi-racial musical cuculture. The likes
of the Beatles , Rolling Stones and Nirvana all
played here and the region spawned the likes of
the Apple Jacks, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath,
Judas Priest, Duran Duran, UB40, Wizard, Slade,
The Beat, The Streets to name but a few.
The Birmingham Music Awards
celebrates the
global phenomenon that is music and highlights
the best of the first class creatives in the second
city with an amazing awards event. As well as the
awards themselves, the event features live music,
food and drink with industry professionals in
attendance.
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