A weekends musing about music and cleaning one's bathroom
(I didn't have anything up here. So I am cross posting from facebook.)
Cleaning your bathroom is like going to the dentist. The more you do it, the less painful it is.
I just recently discovered that the band Sparks may have invented New Wave. Seriously. The song Fa La Fa Lee, recorded on their 1971 debut album, is easily a blueprint for all of the Blondie, Talking Heads and OMD to come. This is at least 5 years before they started using the term New Wave in the music press to describe the new music paralleling Punk in the UK and New York. I challenge anyone to find me a song of this vintage that so clearly envisions the "early 80's". Fa La Fa Lee contains all the hallmarks of a great New Wave hit. Synthy organs, catchy pop rhythms, off-kilter accents; it's all there! It would take another decade and 9 albums before Sparks were to be discovered by KROQ and featured on the Valley Girl soundtrack.
Fa La Fa Lee on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001L61QGO/
More on the long career and great music of Sparks here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparks_(band)
Early Electric Light Orchestra can be a hit or miss affair. Jeff Lynne is brilliant. Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood can also be brilliant in small doses. ELO's first album is pretty good. It has a good amount of what makes ELO a great band, but it also has an equal amount of what makes you hit the next button. Badly written, overly-long "classical" pieces do not sound any better when they are included on a rock album. I have always loved ELO, but their earlier records were not as easily obtained as they are now. Emusic.com has recently acquired some major label back catalogs and musical time traveling is just a click away. I don't discourage anyone from exploring early ELO, just be prepared to do some playlist editing. A New World Record and Out of the Blue are still their most consistent and accessible albums.
ELO:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_light_orchestra
Jeff Lynne:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Lynne
Roy Wood:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Wood
(I didn't have anything up here. So I am cross posting from facebook.)
Cleaning your bathroom is like going to the dentist. The more you do it, the less painful it is.
I just recently discovered that the band Sparks may have invented New Wave. Seriously. The song Fa La Fa Lee, recorded on their 1971 debut album, is easily a blueprint for all of the Blondie, Talking Heads and OMD to come. This is at least 5 years before they started using the term New Wave in the music press to describe the new music paralleling Punk in the UK and New York. I challenge anyone to find me a song of this vintage that so clearly envisions the "early 80's". Fa La Fa Lee contains all the hallmarks of a great New Wave hit. Synthy organs, catchy pop rhythms, off-kilter accents; it's all there! It would take another decade and 9 albums before Sparks were to be discovered by KROQ and featured on the Valley Girl soundtrack.
Fa La Fa Lee on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001L61QGO/
More on the long career and great music of Sparks here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparks_(band)
Early Electric Light Orchestra can be a hit or miss affair. Jeff Lynne is brilliant. Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood can also be brilliant in small doses. ELO's first album is pretty good. It has a good amount of what makes ELO a great band, but it also has an equal amount of what makes you hit the next button. Badly written, overly-long "classical" pieces do not sound any better when they are included on a rock album. I have always loved ELO, but their earlier records were not as easily obtained as they are now. Emusic.com has recently acquired some major label back catalogs and musical time traveling is just a click away. I don't discourage anyone from exploring early ELO, just be prepared to do some playlist editing. A New World Record and Out of the Blue are still their most consistent and accessible albums.
ELO:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_light_orchestra
Jeff Lynne:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Lynne
Roy Wood:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Wood
posted by Dave K at 6:44 AM
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