The Beatles Influence on Rock-and-Roll

The Beatles are one of the most innovative rock bands of all time. They have not only changed the way rock and roll is looked at, but also the way that the music is recorded. They have influenced the artists of the 60s and the 70s, and also many generations later and to come. Originating from Liverpool, England, the Beatles, or the Fab Four, consists of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Topping the charts in ’63 with â€Å"Love Me Do,† and bringing in the highest rated viewing in history while performing on the Ed Sullivan Show, the Beatles are definitely a band that broke the sound barrier of rock and roll.They used unique sounds in their music and weren’t afraid of experimenting in the studio, they even welcomed accidental occurrences and toyed around to get the sound they were looking for. Artificial double tracking was invented during the recording of their album Revolver and also a new technique on miking strings. They paved the way for other British Bands in America and even had full-blown imitators, like the Monkees, that copied everything from their look, to the spelling error in their name, and their campaign. They also helped create a whole new genre of music called folk rock.Their influence is still seen in today’s musicians, such as the band Oasis, who compare their music constantly to the Beatles. The Beatles Influence on Rock-and-Roll â€Å"The impact of the Beatles – not only on rock and roll but on Western culture – is simply incalculable. As musicians, they proved that rock and roll could embrace a limitless variety of harmonies, structures and sounds; virtually every rock experiment has some precedent on Beatles records. † Said by the Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll, could not be any more wrong.The Beatles had a huge impact on not just rock and roll, but music as a whole, as well as influencing the technology used to record their music. They weren’ t afraid of experimenting and instead of producing music they produced art. Their influence is seen all over the world, but no one has come close to the fame that was Beatlemania. The Beatles originated from Liverpool, England and consists of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. They first started playing shows in Hamburg, Germany as a skiffle band in 1960.In 1962 they released their first single â€Å"Love Me Do,† which reached the number one spot on U. S. charts in May of ’63. Their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in February of ’64 brought in over 73 million viewers, the most in U. S. history. By April 1964, they held the first five places in the Billboard Hot 100. The Beatles were one of the biggest influences on music during the 60s and 70s. Their music, to this day, remains more widely known than any other music of the rock era. They have brought new sounds and ideas in their music and revolutionized the idea of rock and roll.Their work was always invested with originality, using unique sounds in their music, which is most dramatically seen in Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. They used many studio effects on this album, including reverberation, echoes, and reverse tape effects. They experimented with sounds that no other bands used, and had great success with it. They created their own material, breaking the Tin Pan monopoly of song writing, setting in motion revolutionary changes in the music publishing industry. They wrote songs for fellow artists and even encouraged the Rolling Stones to write their own music. The Beatles were the first group to use the recording studio as a writing tool, building up complex song arrangements by multi-tracking and importing orchestral textures and avant-garde effects under the guidance of producer George Martin† (Glassman).In Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, instead of using traditional breaks in between songs, one tracked merged i nto the next, which were linked by studio talk, laughter, electronic noises, and animal sounds. They also used audio tricks involving steam organs, orchestras, sitars, and even a pack of foxhounds in full cry at the end of â€Å"Good Morning, Good Morning. The use of animal sounds were actually first used in the Beach Boys album Pet Sounds that the Beatles admired. When asked the Beach Boys where they got their innovation for Pet Sounds, the Beatles Rubber Soul album was what inspired them. â€Å"A Day In The Life,† the last song on the album, featured â€Å"what Lennon described as ‘a sound building up from nothing to the end of the world’† (Lazarescu). The song â€Å"Strawberry Fields Forever† fused two different versions of the same song and used reverse-tape cellos for an eerie effect.After George Harrison used sitar on the song â€Å"Norwegian Wood,† other bands like the Byrds, Yardbirds, and the Rolling Stones, soon followed incorporat ing Eastern-influence sounds into their work. Paul McCartney once said, â€Å"We would say, ‘Try it! Just try it for us. If it sounds crappy, OK, we’ll lose it. But it might just sound good. ’ We were always pushing ahead: Louder, further, longer, more different† (â€Å"All About Jazz†). The Beatles had complete access to