A Musical Musing 23/03/2005 I have to be careful about doing musical blogs because there are so many musicians watching me (see "A Musical Sandwich"). And I say about music what a lot of people say about art: I don't know anything about it but I know what I like. The only qualification I have for writing about music is that my heyday was the sixties, when music exploded from its bounds into the chaotic situation we have today, with every division having a sub-division and the boundary lines so blurred that I don't know where hip hop begins and rap ends.With a background like that, I have no option but to blame the current situation on the Beatles, because they dared to look at every musical type and genre they could find and then drag it into their songs. Everyone will know of how George went off to India to learn the sitar and how, for a while, his twanging accompaniment became the accepted background to every Beatle tune. But does anyone remember Revolution 9 in which the Beatles experimented with music concrête, the juxtaposition of recorded sounds and noises to create an alleged tune? And do we recall that they were the first to record instruments and then play them backwards? Nothing was safe from their inventiveness and curiosity and they taught us to listen rather than pre-judge.It was the Beatles that made me interested in new sounds and unusual ways to blend musical styles. For decades the mere fact of a song being different has been enough for me to listen carefully before deciding whether I like it or not. So you can imagine my surprise and joy when I discovered Hispanic American radio on one of my previous road trips in the States. I think I have mentioned before my amazement at hearing what I took to be a union of Rap and Mexican music. That, I thought, has got to be the strangest combination ever.No longer. On my trip to Vicksburg I discovered something even weirder, again courtesy of the Hispanic radio stations. It sounds unbelievable but it's absolutely true - some of their musicians are experimenting with the oompah-oompah of traditional German folk tunes interlaced with their hot-blooded and passionate vocals. The result is so other-worldly that it is beyond description. I listened with my mouth agape, unable to believe what I was hearing.It is my latest theory that the next great musical trend will come through these radio stations. And what strange beast slouches its way towards Bethlehem to be born? In my opinion, the next explosion into the world of popular music will be some modern version of Carlos Santana, dressed in a kilt and Mexican hat, with some bagpipes draped over his shoulder, a backing group of zither- and ukulele-strumming banditos and a horde of ululating Hispanic senoritas providing the harmonies. Mark my words.Of course, I am only allowed to listen to the Hispanic stations for so long. Eventually I sense that they are wearing a bit thin with Kathy and, in a spirit of generosity and fair play, I wander through the other stations in search of something a little less radical. This is how I came across my next surprising musical revelation. It amazes me still, but I have found that the Zombies are alive and well and living in America.Firstly, I should mention that I do not mean that the undead roam the streets of the South in broad daylight. I refer here to the little known but interesting British group of the sixties who had a brief burst of fame with songs like She's Not There and Time of the Season. And secondly, I do not mean that they have done a Bee Gees on the crowd and are now continuing to make music in places like Las Vegas and Florida.The fact is that the Zombies' old songs get played on the radio here, whereas they haven't been heard in Britain since their heyday. Not only that but the Zombies will be heard as part of the background music in most department stores, where some bright marketing genius has discovered that no music makes people buy as does the old sixties favorites. Outside in the sunshine, driving the car or watching the television, country music rules in the Southwest. But enter a clothing store or supermarket and I am instantly transported back to my youth when the greatest songs of all time were penned by an inexplicable outpouring of musical geniuses.As a long time fan of the Zombies, I am glad that their true worth has been recognized at last. They were and remain the only group ever to achieve a successful melding of jazz and rock. But I do find it a little strange that it should be in America that they survive.Here too is the last refuge of groups like the Kinks and the Who. But the Zombies rule over them all, receiving more air time than even the Beatles. Can it be that they made it big in America when they were barely noticeable in their homeland? I can hardly believe that; surely I would have noticed at the time. So why this sudden popularity, as overdue yet deserved that it is?Sometimes America mystifies me.
