| dbo:abstract
|
- Jewish artists have played a prominent role throughout the history of pop music and rock music. Already in the early 1960s, vocal groups such as The Tokens. and Jay and the Americans scored massive hits in the United States, the former also launching the 50+ year long career of singer and composer Neil Sedaka. Around the same time, the American folk music revival was taking place, bringing into the spotlight artists such as Peter, Paul And Mary (Peter being of Jewish persuasion) and The Weavers (fronted by Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman), and setting the stage for the emergence of Bob Dylan, probably the biggest Jewish rock star in history, and Simon & Garfunkel The Psychedelic scene of the late 1960s included predominantly Jewish bands Blood, Sweat & Tears and Country Joe and the Fish, as well Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, The Byrds, Grateful Dead, The Lovin' Spoonful and Quicksilver Messenger Service, all boasting Jewish musicians in their core lineups. Among other important bands to rise in the late 60's are Fleetwood Mac (founded by Peter Green), The Band (with Robbie Robertson) and The Turtles (fronted by Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman). The decade also gave start to the careers of singer songwriters Neil Diamond and Leonard Cohen, who would remain an enduring and influential presence for decades to come. The important rock music genres conceived and developed in the 1970s include hard rock, progressive rock, glam rock and punk rock, and Jewish musicians had distinguished themselves in all four. Pioneering hard rock bands included Van Halen and Blue Oyster Cult, both fronted by Jewish singers, and Aerosmith with Joey Kramer on drums. Among the leading progressive rock bands of the period there were Rush (fronted by Geddy Lee), Gentle Giant (with three Shulman brothers in the lineup) and The Alan Parsons Project (whose only constant member, apart from Alan Parsons, was Eric Woolfson). Later prominent prog musicians included Mike Portnoy, Jordan Rudess (born Rudes; keyboards); of Dream Theater and Trevor Rabin of Yes. Arguably the biggest glam rock band in the world had been Kiss, founded and perennially fronted by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, both Jewish, while on the other side of the Atlantic one of the British glam scene's brightest stars was Marc Bolan. Sparks (the brothers Ron and Russell Mael) had also started out as a glam rock band, before venturing in different directions in later years. Several important Jewish artists were among the pioneers of punk rock, starting with proto-punks The Velvet Underground (fronted by Lou Reed) and New York Dolls (with Sylvain Sylvain on guitars), and including most of The Dictators and two of Ramones. The Jewish presence in the British punk rock was less noticeable, the only big name there being Mick Jones of The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite. The punk-Jewish connection remained strong during the 1990s punk and ska punk revival, thanks to Jewish musicians in Bad Religion, The Offspring, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and other bands. On the softer side of the rock music spectrum, the 1970s gave birth to UK bands Dire Straits (formed by Knopfler brothers) and 10cc (boasting mostly Jewish lineup), and American jazz rock band Steely Dan (fronted by Donald Fagen). Prominent singer songwriters, whose career began or blossomed in the 70's, include Billy Joel, Carole King (who by then had already established herself as a prolific songwriter, before starting to perform her own songs), Carly Simon, Randy Newman and Warren Zevon, as well as crooners Barry Manilow and Michael Bolton. The Hard rock/heavy metal movement reached its pick in the 1980s, with bands like Guns N' Roses (Steven Adler on drums), Bon Jovi (David Bryan on keyboards), Anthrax (mostly Jewish original lineup, including the frontman Scott Ian), Megadeth (Jewish lead singer Dave Mustaine and, later, guitarist Marty Friedman) and Twisted Sister (fronted by Dee Snider). Other 1980s rock stars of Jewish origins included completely Jewish The Knack, predominantly Jewish J. Geils Band, Chris Stein of Blondie and two members of Bruce Springsteen's and Tom Petty's backing bands, E Street Band and The Heartbreakers, each. Jewish contribution to new wave included members of Culture Club, Oingo Boingo, Tears For Fears, Wang Chung, Berlin and Flying Lizards. Elsewhere in the 80's pop music, American singers Eric Carmen, Paula Abdul and Taylor Dayne, as well as the Brit Elkie Brooks, achieved a considerable success. The decade also saw the advent of rap and hip hop, and one of the first bands to achieve mainstream success were the all-Jewish Beastie Boys. While, understandably, the Jewish presence in the hip hop scene has not been very large, there are still several prominent Jewish performers, among them Drake, DJ Lethal of House of Pain, Lil Dicky and Doja Cat. Like hip hop, alternative rock and grunge also emerged in the 80's before reaching a far larger audience in the 90's. Among the early alternative rockers we can find two founding members of Red Hot Chili Peppers, drummer Mike Bordin of Faith No More and Perry Farrell, founder of Jane's Addiction and Porno For Pyros. The next decade saw the rise of Chris Cornell as lead singer of both Soundgarden and Audioslave, and Foo Fighters, whose lineup included no less than four Jewish musicians at different times. Around the same time the fusion of hard rock and hip hop had produced such genres as Rapcore and nu metal, spearheaded by Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park and Rage Against the Machine, all with Jewish musicians in the lineup. In UK, the 1990s were the decade of Britpop, with three of the prominent bands of the era - Elastica, The Lightning Seeds and Sleeper - fronted by Jewish vocalists. One of them, Ian Broudie of The Lightning Seeds, will forever be remembered as one of the authors and performers of the football anthem Three Lions, alongside David Baddiel, another member of the tribe. Another genre to emerge from the UK at that time was Acid jazz, spearheaded by Jamiroquai and their charismatic lead singer Jay Kay. Several prominent US rock and pop-rock bands of the 2000s have Jewish performers in the core lineups: Maroon 5, The Strokes, Fall Out Boy, Imagine Dragons, Black Keys, Vampire Weekend, MGMT, fun., The National. Meanwhile, Amy Winehouse had led the British R&B revival, and the likes of Mark Ronson and David Guetta dominated the dance scene on both sides of the Atlantic. Throughout the decades, nearly every all-female rock band - Goldie and the Gingerbreads, The Runaways, The Bangles, Shakespears Sister, Sleater-Kinney - featured at least one Jewish member. There was also Jewish presence in some of the all-girl vocal bands - the Wilson sisters in Wilson Phillips, three out of four members of All Saints and two of The Pussycat Dolls Finally, it's worth noting that there were several prominent Jewish names even in the history of the genres traditionally considered non-Jewish. Funksters Booker T & The M.G.'s and Sly and the Family Stone, as well a Latino rockers Los Lobos, had Jewish musicians in their lineups. (en)
|
