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Skidmore College
Music Department

MU106 Great Composers

Sixties British Songwriters
Schedule

Date Class materials
Week 1
4 Sept
class 1
Introduction
  • Requirements, grading, etc.
  • Postwar Britain: war debt, infrastructure, teenagers, and the Establishment
  • The British Song Tradition: Child ballads, broadside ballads, & music hall
  • Musical vocabulary and approach: describing a song (song <> performance)
Week 2
9 Sept
class 2 
Early British Rock and Pop
  • Lionel Bart, Tommy Steele, & Mike Pratt: "Rock with the Caveman" (October 1956)
  • Ian Samwell: "Move It" (August 1958)
  • Billy Fury: "Maybe Tomorrow" (January 1959)
  • Les Vandyke: "What Do You Want?" (November 1959)
  • Frederick Heath: "Shakin' All Over" (June 1960)
11 Sept
class 3
  • Jerry Lordan: "A Girl Like You" (June 1961)
  • John Schroeder & Mike Hawker: "Don't Treat Me Like a Child" (February 1961)
  • Geoff Goddard: "Johnny Remember Me" (August 1961)
  • John Beveridge & Peter Oldman: "A Picture of You" (May 1962)
  • John Lennon & Paul McCartney: "Please Please Me" (January 1963)
Week 3 Quiz 1
16 Sept
class 4
The Beat Boom
  • Mitch Murray: "How Do You Do It?" (March 1963)
  • John Lennon & Paul McCartney: "From Me to You" (April 1963)
  • Gordon Mills: "I'll Never Get Over You" (June 1963)
  • Mitch Murray: "I'm Telling You Now" (August 1963)
18 Sept
class 5
  • John Lennon & Paul McCartney: "Bad to Me" (July 1963)
  • ——: "She Loves You" (August 1963)
  • ——: "I Wanna Be Your Man" (November 1963)
  • ——: "I Want to Hold Your Hand" (November 1963)
  • ——: "This Boy" (November 1963)
 Week 4 
23 Sept
class 6
Beat Boom Pop
  • Ivor Raymonde & Mike Hawker: "I Only Want to Be with You" (December 1963)
  • Dave Clark & Mike Smith: "Glad All Over" (November 1963)
  • Gerry Marsden: "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" (April 1964)
  • Keith Richards & Mick Jagger: "Tell Me (You're Coming Back to Me" (April 1964)
25 Sept
class 7
  • John Lennon & Paul McCartney: "A World without Love" (February 1964)
  • ——: "Can't Buy Me Love" (March 1964)
  • ——: "You Can't Do That" (March 1964)
  • Mort Shuman & Clive Westlake: "Here I Go Again" (May 1964)
  • Ken Howard & Alan Blaikley: "Have I the Right" (June 1964)
Week 5 Quiz 2
30 Sept
class 8
Early Britpop
  • John Lennon & Paul McCartney: "A Hard Day's Night" (July 1964)
  • ——: "If I Fell" (July 1964)
  • Ray Davies: "You Really Got Me" (August 1964)
  • Geoff Stephens: "The Crying Game" (July 1964)
2 Oct
class 9
  • Keith Richards & Mick Jagger: "As Tears Go By" (June 1964)
  • Rod Argent: "She's Not There" (July 1964)
  • Eric Burdon & Alan Price: "I'm Crying" (September 1964)
  • Van Morrison: "Gloria" (November 1964)
  • John Lennon & Paul McCartney: "I Feel Fine" (November 1964)
Week 6 
7 Oct
class 10
  • Tom Springfield: "I'll Never Find another You" (December 1964)
  • Keith Richards & Mick Jagger: "Heart of Stone" (December 1964)
  • Tony Hatch: "Downtown" (November 1964)
  • Pete Townshend: "I Can't Explain" (January 1965)
  • Les Reed and Gordon Mills: "It's Not Unusual" (January 1965)
9 Oct

