Speaking of the 1980s, one can’t leave out industrial music. I don’t know what it was about the sound, but it grabbed me hard in my radio station days. I started my shows with Antagonism by Skinny Puppy nearly every week as I recall. What it was about them, specifically, I can’t tell you. I have a ton of their music on cassette and vinyl. The main guy, cEvin Key, seemed interesting to say the least … I chose this bit of art, since the cover of the album containing the song linked above may not be appropriate for some…
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One name that emerged from Yellow Magic Orchestra in my musical archive is Ryuichi Sakamoto. I think of him like an Andy Warhol of music; he has many songs with one-word titles that sweep across the acoustic canvas like Mr. Warhol’s works — unique, quirky, and at times creepy — sweep across the painted canvas. For film buffs, Mr. Sakamoto might be familiar as the soundtrack composer for the film The Last Emperor. (photo: mydramalist.com) Mr. Sakamoto starred in the film as well. The soundtrack was amazing, of course.
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Kraftwerk’s ‘Computer Love’ came out in the early 1980s, but for me, the future arrived in 1978. To be an ‘urban’ R&B radio station, WDAS-FM out of Philadelphia was more progressive back then; I didn’t realize it until other stations, like WRTI-FM, which had been a major source of jazz, turned elsewhere with its sound. Similarly, DAS had to follow the dollars, I suppose, and became something else entirely. But in the 1970s, it was the go-to for songs like ‘Computer Game’ (starts at about 1:35 in the video below; this is a link to the full album, which may…
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Who’d have thought it … we’ve now entered the future. There was a time that the future was much earlier; looking back on it now, it’s pretty funny. The personal computer age was a mile marker for a world many of us never imagined. I always wanted my own Jetson’s computerized home (to avoid chores, of course), but those early IBM’s and Tandys were a thing of amazement. Musicians also were about the future. I think I was addicted to Kraftwerk for several years. There was another group and artist, similarly unique (to me), that I played nearly as much,…
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Happy 2020! Before we get into all the future-talk to come, I would be remiss to not begin (again) the musical journey with some seasonal sounds. It is a rare person who hasn’t heard the soundtrack for ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’, with all the amazing music therein. However, there’s more to be learned here, as Vince Guaraldi is an amazing pianist beyond these few songs. You can find an hour or so of his music here. Enjoy! [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUY6Yq12vPI&w=560&h=315]
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As we prepare to celebrate the end of 2019, I am taking a moment or two to relax. I’ll wrap the Must Be the Music series as a kick-off to 2020. Blessings to each of you now and all the year through!
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One thing that goes well with gospel music from the 1950s and 1960s is organ music. It is true: I am a fan of the pipe organ and take great pleasure in hearing one that is well-played, as they often are in churches. Robert Götzfried offers a photographic exploration of some (as it seems to me) modern pipe organs in his exhibit, titled simply as ‘Pipes’. I want to fly off to Germany and listen to them all, of course. As a kid, my Nana would go to Philadelphia at the holidays especially. We’d ride the bus, the El, and…
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Back when jazz was my second heartbeat, gospel was likely my first. My Nana, my dad’s mom, was my caregiver before I started school. She often sent me upstairs to put a stack of records on for her. She liked it when I made a mix (I guess I was destined to be in radio at some point). Rev. James Cleveland was a favorite of hers; she had several of his albums. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJL740aqP5Y&w=560&h=315] However, my favorite was Ms. Mahalia Jackson. She was a prolific singer; so many come to mind, but Didn’t it Rain was one we listened to…
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I mentioned Donald Fagen yesterday, which made me go back in time. Do you remember the library? I mean, when we had card catalogs and dusty books with moth-eaten pages and a section just for kids and storybook time and the library lady who wore her glasses on a chain and shushed everyone? The library where I grew up was my haven. it was a home away from home, where I gained an immunity to the smell of paper, the feel of decayed pages, and learned to dance to the sound of the machine they used to imprint a library…
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I think this will be the last hip-hop related post in the series. No promises, but that’s how it feels today. It seems the 1980s were quite the era for hip-hop from all over. It’s likely because that’s when television got in the mix with cable and MTV. However, I first saw the video for Slick Rick’s ‘Children’s Story’ on a little back-woods local channel, known for playing all sorts of things. It’s also the first place I saw Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, and Donald Fagen (yes, these are the links to those early videos I remember …).