Heartland Rock

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Heartland Rock is an American style of rock music that originated in the late 1970s and was widespread and commercially successful in the 1980s, especially in the USA. In the USA, Heartland is usually used to summarize those states that touch neither the Pacific nor the Atlantic coast. Consequently, the Heartland includes the Midwest and the so-called Bible Belt .

The style developed in the Midwest and can be characterized as a hybrid of folk , country and rock 'n' roll . Under the influence of various musical role models such as the Rolling Stones , the Byrds , Bob Dylan , Van Morrison and the Garage Rock of the 1960s, this typical American style of rock music emerged, which in its lyrics addressed the everyday life of the white lower class. Bruce Springsteen , John Fogerty , Tom Petty , Bob Seger and John Mellencamp are considered the most important representatives of Heartland Rock .

The music is structured rather simply and without frills. The instrumentation is traditional, it mostly consists of guitars, drums, bass and keyboard ; the harmonica is also often used.

The lyrics of this music genre are related to everyday American life and go beyond the level of pure light music in that they address social and societal problems. Milestones in the early phase of Heartland Rock were the two albums The River (1980) and Nebraska (1982) by Bruce Springsteen, the protagonists of the songs belonged to the white working class of the Midwest, had lost their jobs or simply their hope. Numerous musicians of this style were also involved in specific projects to alleviate social hardship or to help workers threatened with dismissal, but these actions - mainly in the form of donations and concerts - remained mostly on a humanitarian and charitable level, clearly political the musicians avoided to relate. In the US presidential election campaign in 1984, for example, this led to Springsteen being appropriated as like-minded people by both presidential candidates, Republican Ronald Reagan and Democrat Walter Mondale .

The Heartland Rock style had its greatest commercial success in the early and mid-1980s. Springsteen's great sales successes, apart from the hit Hungry Heart in 1980, were mainly between 1984 and 1987, with the title Born in the USA in particular developing political relevance. The most commercially successful years of Mellencamp, Petty and Seger also fall in the era of Heartland Rock.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heartland Rock. In: Allmusic . Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  2. ↑ Jon Pareles: Heartland Rock: Bruce's Children . In: New York Times , August 30, 1987 issue
  3. ↑ Robin Denselow: The Beat Goes on. Pop music and politics. Story of a hope . German translation by Hubert Mania. Reinbek near Hamburg: Rowohlt Verlag, 1991, p. 335
  4. ↑ compare: Joel Whitburn: Top Pop Singles 1995-1993 . Monomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc., 1994, p. 563; see also: Frank Laufenberg, Ingrid Hake: Rock- und Poplexikon. Vol. 2 . Düsseldorf / Vienna: Econ Verlag, 1994, p. 1426
  5. ↑ Catalog number Columbia 04680
  6. ↑ Robin Denselow: The Beat Goes on. Pop music and politics. Story of a hope . German translation by Hubert Mania. Reinbek near Hamburg: Rowohlt Verlag, 1991, p. 333f
  7. ↑ compare: Joel Whitburn: Top Pop Singles 1995-1993 . Monomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc., 1994, see on Mellencamp p. 399, on Petty p. 459f, on Seger p. 532f

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