Clive
Robert Check out Salsa Celtica. You haven't lived until you've head bagpipes to a salsa rhythm. I kid you not; they are fantastic. Date Added: 23/03/2005
Gone Away Oh no, it's here already. I am too late with my prediction! LOL Thanks, Robert, I'll do that when I get the chance. Date Added: 23/03/2005
Ned It's funny you should mention that... I probably hear Time of the Season 3 out of every 5 days I commute in my car to or from work. I think it is because you may hear them on the oldies station, the classic rock station and those stations that are contemporary but pride themselves on having a "mix" of music from the past and present. I have all of those kinds of stations on my car radio presets. I started moving far away from the classic rock station as primary station basically because they were getting predictable, I could tell you exactly what song would be playing during what time period every day. Surely there were more than 25 classic rock songs? I can't tell you what the next great musical fad will be, but I know this girl who swears by her "dirty" Puerto Rican reggae CDs. Date Added: 24/03/2005
Gone Away Yes, it was on the classic rock stations that I heard Time of the Season over and over again. I have always considered it a classic but what really surprises me is that it is even known in America, let alone regarded as a classic. And I'm sure I could think of more than 25 classic rock songs, although they probably wouldn't be anyone else's choice... Puerto Rican reggae I can handle - I mean, it's all Caribbean, isn't it? ;) Date Added: 24/03/2005
Rusty Sorry, but my favorite is 90s rock. Can't really tell you why, I just loved it. Oh, and its not ALL Nivana thats the only thing I like, I liked most of it back then. Date Added: 24/03/2005
Gone Away It's a generation thing, Rusty. I guess the music of our youth is always the best. ;) Date Added: 24/03/2005
Josh Mr. Gone - That crazy Schermann polka mixed with plaintive or melodramatic vocals is called Tejano, my man. Being near an urban center that has been quite overrun with all stripe of "imigrantes", I hear it all the time. I think it has something to do with the germans who settled in texas in the 19th century... Also the reason that many Mexicans love Bock beer. Truly, an odd combo in all respects. Date Added: 24/03/2005
glenniah I remember the sixties and the music well. However I do not remember the zombies, but then again don't they say if you do remember them you weren't there at all. I do know I wasnt in any kind of a zombie state tho. Have you ever noticed that every advert which uses music always has a sixties tune with it? Its true you know, the sixties changed the past and shaped the future. Long live the sixties, oh yes, and the people that were there!!!!!!! Glenni Date Added: 24/03/2005
Gone Away I am amazed, Josh. And I thought I was stumbling across something never heard before! But I still find it fascinating how the Mexicans have mixed their very distinctive musical style with that from so many other cultures. Now, if I could just persuade Mr Santana to go on a musical tour of Southern Africa... Date Added: 24/03/2005
gone's wife "Eventually I sense that they are wearing a bit thin with Kathy and, in a spirit of generosity and fair play, I wander through the other stations in search of something a little less radical." I am truly blessed to married to such a sensitive and generous man. ;) Date Added: 24/03/2005
Gone Away .oO(Do I sense a certain amount of sarcasm in that comment?) Date Added: 24/03/2005
Mad *Waves Hi to Kathy* :D Date Added: 24/03/2005
Gone Away Hear hear, Glenni. But then I would say that, wouldn't I? Seriously though, if you look at just the quantity of imaginative, original and inventive musicians churning out music in the sixties, it does seem that something different was happening in the sixties. I can think of no other decade that gave rise to so many new trends and discoveries in popular music. So much of today's music has its roots in something someone did at that time, and another indicator is the number of sixties songs that are resuscitated and re-released by bands today. Date Added: 24/03/2005
Way It may have been Casey Kasem, Gone, or some other hip deejay, way back in 1963, but part of the interview I caught during late December of that year went like this: Q: So what will music go to next? Where will the newer hits come from? A: More than likely, from the older songs. Lots of artists are beginning to re-do tunes from the past, since almost every type of song has already been done, and there is simply no new material left, so that's my prediction. Odd how that happened just prior to the British invasion, eh. One more thing: I have grown sick of hearing the Tijuana Brass, et al, piped into stupormarkets, so heads-up, all you merchants out there. Date Added: 24/03/2005
