For this task I will be choose an artist from each decade between 2020 and 1920, to show how music has been influenced over the years and also how it has made me the musician I am today. The main people that inspired me were often involved in the ‘funk’ genre and most were women, so the artists I have chosen tend to all have been influenced by that in some way or another. The artists I am going to show you have not only influenced music, but have also influenced me and how I play today. The artists all have links to each other so I will do my best to explain that below. I am going to name the artist, explain how they are linked to others, and then how it affects me.
2020s: Dua Lipa
Dua Lipa, in my opinion, is a very talented artist that has been really successful already in 2020 and we are only a year in. She released an album in this year called ‘Future Nostalgia’ and it featured some amazing songs. It has an upbeat vibe to it and is full of dance pop anthems. There is an 80s funk sound to the whole album due to the bass sound and the straight yet complex drum beats, however many of her past songs feature this kind of music in too. You can tell she was influenced by 80s disco as her music sounds like a more modern version of a Cheryl Lynn or a Donna Summer track. The bass playing always stands out as it ‘pops’ and that’s what I love about her songs. The drums featured in it are always rather simple but effective and keeps the songs flowing throughout. The drumming on her tracks are fun to play and I enjoy listening to it, plus they give me inspiration as to why I still like to perform. She has proved that the music I like to play and hear, is still released in the world today, and not just something that ended a few decades ago. One of the best tracks from this 2020 album is ‘Levitating’, and I think it conveys the point I am making rather well:
2010s: Adele
Adele ruled the 2010s! She released two astonishing albums in 2011 and 2015 known as ’21’ and ’25’ marking her age at the time of release. She often expresses a great sadness through her songs but the outlook on her tracks is often very positive as she reveals her love life through song. She mentions in many interviews that her biggest inspiration is Etta James as she has often been compared to her. This is because of her powerful voice that she shows in both these albums. The influence from Etta James is quite obvious as the tone of Adele’s voice is similar and also there is a wide range of notes that she is also able to hit, from really low, to quite a high pitch. Adele covers many genres but the main ones are ‘soul’ and ‘R&B’ which again is influenced by many of the past people I mention below. Her music is just a modern version of this yet the same energy is expressed and she has become just as successful, if not more. The music itself doesn’t involve much drumming, but the drums that are used are simple yet effective. However the power and tone of her voice is what I love about her. It’s so refreshing to hear, especially because of the music that comes out now and it inspires me to try and create music similar. A song I find truly incredible of hers and probably her most popular, is ‘Rolling In The Deep’ from her 2011 album. Her voice is amazing and the ‘Etta James vibe’ is definitely shown and it also was the song that made me love Adele even more, again making me enjoy music so much more. Here it is:
2000s: Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse. She was such a wonderful woman, and she had the most rich and beautiful voice that inspired so many people, including me. Her bluesy/soul feel to her music influenced the likes of many and brought the R&B into the 2000s. She released the famous ‘Back to Black’ album in 2006 that managed to win her multiple awards, including a Grammy for her song ‘Rehab’. When it comes to drumming, one of my favourite songs to play is the one I’ve featured below because it’s not too complex, yet it’s so distinctive and enjoyable to play. Winehouse had a big impact on me as a child as I was lucky enough to remember listening to her songs on CD whilst she was still alive. Her look wasn’t the “typical” look and money didn’t change how she saw the world. That is a main reason to why I also liked her because she made me realise that money wasn’t that important and the music was all that mattered to her as she found enough pleasure in it to be satisfied. Her music often featured more then just the typical drum, bass, piano and guitar, but also contained trumpets and saxophones. That is what gave her tracks a 60s feel. The tone to her voice was deep and expressive and show her influences also took a toll on her vocals. She often said she was inspired by Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles, who are both Classic Soul singers. The riffs that Amy is capable of singing in her songs, are similar to Franklins and they sound incredible. The song below, I think represents my point well and hopefully shows the influence I was speaking about with her voice and also the music:
