Jazz (2): Endless Forms

Gypsy Jazz:  Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt

During my college years, I fell in love with some recent recordings by then-70-year-old Stephane Grapelli, a jazz violinist.  I wondered what else he had done, and discovered a whole body of work from the 1930’s and ‘40’s, mostly with Django Reinhardt, the great Belgian-born Gypsy guitarist who founded an early jazz club in Paris and worked there most of his life.  They led the creation of a new style of music that merged Gypsy sounds with American jazz.  It became a staple in European dance halls, and even made its way back to the U.S., where it had some influence on the progressive jazz and fusion movements.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcE1avXFJb4

 

Foo-foo Saxophone:  Coleman Hawkins

Here is a 1939 recording by Coleman Hawkins, probably my favorite jazz saxophonist.  Yes, I know it’s more hip to name Coltrane; I just love Hawkins’ cushy, sensuous sound.  If you’re a fan of Stan Getz, this is where Getz drew his greatest inspiration.  Hawkins was also an innovator in his own right, and bridged several different periods and styles in jazz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUFg6HvljDE

Thelonius:  Blue Monk

Thelonius Monk was a beloved eccentric.  He bent time signatures, played weird chords, experimented with dissonance before it was fashionable, and pretty much steered his own course.   This is from “Thelonious, Alone in San Francisco”.  It was the first jazz record I ever owned, and is still my most treasured piece of vinyl.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwgWxcVEJOw

 

Where did the "Peanuts" music come from?

One day, on the way to the airport, TV producer Lee Mendelson heard this piece on the radio.  After several phone calls, he tracked down the artist, a jazz musician named Vince Guaraldi, and asked him to write the music for a TV special he was working on.  The special became “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. Guaraldi wrote the music for over a dozen more shows and a full-length movie.  Even if you’ve never heard this before, you’ll feel like you recognize it.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9Krl9nnXT4

McCoy Tyner makes waves

From the 1975 album Trident: McCoy Tyner, Ron Carter and Elvin Jones.  Minimalist, elegant, gorgeous.  It makes me feel the way being aloft in a hang-glider felt.  And McCoy just rocks the harpsichord.  We recently lost him--RIP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXnxoI8cliU

Should be a movie theme:  Gato

Gato Barbieri was an Argentine saxophonist who became one of his country’s biggest cultural exports.  What he did was called jazz but ranged far and wide, defying easy categorization.  He wrote romantic ballads, movie soundtracks, and experimental jazz compositions.  This is an unabashedly sentimental piece that he wrote in memory of his wife and lifelong collaborator, Michelle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0SZ4rE-QJo

Esperanza makes the impossible look fun

Esperanza Spalding is on my short list for “Coolest person ever”. She writes, composes, plays multiple instruments, and sings, but that’s like saying Albert Einstein was a guy who did math and physics. She melds jazz, fusion, funk, bossa-nova, scat, odd time signatures and odder scales into her own genre of music. She sings while playing bass, which is completely badass. Her compositions are academic yet catchy as hell. Here are two numbers, one featuring her on electric bass and the other on double-bass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aRC3YY3svs

And now for something really different

Japan may have the most dynamic jazz/rock scene in the world right now.  This group take the concept of “genre” and completely trash it - their influences include jazz (especially Dave Brubeck), progressive rock, punk, and rap, among other things. Not sure what it is, but I love it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_B_GalsJrE

Tina Turner: Force of Nature

Tina Turner is one of those larger-than-life artists who defies categorization.  She could do almost anything, and she made it bigger and more explosive than it would have been in someone else's hands.  I saw her live in 1985, and the entire show was overwhelming.  In addition to her singing and stage presence, she possessed a volcanic sexual energy, which never waned even as she turned 70.  She only recently retired from performing.

Proud Mary

It is hard to watch this, knowing as we do now that Ike was abusing her all the while.  But it is a wonderful performance, and a signature song for her.  After she left Ike, she continued performing it as a staple of all her shows, and made it emphatically her own.  She went on to forge a career as one of the greatest blues, soul and rock vocalists of all time, and in my view, the best voice of her generation.  They say the best revenge is living well, and Tina Turner has certainly done that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzQnPz6TpGc

The Best

There are a lot of soul and rock divas with big voices.  Tina's voice isn't just big, it's a monument.  But what makes her unique is her ability to suffuse each note with anguish and exuberance at the same time.  It's a quality many singers would sell their soul for.

Here is my personal favorite from her catalogue.  I think it captures that emotional duality perfectly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC5E8ie2pdM

Beyond the Thunderdome

Tina played the chief villain in the third Mad Max film, and also sang the title song.  Here is the original soundtrack version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gi_IGuKx4U

Years later, here she is performing the same song as the encore to a live concert:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVPq-_t-ANw

In this video, shot in 1998, Tina makes a guest appearance in Munich with Eros Ramazzotti, a young but established Italian pop star.  He does the first verse, and then she makes her entrance, and it feels like an earthquake.  Her deep opening notes are surreal, almost chilling.  In the second half of the song, she lets loose, grabbing Eros and whirling him around like a rag doll. At one point, he kneels down, I think in part to prevent himself from being blown off the stage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko7qunEkmzE

Greatest Voices (2): Ella, Roy, Linda Ronstadt, more...

Ella Fitzgerald, the First Lady of Song

Who is your pick for the greatest voice?  Leave aside opera singers, because their training puts them in a separate category from everyone else.  (I am doing separate posts on classically trained singers).  And set aside, for the moment, things like stagecraft, quality of material, backstory, etc.  Just the voice.  It’s a sound that stops you in your tracks when you hear it, that makes you drop everything to listen.  They could sing a shopping list and you’d enjoy it.    I came up with four names:  Ella Fitzgerald, Roy Orbison, Linda Ronstadt, and Tina Turner.  Who would you put on the list?  Here is the First Lady of Song doing Cry Me a River:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Gn9A-kdsRo

Even Elvis was envious

When word got out that a concert was being organized to honor Roy Orbison, with Roy himself headlining, dozens of hall-of-famers practically begged to participate.  The band ended up consisting of James Burton on lead guitar, Elvis Costello and Bruce Springsteen on rhythm guitar, Bonnie Raitt, k.d. lang, Jennifer Warnes, J.D. Souther, Steven Soles and Jackson Browne on backing vocals, Ron Tutt on drums, Tom Waits on keyboards, and Elvis Presley’s original backing band on bass, percussion and keyboards, along with a string ensemble.  That lineup pretty much speaks to the reverence other musicians had for Roy.  Costello wrote a song for the concert, Springsteen checked his ego for a night, and the whole group turned in a magical performance.  No one could guess at the time, but Roy would be gone less than a year later. 

 

Here are three songs from that concert, including my favorites Blue Angel and In Dreams.  If you didn't’ know about this concert already, there’s a good chance that you’ll binge them all now and then go hunting for the rest, it’s that good.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YG__LBJVZ0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8Jz3VW7rYk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCe40AlSAsE

 

 

 

Righteous Brothers: Unchained Melody

The Righteous Brothers had a number of hits in the ‘60s and were known for their unique sound, called by some “blue-eyed soul”.  This was not their biggest hit, until it was featured more than 20 years later in the movie “Ghost” (I actually think the movie was awful, but the scenes with this song were great). It’s not both of the “brothers”, but a solo by Bobby Hatfield.  He would make my list for this even if it were the only thing he did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYj2hex99gY

 

Linda Ronstadt:  Different Drum

“Different Drum” was one of the first things Linda Ronstadt recorded, but it didn’t become a hit until it was re-released in the mid 1970’s.  Her pure, untrained, still girlish voice (she was only 18 when they recorded this), and her emotional transparency, still hit me the way they did then.  Her voice would rapidly develop into what one producer called “the freight train”, but she never lost the ability to convey the subtlest and most delicate nuances of her songs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9qsDgA1q8Y

 

 

Most singers sing what they can.  Linda Ronstadt sang what she wanted.  (I can only think of one other singer to whom that applies.)  When she began doing Latin music, partly as a tribute to her Mexican heritage, some people criticized it as a stunt, and Latin critics were skeptical.  But “Canciones de mi Padre” (Songs from my Father) stands as some of her best work. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJfXiOrK7t4

Gone before her time

Eva Cassidy probably didn’t know she was dying when she recorded this.  I believe that if she had lived, she would be considered one of the greatest of all time.  She had a loyal fan base in England, but was completely unknown in her native U.S. until more than a decade after her death.  Cancer took her at the age of 33, three weeks after her last public performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UVjjcOUJLE

 

George Michael and Elton John

George Michael of course broke a whole new sound, combining funk with the spare driving beats of New Wave.  And boy could he sing.  Elton John belongs on a lot of “best of” lists, not much else to say. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsKqMNDoR4

 

 

Celtic Woman perform Bach

In 2004, four Irish vocalists and a fiddler were recruited to perform in one-time special, featuring a mix of religious and folk music.  The show was re-broadcast on BBC and on PBS, and made such an impact that they decided to form a permanent group. They named themselves Celtic Woman, and through many lineup changes, they are still touring today.

 

This clip is from the original concert.  It was also the breakout performance for Chloe Agnew (first solo, 0:59), who was 16 at the time, and went on to become Celtic Woman’s longest-serving and most popular member.  Her pure, bell-like voice is said to be the archetypical “Celtic” soprano.  All I know is that when she starts singing I get the chills.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPeVIuRjUi4

 

 

 

Classical: One-Hit Wonders (yes, Pachelbel is here, but a lot more you will recognize)

Many composers are known almost entirely for one memorable piece.  Sometimes these are part of the soundtrack to our lives, or at least to a lot of movies we've seen, yet we often have no idea where they came from.  So I thought it would be fun to find out more of the story behind some of them.

 

Canon in D

Of course, I only post music I like, but to keep it interesting, I try to include things that not everyone has listened to before.  Here is one exception: There is no doubt you’ve heard this.

People use it for weddings, funerals, graduations, and just about every other kind of occasion.  Yet it was forgotten for over 300 years, and in fact the rest of Pachelbel’s work remains obscure.  So the Canon in D qualifies as, by far, the biggest “one-hit wonder” of all time, in any genre.  I went with the Paillard version, which was the one that brought it back to the world’s attention.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlprozGcs80

 

Jeremiah Clarke:  Prince of Denmark’s March

Still played at all manner of special occasions, especially involving royalty.  It’s about the only thing Clarke wrote that anyone remembers, but that’s all he needed for immortality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1088E6E2fY

 

Pachelbel’s Canon in D is the world’s best-known classical one-hit wonder, but it’s not my favorite.  That would be a piece of sacral music, the Stabat Mater by Giovanni Pergolesi.  It is possible Pergolesi would have gone on to create a huge body of work, but he died at the age of 26, on the day he finished composing this.

 

Based on a 13^th-century hymn, the Stabat Mater honors Mary as she mourns her dead son. It is arranged for soprano and contralto; the contralto part is performed here by a counter-tenor (see the notes below the clip for full credits). Conductor Nathalie Stutzmann is one of the first women to break the glass ceiling for leading major ensembles.  It’s 40 min long, without a weak passage (ie., no “filler”), so it’s perfect for those who have a little quiet time on their hands…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzOmPUu-F_M

 

 

Jumping a couple of centuries…  This is not really a one-hit wonder - Samuel Barber is a giant in the world of classical music.  Still, he is known to most of us because of a few snippets that have been used in movie soundtracks.  This is the best-known one—you will recognize it immediately.  For music nerds, there are similar motifs to his other well-known piece, Adagio for Strings.  Listen for the two crescendos when the female voices sound like the heavens opening up.  In today’s terminology, it’s insane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRL447oDId4

 

 

Everyone of a certain generation knows this as “the theme from Masterpiece Theatre”. It is actually the Rondeau from Suite de Symphonies by Jean-Joseph Mouret – so it isn’t even English! It’s the only thing by Mouret that anyone plays now, but it gets played a LOT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZQG-DZy7uY

 

 

Classical one-hit wonders, continued:  The Flower Song, from the opera Lakme, by Leo Delibes.  Two of my favorite divas, Anna Netrebko (soprano) and Elina Garança (mezzo).  A little more than a minute in, you will smack your head and say “Oh!  I’ve heard this!” 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9NK-EbUAao

 

 

This is by far Tomaso Albinoni's best-known work, and the irony is that we don’t know whether he actually wrote it. He composed a large body of work, but much of it was lost. Almost 300 years later, a man named Remo Giazotto organized what remained and even wrote a biography of the composer. Giazotto is also suspected of having composed this piece as a hoax(!) The conductor is Elisabeth Fuchs, in a guest appearance. Her day job is principal conductor of the Philharmonie Salzburg.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn1gcjuhlhg

 

 

Guitar Magic (1): Paco de Lucia, Jim Hall, Prince, Tina Setkic and more…

Paco de Lucia is one of the greatest guitarists of all time.  He started off playing traditional music (folk, flamenco) in his native Spain, and then over the course of his life left a huge impact on jazz, Latin, fusion, and film scores.  He is best known in the U.S. for his collaborations with Al Dimeola and John McLaughlin.  Here he is in his younger days, playing his composition “Rio Ancho” with some friends.  If you are familiar with his later performances with DiMeola, you will recognize a few of the themes, which became the basis for their biggest hit, “Mediterranean Sundance”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxodluTaz4g

 

 

Jim Hall: Concierto de Aranjuez

This is one of the most beautiful jazz recordings I've ever heard. It is, in turn, an interpretation of one of the most beautiful classical pieces ever written, the Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquín Rodrigo.  Even if you don't know the piece by name, you’ve heard parts of it because it gets used a lot in movie soundtracks—usually when something dramatic and emotional is happening.  Jim Hall spent most of his career as a session musician with some of the biggest names in music, and in appreciation, an all-star group came together to record this album with him. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DBissQmnZs

 

The Green God

In blues, jazz and classical music, musicianship and virtuosity are non-negotiable requirements. For fans of these genres, marveling over the wizardry of the performers is an essential part of the fun. By virtuosity, I don’t mean sheer speed.  Many guitarists can play fast, but a true virtuoso makes the instrument express something.  It takes great technical ability to do that, and make it seem easy. If you can't play, there is no way to fake it.

Peter Green in his prime was considered better than Eric Clapton. They said his guitar tone made other guitarists want to run and hide.  He played lead with the legendary John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, and went on to co-found Fleetwood Mac.  He wrote “Black Magic Woman”, a cover of which made Santana’s career. Here is Green’s signature piece from that era.  Santana later admitted that he spent his whole life obsessed with trying to capture the same sound.  Green was poisoned by someone who spiked his drink with bad acid at a party, and never fully recovered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoasUjXBkm8

 

The Miraculous Tina S.

Tina Setkic is a French prodigy who surfaced on youtube some seven years ago at the age of 14, posted around 20 mind-blowing guitar videos, and then vanished.  Some of her clips have over 30 million views apiece. Legions of her fans (including me) are praying for her to return.  This is her cover of “The Loner” by the late great Gary Moore. How a 15-year old can pour this much feeling into a guitar solo is a mystery--it's better than the original.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e9AyDXx19Q

 

Roll over, Beethoven!

Here is Tina at 17, doing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, and frankly, Old Ludwig will never be the same.  Look for her priceless little smirk at the end.  If this lockdown continues for another ten years, and I were to start practicing guitar 10 hours a day, I might be able to play like her.  Then again, probably not. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6rBK0BqL2w

 

Prince burns the house down

When George Harrison was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame, a few of his friends gathered to honor him, including Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Steve Winwood, and Harrison’s son Dhani, who looks so much like his dad it’s spooky.  They invited Prince to do the guitar solo (originally played by Eric Clapton), and you’ll see what happened.  Of course, Tom Petty and Prince are now gone as well. If you have not seen this, grab a drink and get comfortable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=53&v=6SFNW5F8K9Y

 

One master honors another

David Gilmour, founding member of Pink Floyd and guitar god in his own right, performs an unannounced tribute to Prince three days after the latter’s death. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcDHXoQmxu0

 

John Petrucci having some fun

John Petrucci is a classically trained composer (he graduated from Berklee College of Music and now teaches there), and is also one of the best guitarists in the world.  Here, he receives an award, does an interview, and performs two of his songs.  It finishes with him doing a guitar duet with his wife, Rene Sands (who has a band of her own). This is a long clip, and I hope you can make the time to watch the whole thing, because, well, it’s pretty cool.  If you can’t, I recommend either the first song (starting at 3:25) or the duet (starts at 22:25).  Imagine having two such bad-ass parents! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IoF5U691gQ

 

One of the last to play the blues?

John Mayer may almost be the last one standing in blues.  With the death of Stevie Ray Vaughan, it looked like the game was up, but along came Mayer and Derek Trucks to keep the fire going.  The great irony is that blues was once a Black idiom, but there are few young Black musicians taking it seriously any more.  Mayer is first and foremost a bluesman, but knows his way around rock and jazz.  He mashes it all up in this performance from 2007—just before the financial meltdown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4R-RrSbQ-Y

 

Guitar master class

Here is Narumi, one of my favorite up-and-coming guitarists, performing one of her own instrumental compositions.  It’s fluid, atmospheric, and reflects her introverted personality.  She seamlessly transitions between genres-you can hear the classical training, the jazz influences, the metal flourishes—sort of Jim Hall meets John Petrucci.  The visual is a master clinic on guitar technique.  Beautiful sustains, string bends, distortion, pinch harmonics, alternate picking, fast runs, tapping…it’s all there. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRyCaHjwIgk

 

Is perfection attainable?

Jeff Beck has nothing to prove.  He can shred with the baddest of them, but when he’s leading an ensemble, playing a slow, thoughtful ballad, I think he’s in a class by himself.  This clip is an exquisite example.  Before Mr. Beck takes his turn, Lizzie Ball does a gorgeous violin solo, with Beck providing a few well placed accents. The bassist, Tal Wilkenfeld, holds it down like the boss she is, doing a nice counterpoint with Beck throughout.  Then there is Jonathan Joseph’s drumming--it's all sublime, but I don’t even have words for the two little crashes at 2:53.  And of course, Beck’s ending solo—no one else sounds like that. It is the closest thing I’ve ever seen to a perfect performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00FbaDFuChk

Girls Rock! (1) The Pioneers: Sister Rosetta, Leslie Gore, Suzi Quatro, Joan Jett and more

These women didn't just play well "for a girl".  They were foundational rockers who made ground-breaking music.

Before the Beginning….

 

While faced with all of the awfulness of pre-civil rights era racism and sexism, Sister Rosetta Tharpe did have one advantage: she was positioned as a gospel singer.  In that world, women routinely held leading roles, and a dominant stage presence wasn’t frowned on, it was the norm.  Her great innovation was to merge driving gospel beats with the blues, while using the guitar as another lead voice, creating a new kind of music no one had heard before.  There was no one to tell her “girls don’t play guitar” because, frankly, no one, male or female, had ever played the way she did.  She wasn’t held up as a pioneer at the time, because no one anticipated that this new kind of music would take over the world. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeaBNAXfHfQ

 

“You Don’t Own Me”

Neither Lesley Gore nor the writers of this song could know how iconic it would become, or how ahead of its time it was. She recorded "You Don't Own Me" in 1964, and it was already a more forthright declaration of self-ownership than most of the “I Am Woman” songs that would follow. She broke ground in another way, living the last 30+ years of her life in an openly gay partnership. Sadly, it now feels as though we are going backwards. She never saw herself as a hero but I think she was.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNb-8gLcXLs

The Real Suzi Q

Historically, women in music were limited to roles as vocalists (or as members of orchestras). When rock and roll exploded, it was completely dominated by men.  For more than a decade, the only women in rock were singers like Grace Slick and Janis Joplin.  So when the first women tried to break into rock as instrumentalists or band-leaders in the late 1960’s, they met a wall of resistance.

I have posted, or will post, a lot of stuff from kick-ass women rockers, like Chrissie Hynde and Patti Smith.  But there is one who predated all of them, and deserves credit for blazing the trail.  Suzi Quatro managed to kick the door down, despite concerted hostility from the music establishment.  She started raising hell in 1967, before it was even a thing.  She led her own band, wrote, sang and played the bass.  Her producers kept trying to tone her down and “cutify” her, and though she bent, she didn’t break.  The critics still ignore her, but she continues touring and raising hell, and has sold over 60 million records.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6PYlq37iHo

 

The Runaways:  School Days

The Runaways were the first all-girl rock band with real commercial success.  They only lasted four years, but they played several sold-out shows, toured with the Ramones, and blew the roof off in Japan, where they were received with Beatlemania-like excitement.  Lita Forde (lead guitar) and Joan Jett (rhythm guitar, lead vocals from 1977 on) went on to become headliners themselves.  I love their sass and open defiance, and they definitely rock. This one is from 1977, after Cherie Currie had already left (Jett took over vocals).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v-8c3T7J18

 

Suzi Quatro. Joan Jett. Lita Forde. Chrissie Hynde. Patti Smith. Tina Weymouth. Nancy Wilson. Pat Benatar. Debra Harry. They co-founded or led groundbreaking hard-rock bands, taking on roles previously reserved for men. It wasn’t easy. The music press were hostile to Quatro for being too much like a guy. Hynde survived a gang rape and refused to let that break her. Benatar, tiny and pretty, shocked people with the ferocity of her performances. Wilson became a guitar hero when popular wisdom was that women shouldn’t play electric guitar. Before starting their own eponymous bands, Jett and Forde co-led the first all-female rock group, the Runaways, coping with challenges including egregiously sexist packaging and one of their bandmates’ assault by their own manager.  Even their male bandmates took grief for being led by women.

Here is Jett’s first hit after leaving the Runaways. She and her producer, Kenny Laguna, had to publish it on their own label after every other record label had turned them down. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO6YL09T8Fw

Here is Jett doing her cover of “I Love Rock’n Roll”.  The original would have been forgotten completely; Jett’s version went to #1 in 1982, making her a global star.  She’s singing about picking up a young guy in a bar, which is already pretty radical.  Add in her look and her snarl, and it’s a game changer.  At the start of the video, you’ll hear the end of “Bad Reputation” playing in the background before she enters the joint.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPGG69wB4ys

One more by Joan Jett, and my favorite.  A lot of women sing songs about men who can’t love them back.  In this case, Jett is singing about a woman.  Just sayin’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpNw7jYkbVc

A lot of people have a bias for the popular music associated with their teens and early 20s.  I don’t. I think my generation sort of got screwed.  To paraphrase Don McLean, it felt like the music died. (Just compare the Billboard Top 40 from 1970 to that from 1968—you’ll choke.)   There have been scholarly articles about why this happened, often relating it to the exhaustion of Vietnam and the seeming death of the civil rights movement. That’s beyond my pay grade.  All I know is that with a few precious exceptions (Elton John, Pink Floyd, Linda Ronstadt anyone?) our mainstream music became empty, maudlin, or simply fraudulent. Yes, the Black music scene was on fire, but, as usual, white people stole it and turned it into something else--in this instance, Disco… The underground scene was gathering steam, but in suburban America we didn’t know that, at least I didn’t. Then, starting in 1978, along came Blondie, the Pretenders, the Talking Heads and the B-52s.  For me, it was a like a jolt from a defibrillator.  The Pretenders’ working grime and jean jackets; Debra Harry’s icy detachment (and cheekbones).  The B-52s and Talking Heads, well, they’re from another planet. More on them later.  Heart of Glass is too obvious, and besides, here’s one I like even more.  It shows off Harry’s impeccable vocals (as far as I know, she had no formal training).  It’s dark and haunting and seems so on point, perhaps even more so today. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnYU3urRj3Q

 

Pat Benatar has had her own band for much of her career, one of the first female rock stars to make it under her own name. I saw her in concert, more than 30 years ago, and she rocked me the way Tina Turner did. She often sings about painful subject matter, but she doesn’t whine about it - she puts it right in your face and makes you think about it.  This is one of her more confrontational songs, an anthem protesting child abuse.  As a Roman Catholic, she put up with a lot of shit for performing it, and didn’t let that stop her. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm4grNE9QVg

The Female answer to Deep Purple

In 1971, Deep Purple toured Japan, and in 1977 the Runaways became the first all-female rock band to follow.  Together, they triggered a seismic revolution in Japanese popular music, including an explosion of hard-rock bands.  Japanese rock quickly diverged from Western rock, becoming much more technical and composition-oriented.  Over time, another major difference emerged: A lot of the Japanese rock bands were made up of women, and today, in spite of the stereotype of Japan as a sexist culture, Japanese rock is dominated by women.

 

Here is the godmother of them all, founded in 1981 and still touring today with the original lineup.  This video was made on their 24^th anniversary, when they were all in their mid-40's.  The title of the song, translated, is “I am the Storm”.  A fitting title, and also one of the sexiest things I’ve ever seen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ_5Gv3vFjQ

 

Coming up, a special post just on the Pretenders...