Gone Away Amazing how wrong people can be at times huh, Way? To say "every type of song has already been done" on the eve of the biggest explosion of new sounds we've ever witnessed was about as wrong as one can get it. And you're right, too, in that it was the Brit bands that began the process, mainly through the influence of the Beatles, but the Americans soon got the idea and made their own contributions. Let us not forget the originality of the Beach Boys' Good Vibrations when it first came out, the Byrds (who were the first "psychedelic group), Mr Dylan (who taught us that the words are important too, as well as playing the meanest harmonica around) and Simon and Garfunkel (who showed that you didn't have to have a mouthful of gravel to break new ground). I heard on the radio the other day that Paul Kantner (Jefferson Airplane) just turned 57 - that's even older than I am! Time marches on... Date Added: 24/03/2005
Mad How about the manager that turned down the Beatles then? Boy was he proved wrong! And don't forget the Monkey's contributions too... they taught us that um er... Ah no I've got it. They taught us that the record labels should not be in charge of the course of the bands they distribute. Date Added: 24/03/2005
Gone Away Yeah, it was a guy at Decca Records who didn't think the Beatles had any chance at all. As for the Monkees, I am convinced that they were a first in a completely new way; it was said at the time that their music was produced by computer and the cute guys in the group were just hauled off the street by the record company because they needed someone to mime to the songs. I still believe that. :D Date Added: 24/03/2005
bumpy_beth this must jsut be a game you play, writing about things i dont know about.. haha. Anyway, wanted to leave my new yahoo ID with ya, its (bethhlavaty). My blog address is still the same. But i had to make sure to give it to ya, cause suddenly everyone thinks im dead, lol. (ill shut up now) Date Added: 24/03/2005
Gone Away It comes of being old, Beth - we have memories full of useless information. :D But thanks for letting me know about the name change. Will be along to check your site directly. :) Date Added: 24/03/2005
Lisa What about the claim that "before anyone did anything, Elvis did everything" on the Elvis 1 CD? Endearing, but wrong. As far as I'm concerned, music is reinvented continuously. I was simply fortunate to have been exposed to very prolific inventors, such as Bob Dylan (a musical giant -- everywhere I turn there are songs written by him or covers of songs sung by him) and the Beatles, as you mentioned. Those two musical entities influence the way I listen to everything else, new and otherwise. Date Added: 24/03/2005
Gone Away I have never understood the fuss about Elvis and I was listening to Rock from the beginning (supposedly Bill Hayley and the Comets). Elvis did Elvis songs, everyone else created Rock. ;) Date Added: 24/03/2005
Josh Elvis did everyone else's songs -- especially if they were first performed by black musicians. Bob Dylan? An Inventor? *scrambles to dig up the previous post on this* *cough* Woody Guthrie *cough* ;-) Date Added: 25/03/2005
Gone Away I have learned from experience not to argue with Josh on musical matters. But I will just ask you, Josh, which song of Woody's was it that foreshadowed Blonde on Blonde...? ;) Date Added: 25/03/2005
erin I feel validated.. I've been arguing that the King was overrated with my stepdad for years.. He tells me that disparraging Elvis is a capital offense in some states... Music is certainly expanding it's parameters... My brother plays the tuba in a local rock band.. Date Added: 28/03/2005
Gone Away Close to it in some, I should imagine, Erin! But sometimes we need to just speak out the truth boldly. ;) Date Added: 28/03/2005
Gone Away Just noticed the tuba. Now there's a novel idea... :D Although the Beatles did play the French horn in at least one of their songs. Date Added: 28/03/2005
Boogie Great all Ive got from my generation is dance music and maroon 5. Grumble, grumble. Lol. Date Added: 29/03/2005
Gone Away LOL Boogie. Be like Mad and raid my generation's music. ;) Date Added: 29/03/2005
Back to the main blog
You may use HTML in comments. A carriage return is <br />, use two for a new paragraph. For bold text use <strong></strong> and for italic text use <em></em>. If you know what you're doing feel free to use more complex mark-up but please no deprecated tags or JavaScript.
Name * Comment * Email * URL Commenting has closed for this post
