HOW MUSIC CHANGED, PART 137-1 – THE BIRTH OF MOTOWN

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Hold onto your hats, because this is gonna be one long and crazy ride. This is the first time that we are featuring a record label in the “How Music Changed” series, and there is so much to cover regarding the Motown label that we may be doing this for quite a while. Individually, and with only a few exceptions, each of the Motown artists may not have had a huge impact on the state of music. Taken collectively, though, the Motown family may represent the most influential label of all time.

            Without a doubt, Motown was a label for singles. Of the entire family of recording artists, only Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye managed to develop their stature as album artists, which is why they each earn their own slot in “How Music Changed” (If you wish, you may listen to our 6-part series on Marvin Gaye, which we completed earlier this year). The balance of the acts is best known for their singles. As such, this gave me an interesting and ambitious idea – Why not play each and every single released by Motown from their inception until their move west in 1970? It’s going to take a LONG time and a lot of shows, but it ought to be entertaining, and should also be the most accurate way to represent the influence and growth of Berry Gordy Jr.’s label. So, here goes nothing!

            Our first show on Motown’s singles includes the following;

1)    Reet Petite/That’s Why (I Love You So)/Lonely Teardrops – Jackie Wilson

2)    Come to Me – Marv Johnson

3)    Merry-Go-Round – Eddie Holland

4)    Let’s Rock – Barrrett Strong

5)    Solid Sender – Chico Leverett

6)    Snake Walk (Part One) – The Swinging Tigers

7)    It – Bill and Ron

8)    Going to the Hop – The Satintones

9) Motor City - The Satintones

10)    Money (That’s What I Want) – Barrett Strong

11) Ichi-Bon – Nick and the Jaguars

12) Bad Girl – The Miracles

13) The Feeling Is So Fine - The Miracles

13)  (You Can) Depend on Me – The Miracles

Spring 1998

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Ten years is a long time…or is it? In my personal life, virtually everything has changed in the past ten years, but in the music scene, it appears as though very little has happened of note. Some of these songs sound as fresh (or more so) than most of the stuff on today’s pop charts. The music business is definitely changing, but it is still too soon to say whether or not that will be a good thing for creativity. Judge for yourself as we review a few of the most popular singles and album tracks from ten years ago, including;

1)    The Way – Fastball

2)    Uninvited – Alanis Morissette

3)    The Mummer’s Dance – Loreena McKennitt

4)    As Tears Go By – The Andrew Oldham Orchestra

5)    The Last Time – The Andrew Oldham Orchestra

6)    Bittersweet Symphony – The Verve

7)    Special – Garbage

8)    Inertia Creeps - Massive Attack

9)    Airbag - Radiohead

HOW MUSIC CHANGED, PART 12b – THE SONGS OF IRVING BERLIN

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Last week we covered a few of the biographical highlights and low points) of Irving Berlin’s life, as well a few of his most popular hits, with the emphasis on his seasonal and/or patriotic material. Today, we intend to let the music do the talking by presenting the songs of Irving Berlin that have best withstood the test of time. These songs are the very essence of why Irving Berlin is considered to be one of the most successful and popular songwriters in the past 100 years.

            Here’s a list of songs and performers featured in today’s show;

1)    Isn’t This a Lovely Day - Hildegarde

2)    Change Partners – Fred Astaire

3)    Get Thee Behind Me Satan – Ella Fitzgerald

4)    Marie – Tommy Dorsey

5)    Heat Wave – Marilyn Monroe

6)    Putting on the Ritz – Taco

7)    Putting on the Ritz – Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle

8)    All My Eggs in One Basket – Ella and Louis

9)    Steppin’ Out with My Baby – Tony Bennett

10) How Deep Is the Ocean – Peggy Lee w/ Benny Goodman Orchestra

11) I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm – Billie Holiday

12)  Always – Caetano Veloso

13) Cheek to Cheek – Ella and Louis

THE BEST FROM MAY 1978

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1978 was an interesting year for popular music, if only for the diversity that it offered. Today, we look at the pop charts and the album charts to get a picture of what the music scene was like 30 years ago this month. The pop charts offered the delicious pop concoctions of Abba, which could not be more different from the depressing melody of Steely Dan’s “Deacon Blues.” The same contrast could be found when comparing Jimmy Buffett’s cheesy “Cheeseburger in Paradise” with Gerry Rafferty’s reflective “Baker Street.” The album charts caught a few artists in transition, and the results were fascinating. The Kinks were trying out their new arena-sized sound, while Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers walked a fine line between rootsy punk and the mainstream. All in all, it was a fun year for music fans. Here’s a list of tunes featured in today’s show;