New Wave (1)

 

New Wave (1)

 

After the coma of the 1970’s, it seemed like popular music roared back to life around 1980.  Punk rock spawned an explosion of new acts that pushed the boundaries in all directions.  Groups experimenting with mashups of punk, funk, and electronic synth created something that became New Wave.  To me the most compelling thing about is was the juxtaposition of up-tempo and irresistibly danceable music with dark and brooding lyrics. 

 

Gary Numan:  Cars

Gary Numan spent the late 1970’s leading an experimental rock band that featured synthesizers instead of guitars. In a way, he helped found the whole synth-rock movement, and anticipated electronica by more than a decade.  Numan called it “machine music” yet you could dance to it.  This is his breakout song from 1979.  It became a staple at our parties, along with Rock Lobster and In The Navy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99fRdfVIOr4

 

Rock Lobster

I couldn’t find a clip of the B-52s’ 1980 appearance on Saturday Night Live, but I will never forget the shiver of excitement many of us felt who were lucky enough to see it.  It felt as momentous as The Beatles on Ed Sullivan.  Here is a clip from an appearance shortly after that.  The song, “Rock Lobster”, is on my list of the Ten Best Things Ever Recorded.  As a friend of mine once said to me, “The B-52s can do no wrong.” 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VCCiY17hKw

She came from Planet Claire

Planet Claire has pink air.  All the trees are red.

No one ever dies there.  No one has a head.

 

Tell me this is not genius.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOjAzI5zALo

 

I might like you better…

Ok, this is probably not the right theme for these viral days, but hey.  1981 classic from Romeo Void, and a big influence on punk and new wave that came after.  The lead singer is the first Native American rock star I know of.  She’s now an artist and teacher in the Central Valley. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x0fPZrPV3M

 

Have you even heard of Gloria Jones?

Some things become so much a part of the fabric of your environment you don't think about them. “Tainted Love” was a huge dance hit in the 80’s and is still a staple on radio and in dance clubs—probably the longest-lasting one-hit wonder from that era. We all knew it was a cover, but I only recently looked into its history. Here is the original 1964 recording by Gloria Jones. She wrote songs for various Motown groups including the Supremes, but never broke out as a performer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJKe2j9Wjh4

 

Tainted Love

Here is Soft Cell's version of “Tainted Love” which segues into their take on the Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go?"  Why not?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGXpDhNAO1Y

 

Gang of Four

Here’s another favorite.  They never became quite as big, but this song was a campus dance hit.  Nerd notes: Bassist Sara Lee was one of the few female rock instrumentalists of that or any era.  She later played with Robert Fripp, the B-52s, the Indigo Girls and a lot of other major New Wave acts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHVI5fAzWq0

 

Depeche Mode:  Dreaming of Me

First single from one of the groups that defined the 80’s. It would be one of their most upbeat songs.  Like much of the post-punk movement, they became darker and more ironic over time. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlNSZLG2mBc

 

Yazoo:  Only You

After leaving Depeche Mode, Vince Clarke teamed up with Alison Moyet, and they released two albums together, mixing up blues and funk with spare, new-wave synthesizer-based instrumentation.  The heart of their sound is Moyet’s unique, soulfully melancholy voice.  This is a 1999 remix of their first hit, originally released in 1982.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsMcT03cSvs

 

Blasphemous Rumours

Another from Depeche Mode.  After Vince Clarke left, they headed in a darker direction.  The Church tried to prevent this from being released, but it became a hit. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3EAzf5fDpY

 

Who Needs Love (like that)

In 1985, Vince Clarke recruited Andy Bell, who was already a fan of his work, and formed Erasure.  While Clarke himself is not gay, he worked mostly with gay singers and clearly fed off the energy of gay liberation, which was just hitting its stride.  I think that energy was a big reason popular music came out of its 70’s coma, and Erasure was an important player. This is their first hit.  I think Bell’s is one of the best male voices ever in pop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX0VJhrw01w

 

 

Erasure:  Sometimes

Another from Erasure, 1986.  Andy Bell was really coming into his own here, giving them an amazing and unique sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1a8QABKNo0

 

Oh l’Amour

My favorite from Erasure.  There are a dozen versions on youtube.  I picked this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjdt6pSVMKg