Today was a Good Day: LA Music from Central Avenue to the Hollywood Bowl

Catalog description

How does music reflect a place, a time and a people? This course will be an investigation into today's music scene(s) in LA and how they evolved historically. From the Chicano legacy built in to Richie Valens' La Bamba to the influential sound of NWA to Kendrick Lamar, and the rich histories of 60s and 70s pop music and later to california punk and beyond, the musical genres and styles will be treated as cultural signifiers and ways to access histories of migration, labor, civil rights and the marketplace. Films may include The Decline of Western Civilization, A Star Is Born,Straight Outta Compton, Wattstax, Laurel Canyon, Los Punks, The Wrecking Crew, Amazing Grace