WHAT’S IN A NAME? IN THE NAME OF POP ( the ‘70s and ‘80s)

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

IN THE NAME OF POP ( the ‘70s and ‘80s)

Source: www.speakup.com.br

Standard: B1 Lower Intermediate

Speaker: Justin Ratcliffe

In the late 1970s punk returned to the style of names beginning with “The Bands upset the establishment with their controversial attitudes. The Clash means conflict. The Damned means condemned . The Pogues’ name comes from the Irish for “kiss my arse.” The Sex Pistols, with their combination of sex and violence, created moral panic.

After punk, names became more varied – like the music. The Cure sounds like an antidote to punk aggression. Morrissey chose the most ordinary English name for his band: The Smiths. Drummer Stewart Copeland perhaps called his band The Police because his father was CIA agent, but he joked that the name gave them free publicity in every country.

INITIALS AND ACRONYMS

Glam rock and new wave names were of the inspired by literature: design and cinema. Others took names form song titles or lyrics.

Another fashion used acronyms, initials and numbers. ABBA means father in Hebrew, but it also stands for the band members: Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny and Anni-Frid (Frida).  AC/DC means alternating current/direct current. The band chose it to suggest electrical power. They didn’t realise that it is also slang for bisexual.  R.E.M means Rapid Eye Movement, the state of sleep when we dream.

Some initials form words when they are spoken. XTC sounds like ecstasy; INXS suggests “in excess.” Other bands shortened their names: Electric Light Orchestra to ELO; Orchestra Manoeuvres in the Dark to OMD. The origin of U2’ name is debated. It may be the classroom where the band met, or an Irish unemployment form, or a US spy plane shot down during the Cold War it also suggests interactivity: “you too.”

WEIRD AND WONDERFUL

The 1980s saw a resurgence of bizarre names. Some sound like corporations: Public Image Limited, the style Council. Other conjure up comical images of the band Super Furry Animals, Manic Street Preachers, Half Man Half Biscuit. There was new fashion for using complete sentences.

Heavy Metal favours metallic name (Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Metalica, dangerous names (Poison, Antrax, Guns’n’Roses), dark and biblical names (Black Sabbath, The Darkness, Exodus, Armageddon).

The ‘80s ended as the ‘70s began, with drug and dance culture flourishing in 1967’s Summer of Love. The Flowerpot Men mixed “flower power” with pot” (cannabis), although “Bill and Ben the Flower Pot Men” was also the name of a famous children’s TV programme on the BBC.

In 1989’s Summer of Love. The Stone Roses were still combining flowers with getting “stoned.”

BAND NAMES FROM SONG TITLES AND LYRICS: (no audio available).

Rolling Stones is a Muddy Waters song. Simple Minds is a phrase in David Bowie’s song “Jean Genie.”

Sisters Of Mercy is a Leonard Cohen song, named after a religious order. The Small Faces were inspired by The Who’s song “I’m the Face.”

BANDS AND LITERATURE

The Velvet Underground is a book about sex by Michael Leigh (right). The Doors of Perception is a book about psychedelic drugs by Aldous Huxley.

Steppenwolf is a Herman Hesse novel. Supertramp: from Autobiography of a Super tramp by R.E.Davies.

The Birthday Party (Nick Cave) is a play by Harold Pinter. Joy Divison: from the novel The House of Dolls by “Ka-Tzetnik 135633.”

Marillion: from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Silmarillion. Savage Garden: from The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice.

ART AND REVOLUNTION

Bauhaus was a school of architecture in Berlin’s Spandau Prison. Depeche Modele is a French fashion magazine.

Eurythmics: an art and movement therapy from the 1890s.

BANDS WHICH ARE COMPLETE SENTENCES

Pop Will Eat Itself/ Curiosity Killed the Cat Johnny Hates Jazz/ Dead Can Dance Yo La Tengo. 

IN LOVE WITH THE LOBSTER

Source: http://www.speakup.com.br

Source of the picuture: http://ogunquitlobsterpound.com

Driving along the New England coast in Summer, you will see many “lobster shacks” or “lobster pounds.” The coast of Maine (with Nova Scotia in Canada) is the best place to eat lobster in North America Maine’s clean cold waters have a multitude of nutrients, and the lobstermen fish responsibly. The restaurants usually have a big tanks with cold water which contains various lobsters walking around at the bottom of the tank. The lobster’s claws are tied together so they don’t hurt each other – or the restaurant personnel. The claws also have the most succulent meat! Diners choose the animal they want to eat – maybe the lobster with the most spectacular colour or the most vivacious temperament. The victim is fished out, weighed, cooked –and shortly afterwards it is on the table. Fast food…as long as you know how to eat it of course!

