There will be five listening examples. You will be asked to
state the usual: song title, artist/band, and a couple of
musical characteristics/decade.
Most questions are multiple choice. There will be a few
short answer.
Be familiar with the entity known as MTV. Know what it is
and when the mad scientist said ... "It's alive! It's
ALI-I-I-VE!!"
Be able to name a prominent 1980s heavy metal band or two.
Be able to give a reasonable definition of rap ... in your
own words.
Be able to name a rap artist or two.
Be familiar with the characteristics of New Age music.
Be able to name some female and male mega-stars who were
prominent during the 1980s.
Be able to identify the chronological order for the format of
recorded media to date. We'll skip the 8-track, but know which
came first, the chicken or the duck re the 7-inch single, 12-inch
LP, cassette tape, CD, DAT.
Any idea which pop/rock album is the biggest selling to
date? Might wanna find out.
Be able to name some groups that were destructive on stage.
If any of our '80s artists had a backup band with a particular
name, you might care to familiarize yourself with matching
band/artist.
There will be a little trivia here and there. In general,
know something of the backgrounds of our artists. Also, some
are well-known for a particular thing, such as guitar technique,
appearance, etc.
Know the country of origin for any of our '80s bands.
Know what hip-hop is ...
Know who was instrumental in first bringing rap to the spotlight
in the U.S. (New York). Alas, the answer to this may not lie
in the text. Do pay attention to the videos. ;-)
... And that's about it.
