Anyone visiting the MAPP offices on a Monday or Wednesday morning may be confused when they discover Led Zepelin’s “Cashmere” radiating through the concrete floors. But, for those who work and study at our school, this is a cyclical tradition tolerated by some, loved by many, and inspiring air guitar shreds in a chosen few. A fan favorite among the UMD undergrad underground, “History of Popular Music, 1950-Present” taught in the school’s auditorium for the past 10 years by Associate Professor of Musicology Dr. Richard King, explores the link between music and culture, and has written the soundtrack to our weekly workday. “I don’t mind it at all,” said Associate Professor Carl Bovill. “I went to college in the 60’s, so its all good memories of Rock n’ Roll.” Below, we talk with Richard to get the story behind the music:
This is a very popular course; most semesters you have a full auditorium. What do you hope students take away from it? My hope is that students learn more about the connection between music and culture. We cover everything from 1920’s jazz to today. We read and think critically about popular music and music writing, also having the students do a lot of writing themselves. So ultimately, it helps them become better writers too.
What kind of student takes this class? All types of students take this class. It’s a gen-ed course and satisfies that requirement, but it attracts students passionate about this stuff. We get students who want to learn more about contemporary music, but also students who know a lot already.
Have you ever gotten any comments from MAPP faculty about the course? Once, very early on, I got a complaint about the volume level during the section on heavy metal. Heavy metal, in its essence, is loud, but it also needs to be played loud!
Are there any genres of the music scene you loath to teach? Justin Beiber perhaps? Well, sure, there is music I am not a huge fan of, but it’s a small percentage. That’s the beauty of music; it has a way of beating you down and eventually, it’s going to win!
Why do you teach this course in the architecture building? There are several auditoriums that offer the technology that we need for this course, but we needed a venue with 300 seats. This is a really nice room to teach in, so after the first year here, I somehow managed to lock in the venue. It’s a great space, it’s very cozy.
Richard invites faculty and staff to pop into the auditorium any Monday or Wednesday and rock out. Learn more about History of Music here.