Abbey Road studios free of charge, spending hours upon hours experimenting and writing music.They used the studio as an instrument in itself. They were the first band to push musical and technological boundaries. They took advantage of accidental occurrences in the recording process. You can see this in â€Å"I Feel Fine† where there is feedback and also in â€Å"Long, Long, Long† where there is a resonating glass bottle. They also deliberately toyed with situations and techniques that would further chance effects. An example of this is in â€Å"I am the Walrus,† where they used a live mixing of a UK radio broa dcast into the fade of the song, and also the chaotic assemblage of â€Å"Tomorrow Never Knows. Ken Townsend invented artificial double tracking (ADT) during the recording of Revolver because Lennon didn’t like singing a song twice. ADT is still widely used for instruments and voices; however, it is now mostly known as automatic double tracking. Other influences the Beatles had on technology were the use of close miking the strings by engineer Geoff Emerick when recording. In 1966 that was a radically new way of miking strings, and now it is common practice. The Beatles were also the firsts to use direct injection to record McCartney’s bass on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.This is done by connecting the bass to the recording console via an impedance matching DI box. The Beatles paved the way for other British bands in America. The Beatles were the first British group to break into America and since the Beatles were able to have fame in the US, they gave other British bands the possibility of making it in America. Such bands were Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, and the Searchers, who were all also managed by Brian Epstein. Other British bands that followed the Beatles were the Rolling Stones, the Who, and the Yardbirds.The Rolling Stones had a raunchier dirty bad boy look, different then the clean-cut look of the Beatles. As the 1970s began, you can see the Beatles influence in artists like Elton John and Pink Floyd. In America, the most blatant imitators of the Beatles were the Monkees, who even calculatedly misspelled the name just like the Beatles. The Monkees were four actors portraying longhaired whimsical musicians; however, their music was actually performed by studio musicians. They copied the Beatles to a tee, including their campaign.Before the Beatles came to the US, their manager Brian Epstein had Capital Records spend $50,000 on a campaign, plastering posters all over the country stating, â⠂¬Å"The Beatles Are Coming,† and gave disc jockeys records of interviews with the Beatles to feel like they were actually making personalized interviews. For the Monkees, â€Å"The band’s label spent $100,000 on an ad campaign that involved seventy-six advance men, who distributed thousands of posters proclaiming ‘The Monkees Are Coming’ and provided preview records to 6,000 disc jockeys† (Szatmary 125).After the assassination of President John Kennedy, the whole country was at a low point and the Beatles brought them back to happier times, especially the folk artists. A lot of folk artists felt like the protest was over after Kennedy was killed. Kennedy was making a change in the country, but after his death, they felt like there was no more fight left in them. Bob Dylan, one of the major folk musicians of the era, just gave it all away and went towards the more electrified sounds of the Beatles.Gene Clark, who at the time was part of the folk group the New Christy Minstrels, was on tour when he first heard the Beatles song â€Å"She Loves You. † â€Å"I must have played it 40 times in the two days the New Christy Minstrels were playing that town,’ he later enthused. ‘I knew, I knew that this was the future† (Szatmary 140). Gene Clark later quit the New Christy Minstrels and formed his own band with Roger McGuinn and a few other former folk musicians. They called themselves the Byrds, misspelling it to emulate the spelling error in the Beatles.They combined Dylanese folk, vocal harmonies and Beatles music to create folk rock. Other folk bands that switched to folk rock were the Turtles, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, and Scotland’s folk singer Donovan Leitch, which Paul McCartney was featured singing with him on his song â€Å"Mellow Yellow. † One other band was Lovin’ Spoonful who owed their debt to Dylan and none other than the Beatles. When new wave and punk music started in th e late 1970s, their sound and style could still be heard in artists like the Squeeze, the Police, and Elvis Costello. Their music has spoken not only to its own time but to every generation since† (Campbell, Brody 168). In the late 1980s a new style of music called â€Å"baggy† originated from Manchester. The musical devotees sported Bealte-esque haircuts and drew heavily on the 1960s. They fused Beatles psychedelic with electronic elements taken from the simultaneously developing acid house scene. You can see the Beatles influence in the guitar style and song arrangements of the Stone Roses, guitarist John Squire cited them as one of his main influences.The mid 90s saw a whole new host of Beatles influenced bands. The band Cast, which was formed by guitarist John Powers in 1994, has Lennon-esque vocals and memorable songs, which are still reaping the rewards. In 1995 a Liverpool band called the Boo Radleys had both the Beatles pop and psychedelic styles. Songwriter/gui tarist Martin Carr told Melody Maker in 1994 that, â€Å"There's never been a time when they haven't been a part of my life† (Glassman). The Gallagher brothers, who formed the group Oasis, lived and breathed the Beatles.They even named dropped the Beatles whenever they could in interviews. They would write their own melodies and then arrange them in a Bealte-esque style, but with a rocky, attitude-dowsed edge. â€Å"It's beyond an obsession. It's an ideal for living. I don't even know how to justify it to myself. With every song that I write, I compare it to The Beatles,’ Noel Gallagher told Q in 1996† (Glassman). Of the eight years that were the Beatles, no band has received more attention from fans, musicians, and scholars. Their music tells us more about the sixties than any other band.Their influence is seen in music and even the technology used to record music. From their first album Please Please Me (1963) all the way to their last album Hey Jude (1970), n o band has seen such a diverse selection of songs, going from retro one minute to folk-influenced the next. With their use of experimentation, they have opened a whole new door to the way rock is heard, converting even folk musicians, like the Byrds, to their style of music. You can still hear their inspiration in music even in today’s bands such as Oasis. Yet no one has seemed to copy the sound that was the Beatles.

Knowledge Questions for Unit Hsc 44

The account should focus on the actions of the candidate; it must include dates when activity took place. If responses to questionsare used then indicate this and attach the questionsWrite your account in here. As a candidate, make sure you describe and explain your actions.Knowledge Questions for Unit HSC Who draws up the Code of Practice for Social Care? The General Social Care Council. Outline features of systems used in Lincolnshire in respect of confidential reporting of issues of concern. The council has its own policy which helps to inform on bad practice, difficulties between staff members and complaints ect. This isthe ‘whistle blowing’ policy and it was designed in order to protect those wishing to make a complaint and to avoid such things as victimization. Although anonymous, complaints are still dealt with the same seriousness as named complaints although it is preferredthat applicants with complaints should not be anonymous. When the Children’s act 2004 was published it contained some major changes for the way in which services were to be delivered. Take one and explain in your own words the advantages this brings for the wellbeing of children and their families. The Childrens Act 2004 brought about many changes and most significant was the Every Child Matters campaign that runs along side the 2004 act. For the Act itself the main change that helps in the work that I do is the implementation of the CAF. This works in line with the need for inter-agency working. I think this is one on the most crucial changes of the Act, and as the Victoria Climbie inquiry showed many agencies were involved with the case and through lack of communication, information sharing and joint working Victoria Climbie died at the hands of her aunt. One of the many advantages is local authorities drive for inter-agency working. Through this many agencies are trying to change their way of working and with the help of the CAF more agencies are invited to the first meeting when a child has been shown to have additional needs. On the whole the process is proving to be more focussed on the child and family and this reduces any stigma for the families as in the past most cases where always referred to social workers. Families and children are now seen more often and social workers can now focus on the more complex and child protection cases. Through inter-agency working families and children are given the help that meets their needs and reduces the need for long term involvement. 8a Outline the features of the Dfes initiative â€Å"Building a Culture of Participation† This initiative is led by the government in their commitment to allow children to have a say in how policies affect them and to contribute to how a service is delivered. By listening to children and young people it ensures that policies and services are designed around their needs. This leads to better outcomes for children, young people and families. It also allows for policies to be effectively evaluated and evolve as necessary. 9a Outline the Common Assessment Framework. Explain why this Government initiative has been introduced and its purpose. The CAF was implemented in 2006 in order to have a universal assessment form that could be used by all agencies and professionals. This was in line with some of Lord Laming’s recommendations after the Victoria Climbie enquiry. As a universal document it reduces the need for repetitive assessments and focuses more on the child and family and multi agency working. The CAF process can start at any time once it has been identified that a child has an additional need. Once agreed all information is shared between the agencies involved again reducing the chance of a child ‘falling through the system’. As the CAF is aimed at early intervention some one such as a school teacher can be the lead professional allowing more serious cases to be dealt with by social workers. As children can often have what was once deemed as minor issues and not warrant the classification as a child in need, through the CAF they are classed as having additional needs which allows professionals to work with the child and family. Once a child that has been highlighted as a CAF they can move in and out of the system as identified issues arise. 9bc Summarise the targets of the combined health and education initiative â€Å"Healthy schools†. The national healthy schools programme promotes a whole school approach to health. The programme is a joint initiative between the department of health and the department for children, schools and families. It aims to deliver benefits for children on improvement in health, raise pupil achievement, more social inclusion and a closer working between health promotion providers and education establishments. The public health white paper choosing health (2004) set a challenging target for 75% of schools to achieve healthy school status by 2009 and for all schools to work towards this target. Through a planned curriculum schools can promote learning and healthy lifestyle choices. The four core themes within the programme are: Healthy eating Physical activity PSHE Emotional health and well-being. 12 How does the Joint Annual Review shape the way in which Children’s Services are delivered locally. You may wish to discuss Lincolnshire’s last JAR and comment on how the recent Service restructuring has been a result of this. The Children’s Act requires joint area reviews to be conducted in each children’s services authority area. The multi-disciplinary team of inspectors review all services provided to children and young people aged 0 – 19. There are around 42 key judgements which relate directly to the five outcomes highlighted in the every child matters framework. Through the Lincolnshire JAR report published in March 2007 it was proved that there was a need for better facilities for all children aged 0 – 19. There are now plans to develop a further 23 children’s centres by 2008. Through this service restructuring the aim is to shift the balance of services from interventionist to a preventative approach. The strengthening families will work with partner agencies to deliver the five outcomes for the every child matters. This is where children’s services as a targeted service interface as part of a universal service. 16e Identify the risks to effective working caused by stresses on the work force and recommend what action can be taken. When work becomes too stressful for an individual it can cause a knock on effect throughout the staff team and the cases in which the individual is working on. The individual can start to have more days off sick which could cause other staff members to add to their workload in taking on those individuals cases. Stress can also cause the individual to lose direction and focus in the cases they work on and this can result in a reduced quality of service for those particular families. Stress in the work place can be identified early and then reduced by regular supervision. Supervision gives the individual a chance to discuss their cases and anything that might be causing them to feel stressed. Supervisors are then able to help supervisee’s in managing there stress before it gets to the point where it affects all that they do. Staff meetings are another opportunity to get together on a regular basis with other team members as it’s a chance for everyone to discuss their working role as well as any difficult cases they may have. This gives a chance for positive reinforcement by the manager on the work that is being done and also a chance to ‘brainstorm’ ideas that might help with the work. 17 Explain in a short paragraph how the Social Model of disability affects children and their families which you work. The social model of disability says that people are disabled not by their impairment, but by society that does not take account of their needs and prevents them from having full access to society due to physical, communication and social barriers. A large majority of the families that I work with fall into the category of being disabled by society. Those families that are most disadvantaged are those living in poverty. Families face multiple stresses which can affect a child’s needs. If a parent struggles to provide an adequate environment for a child this will impact on the child’s developments and the parent’s capacity to care for the child. CHILD A CHILD B No dependence on social security benefits Household receives multiple enefits Two parent family Single adult household Three or fewer children Four or more children White Mixed ethnic origin Owner occupied home Council or privately rented home More room than people One or more persons per room 18a/b See 8a above. 