The Music Workshop Company Blog 

Each month the Music Workshop Company publishes two blogs. One blog, written by the MWC team addresses a key issue in Music Education or gives information about a particular genre or period of music. The other blog is written by a guest writer, highlighting good practice or key events in Music Education. We hope you enjoy reading the blogs. 
 
We embed multimedia content in many of our blog posts, if you have rejected cookies for this website, you may have white spaces where the multimedia content should be. This is due to a recent change of policy by YouTube, Spotify and other platforms. We are in the process of updating all our posts. If you come across white spaces in a blog post, you can open the link in another browser or private browser and approve cookies to access all the content. We are sorry for any inconvenience this causes. 
 
To contribute as a guest writer please email Maria@music-workshop.co.uk 

Posts tagged “POPULAR MUSIC”

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The Beatles in the recording studio

Posted on 19th November 2025 at 15:33
The Beatles publicity photo from 1963
Over a period of just seven years, the Beatles released as many as 12 UK studio albums, steadily developing their sound as they explored different musical genres, influences and recording techniques. Today, the Beatles still hold the title as the world’s best-selling music act. 
 
In this blog, we chart the progression of the band’s recordings from their first demos to their first album, “Please Please Me”. We look at some of the now legendary stories of those earliest recording sessions, and how a group who cut their teeth performing live eventually stopped touring to become a studio band. 
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The Twist – a song that spawned a dance craze

Posted on 15th July 2025 at 12:39
A couple do the twist on a dancefloor surrounded by spectators
The 1962 Dutch Twist Championships (photo by Wim van Rossem for Anefo, used under Creative Commons licence) 
It’s 45 years since Chubby Checker kickstarted a worldwide dance craze after performing his version of ‘The Twist’ on The Dick Clark Show. The phenomenon highlighted how music and movement so often go hand in hand. Even those of us who don’t play an instrument are familiar with the urge to move when we hear a particular track, whether it’s ‘The Twist’, or a favourite song with just the right rhythm. 
 
This month, we explore how Chubby Checker made the song, and the dance that went with it, famous. And we look at other examples of songs that triggered popular dance moves. 
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Is Grime Dead?

Posted on 17th September 2019 at 11:58
"I am first black British artist to headline Glastonbury. At 25 years old I am the second youngest solo act to ever headline Glastonbury, the youngest being a 24 year old David Bowie in 1971." 
 
The words of Stormzy as he headlined Glastonbury in June 2019. Some people questioned the announcement that Stormzy was to take the coveted Headliner slot at the festival. In an interview with BBC1Xtra, he answered the sceptics, saying, “There were so many doubters being like, ‘Oh, he hasn’t had a No 1 song’, or, ‘Oh, he’s got one album out, he’s not ready.’ I’m there because I’m a serious musician.” 
 
Image: Henry W. Laurisch, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons 
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