Wednesday, June 10, 2015

music music # 2

Suggestions from two parishioners -

Ed Torpey nominates



(One Brother recently died - Louis Johnson - see also Aaron Grossman's tribute to the late great bassman)

Ed also suggests this




Kevin Quinn proposes "Hit Factory / Business Is Business" by Godley & Creme, while conceding it's more about the industry of music than music-as-music (as saviour, haven, elevation, surrogate friend, reason to believe, reason to keep going, remedy for all that ails,  etc ). Indeed this falls into the category of anti-pop pop, the tradition of The Byrds's "So You Want To Be A Rock'n'Roll Star", Pink Floyd's "Welcome To The Machine" and "Have A Cigar", etc. As Kevin notes, it's about "the economic benefits of renovate/revive/repeat/release/reap the rewards...  the clanging music of the machines churning out product, the ennui-driven mantra of the drones at the plant."



Keep it simple
Keep it neat
Aim your hook
At the man in the street
Throw him the bones
But freeze the meat
`Cos the meat goes off
But the beat goes on
Business is business
Business is business
Business is business
And only the tough survive

Radio fallout
In an open prison
Jazz-based soul tinged
Watered down rhythm
Too many pretty sleeves
With Nothing in `em
Johnny be good or bad
But not indifferent
Hard-core bland-out
Stocking filler
Soft-sell overkill
Tee-shirts given
Everybody's wearing them
See you at the party tonight
  
Force fed
On half dead melodies
Dragged up from the archives
Playing on your sympathies
I'm being brain-washed
And don't know how to block it
`Cos something in the chorus
Burns a hole in my pocket
And I can't feel the pain
When my finger's in the socket
And only the numb survive
Only the numb survive
Only the numb survive


The Godley & Creme reminded me of two other pop-about-pop tunes by (over)producers and master confectioners, albeit in this case celebrations of pop:



"Silly Love Songs" actually starts with wheezing 'n' clanking sounds suggestive of the idea of manufacture, pop as assembly line...

Also, as I learned reading Aaron's post at Airport Through the Trees, the bass on "Silly Love Songs" is played by Louis Johnson....