Midge Marsden Tunes In

Midge Marsden is a rhythm and blues musician - one of the best. He grew up in New Plymouth when pop music was changing so fast the local radio station couldn't keep up. Well, that's what Midge and his mate thought as they tuned in to a Sydney station.

This was the late 1950s and 1960s. For budding musicians, they were great years.

Rewind

What was happening in the late 50s and 60s? You decide. Just answer true or false and then check your answers at the end of this week's TreasureLink.

1. Rock and Roll has begun.

2. A singer called Elvis Presley is a huge star.

3. The Beatles begin and they will become the biggest pop group of all time.

4. Teenagers buy little black records called 45s.

5. The crew cut is the preferred hair style for teenage boys.

Answers at the bottom of the page.

The same today?

Midge grew up in the 1950s. What was life like back then? Look here and then decide if the things below still happen today.

Before and during the 1950s:

1. Men were usually the family breadwinners.

2. Very few married women had jobs.

3. Men did the outside jobs around home.

4. The rotary clothesline was thought to be a great invention.

5. The father of the house drove the car.

6. Most men had a workshop at home and did minor repairs to the house, car and bikes.

7. Dad repaired shoes on a last.

8. The father of the house usually decided how to spend money earned.

9. Most wives preserved fruit and bottled jam.

10. Many homes had their own vegetable gardens.

Rock and Rollers

The greats of rock and roll are still heard today and some came on the scene more than 50 years ago! Try this with a classmate. First decide if you have heard of the people or events in bold print and then find them on this timeline.

1. Elvis makes his first records.

2. Rock Around the Clock is sung in a movie.

3. Surf music from groups like the Beach Boys rule the airways.

4. Buddy Holly is killed in a plane crash.

5. The Beatles hit America.

6. The Monkeys TV series begins.

7. Half a million fans flock to the Woodstock music festival.

8. The Everly Brothers make their first recordings.

9. The dance craze The Twist takes off.

10. The music and songs of Bob Dylan are heard for the first time.

Now quiz your teacher. Have they heard of these people or events? Do they know when they happened?

What's this rhythm and blues?

Let's research.

This week's story calls Midge Marsden a rhythm and blues master. Look here to find out what rhythm and blues is:

It's a combination of _______ music and _______ music.

It was developed in the country of the _______ by _______ musicians.

Rhythm and blues music came before _______ and _______ and helped rock and roll develop.

So... what is blues music?

Look here and find out:

Where did blues music come from?

Has blues music been a part of any other music?

And what is jazz? Look here to find out:

Does jazz have a similar background to blues?

Jazz often has a lot of improvisation built into it. What is this improvisation?

Word watch

All the words and phrases below are in this week's story. Choose the best meaning and check your answers as you read the story.

1. tinkering (a) experimenting when you don't really know what you are doing or (b) repairing

2. at great sacrifice (a) giving away or losing money on what is sold or (b) giving up something valuable to achieve something that is thought more valuable

3. ethics (a) the rules or values a person sets for him or herself or (b) the right thing according to the law

4. gentle bribery (a)asking someone for a favour or (b) offering a reward if a special favour is done

5. playing by intuition (a) knowing how to play without actually learning it or (b) knowing how to play by copying others

6. conservative (a) traditional and not very daring or (b) boring

7. exotic places (a) fascinating and colourful places or (b) foreign places

8. extended their repertoire (a) got better at what they were known for or (b) did more of what they were able to do

9. catalyst (a) a reason for something happening or (b)  a chemical reaction

10. pyromaniacs (a) comic superheroes or (b) people who start fires over and over again

Answers at the bottom of the page.

Musical bribes

Midge Marsden is not the first person to skip some bits when learning a musical instrument but he has a good tale that tells you why.

Read the first part of this story and find out how Midge dodged the music theory when learning the piano.

A bit of rap

"Rap over the Knuckles" tells how Midge's music teacher quickly found out he wasn't reading the music. Read on!