1990s: Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill was a very underrated, yet big part of the 1990s in my opinion. She helped shift R&B from a male dominating genre, to a female domination. She inspired many black female artists and gave them a platform to feel comfortable releasing their music. Hills debut album ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ was a masterpiece as she combined, hip-hop with R&B and added a touch of funk and soul. She influenced many black artists such as Beyoncé, Alicia Keys and Kanye West. She also has a huge influence on Adele through the feminist side to her work and gave Adele much inspiration when it came to writing her music. She showed the world what women are capable of accomplishing anything and opened many doors to up and coming female artists. Hill then went on to winning 5 Grammys and her one and only album won best of the year, and that was a first for the Hip-Hop genre. In all Lauryn’s songs, she shows off her deep and smooth vocals that are full of dexterity and control, making her voice pure bliss to listen to. Two of her biggest inspirations were Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin, who also appear on this list in two of the decades below. The control Franklin has with her voice, is similar to Hills, however Franklins is of course more powerful but you can definitely see the similarities. Hills music is featured in this list as more of a historical influence for me, due to the female empowerment it gave many women, including me. She is a big part of how music is today and I am grateful for this album that she released. The music is inspiring and has so many meanings beneath the lyrics in all her songs. I chose ‘Ex-Factor’ as a great example in proving the points I have just made. This song is motivating:
1980s: Diana Ross
One of the most iconic women in the 80s was Diana Ross, known for her funk and soul tracks! She rose to fame as the lead vocalist in The Supremes however she released 3 albums in the 1980s. She released her most popular album ‘Diana’ in 1980 and many classics featured on it like ‘I’m Coming Out’ and ‘Tenderness’. Her music was considered the ‘pop’ of then but is now placed in a disco/funk/soul genre as that is what it’s considered. She influenced the likes of Lauryn Hill, Whitney Houston, Beyoncé, Chaka Khan and also Dua Lipa through her lyrics and the music itself. Ross used basslines in her songs that stood out and were often very memorable, similar to Dua Lipa’s music now, conveying that the inspiration from her music is still strong even 35/40 years later. Diana’s influences however were Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, The Temptations and Billie Holiday. These influences are under the genre of jazz and blues, and it is expressed through Ross’ music, just more modern. She takes the structure of a blues song and just adds a more upbet drum groove and some strings. Her vocals are amazing and the skills she showed off were phenomenal, and they still are to this day. The song below ‘Upside Down’ is her best song in my opinion, and the quality of the sound is incredible. The beat is complex, the bassline is funky and the vocals are immaculate:
1970s: Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder is the first male to feature on this list, however he is definitely not the last. He is known for being genius and releasing some very incredible soul, R&B, and funk tracks. His tracks often featured a complex drum groove with a great snare sound featured in all songs and a very funky bassline. The best bassline is entailed in the song I have out below and it will be stuck in your head all day. Wonder had around 6 albums released in the 1970s, but the most influential one was ‘Songs In The Key Of Life’ that include ‘Sir Duke’, ‘Pastime Paradise’ and ‘Isn’t She Lovely’. The artists he inspired were Michael Jackson, Coolio, Janelle Monet and Prince. Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ is surprisingly similar (structure wise) to ‘I Wish’ by Stevie Wonder. They both feature s string bluesy bassline, horn riffs, a jumpy backbeat and distinctive vocals. Not only did he impact artists, but his lyrics also had political and societal reverence as he often preached about love and peace. Stevie Wonder has sold more then 100 million albums, won 25 Grammys and is the first male solo artist to ever accomplish this. He also went on to win a Golden Globe and many more awards which he definitely deserved. The song I have added below is the best in my opinion out of this particular album, and the energy expressed is great:
1960s: Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin is one of the best female vocalists of all time in my opinion, and I’m sure many others would agree. She is the definition of soul music. She had incredible range, being able to sing from G2 to E6 which is mind-blowing and her voice was so powerful. Her music shaped female empowerment, impacted the civil rights movement and addresses women’s rights. In the song ‘Respect’, she sung about how men needed to respect the woman more instead of it being the other way around. This inspired so many artists and gave them the courage to write about similar subjects. For example, Lauryn Hills ‘Doo Wop’, was about men not exploiting women, therefore having respect for them. Franklin also influenced Chaka Khan, Luther Vandross, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and many more. The power she gave to females in not only the industry but also in the world, was unbelievable and helped many women step up to the platform and express themselves without the judgement. She blended gospel with jazz, blues and R&B and added a gravitas to it with the message she always tried to give off. Aretha won 18 Grammys and has 5 of her tracks featured in the Grammys Hall Of Fame. One man quoted ‘So much of her music is an anthem for civil rights, for women’s liberation. She told those stories in her own music in a way that people could take those as their own’. This conveys that she had so much impact on the culture and where we are with music today. Two of Aretha’s biggest influences were Dinah Washington and Sam Cooke but Aretha has a bigger impact on others from her music. The song I have featured below is my favourite of hers. It shows off her astonishing vocals, a bluesy bass line and has an upbeat dancing energy to it. It brings me lots of joy, and is just one of the many songs that express her talents to the world:
1950s: Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald has the most wonderful voice in all of music, and classed as ‘the first lady of song’. She won 13 Grammys for her amazing, pure and impeccable vocals. She was known for being the Queen of Jazz because of scat singing in her songs, which was heavily influenced by Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker because of his be-bop styled music. She used the be-bop rhythms in her music and gave the world a blessing when she released music. She came out with many albums and tracks that became so popular in the United States and also across Europe. I have attached two songs for this decade as I wanted to highlight two different points. The first being, her talent for scat singing. This song ‘Airmail Special’ is mesmerising and so incredible to listen to:
The song below is one of my favourites as not only does it feature Louis Armstrong too, but it made me fall in love with music. Ella’s voice is perfect and it blends so well with Armstrong’s unique voice. Fitzgerald influenced so many artists with her music, some of them being Adele, KT Tunstall, Diana Ross and Lana Del Rey. Here is ‘Dream A Little Dream Of Me’:
1940s: Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker was known for his bebop styled Jazz in the 1940s, and also playing the Alto Saxophone whilst releasing many albums in this decade. He influenced many musicians around the world, not just jazz, and he made swing into a danceable genre, instead of just involving a matter of listening. This changed everyone’s views on Jazz as when he added the bebop style to it, the songs were more upbeat and people didn’t enjoy it at first. But it was soon seen as the cool new way of jazz, and therefore changed music. One of his most popular songs (which is the one featured below) is ‘Ornithology’ and it has a very fast drum groove in it, playing the hi-hat and ride cymbal quickly. It inspired me as a drummer and many others, and I’d love to be able to play jazz/swing like this at some point in my career. although it will definitely take a while. A glockenspiel can also be heard in it, giving it a unique sound but enjoyable too. The horn section is always loud in Parkers songs and can be heard easily over any other instrument, however it isn’t too overpowering and is enjoyable to hear. In his song ‘Ko Ko’ the speed of the drumming is mind-blowing and it sounds near impossible to play, but is so impressive. He influenced music of the famous John Coltrane and also Ornette Coleman. The song below is the best example there is of Charlie Parker and his bands talents:
1930s: Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller was a jazz musician, a trombone player in a big band and a composer/arranger. His first song was ‘Moonlight Serenade’ which I think is a beautiful song, consisting of the most graceful and charming instrumental pieces of all time, in my opinion. It became the signature song for The Glenn Miller Orchestra as it was their first number one hit. The music his band wrote and performed has stood the test of time and will forever define the era of Swing as they played well into the 30s, but unfortunately Miller died in 1944 due to the war. Glenn Miller was influenced by Duke Ellington but Miller had many a follower. He inspired some of the biggest artists including, Dean Martin, Buddy Rich, The Andrew Sisters and Stan Kenton. I added the ‘Moonlight Serenade’ below as this song has a lot of meaning to me as it reminds me of my grandad. It also sums up the 1930s for me and in my opinion, was the biggest change in Jazz during that decade. This song is beautiful and I could listen to it on repeat for hours.
1920s: Louis Armstrong
Although I don’t know much about music before the 1950s, I know that Louis Armstrong is one of the most influential musicians in Jazz history, turning Jazz into a fine art. Although he wasn’t as popular in the 20s, he did become known and that is how his career in the industry really started. He features in a song called ‘Cake Walking Babies’ by Clarence Williams Blue Five (1925), and he is just playing in the background until he seizes the spotlight at the 2:12 mark and takes everyone’s breath away. This is where he was really noticed. Jump forward to 1927 and we hear Armstrong’s distinctive voice for the first time in ‘Hotter Than That’ where he scat sings from about 1:20 into the song. He made the term ‘scat’ known to the world and it went from “some odd noise” to a form of art, which is exactly what it was. Using scat, he influenced Ella Fitzgerald, who we know as an amazing Jazz singer, and who then went on to duetting with Armstrong quite frequently. He also influenced Billie Holiday and she quoted “I think I copied my style from Louis Armstrong”. He had a very distinctive and recognisable voice that everyone enjoys. It’s enchanting and moving, which is why I attached this video below:
Fran Adams Drums 