The golden age of music was not the 1960s, as is commonly thought
FOLLOWING ON from the previous posting (about how the world of our children differs from ours), I drifted into thinking about the lost music of the old days.
Members of the gang (in the comments columns) were talking about old music from the 70s like Dave Edmunds recently.
Reader David Barnaby sent in this old cartoon demonstrating the difference between what the word “Beatles” means to older and younger people.
It struck me that while there are lots of great songs from the 1960s and 1970s and 1980s, we don’t really need to mourn them – they will be remembered forever. The Beatles and ELO and Simon and Garfunkel will always be in the music shops.
It’s the one-hit wonders or the people who have never really made it to the top that we have to worry about: the guys who did great work but are in danger of being forgotten.
Here are some great but forgotten songs to show you what I mean.
This one below is Halfway Hotel by Voyager. It was written by the singer, a guy called Paul French, and is a perfect example of the 1970s sound.
The vocals are wild, androgenous and spaced out – but underneath is a beautiful and complex melody, gorgeously arranged.
For people who like their music a bit more straight, here’s one (below) for the romantics.
The real star behind this song is not the pretty-boy singer, but again the songwriter. It was written by brilliant English guy called Tony Macaulay who had a talent for creative unforgettable songs. For those with a really long memory, he also wrote Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes for Edison Lighthouse, another forgotten treasure.
For the pop fans, here’s a song which is just FUN, which is really the key to great pop music.
And we “old people” are always being teased for insisting that good music usually has a melody. Below is a song that demonstrates what a good melody can do.
There are no pretty-boy singers, there are no lyrics, there are no dancing girls. The only thing this piece of music has is a catchy tune – and that’s all you need.
Over to you:
What are your favourite forgotten treasures of pop music?
