On October 24 1972, the world heard the infectious grooves and seamless vocal delivery of the song Superstition for the very first time.
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Articles on Music history
Displaying 1 - 20 of 45 articles
For thousands of years, music has been an essential part of the human experience.
Pianos can seem like members of a family; but new homes for them can be hard to find.
On Renaissance, Beyoncé pays tribute to the queer history of house and disco music.
There was something about her voice, her way with a song. But there were lessons to be learned from her music, too.
Olivia Newton-John leaves a legacy as a sweet girl-next-door type with a sublime voice, who embraced the country that claimed her as its own.
Judith Durham was lead singer of The Seekers and a solo artist. One of Australia’s most recognisable voices, she has passed away at 79.
Presley never wrote a memoir. Nor did he keep a diary. His music could have been a window into his inner life, but he didn’t even write his songs.
Rising to prominence in The Exorcist soundtrack and the first album from Richard Branson’s Virgin Records, the layered sounds of Tubular Bells became a template for further innovation.
Cassette tapes are in again – and this time, it’s smaller artists who look likely to gain.
Eddie Van Halen has died aged 65. He will be remembered for his virtuoso playing, particularly his groundbreaking, two-handed, finger-tapping technique.
During a tour to Australia, Little Richard feared the nuclear apocalypse and – on stage – annonced he was giving up music.
A rare set of photographs of South Africa’s most famous jazz ensemble, the Blue Notes, has added valuable insights to the music archive
Some covers are recorded as a nod to the legacy of the original, only to end up becoming the definitive version of the song.
Song by song streaming services may be hurting the album commercially, but its place in our cultural lexicon will be harder to shake.
CC BY-ND27.6 MB (download)
A podcast on what music does to our brains, and why it moves us.
Banned from the BBC, denied its rightful place on the charts, ‘God Save the Queen’ – released 40 years ago this month – remains one of the most controversial protest songs of all time.
The 29-year old Johannes Brahms had his first major public success with his piano quartet in G minor, but not everyone gave it glowing praise.
For those on Rolling Stone’s list of 100 Greatest Artists, their life expectancy is on par with the people of Chad, the nation with the lowest life expectancy in the world.
In the internet era, musical artists freely distribute their songs and encourage fans to attend live shows. The Dead did this for 40 years.
Top contributors
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Director, Institute for Popular Music, University of Rochester
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Adjunct Lecturer of American Studies, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
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Associate Professor in Guitar, Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, The University of Melbourne
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Associate professor, Music Industry, RMIT University
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Professor of Creative and Performing Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, University of Melbourne, The University of Melbourne
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Associate Professor of Musicology and Director of Academic Program, Music, Western Sydney University
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Musician, lecturer, Western Sydney University
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Senior Lecturer in Communication, University of Technology Sydney
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Head, Interactive Composition , Faculty of the Victorian College of the Arts and Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, The University of Melbourne
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Senior Lecturer in Music, Newcastle University
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Lecturer in Music Industry, RMIT University
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Professor in Film, University of Southampton
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Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne
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Lecturer in the Sociology of Gender, Macquarie University
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Associate Professor and Head of Composition, The University of Melbourne
