The
Jersey Shore sound is a genre of
rock and roll popularized at the
Jersey Shore on the
Atlantic Ocean coast of
New Jersey,
United States, that goes by a variety of names or, more often, is defined by its artists. A synthesis of pre-
Beatles rock and roll and pre-
Motown rhythm and blues, the genre enjoyed a vogue from roughly the late 1960s through the mid-1980's, although it still exists today.
Origins
The Jersey Shore sound evolved from the mixing of pre-Beatles rock and roll,
rhythm and blues,
doo-wop, and the urban culture of the
Mid-Atlantic states, especially
Pennsylvania (more specifically
Philadelphia),
Maryland,
Rhode Island,
New York, and, of course, New Jersey. The form has a strong
Italian-American influence, in as much as many of the form's key precursors and artists, from
Frankie Valli through
Bruce Springsteen, are of Italian ancestry and urban background.
Characteristics
Jersey Shore music shares two thematic elements with its contemporary (and in many respects related) genres of
Heartland rock and
Roots rock: a focus on the daily lives of people (in this case, those living in the stereotypically industrial society of
Northern and
Central Jersey), and a sense of being the underdog (a theme in the genre from
The Four Seasons' "
Rag Doll", "
Walk Like a Man", and "
Big Man in Town" and through
Bruce Springsteen's
Darkness on the Edge of Town). The New Jersey sound has also been heavily influenced by Italian
accordion music. In...
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