            1) Baker Street – Gerry Rafferty

            2) Take a Chance on Me – Abba

            3) Deacon Blues – Steely Dan

            4) Cheeseburger in Paradise – Jimmy Buffett

            5) Stardust – Willie Nelson

            6) Misfits – The Kinks

            7) When the Time Comes – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

            8) Too Much Ain't Enough – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

            9) Listen to Her Heart- Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

HOW MUSIC CHANGED, PART 12a – IRVING BERLIN

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Today’s show introduces the first songwriter (chronologically speaking) on our list of the most artists of the past 100 years. Irving Berlin had a huge impact on the development of popular music, simply by providing so much of the material that our culture grew up on. Depending on the source, it is estimated that Berlin wrote as many as 3,000 songs in his lifetime. We dedicate this program to0 a few of his most well-known compositions, along with a bit of biographical detail.

            Here’s a list of songs that are featured;

1)    Top Hat, White Tie and Tails – Louis Armstrong

2)    Give My Regards to Broadway – Al Jolson (a G.M. Cohan tune)

3)    Alexander’s Ragtime Band – Bessie Smith

4)    Blue Skies – Al Jolson

5)    Blue Skies – Willie Nelson

6)    What’ll I Do – The McGarrigles and the Wainwrights

7)    I Never Had a Chance – Greta Keller

8)    Oh How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning – Irving Berlin’s ‘Yip Yip Yaphank’’

9)    God Bless America – Kate Smith

10)  White Christmas – Bing Crosby

11)  Easter Parade – Bing Crosby

12)  Let’s Face the Music and Dance – Fred Astaire

13)  A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody – Jackie Gleason

A Few Singles from May 1968

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Rather than go on (again) about how great pop music was in 1968, I figured it would be a good idea to just let the songs speak for themselves. To prep for today’s show, I’ve been playing a CD with all of these songs, and it is almost shocking how a sense of continuity starts to set in after awhile. Maybe the music of 1968 was all about a universal consciousness of some sort – a subtle shift in attitude that somehow became the international zeitgeist of the era. Listen to how Aretha Franklin suddenly bursts into joyous shouts of “Freedom!” in the middle of a song about a break-up, or to the subtle probing of racism on “Does Your Mama Know about Me?” Listen to how the hilarious lyrics of “Macarthur Park” somehow jibe with “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy,” or how the relaxed attitude of “I’d Like to Get to Know You” works with Stevie’s mellow flow on “Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day”. Or maybe I’m fooling myself, because I’m experiencing a similar sense of nostalgia from each song. Either way, there’s something at work here, and it’s bigger than the sum of its parts. Listen for yourself and see if you agree with me;

1)    Think – Aretha Franklin

2)    Paying the Cost to Be the Boss – B.B. King

3)    Macarthur Park – Richard Harris

4)    Yummy, Yummy, Yummy – Ohio Express

5)    Does Your Mama Know about Me – Bobby Taylor

6)    Soul Serenade – Willie Mitchell

7)    I’d Like to Get to Know You – Spanky & Our Gang

8)    Mony Mony – Tommy James & the Shondells

9)    Funky Street – Arthur Conley

10) Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day – Stevie Wonder

11) Do You Know the Way to San Jose – Dionne Warwick

12) Mrs. Robinson – Simon & Garfunkel

13) Tighten Up – Archie Bell & the Drells

14) This Guy’s in Love with You – Herb Alpert

 

HOW MUSIC CHANGED, HONORABLE MENTION – MICKEY HART

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Most people are familiar with Mickey Hart through his association with the Grateful Dead, where he served as part of their rhythm section, along with drummer Bill Kreutzman. He has paralleled his career with the Dead by releasing an interesting and varied series of solo projects. For over a quarter-century, Mickey Hart has been sharing his enthusiasm and obsession with percussion through various recordings and published works. In the process, he has grown to become an acknowledged leader in the field of ‘world music’, a genre that didn’t even exist when he started to release his solo work. This show is intended to point out a few highlights from his various projects.

It may be of interest to know that Shout! Factory Records has recently re-released six key disks of Mickey Hart’s work. Today’s show features excerpts from those CD’s, as follows;

1)    Happiness Is Drumming – from “Diga Rhythm Band”

2)    Razooli -                         “

3)    Slow Sailing – from “At the Edge”

4)    Udu Chant – from “Planet Drum”

5)    The Hunt -       “

6)    Iyanu –             “

7)    Where Love Goes (Sito) – from “Mickey Hart’s Mystery Box”

8)    Angola – from “Supralingua”

9)    Tall Grass -      “

10)  Baba – from “Global Drum Project”