PopuLUs
The Centre for the Study of the World’s Popular Musics
2004-2008
Aims & Interests
PopuLUs, the Centre for the Study of the World’s Popular Musics, aims to develop knowledge and understanding in the areas of popular, traditional and world musics. It provides a focus for academic projects drawing on critical, cultural, historical and ethnomusicological approaches, and practice-led research in the areas of performance, composition and technology.
The specialised interests of the Centre include:
- the social and cultural impact of punk rock in the UK and US
- musical practices in Africa and Latin America
- the ethnomusicological study of musics of the Mediterranean
- the role of the popular-music press in the promotion and mediation of rock
- traditional songs and ballads of the English-speaking world
- approaches to pop and rock composition
- the uses of musical soundtracks in film
- the role of the studio in popular music-making in the 21st century
- the relationship between political activity and popular music
- issues of gender and sexuality in popular music
- the interaction of popular music and literature
Key Publications (current and most recent)
Helbig, Joerg, and Simon Warner, eds, The Summer of Love: Sex & Rock & Revolution (Trier, Germany: WVT, forthcoming 2008)
Warner, Simon, ed., Howl for Now: A Celebration of Allen Ginsberg's Epic Protest Poem (Pontefract: Route, 2005)
Warner, Simon, ed., Chapter&Verse: A Journal of Popular Music and Literature Studies, Three issues published online, 2004-2005
For full details of publications in this area, see individual staff pages and Publications and Resources
Events
Conference: 'The Sound of the Guitar: A Global Crossroads', 26/27 November 2004
Performance: Howl for Now, Clothworkers’ Centenary Concert Hall, School of Music, University of Leeds, 7 October 2005. DVD: Howl for Now, University of Leeds, May 2007
Launch of the Sir Peter Blake Music Art Gallery, School of Music, 10 February 2005
Jeff Wayne, Composer, interview/visit, School of Music, 19 May 2005
Pete Townshend, Songwriter, visit to the Sir Peter Blake Music Art Gallery, 17 June 2006
PopuLUs Seminar Series, 2006/07 (including papers by Prof David Looseley (Leeds), Dr Catherine Parsonage (Leeds College of Music))
Performance: Bill Nelson, Guitarist, interview/concert, Clothworkers’ Centenary Concert Hall, School of Music, University of Leeds, 28 April 2007
Conference: 'A Day in the Life: Sgt Pepper at 40', 19 June 2007
Personnel and Membership
Director: Simon Warner
Deputy director: Dr Kevin Dawe
Associate director: Allan Greenwood
Members (School of Music):
Tim Banks
Dr Katherine Brown
Dr Karen Burland
Professor David Cooper, Dean, Faculty of Performing and Visual Arts and Communication, University of Leeds
Dr Eno Koço
Professor Derek Scott
Associate members(external):
Professor Matthew Allen, Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts, USA
Professor Andy Bennett, Griffith University, Australia
Peter Blake, Artist
John Etheridge, Guitarist
Dr Vic Gammon, Newcastle University
Bill Nelson, Guitarist
Pete Smith, Publisher, promoter and former manager of the Chieftains
Professor Deena Weinstein, De Paul University, Chicago, USA
Contact details & mailing list
Simon Warner
Director, PopuLUs
School of Music
University of Leeds
Leeds LS2 9JT
United Kingdom
Website: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/music/populus/
E-mail: populus@leeds.ac.uk
