["The Key To Music" is a research project lead by Robert Fontana on the musical formulas that have made up the industry’s pop trends throughout these past decades.]
Introductory post
Part one on the keys of the 50’s
Part two on the keys of the 60’s
Part three on the keys of the 70’s
Michael is a big fan of minor keys, not oral hygiene.
The context of the 80′s: an altering industry
More than half of MJ’s nine #1’s of the 80’s were in a minor key.
The 80’s were fun. They brought such #1 artists like Blondie, Hall & Oates, Cyndi Lauper, Wham!, Falco, Bon Jovi, and Bobby McFerrin. I even got to intentionally Rick Roll myself with “Never Gonna Give You Up” which interestingly was in the key of D-flat major – a least popular major key of the decade. Hmmm.
Another notable hit was the Stars on 45 medley which changed keys 10 times!
It seemed like a time in music when anything was possible. The music industry was also evolving. CD’s were born in 1982. Record contracts were inflating. MTV propelled artists into megastars. Fashion, culture, art and philosophies were all changing as well.
I could go on and tell you about the trends of the 80’s and relate it to my project, but I’d rather let the results speak for themselves. For the sake of filler, how about I share some of the most annoying musical mistakes from an 80’s movie? It’s from The Goonies, when Andy is at the bone piano, trying to read the notes from the map in order to avoid the trap. At one point, she frantically says she can’t tell if the note is an A-sharp or B-flat. Umm, it’s the same note. Additionally, the map clearly shows a melody of notes with maybe a few chords. Every time she plays, it’s a chord. So, yeah…that’s wrong. And finally, she says one of the chords is “A, C-sharp and D.” Any music geek knew that’s NOT what she played. Geez! Strike three. I’m surprised they made it out of there alive!
Results from the 80’s
311 keys were identified from the 231 songs of the 80’s
27 less songs were used compared to the previous decade
Songs are starting to stay longer in the #1 spot…foreshadowing for the 90’s?
The winning key for the 70’s as well
(came in 2nd for the 50’s & 60’s)
Could the key of C have some sort of resonance with humans or is it the nature of ease with songwriting that makes it popular?
A 10% increase from the last decade – a trend that is gathering up steam
Are we becoming bored with songs in a major key? What is the growing appeal of minor key hits? Will minor keys soon be more common than major keys? (See chart above)
A slight increase from the last decade
After 25 years of #1’s, is a key change becoming more necessary in maintaining interest and appeal?
Each were used 11 times
Marks the third decade in a row as reigning minor key champ
90’s are next!
Editor – Music Resource Group
www.musiciansatlas.com
www.independentmusicawards.com
Fascinating! Especially re A minor and its relative major.
[...] May 14, 2009 by gigdoggy ["The Key To Music" is a research project lead by Robert Fontana on the musical formulas that have made up the industry’s pop trends throughout these past decades.] Introductory post Part one on the keys of the 50’s Part two on the keys of the 60’s Part two on the keys of the 70’s Part two on the keys of the 80’s [...]
[...] Introductory post Part one on the keys of the 50’s Part two on the keys of the 60’s Part three on the keys of the 70’s Part four on the keys of the 80’s [...]
I’m no good with keys.c2a0 I can pop ‘em off, but can never get them back on.c2a0 If I could, I’d be doing it eeeeverywhere.Also: the ones in my ofifce are all the new mac keyboards, so you can’t really pop the keys off.c2a0
Bueno como vemos, se murio Michael Jackson pobre – español
Michael Jackson is died :| – inglés
hello, beye
[...] down. But not this time. Since Micheal died our numbers have been going crazy thanks to this post: http://gigdoggy.wordpress.com/2009/05/01/the-key-to-music-part-4-the-keys-to-the-80s-pop-era/. It only contains one pic of Micheal’s thriller video and a couple of search terms related to [...]
mihael mikvar:*\
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