PRISON FOOD!

Just imagine: in the past, lobster were used as fertilizers or fed to prisoners. Today, they are very expensive. One problem is that there are not so many of them around anymore.

Lobsters are omnivores and can live up to a hundred, but mortality is high. Only to a hundred eggs becomes a lobster that can legally be caught. Lobsters are well protected by their hard carapace as they grow. They are very vulnerable to predators.

LOBSTERS IN LITERATURE

Meanwhile, lobsters have also entered popular culture. As the distinguished writers D.H Lawrence once said: “Europe’s the mayonnaise, but America supplies the good old lobster.” Surrealist artist Salvador Dali made a sculpture “Lobster Telephone.”  As seafood, lobster are supposed to be good for your love life. The B52s first single, in 1978, was “Rock Lobster.” And if you spend too much time in the sun this summer, you might become lobstered!

INTERVIEW

Language level: B2 upper intermediate 

Speaker: Chuck Rolando

Standard: American accent

DOWN MAINE

One of the many attractions of the State of Maine in New England is the delicious lobster meat that you can eat in restaurant, all along the coast. Bill Hancock runs Maine’s oldest lobster restaurant, the Ogunquit Lobster Pound, which first opened for business in 1931. As he explains, today lobster is considered an expensive delicacy, but that wasn’t always the case:

Bill Hancock:

Standard: American accent

Lobsters have been around for a long time. And in the old days there were so many of them that you could literally walk down to the beach at low tide and picked them up. And they were considered a poor man’s’ meal because nobody really wanted to eat them and you couldn’t afford steak, so you would eat lobster.

They used to serve them in prisons all the time. They used to use them for fertilizer. And now it’s one of the most expensive things you can go buy in a restaurant, so, you know, you figure it out!

Speak Up in Class, Nikka Costa

Before started to answer the question listen to the podcast about Nikka Costa I blogged yesterday. 

Source: http://www.speakup.com.br

Language level: A2 Pre-Intermediate

Standard: British accent

Speaker: Jason Bermingham

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? NIKKA COSTA

BEFORE YOU READ.

TASK 1. Speaking. With your partner(s) discuss these questions.

a) Do you know who Nikka Costa is?

b) Why is/was she famous?

c) Who are your favourite musical artists? Why?

d) Who are your favourite film stars? Why?

e) What types of music do you like? Why?

f) What types of movie do you like? Why?

TASK 2. Glossary. It is a good idea to familiarise yourself with the vocabulary in the glossary before you do the reading TASKS. Work with your partner(s). Try this idea:

a) Cover the Portuguese words/phrases and look at the English words/expressions only. Do you know any of these words/expressions in English? Write your ideas. Check them with other members of the class.

b) Look at the glossary and check your ideas. How many are correct?

c) Test yourself and/or your partner(s). It is not important to memorise this vocabulary, but to be familiar with it. 

READING

TASK 3. Prediction. You are going to read about Nikka Costa. Before you read, answer this simple quiz. If you don’t know the answer, guess.

1. Nikka Costa was famous . . .

a) in the 1960s

b) in the 1970s

c) in the 1980s

2. She was . . .

a) a child actress

b) a child pop star

c) a child comedian

3. She was . . .

a) Italian American

b)Brazilian

c) American

 

4. She was born in . . .

a) Italy

b) USA

c) Japan

5. Her parents were . . .

a) ordinary people

b) in the music industry

c) influential politicians

6. An important person in Nikka’s early career was. . .

a) Tony Renis

b) Adriano Celentano

c) Gianni Morandi

TASK 4: Reading for Specific Information: Read the first paragraph of the text as quickly as possible. Were your ideas correct? Compare with other students.

TASK 5. Prediction #2. Before you read the rest of the article about Nikka Costa, discuss these questions with a partner and make some notes. If you don’t know the answer, guess.

a)    Why was the song “On my Own” important for Nikka?

b)    Why was “On my Own” not released in the USA?

c)    Why did Nikka retire from music aged 11?

d)    Nikka later made a return to music. Where was that, and in which decade?

e)    How many albums has Nikka recorded?

f)    Is she still active in the music industry today? Why (not)?

TASK 6: Reading for Specific and Detailed Information: Read all of the text and find answers to TASK 5. How many did you guess correctly?

AFTER YOU READ

TASK 7. Speaking and/or writing: Discuss these questions with your partner(s). If you like, you can write your opinions for homework and show them to your teacher.

a) What do you think about child celebrities? Why?

b) Is it right for parents to encourage their children to become famous? Why (not)?

c) “Children need to play and study only.” Do you agree? Why (not)?

d) “We need to encourage and develop naturally talented children. Not all children are the same.” Do you agree? Why (not)?

e)  Are there any child celebrities you admire today (sports, movies, music, TV)? Why (not)?