Midge now wishes he had learnt his musical theory and says, "I regret it now." Why would this be? Midge is a very successful musician. Work out an example that shows how learning to read and write music could have helped his career.

A musical Morrie!

Auckland has a population today of around 1.5 million and has about 20 commercial radio stations. There's a radio station for almost every taste. Sydney has about 15 stations for about four million people.

Look here to see how many stations there are in Taranaki. Which one might Midge tune into now when he's in town?

When Midge was a lad they tuned into a Sydney radio station because Radio Taranaki didn't play what they liked. In those days the Government controlled the air waves so young listeners were ready for a pirate radio station.

Radio Hauraki was the first pirate and it's an interesting tale of songs and shipwrecks. Click here if you want to read more. Scroll down until you get to 1965.

Tiger Town

Read the next two parts of the story beginning with "Seamen and singles".

Midge says he's started to write a song about Tiger Town so find some images or memories that might be part of his song. "The coolest jukebox in town," might be one. List some more.

Wired for sound

Midge and his mate Lance didn't buy a radio, they built their own!  They set up their own telephone system and took the first steps to being DJs. Read all about it in the next three parts of this story. Read up to, "Music to watch girls go by."

You can still make these crystal radios. The site below tells you how. Skip the history and go straight to what you need and how to make it. This part is under the photo of the radio which seems to be pretty much the same as the one Midge and Lance made.

Look here for your crystal radio plans.

Cool dudes

What does it take to be a cool dude about town today - a movie making mobile phone or a boom box in a lowered Holden? Team up with a classmate and make a high five cool dude list before comparing lists with other pairs.

Read "Music to watch girls by" and find out about the portable record player. Now that was a cool machine.

Write speech bubbles for each of the characters in the cartoon. Match information from the story to the characters so we get a snapshot of life in the 1950s.

Road to stardom

Successful people don't sit around waiting for someone to spot them. They take action to make sure it happens.

Read through to the very last part of the story called, "There's a train a coming." Jot down the actions Midge took when he was young to make sure things happened for him. You should be able to find about six.

What fire?

Finish the story now and then write two newspaper headlines. The first should match the  actual story about the fire that appeared in the newspaper. The second should match the story that should have been written.

More from Midge

Click here to read more about Midge Marsden's career. This story tells you how Midge got his nickname and his first guitar and how he made a band when he couldn't really play.

Click here for a great tale of how Midge plays the harmonica until his lips bleed. You'll also read about the time he performed in New Orleans. The audience carried guns!

Fast forward

When Midge Marsden was a lad he bought records and helped keep the music industry moving. Retailers, record companies and artists made money from every record sold.  Now the music industry is under threat, by pirates.

Music stores in South Korea are nearly extinct. 95% have failed in the last five years. South Korea has the highest rate of broadband internet access in the world and the young people there use some of the most sophisticated gadgets you can get. This means a lot of free music downloads and other countries are following the trend.

Online piracy is theft. Last year lawyers wanted three Australian university students sent to jail. They created and ran a shared music website. The students didn't make any money but the music industry said the site cost them $60 million. The industry has come down hard on file-sharing sites but as soon as one closes down, another opens.

Soon listeners might hear an unexpected noise in their CDs. It could be part of the new anti piracy experiment. Standard CD players or CD ROMs will correct these errors and you won't hear them. Downloaded CDs however, will sound awful. They will pop and click and there will be blank bits.

So what do you think? Does this new technology trample all over your rights? Once you buy a CD should you be allowed to do what you like with it?

Form a group. Decide on the action you think the music industry should take and then list the consequences. Share your group's ideas in class.

Answers

Rewind

All true except number five. Hair is becoming longer and longer. Crewcuts are out!

Click to go back to the questions.

Word Watch

1a. 2b, 3a, 4b, 5a, 6a, 7a, 8a, 9a, 10b

Click to go back to the questions.