Was Louis Armstrong a revolutionary? by Dr. Ethan Hein It’s complicated Read on Substack This week in US Pop History class, we are talking about early jazz, and that means talking about Louis Armstrong. If you are not deep into 1920s music, your relationship with him almost certainly begins and ends with this: Bob Thiele …
Tag Archives: music history
Teaching the history of 20th century American popular music
In the fall, I’m teaching a new music history class at NYU on 20th century American popular music. This is not a history of rock. When the department says “20th century”, they mean the entire 20th century. We don’t get to Elvis until after the midterm. The most difficult part is going to be the …
Continue reading “Teaching the history of 20th century American popular music”
DJ Earworm on the art of the mashup
DJ Earworm is the foremost practitioner of the art of the mashup. I don’t think there’s a more interesting musician in the world right now. I was on public radio with him once! His main claim to fame is the United State of Pop series, where he combines the top 25 US pop songs of …