Yom Kippur

Week 7
14 Oct
class 11
  • John Carter & Ken Lewis: "Funny How Love Can Be" (January 1965)
     ♦ ——: "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat" (February 1965)
  • Tom Moeller & Gregg Parker: "Concrete and Clay" (February 1965)
  • Keith Richards & Mick Jagger: "The Last Time" (February 1965)
  • ——: "Play with Fire" (February 1965)
16 Oct
class 12
Class Guest: Mitch Murray 
Week 8 Quiz 3
21 Oct
class 13
Mid-sixties Britpop
  • Donovan: "Catch the Wind" (March 1965)
  • Graham Gouldman: "For Your Love" (March 1965)
  • John Lennon & Paul McCartney: "Ticket to Ride" (April 1965)
  • ——: "Yes It Is" (April 1965)
23 Oct
class 14
  • Ray Davies: "Set Me Free" (May 1965)
  • Pete Townshend: "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" (May 1965)
  • Graham Gouldman: "Heart Full of Soul" (May 1965)
  • Donovan: "Colours" (May 1965)
  • Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway: "You've Got Your Troubles" (July 1965)
Week 9
28 Oct
class 15
  • John Lennon & Paul McCartney: "Help" (July 1965)
  • ——: "Yesterday" (August 1965)
  • Ray Davies: "See My Friends" (July 1965)
  • Jonathan King: "Everyone's Gone to the Moon" ( July 1965)
  • Keith Richards & Mick Jagger: "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (August 1965)
30 Oct
class 16
  • Graham Gouldman & Charles Silverman: "Look through any Window" (August 1965)
  • Ray Davies: "Well Respected Man" (August 1965)
  • John Lennon & Paul McCartney: "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" (September 1965)
  • Graham Gouldman: "Evil Hearted You" (September 1965)
  • Mick Jagger & Keith Richards: "Get Off of My Cloud" (October 1965)
Week 10

Quiz 4

4 Nov
class 17
  • Jackie Edwards: "Keep on Running" (November 1965)
  • Pete Townshend: "My Generation" (October 1965)
  • John Lennon & Paul McCartney: "Day Tripper" (December 1965)
  • ——: "We Can Work It Out" (December 1965)
6 Nov
class 18
  • George Harrison: "If I Needed Someone" (December 1965)
  • Paul Samwell-Smith, Keith Relf, & Jim McCarty: "Shapes of Things" (February 1966)
  • Ray Davies: "Dedicated Follower of Fashion" (February 1966)
  • Keith Richards & Mick Jagger: "Paint It Black" (May 1966)
  • John Lennon & Paul McCartney: "Paperback Writer" (June 1966)
Week 11
11 Nov
class 19
Psychedelipop
  • Steve Marriott & Ronnie Lane: "All or Nothing" (August 1966)
  • Pete Townshend: "I'm a Boy" (August 1966)
  • Geoff Stephens: "Winchester Cathedral" (September 1966)
  • Steve Winwood: "Gimme Some Loving" (October 1966)
  • Donovan: "Sunshine Superman" (December 1966)
13 Nov
class 20
  • Keith Richards & Mick Jagger: "Ruby Tuesday" (January 1967)
  • John Lennon & Paul McCartney: "Strawberry Fields Forever" (February 1967)
  • Syd Barrett: "Arnold Layne" (March 1967)
  • Barry Gibb & Robin Gibb: "New York Mining Disaster, 1941" (April 1967)
  • Ray Davies: "Waterloo Sunset" (May 1967)
Week 12 Quiz 5
18 Nov
class 21
  • Gary Brooker, Keith Reid, & Matthew Fisher: "A Whiter Shade of Pale" (May 1967)
  • John Lennon and Paul McCartney: "All You Need Is Love" (July 1967)
  • Mick Jagger & Keith Richards: "We Love You" (August 1967)
  • Dave Mason: "Hole in My Shoe" (August 1967)
20 Nov
class 22
  • Tony MacAuley & John MacLeod: "Baby, Now that I Have Found You" (October 1967)
  • Peter Townshend: "I Can See for Miles" (October 1967)
  • Eric Burdon, Vic Briggs, John Weider, Barry Jenkins, & Danny McCulloch: "San Francisco Nights" (October 1967)
  • Steve Marriott & Ronnie Lane: "Tin Soldier" (December 1967)
  • Peter Callander & Mitch Murray: "Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde" (December 1967)
Week 13
25 Nov
class 23

The New Traditionalists

  • Roy Wood: "Fire Brigade" (January 1968)
  • John Lennon & Paul McCartney: "Lady Madonna" (March 1968)
  • Keith Richards & Mick Jagger: "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (May 1968)
  • ——: "Street Fighting Man" (May/December 1968)
  • Donovan: "Hurdy Gurdy Man" (May 1968)
27 Nov

Thanksgiving

Week 14
2 Dec
class 24
  • Justin Hayward: "Voices in the Sky" (June 1968)
  • John Lennon & Paul McCartney: "Hey Jude" (August 1968)
  • ——: "Revolution" (August 1968)
  • Jack Bruce & Peter Brown: "Sunshine of Your Love" (May/September 1968)
  • Roy Wood: "Blackberry Way" (November 1968)
4 Dec
class 25
  • Ian Anderson: "Living in the Past" (May 1969)
  • George Harrison: "Something" (November 1969)
  • John Lennon: "Come Together" (November 1969)
  • Paul McCartney: "Come and Get It " (December 1969)
  • Ray Davies: "Victoria" (December 1969)
Week 15
9 Dec
class 24
Quiz 6
Song Comparisons Due
17 Dec 6:00 PM     Final