Ragtime – also spelled rag-time or rag time – is a musical genre that enjoyed its peak popularity between 1895 and 1918. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated, or "ragged", rhythm. The genre has its origins in African-American communities like St. Louis years before being published as popular sheet music for piano. Ernest Hogan (1865–1909) was a pioneer of ragtime music and the first to publish in the musical genre. He is also credited for coining the term ragtime. Ben Harney, a white Kentucky native has often been credited for introducing the music to the mainstream public. His ragtime compositions helped popularize the genre throughout America. Ragtime was also a modification of the march made popular by John Philip Sousa, with additional polyrhythms coming from African music. The ragtime composer Scott Joplin (ca. 1868–1917) became famous through the publication of the "Maple Leaf Rag" (1899) and a string of ragtime hits such as "The Entertainer" (1902), although he was later forgotten by all but a small, dedicated community of ragtime aficionados until the major ragtime revival in the early 1970s. For at least 12 years after its publication, "Maple Leaf Rag" heavily influenced subsequent ragtime composers with its melody lines, harmonic progressions or metric patterns.
Ragtime is a musical with a book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and music by Stephen Flaherty. The music includes marches, cakewalks, gospel and ragtime.
Based on the 1975 novel by E. L. Doctorow, Ragtime tells the story of three groups in the United States in the early 20th century: African Americans, represented by Coalhouse Walker Jr., a Harlem musician; upper-class suburbanites, represented by Mother, the matriarch of a white upper-class family in New Rochelle, New York; and Eastern European immigrants, represented by Tateh, a Jewish immigrant from Latvia.
Historical figures including Harry Houdini, Evelyn Nesbit, Booker T. Washington, J. P. Morgan, Henry Ford, Stanford White, Harry Kendall Thaw, Admiral Peary, Matthew Henson, and Emma Goldman are represented in the stories.
Productions
Original Broadway production
The musical had its world premiere in Toronto, where it opened at the Ford Centre for the Performing Arts (later renamed the Toronto Centre for the Arts) on December 8, 1996, the brainchild of Canadian impresario Garth Drabinsky and his Livent Inc., the Toronto-production company he headed. The US Premier was in Los Angeles in 1997 and ran one year before opening on Broadway on January 18, 1998 as the first production in the newly opened Ford Center for the Performing Arts. Directed by Frank Galati and choreographed by Graciela Daniele, Ragtime ran for two years, closing on January 16, 2000, after 834 performances and 27 previews. The original cast included Brian Stokes Mitchell, Marin Mazzie, Peter Friedman and Audra McDonald, who were all nominated for Tony Awards, and also included Judy Kaye, Mark Jacoby and Lea Michele. The production was conducted by David Loud.
Ragtime is a novel by E. L. Doctorow, published in 1975. This work of historical fiction is mainly set in the New York City area from 1902 until 1912, with brief scenes towards the end describing the United States entry into World War I in 1917. A unique adaptation of the historical narrative genre with a subversive 1970's slant, the novel blends fictional and historical figures into a framework that revolves around events, characters and ideas important in American history.
In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Ragtime number 86 on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Time magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-Language Novels from 1923 to 2005.
Plot summary
The novel centers on a wealthy family living in New Rochelle, New York, simply named "Father," "Mother," "Mother's Younger Brother," "Grandfather," and "the boy," Father and Mother's young son, who perhaps narrates the novel from the perspective of an adult reminiscing about the people and events of his childhood (the narrator is never identified as the boy, and could be, in fact, the adult child of Coalhouse Walker). The family business is the manufacture of flags and fireworks, an easy source of wealth due to the national enthusiasm for patriotic displays. Father joins the first expedition to the North Pole, and his return sees a change in the sexual politics of his relationship with his wife, who has experienced a taste of independence in his absence. Younger Brother is a genius at explosives and fireworks, but is an insecure, unhappy character who chases after love and excitement. He becomes obsessed with the notorious socialite Evelyn Nesbit, stalking her through the city and eventually embarking on a brief, unsatisfactory affair with her that leaves him even more isolated.
"Typical" is the debut single from New Orleans rock group Mutemath. The song was written in 2003 by Paul Meany and Darren King. The digital single was released on April 10, 2007. A physical single was released in the UK only on August 27, 2007. Josh Harris club remixes of the song were also released digitally to several outlets on September 18, 2007. The song is also featured as downloadable content for the Rock Band series of video games. The song was also featured in the 2009 film, The Stepfather.
Television and radio
The group has performed the song on both ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! and CBS' The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and the video began rotation on MTV Networks in May 2007 beginning with MTVu. An edited form of the song was featured on an advertisement for the Discovery Channel in the spring of 2008. It was also used in a promo for HBO in 2007.
As of late June, the single started receiving major airplay in Modern Rock and rose quickly up the Mediabase Alternative chart jumping from #115 to #65 and was also the second most added song on Alternative stations the week of June 13, 2007. The single then jumped to a peak position of #36 the first week of August 2007, remaining there for over 6 weeks and debuted at #39 on Billboard's US Modern Rock Chart the week of August 4, 2007 where it reached a peak position of #33.
Typical is a live album by Peter Hammill, recorded in 1992 and released in 1999. It is a double CD and was released on Hammill's own Fie! Records label. The album was recorded at nine concerts in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy.