Lucio Villa/ Daily Titan

Love was the topic and music was in the ears of students who crowded into Room 225 of the Clayes Performing Arts Center on Thursday to hear Stan Breckenridge, Ph.D., lecture on corroboration and lyrical usages amongst mixed gender vocal groups, also known as parroting.

The lecture started on a somber note when acting director Susan Leavy acknowledged Ellen Shaw, executive administrative assistant to the vice president for student affairs, who died last week from a heart attack.

"Shaw was a very close friend of Dr. Breckenridge and an amazing woman," Leavy said. "She will be greatly missed and we will dedicate today's program to her."

Then the mood picked up with Breckenridge's piano-pounding rendition of Marvin Gaye's "Ain't Nothin' Like the Real Thing Baby," encouraging students to sing along. "Everyone here is a singer," he said between verses.

"Bring the pitch up higher," he announced with a gesture of his hand, but the students were timid and Breckenridge's powerful voice boomed above the crowd.

Students were all ears when he got down to business discussing what mainstream culture will accept when it comes to lyrics amongst mixed gender groups.

"When a female sings about romantic love and she's talking to a male, the male back-up singers can't respond the same way," Breckenridge said.

He used the Black Eyed Peas as an example: a four-member group with a female lead singer and three accompanying males.

"When Fergie sings about love," Breckenridge said, "the band members don't respond the same way."

The popular group who entertained at the Super Bowl half-time slot were not the best example though, as Breckenridge went on to explain that contemporary mixed gender groups are outdated. "They don't sing about personal love anymore; they're talking about humanity."

He illustrated this with an example of their hit song, "Where is the Love?" This time the crowd was a little more responsive.

The progression of lyrics from the ‘50s to the ‘60s to the ‘70s was indicative of what mainstream culture will accept, he said, posing questions like, "What do the singers say? Are there social norms?"

The lyrics of the ‘60s and ‘70s reflected the civil rights movement of that era, he said. And the gay rights of today are mirrored by what society is willing to accept in pop culture lyrics.

The lyrics, he concluded, will "adjust to the social climate." When in doubt, background singers filled the space with soulful "Oh's and Ah's."

"If there's an issue just say ‘Ooooh,'" he said, and the students seemed to understand why so much soul music from the era of the ‘50s was filled with the sound of Oh and Ah.

He brought up theatre majors LeShawn Holcomb, 25, and Pilar Fairley, 20, to illustrate the dilemma singers face when Gladys Knight sings a song like "If I Were Your Woman," and her background singers are close relatives.

Then he revealed the smoky side of his voice through a serenading "Close Your Eyes" rendition by Peaches and Herb.

A majority of the audience was students from Breckenridge's class. Breckenridge is a musicologist and alumnus of Cal State Fullerton. He began his musical career in the 1960s while he was in junior high with a vocal group called The Sematics. He has appeared or performed with artists such as Bill Cosby, Merv Griffin, The Young Hearts and many more.

Daniel Le, 22, a criminal justice major, sits in Breckenridge's intercultural socialization class. He said it's a very diverse class with students from all ethnic backgrounds.

"(Breckenridge) tries to get the class to interact," said Le. "He jokes. He's very open-minded. He challenges us to open our minds."