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? NIKKA COSTA

Source: http://www.speakup.com.br

Language level: A2 Pre-Intermediate

Standard: British accent

Speaker: Jason Bermingham

Nikka Costa was child pop star during the early 1980s. She seemed to disappear soon after that, but in actual fact she has continued with her professional singing career.

Nikka Costa’s real name is Domenica Costa and she was born in Tokyo on June 4^th, 1972. She came from a musical family: her father, Don Costa was a composer and arranger, and her mother, Terry Ray Costa, was a singer. Her parents were friends with Tony Renis, an accomplished singer and producer who was a big success in Europe. Renis recognised the Costa daughter’s talent and helped launch her career.

INTERNATIONAL HIT

Nikka’s most famous hit came in 1981, when she was just eight years old. “(Out Here) On My Own” was a big hit in Brazil, but also in many other countries. Indeed the only country where it wasn’t a hit was in the United States, where Nikka lived. The single wasn’t released there. This was because Nikka’s parents wanted their daughter to have a normal childhood and not be ruined by success. In the USA the song was recorded by Irene Cara.

A couple of years later tragedy struck: Nikka was only 11 when her father died. Nikka withdrew from music altogether, although she did make a return, as a teenager, at the Sanremo Festival in 1990. As part of a trio she sang “All for the Love.” The 1990s saw only album release, but Nikka seemed to make another comeback in 2001 with the album, Everybody’s Got Their Something. The little track was used for the TV series, Buffy, while another song, “Push & Pull,” was used for the soundtrack of the Johnny Deep Movie, Blow. Her album, 2005’s Can’t Never did Nothin’, was also  well received and featured guest appearances from Prince and Lenny Kravutz. Her latest album, Pebble to a Pearl, was described by the critic David Wild as “her most direct and convincing music statement yet.”

FUNKY LADY

Like many artists today, Nikka Costa has not had a good relationship with record labels. She has said that being with a major label was like being “on the deck on the Titanic.” Today she has her own label and its name refers both to her musical style and to her attitude towards the record industry: it’s called “Go Funk Yourself Records.”

GLOSSARY

In actual fact: na realidade.

Hit: Sucesso

Childhood: Infância

Struck: golpeou, abalou.

Withdrew from music altogether: retirou-se totalmente da música.

The title track: A canção, título.

Soundtrack: Trilha Sonora.

Featured guest appearence: Contava com a contribuição de convidados.

Pebble to a Pearl: “De pedrinha à pérola.

Her most...musical statement yet: sua mais convicente produção musical até agora.

Record labels: Selos gravadoras.

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MOUNTAIN MADNESS

Source of the picture: http://www.ecotoursvictoria.com





Source: www.speakup.com.br

Language level: A2 Pre intermediate

Speaker:John Peterson

Standard: British

MOUNTAIN MADNESS

I always asked myself why people go to the mountains. For me, mountains are just big boring rocks, but many people love going up them, so there must be a reason.

So when my friend Marco invited me to a weekend in the mountains, I went. The day went like this: Marco woke me up very early. I looked at my watch and saw that it was FIVE o’clock in the morning!

“It’s five o’clock!” I shouted, “I have never woken up at five o’clock in the morning in my life!”

“Come on!” he said, “we have to go.”

THAT HAT!

I looked at Marco and saw, with total horror, that he was wearing a green “Alpino” hat with a feather in it.

I put my big bag on my back and when we opened the door I could immediately feel a terrible, cold wind on my face.

It was also raining heavily. “Aren’t you happy?” Marco smiled, “it’s raining, just like in England!”

Now I knew that I was with a complete psychopath. “OK,’ I said, “I need my umbrella, just wait a moment.” Marco was shocked: “Umbrella? You can’t take an umbrella up in the mountain! Listen, put this on.”

Now this is very difficult to believe, but Marco was offering me another green “Alpino” hat, with a feather in it!

“You don’t serious think I’m going to put that on my head, do you?” I said. “Somebody might see me!”

“There’s nobody outside at five in the morning, “he said. “Of course, there isn’t!” I said “nobody else is so stupid!”

TORTURE

When we are outside we started walking. It was horrible. My shoes were useless and my feet were cold and wet after five minutes.

“Can we stop and rest?” I asked. Marco started shouting: “We’ve only been walking for 10 minutes! We have another five hours to walk!”

Five hours? This was very bad news, of course, but I really wanted to see why people endured this nightmare, so I was patient and I walked.

