Inspired by a certain soft drink.
When I hear somebody saying “I hate pop music” it frustrates me because it shows they have an extremely narrow definition of what “pop” is.
Pop music used to be so much more sophisticated and diverse, especially in the 1960s and 1970s. “Pop” used to described groups as diverse and varied as The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Who, The Turtles, Phil Spector, and more obscure groups like Tommy James and The Shondells, Big Star, The Raspberries, The Left Banke, The Ohio Express, and The Lemon Pipers.
Pop music then was more adventurous and experimental, with more advanced chord progressions, intricate arrangements and unusual choices of instrumentation and effects. Even when it was super simple, like “Yummy Yummy Yummy” or “Thank You Girl” there was a polish and a subtlety that you rarely hear anymore.
“Surf Goddess” by Screeching Weasel
Check it out- the chorus has an early talk box effect!
Source: youtube.com
tymime reblogged
One thing about our particular set of interests is that I’m pretty sure no one else has noticed that there’s both a Mellotron rhythm and a quote from a Ventures tune in a Pokémon song.
If anybody out there has any idea where the bit of Hawaiian music at 0:57 comes from, I’d love to know...!
It's a Moog, and it's surfing.
Wow, The Beach Boys Today! is a really underrated album. It’s like Pet Sounds Volume One or something.
As far as I can tell, this is the earliest use of a Leslie speaker with electric guitar (starting at about 1:06). This album was recorded in early 1964.
My imagination can be weird sometimes. Last night, some video game music reminded me of the Ventures version of “Perfidia”, and later on I was thinking of SWAT Kats. Before I knew it, my brain had concocted a heavy metal cover of the song, complete with SWAT Kats-style power chords playing triplets.
Which is actually something I’d like to hear, honestly.
On the subject of amazing psychedelic-era pastiches...
My mom and grandma love all sorts of music, especially folk, standards, and singer-songwriters, but they have very irritating biases.
My mom hates the Beach Boys. Mostly because they don’t have big voices and didn’t actually surf. Even if she hears Pet Sounds and Smile she calls them “all just surf songs”.
My grandma doesn’t understand the blues or early jazz. When I played a Fats Waller CD and a Robert Johnson CD, she was unsettled by the way they frequently ended on a dominant seventh chord, saying it sounded “unfinished”. She even thought Robert Johnson’s songs “all sounded the same”.
It doesn’t help that I’m extremely passionate about this music.
One thing about our particular set of interests is that I’m pretty sure no one else has noticed that there’s both a Mellotron rhythm and a quote from a Ventures tune in a Pokémon song.
Just put this on my list of songs I can listen to over and over.
The stereo mix is ten times better than the original mono.