Overview

The New Wave of American Cinema emerged in the 1960s amid seismic social, cultural, and political shifts. Where the films of the Silent era and the Golden Age had relied on classical music compositions to score their narratives, the emergence of the New Hollywood movement introduced a reliance on popular music. This blending of film and commercial music, accompanied by instrumental innovations like the synthesizer, fundamentally reshaped the soundscape of cinema and reflected broader cultural and industrial change. This book traces the evolution of film music from the 1960s through the 1980s, examining its development from aesthetic, industrial, and technological perspectives. It highlights pivotal moments such as the incorporation of jazz scores, the rise and fall of New Hollywood, the emergence of the Blaxploitation genre, the MTV era, and the underground No Wave movement that developed in New York City in the late-1970s to the mid-1980s. Drawing on conversations with composers, sound designers, and industry executives, this study offers rare insights into the creative processes and industry dynamics that transformed the relationship between music, culture, and American film.

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9781476694009

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Author Information

Wayne Byrne is an Irish author and film historian. He has written on film and music culture for a variety of notable publications and has published books on subjects such as Tom DiCillo, Burt Reynolds, Nick McLean, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Walter Hill. Amanda Kramer is an American musician. She has recorded and toured with many bands over the last four decades and has been a member of The Psychedelic Furs since 2002. She lives in East Sussex, England.

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