Up and up we went and all I could see was rock. I continued to ask myself why, oh why people did this! … I was wet, cold and tire.

After two hours I said: “Please, Marco, can we go back?” “We’re almost there,” he said, “I want to show something. Do you want to know why we’re here? Well, soon you will see.”

After another three hours of incredible fatigue, we stopped. We were there, we had arrived at the place where I could finally see the reason for being there.

Marco was looking down with a big smile on his face. Slowly I looked down too and I saw the magic reason for this torture.

“Mushrooms”” I shouted. There were three mushrooms on the ground, that’s all there was: “We risked our lives in the rain, the cold and the wind for five hours, for mushrooms!”

EMERGY

Marco took one of the three mushrooms and ate it. I ate one, too. “NO!” Marco shouted, “that one was poisonous!.” He immediately started calling someone on his mobile phone.

Oh, my God, was I going to die? I looked down the mountain and thought: “Well, at least I won’t have to walk another five hours down the mountain in the rain!”

The helicopter arrived about 30 minutes later and took me to hospital. They pumped my stomach and I was fine, but guess what time the nurse woke me for my injections? That’s right: five o’clock in the morning! 

Speak Up in Class Extreme Celebrations (A2)

Before starting to do the exercise check out the linkhttp://englishtips-self-taught.blogspot.com/2011/07/stag-nightextreme-celebrations.html

AG NIGHT...EXTREME CELEBRATIO

source:   www.stagnightuk.com 

Source: www.speakup.com.br

Language level: A2 Pre-intermediate

Standard accent: British

Speaker: Rachel Roberts

WORKSHEETS

2011

Extreme Celebrations (A2)

A – Before you start

Answer the questions with a partner.

1. It's the custom for British men to to organise a celebration with their friends  (stag night) before their wedding? Do Italian men have a similar custom?

2. If so, how do they usually celebrate?

3. Do women have some kind of celebration, too?

B – Listen and answer

Read these statements. Then listen (without reading) and write T (true) or F (false).

1. Traditional stag night celebrations used to take place at the groom's house.

2. The female version of the stag night is the "hen party".

3. Some people pay a company to organise their "stag do".

4. Bill Parsons didn't expect to do bungee jumping during his stag do.

5. Women never choose extreme activities for their celebration.

6. Nowadays stag dos involve less alcohol than in the past.

C – Read and answer

Read the article and the Information boxes and answer the questions.

1. Why is the stag night usually called a "stag do" now?

2. What kind of arrangements may be necessary for a stag do nowadays?

3. Where in London can you do bungee jumping?

4. Why did Bill Parsons do one?

5. What do many women prefer to do?

6. What reason does Jean Webb give for her choice?

7. What shows that bungee-jumping is very popular at the moment?

8. What effect does Zorbing have on people?

9. What do you have to do before walking on fire?

10. Where does the name Stag Night probably come from? 

D – Learn it! Use it!

Complete these sentences with words from the glossary. (You may have to adapt the expression in some way; e.g. change the verb tense, or change from singular to plural.)

1. The mountain rescue team tied a ________ around the man's chest and pulled him up into the helicopter.

2. We've decided on the date of the meeting but we haven't chosen a ________ yet.

3. The man had on a short-sleeved shirt which revealed his strong ________ arms.

4. Mary works for a company that ________ special equipment for school gyms.

5. Three enemy ________ were destroyed on the first day of the battle.

6. Tim bought his mother an abstract painting and she hung it ______  ______ by mistake.

7. They're building a skyscraper over there, where those tall ________ are.

8. The egg ________ off the table and fell on the floor.    

E – Ready for KET? (Paper 1: Reading and Writing, Part 6)

Read the descriptions of some words connected with getting married. Write the missing letters.

1.     The ceremony in which people get married.           w _ _ _ _ _ _

2.     A woman who is getting married is a bride.

        Instead this is the word for a man.                               g _ _ _ _

3.     The man's friend and witness.                              b _ _ _    _  _ _

4.     This is a long luxurious car that some

people hire for a celebration.                                l _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

5.     You make these when you organise  an event.               a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

6.     You have to make this if you want to have your

        reception at a hotel or restaurant.                        r _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

F – Check your pronunciation

One of the four words in each group has a different vowel sound. Which one?

1.     solve                 women      modern     stop

2.     bridge       lift            still           high

3.     prove                rope          chose                boat

4.     country     bounce      courage     month

G– Talk about it

In pairs or groups.

1. Are there any special customs or superstitions connected with weddings in Italy or in your region?

2. Have you ever tried bungee-jumping or Zorbing?

3. If not, would you like to?

4. Do you think young people in Italy drink as much as young people in Britain?  


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