18d Using Lincolnshire County Councils Competency framework, explain how you would assist a member of your team to develop skills in risk management with regards to child protection. You need to be specific to an individual competency. Using competency number 8 –Analysis and Judgement. I would be able to assist the member of staff in th e above question. As part of the competency it requires the individual to look closely at the work they do and how it could be improved. Part of this is through having a broad range of information about an issue. In this particular instance it would be child protection. This could be done in-house through regular supervision. This can be through asking the individual to research up to date information and then having a question answer session on the information they have found. This shows that the indivual has done what is requested and demonstrates that they have an understanding of the subject that they would then be able to take into their work practice. Another useful development skill would be to assign the individual to a child protection case that was held by a social worker. The indivual would gain insight into the process of how child protection is identified and then managed. This hands on approach would give valued knowledge and development without risk to the family involved. Finally a child protection training course would be beneficial to the individual to again further develop there knowledge of the subject. 19 What impact does placement disruption potentially have on the wellbeing of Children In Public Care. You should relate your answer the recent Government paper ‘Care Matters’ Most children who end up in care experience multiple moves. It is standard that three or more moves constitutes as placement stability. Child development theories say that repeated movements jeopardize the opportunity for children to develop secure attachments with carers and trusting relationships with adults. Children with behaviour problems, prior instability and the age of the child at placement have all been found to be important factors in placement instability. 24 List 3 types of evidence that would be valid in court. Explain your rational behind each one. 1) Video Evidence- For children 14years and under. Also for children classed as a vulnerable witness. Video evidence reduces the need for a child to be in court and to be face to face with the perpetrator. 2) Court reports – These are factual based evidence which follow a mandatory guideline for completing. 3) Records – Records are an essential source of evidence for investigations and inquiry’s, and may also be used in court proceedings. Therefore it is essential that any records on a child are clear and accurate and ensure that there is a documented account of an agency’s or professional’s involvement with a child and/or a family. 25 Provide three examples of recording information that might be deemed discriminatory and explain why, in at least one of these examples, the discrimination might pass without comment. 1) The child is ‘missing’ from the record – This doesn’t mean that the child hasn’t been mentioned at all, but that their wishes and feelings, their views and understanding of their situation, are not rec orded. The absence of a child from the record suggests to the reader that no work has been done with the child, or that the child has not been involved in any work. 2) Facts and opinions are not differentiated – Failing to differentiate between fact and opinions can result in the significance of some information being overlooked, or opinions becoming accepted as facts and which could influence the management of the case. If opinions and judgements are not substantiated in the record it can be difficult to explain how these were made to family members who access the records especially if the case holder who wrote them is no longer working within the agency. 3) The record is not written for sharing. This account must (except in the case of responses to questions) be authenticated by at least one of the following Work products seen List Witnessed by— Name Sign Expert Include on witness list Y/N I confirm the authenticity of the Signature of Candidate work above DATE 31. 03. 08 I confirm the judgements claimed Signature of Assessor TICK IF OBSERVED above DATE ———————– EV 5

Compare and Contrast Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Compare and Contrast - Essay Example ue sense of the word whichever way it is interpreted, the Prioress is the medieval feminine ideal, soft-hearted almost to a fault and academically well-educated. These differences can be easily determined as early as the general prologue as each character is described. The Prioress is shown to be the ideal by the positive statements made of her and her pleasing physical appearance while the Wife of Bath is described with a much less pleasing appearance and behaviors that match. The Prioress is described as possessing all of the attributes a man was supposed to look for in a woman in Chaucer’s time. She was â€Å"smiling, modest was and coy† (General Prologue, The Prioress, 2). She could sing well in the proper way, speak French fluently, had excellent manners