8. Holy Grail: The question of "fame" in popular music; and the idea of what it is to be a pop star, is constantly shifting. Especially in modern times, when music is more segmented and individualized than ever, the idea of a single artist who "everyone" knows is nearly gone; and while there have always been contrarians who claim they've never heard of any of the current popular music; it's easier for that to be the truth than ever before. So, what does it take to be famous in 2013? Well, judging by "The 20/20 Experience" and "Magna Carta Holy Grail," the massively popular new albums from Justin Timberlake and JayZ, what it takes to be famous in 2013 is to have been famous in 2003. Both albums try to send the message that Timberlake and JayZ are the kings of their respective genres; but both inadvertently end up sending the message that, well, pop music has only gotten less relevant in the past ten years. While that's not necessarily true; the massive success of the two albums is vaguely disheartening; like when Manchester United wins a soccer game or Adam Sandler wins the box office. It doesn't help that both Magna Carta and 20/20 are middling albums, lightweight and fluffy, with no moments of disaster but no moments of brilliance either. Holy Grail, which is a duet between Timberlake and JayZ, personifies this bland competency; it's a song that has its best moments when it's being stupid, and its worst when it tries to be smart; as in some college-dorm-room-level reappropriation of "Smells Like Teen Spirit." If Magna Carta and 20/20 were bad sometimes, if they risked anything; they might be great. Instead, they're just blandly good the whole time; which makes them boring and dull. (8/20), other Jay-Z songs in the top 100: 60. Tom Ford: (2/20), 73. f*ckwithmeyouknowigotit: (2/20)
11. Same Love: Here's a question: What's the last time there was an overtly political song about a single issue in the top 40? I'm not just talking about a generic anti-government rant like "American Idiot," or a pro-activism anthem with a few specific political references like "Waiting on the World to Change." I'm talking about a song in which every lyric references a hyper-specific political opinion. The "Yes We Can Obama Song" by will.i.am fits most of the criteria, but wasn't released for the radio and thus never reached the Billboard charts. Not Ready To Make Nice was inspired by a specific political event, but doesn't reference it specifically; and if you aren't aware of the event, it's just another country song. Maybe I'm forgetting something, but the most recent song of this type that I can think of is "Sun City," an excellent anti-appartheid protest song from 1985, in the vein of We Are The World but more politically direct than that song, and much better musically as well. That song only reached number 38 on the charts, and is 28 years old. All this is to say that Same Love by Macklemore reaching number 11 on the charts is virtually unprecedented, and, depending on how you look at it, indicative of at least one of the following things: That gay marriage is rapidly becoming mainstream and accepted; that Macklemore is successful enough to make anything a hit (and maybe that, therefore, we should be dismayed that this song hasn't hit number one like his first two singles, instead of excited that it's on the charts at all), or just that the threshold to becoming a pop song is low enough that even a seemingly nichey, overtly political hit can get popular. I'll leave it up to you to decide which you believe. Either way, Same Love is a great song. 20/20
35. Don't Drop That Thun Thun: I like to think I'm at least somewhat tuned in to pop music; to what's popular and what's going to be popular next. And then I see something like this, which is number 35 on the charts right now, by a band I've never heard of with no web presence and no other songs, and all I can find to explain its placement are a few similarly confused blog entries written about its inclusion on the charts. Did I miss something? This is a novelty rap song with no particular merit, performed in the usual pirated-copy-of-FL-Studio style. I remain perplexed. Why is this in the top 40? Any ideas, guys? (This Makes Me Feel Old/20)
62. Wop: Wait, another one? Another silly, gimmicky rap song by an unknown in the top 40? This can't just be coincidence. What's going on? Well, as I eventually figured out, twerking is going on.
Twerking? Really, America? We couldn't have just stuck with Gangnam Style and the Harlem Shake? But no, "twerking" is apparently a full-on trend now, which means we need some canonical "twerking" songs. And it seems like the consensus picks are "Don't Drop That Thun Thun," which is ridiculously amateurish but at least slightly charming in its haphazard way, "Wop," which is actually quite listenable, and which I also love because the song got to the top 40 BEFORE anyone knew its artist's birth name; and "Red Nose," which is just a dull slice of reheated-soggy-pizza rap. Wop: (14/20) Don't Drop That Thun Thun: (6/20) Red Nose: (2/20)
68. Miss Jackson: Panic! At The Disco is covering Outkast? That's... a strange choice. But no, this isn't "Ms. Jackson," the incredible 1999 hit from Everyone's Favorite Rap Duo, this is an entirely different song from Everyone's Fourth-To-Sixth Favorite Emo Band. But the Outkast song is way better (Did I really need to mark that for spoilers?), so I'm going to hyperlink it everywhere. Basically, Ms, sorry, Miss Jackson is Panic!'s answer to Fall Out Boy's surprisingly successful single "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark." And, as usually happens when you blatantly rip a song off, your song ends up sounding a lot like that song. If I had to pick these songs out of a lineup, I'd have a hard time of it, because they're so incredibly similar in their blandness. Now, excuse me while I listen to the better song with the nearly identical title forever. Forever ever? Forever ever? (20/20, OOPS, sorry, that's for the other song. 3/20 for this piece of junk)
A music reviews blog!
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
FMera Vintage: Sept. 3, 1966
Welcome to my new column, FMera Vintage. This column will review the top 10 songs from a randomly selected Billboard chart week. I've estimated that there have been 2800 billboard Top 100 charts in Billboard's history, so I'll be using a random number generator to pick weeks. The first number chosen is 422, so the first week selected will be September 3, 1966. The "Sixties," by which I mean the cliché of the sixties in music, an era of folk and classic rock, didn't really begin until 1965, and at this point they would be kicking into high gear, no pun intended. There's also a lot of soul music on these charts, which was one of the most popular genres in this era. The mid-to-late sixties are usually thought of as a very good time for music, but will that be reflected on the maybe-behind-the-times pop chart? Let's find out.
10. Summertime: This is a unique cover of the classic George Gershwin song from the musical Porgy and Bess. Singer Billy Stewart spices things up with his take on the scat-singing tradition. Usually, scat singing involves singing nonsense words to the beat, Stewart adds strange vocal trills and stuttering to the mix. In theory, the technique would spice up the song similarly to how something like The Marcels' take on Blue Moon takes a song that can be gloomy and makes it peppy. Unfortunately, and maybe it's just my modern musical sensibilities, I find myself laughing at Stewart's singing style more than grooving with it. When Stewart sticks to the original song, it's a good, if fairly traditional, soul cover; but when he makes clicking noises along with it, I'm taken out of the song. The other big shortcoming of the song is its horrible stereo mixing. Circa 1966, stereo recording was rapidly overtaking mono recording (The former has two sources of sound, similar to headphones, while the latter has only one, similar to a gramophone.) But the new technology wasn't always used well, and this take on Summertime has some awful stereo mixing, which makes listening to it through headphones uncomfortable and unenjoyable. (3/20)
9. Blowin' In The Wind: This is a neat one: A very young Stevie Wonder covers the classic Bob Dylan song. Wonder would have been only 16 when this song was released, and probably nowhere near the household name he is now; this was one of his earliest radio hits. One thing that's interesting to note is that both the songs so far are cover songs, which we rarely see on the charts anymore; this is a huge and rarely noted change in the pop landscape since that time. There are a lot of complaints nowadays that all pop hits sound the same; that they're all recycled; so there's a hint of irony in the fact that in the years often cited as a golden age of music; there was a lot more repetition and similarity than there is today. This song is a great soul number; while it's not unique in any particular way beyond the notability of an early Wonder hit; it's very well-performed, especially for a 16-year-old. It's not hard to see why Wonder became such a huge presence later on. (14/20)
8. Working In The Coal Mine: This groovy soul song is better remembered today for its Devo cover, but it's a great song of its own right, and very, very catchy to boot. While singer Lee Dorsey didn't have any other major hits, he continued making soul music for another decade after its release. (14/20)
7. Land Of 1000 Dances: Na, na na na na, na na na na, na na na, na na na, na na na na! This is one of those songs that's so catchy, it'll pop into your head months after you've first listened to it. While the version that charted here, by Wilson Pickett, remains the most popular, the song's continued ubiquity can probably be credited to the fact that, yup, this is yet another cover. The song was originally written by Chris Kenner, and the über-catchy chorus is attributed to the Cannibal & The Headhunters cover. And since then, it's been covered by many other bands. But none of the covers have matched Pickett's original in quality or ubiquity. Na na na na! Hey! (19/20)
6. Sunny: This is an original song, although that's somewhat surprising because it was covered so frequently after its release that it seems more like a folk song. It's written somewhat like a folk song too, exactly the kind of vague but well-written song that can be done in just about any style or genre. The original is a traditional folk song, very similar to the others on the list. While it's a solid hit, its vagueness keeps it from being really memorable. (11/20)
5. Yellow Submarine: This is one of the Beatles' most controversial songs, ironically because of its lack of controversial material. Near the height of the Beatles' politicization, they released this, a novelty song for children. It's often a consensus near-bottom choice in rankings of Beatles songs, simply because it's so much more lightweight than their other music. And while all that is true, Submarine still holds up excellently as a fun, peppy pop hit. (17/20)
4. You Can't Hurry Love: Heck yeah, The Supremes! One of the biggest and best pop acts of the mid-to-late '60s, the trio cranked out poppy R&B classics at an incredible rate. Their importance and talent is almost impossible to overstate; and they're one of the greatest pop acts of all time. You Can't Hurry Love is one of their best hits, an endlessly catchy and fun song, sung and produced brilliantly. History hasn't been entirely kind to the Supremes' legacy, but make no mistake: They are easily just as talented and important as The Beatles, The Beach Boys, or any other '60s act you can name. (20/20)
3. See You In September: Yet another cover, this song was originally performed by The Tempos. Their version wasn't initially as popular, but a decade later it was included in the soundtrack to American Grafitti and is now just as well known as this version, by The Happenings. After the soul-filled charts up to this point, September sounds decidedly old-fashioned. They're the kind of act that had almost entirely ceased to exist by 1966; an easy-listening falsetto boy band in the vein of The Four Seasons. Unfortunately, this song feels like an awkward last gasp from these types of bands; instead of a capstone. (5/20)
2. Summer In The City: The Lovin' Spoonful were one of the many American bands to form in the wake of the British Invasion, and they're unique mostly in that they have a more folky, bluesy tone than most of those bands. But there's very little of that tone on this, their most popular single. "City" is a pulsing, uneasy, rocking tune, and while it's not representative of the Spoonful's catalog, it's a very strong song in its own right. The song is propulsive, and it has a strong sense of energy; while it's fairly similar to other rock songs of the era in most respects; it's maybe a bit more heavy. While the Spoonful aren't the best '60's era rock band, this song remains very strong. (17/20)
1. Sunshine Superman: Donovan is one of the first psychedelic rock acts to become super-popular, and for that he deserves a lot of respect as a precursor to later acts. But while Sunshine Superman was initially Donovan's biggest hit, it hasn't aged particularly well; as an early psychedelia song it benefited from the novelty of its new sound, but compared to late-era Beatles or Beach Boys, it doesn't hold up. The verses are annoying and repetitive, repeating the same screechy guitar part over and over again. And "Superman" has mostly faded into obscurity with age, now not even ranking in Donovan's five most popular songs on Spotify. The song was too of-its-era to have any real modern appeal. (6/20)
In general, there's a pretty stark divide here between a whole lot of mostly good soul and R&B music, one very dated 50's-esque hit, and two hippie-sounding rock tunes. That's reflective of the changing sounds popular during this era.
NEXT TIME: Random number: 1193. That means the next week I'll be covering is...
June 13, 1981
10. Summertime: This is a unique cover of the classic George Gershwin song from the musical Porgy and Bess. Singer Billy Stewart spices things up with his take on the scat-singing tradition. Usually, scat singing involves singing nonsense words to the beat, Stewart adds strange vocal trills and stuttering to the mix. In theory, the technique would spice up the song similarly to how something like The Marcels' take on Blue Moon takes a song that can be gloomy and makes it peppy. Unfortunately, and maybe it's just my modern musical sensibilities, I find myself laughing at Stewart's singing style more than grooving with it. When Stewart sticks to the original song, it's a good, if fairly traditional, soul cover; but when he makes clicking noises along with it, I'm taken out of the song. The other big shortcoming of the song is its horrible stereo mixing. Circa 1966, stereo recording was rapidly overtaking mono recording (The former has two sources of sound, similar to headphones, while the latter has only one, similar to a gramophone.) But the new technology wasn't always used well, and this take on Summertime has some awful stereo mixing, which makes listening to it through headphones uncomfortable and unenjoyable. (3/20)
9. Blowin' In The Wind: This is a neat one: A very young Stevie Wonder covers the classic Bob Dylan song. Wonder would have been only 16 when this song was released, and probably nowhere near the household name he is now; this was one of his earliest radio hits. One thing that's interesting to note is that both the songs so far are cover songs, which we rarely see on the charts anymore; this is a huge and rarely noted change in the pop landscape since that time. There are a lot of complaints nowadays that all pop hits sound the same; that they're all recycled; so there's a hint of irony in the fact that in the years often cited as a golden age of music; there was a lot more repetition and similarity than there is today. This song is a great soul number; while it's not unique in any particular way beyond the notability of an early Wonder hit; it's very well-performed, especially for a 16-year-old. It's not hard to see why Wonder became such a huge presence later on. (14/20)
8. Working In The Coal Mine: This groovy soul song is better remembered today for its Devo cover, but it's a great song of its own right, and very, very catchy to boot. While singer Lee Dorsey didn't have any other major hits, he continued making soul music for another decade after its release. (14/20)
7. Land Of 1000 Dances: Na, na na na na, na na na na, na na na, na na na, na na na na! This is one of those songs that's so catchy, it'll pop into your head months after you've first listened to it. While the version that charted here, by Wilson Pickett, remains the most popular, the song's continued ubiquity can probably be credited to the fact that, yup, this is yet another cover. The song was originally written by Chris Kenner, and the über-catchy chorus is attributed to the Cannibal & The Headhunters cover. And since then, it's been covered by many other bands. But none of the covers have matched Pickett's original in quality or ubiquity. Na na na na! Hey! (19/20)
6. Sunny: This is an original song, although that's somewhat surprising because it was covered so frequently after its release that it seems more like a folk song. It's written somewhat like a folk song too, exactly the kind of vague but well-written song that can be done in just about any style or genre. The original is a traditional folk song, very similar to the others on the list. While it's a solid hit, its vagueness keeps it from being really memorable. (11/20)
5. Yellow Submarine: This is one of the Beatles' most controversial songs, ironically because of its lack of controversial material. Near the height of the Beatles' politicization, they released this, a novelty song for children. It's often a consensus near-bottom choice in rankings of Beatles songs, simply because it's so much more lightweight than their other music. And while all that is true, Submarine still holds up excellently as a fun, peppy pop hit. (17/20)
4. You Can't Hurry Love: Heck yeah, The Supremes! One of the biggest and best pop acts of the mid-to-late '60s, the trio cranked out poppy R&B classics at an incredible rate. Their importance and talent is almost impossible to overstate; and they're one of the greatest pop acts of all time. You Can't Hurry Love is one of their best hits, an endlessly catchy and fun song, sung and produced brilliantly. History hasn't been entirely kind to the Supremes' legacy, but make no mistake: They are easily just as talented and important as The Beatles, The Beach Boys, or any other '60s act you can name. (20/20)
3. See You In September: Yet another cover, this song was originally performed by The Tempos. Their version wasn't initially as popular, but a decade later it was included in the soundtrack to American Grafitti and is now just as well known as this version, by The Happenings. After the soul-filled charts up to this point, September sounds decidedly old-fashioned. They're the kind of act that had almost entirely ceased to exist by 1966; an easy-listening falsetto boy band in the vein of The Four Seasons. Unfortunately, this song feels like an awkward last gasp from these types of bands; instead of a capstone. (5/20)
2. Summer In The City: The Lovin' Spoonful were one of the many American bands to form in the wake of the British Invasion, and they're unique mostly in that they have a more folky, bluesy tone than most of those bands. But there's very little of that tone on this, their most popular single. "City" is a pulsing, uneasy, rocking tune, and while it's not representative of the Spoonful's catalog, it's a very strong song in its own right. The song is propulsive, and it has a strong sense of energy; while it's fairly similar to other rock songs of the era in most respects; it's maybe a bit more heavy. While the Spoonful aren't the best '60's era rock band, this song remains very strong. (17/20)
1. Sunshine Superman: Donovan is one of the first psychedelic rock acts to become super-popular, and for that he deserves a lot of respect as a precursor to later acts. But while Sunshine Superman was initially Donovan's biggest hit, it hasn't aged particularly well; as an early psychedelia song it benefited from the novelty of its new sound, but compared to late-era Beatles or Beach Boys, it doesn't hold up. The verses are annoying and repetitive, repeating the same screechy guitar part over and over again. And "Superman" has mostly faded into obscurity with age, now not even ranking in Donovan's five most popular songs on Spotify. The song was too of-its-era to have any real modern appeal. (6/20)
In general, there's a pretty stark divide here between a whole lot of mostly good soul and R&B music, one very dated 50's-esque hit, and two hippie-sounding rock tunes. That's reflective of the changing sounds popular during this era.
NEXT TIME: Random number: 1193. That means the next week I'll be covering is...
June 13, 1981
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)