so that â€Å"never from her lips let morsels fall, / Nor dipped her fingers deep in sauce† (General Prologue, The Prioress, 11-12), was pleasant to be around in any company and was charitable almost to a fault. Physically, she is given attractive attributes such as a fine nose, bright blue eyes, a small red mouth and a fair forehead. Chaucer tells his reader, â€Å"truth to tell, she was not undergrown† (General Prologue, The Prioress, 39), indicating a pleasant figure that men are not supposed to notice in that way when looking at a nun. Her clothing is neat and is well-maintained as would be expected of a lady high born. The Wife of Bath, on the other hand, immediately breaks the rules of true womanhood by being involved in commerce as a highly skilled seamstress. This vocation not only makes her lowly because she works for a living, but because she is in charge of her income, something that a true woman in medieval times would never dream of wanting. Despite this talent, or perhaps because of it, her behavior is also that of a course, undesirable woman. She tells lewd tales, has been married at least five times and has countless other lovers besides who are only hinted at with the comment that

Southern Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Southern Society - Essay Example It was the most important cash crop; it generated the highest income out of the trade. For instance, its value was  £766,000 while that of indigo was  £113,0002. The use of tobacco as one of the trade items in the Colonial Era was also as a result of the provision of cheap labor by the slaves. However, the volatility of its prices influenced planters into diversifying their slave plantations. Rice plantations were established in 1700s with the goal of making profits3. Its growth was also facilitated by good soils and climatic conditions. The commodity value of rice was approximately  £312,000. The fertile soils, good climate, as well as the availability of cheap labor from the slaves, enhanced the introduction of the large-scale production of cotton in 1800s in Southern Colonies. The production of cotton was aimed at making a profit and not for personal use. Sugarcane is also one of the trade items of the Colonial Era in the Southern society that was introduced in 1800s. Large scale production of sugarcane in plantations was also as a result of good soil, good climatic conditions, and provision of cheap labor by the slaves. The planters grew sugar as a cash crop to generate profit. Indigo was also one of the trade items that were best suited to the South. Indigo plantations were introduced in 1700s with the aim of making a

Womens participation levels in sport and physical activity and how it Literature review

Womens participation levels in sport and physical activity and how it is affected - Literature review Example This paper intends to discuss the participation of women in sports and physical activities. Reasons for why it is affected will also be provided (Alexander 2006, p 24). Recent studies and statistics have proven that the number of women participating in sports and physical activities is low as compared to that of men. Participation is the process of being involved physically in an activity, or being a person who takes part in an activity physically. In a study done, in Australia, on women and men to see the level of their participation in sports and physical activities, the results showed that out of the total population, only 38.7% of the women participated in sports, while 65% of the men participated in sports. However, studies show that today, as compared to the previous years more women are participating in sports (Festle 2007, p 32). There are various reasons why women did not participate in sports in the previous years, for example, lack of time. Women were expected to remain home and take care of their children and home (Festle 2007, 16). For example, a woman would wake up in the morning, prepare her husband for work and start taking care of house chores and the children. These activities denied the women time to spare to do things they enjoy, like sports. Another reason why women did not participate in sports or physical activities was because of the expectations the society had put on them. Women did not take part in sports since it was seen as an activity that only men should participate in, but not women. A woman seen taking part in these activities was seen as a disgrace to the family and society at large, since it was considered masculine (Sportsscotland 2008, p 29). Lack of income was another excuse given for women not participating in sports. Women were not allowed to go out and work; men were expected to work and provide for their families; thus, it was rare for a woman to have money to spend (Joli,

ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION SYSTEM Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION SYSTEM - Assignment Example There are interconnections undersea through to the Republic of Ireland (EirGrid), Isle of Man (Isle of Man to England Interconnector), Northern Ireland (HVDC Moyle), the Netherlands (BritNed), and northern France (HVDC Cross-Channel). The paper will start with the different types of grid interfaces, protection issues and short circuit change levels. Then the paper will discuss the electrical power design of the components involved in generation of the electricity. In most cases, the low scale generators are indirectly connected to the grid. The characteristics of operation and the technology of generation need the incorporation of some interfaces in between the grid of distribution and the generator. For instance, photovoltaic panel of solar produce direct current electricity and thus, converter based on the power electronics is needed in between the generator and the grid. In technologies like induction generator using wind or hydro, this generator is directly connected to the Alternating Current grid. In the interconnection of the distributed generation, protection is essential. Distribution network is configured in the radial form. In this radial form, the network has over current schemes of time graded protection. The connection of the Distribution Grid may change the present schemes of protection coordination. In case, this is ignored, the protection system may fail to work. The major issues with relation to the Distribution Grid interconnection are as follows: This is the major measure useful in coordinating between over current relays and the selection of current transformers, fuses, reclosers, circuit breaker. The characteristic of short circuit is the equivalence system impendence at the points of and in this way, shows the fault current level that is expected. The variation in the time of this faulty current is affected by the rotating machinery characteristics (Cete, 2010). The majority of

Coconut Groove Fire Incident Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Coconut Groove Fire Incident - Research Paper Example This, among other design flaws and failures to take safety measures into consideration, led to the tragic incident. This paper seeks to give an in depth analysis of the events that led to the fire, and changes executed by fire and safety departments across America to avoid a repeat of the tragedy. The Cocoanut Grove Fire and Potential Causes To understand why the Cocoanut Grove fire was not easily contained, and why it claimed so many lives, it is imperative to get an idea of its original layout. This facility had three exits, on the Shawmut, Piedmont and Broadway sides (Boston Fire Historical Society, n.d). The building’s main entrance comprised of a single revolving door on the Piedmont Street side. The entrance opened into Cocoanut Grove’s lobby, while the way into the Melody Lounge, in the lower level, was through a single stairwell from the reception area. There were no other entrances or exits from this part of the Night Club. The exit to Shawmut Street was positi oned centrally along the main club area’s wall. Another entrance along this wall, and bordering the performance stage was closed at all times. The third exit was on the side of the new Broadway Cocktail Lounge. This exit comprised of just one door, which unfortunately opened inward. Another contributory factor, to the massive loss of life, was that all other exits that could have enabled patrons to escape were either obscured or locked. For instance, had the door on the side of Piedmont Street been open during the incident, Melody lounge patrons could have exited without having to go back to the reception area (Beller & Sapochetti, 2000). Another imperative safety flaw noted was that, exit points from the upper level dressing areas were through stairs, which ended at the Shawmut side door that was always locked. Additionally, windows on the Shawmut and Piedmont building sides were obscured, making them virtually invisible for patrons inside the facility. Further, the night cl ub’s interior had numerous decorations, made of flammable materials. Some of these materials included fabrics on the ceiling as well as artificial leather used on bars and walls. To make matters worse, the facility had false walls and suspended ceilings throughout, covering the building initial fixtures. There were also artificial palms, for decorative purposes and these were not only in the night club, but also in the Melody Lounge at the basement level. The palm trees’ capacity to burn was accentuated by incorporation of electrical lighting and its affiliated wiring. The lower leveled Melody Parlor also had highly flammable rattan wood coverings on the walls, and most of the furniture in the entire facility had artificial leather covering (Beller & Sapochetti, 2000). Allegedly, a mere eight days prior to the tragic fire, inspectors from Boston’s fire department had scrutinized the facility. In their report, these inspectors indicated that there were sufficient exits, no combustible decorations and enough fire extinguishers to put out a fire, in case of one. Apparently, the only deficit found by the inspectors was the absence of a steel fire barrier between the dining area and the Broadway Lounge. It is crucial to note that, following the facility expansion through inclusion of the Broadway Lounge, the club’s management sent an application for a restaurant license to the town council. Under the new terms of operation, the Cocoanut