Post by JMW on Jun 3, 2020 18:47:02 GMT -5
I'm currently cleaning out my bookmarks and found this Ross on Radio article from late April I had forgotten about.
You Singin’ About Me? Paranoia And Grim Determination In Early ‘80s Pop
How this whole topic is relevant to current times:
You Singin’ About Me? Paranoia And Grim Determination In Early ‘80s Pop
“Who Can It Be Now?”
“Why do I feel like/Somebody’s Watching Me?”
“Here in my car/I feel safest of all.”
“Help, I’m steppin’ into the/Twilight Zone.’”
“I Know There’s Something Going On.”
“Please, please, tell me now/Is there something I should know?”
“I can feel it coming/In the Air Tonight.’”
“Every Breath You Take/I’ll be watching you.”
Ever feel like that the hit music of the early ‘80s seems to be a little, well, paranoid?
This article began with a narrower focus. For a while, I’ve been meaning to write about a certain type of hit song that seemed to be prevalent in the early ‘80s. It was usually up-tempo pop — but minor-key. It was usually danceable — sometimes a poppy distillation of R&B, sometimes new-wave-influenced, sometimes both. The lyrics were sometimes nebulous, but usually involved walking alone (or with your lover, but vs. the world) on the mean streets, against the cold, grey jagged edge of the night. Often there was a sax solo involved. It was film noir on wax, or at least film gris.
“Why do I feel like/Somebody’s Watching Me?”
“Here in my car/I feel safest of all.”
“Help, I’m steppin’ into the/Twilight Zone.’”
“I Know There’s Something Going On.”
“Please, please, tell me now/Is there something I should know?”
“I can feel it coming/In the Air Tonight.’”
“Every Breath You Take/I’ll be watching you.”
Ever feel like that the hit music of the early ‘80s seems to be a little, well, paranoid?
This article began with a narrower focus. For a while, I’ve been meaning to write about a certain type of hit song that seemed to be prevalent in the early ‘80s. It was usually up-tempo pop — but minor-key. It was usually danceable — sometimes a poppy distillation of R&B, sometimes new-wave-influenced, sometimes both. The lyrics were sometimes nebulous, but usually involved walking alone (or with your lover, but vs. the world) on the mean streets, against the cold, grey jagged edge of the night. Often there was a sax solo involved. It was film noir on wax, or at least film gris.
Eventually though, I realized that if you expanded beyond the existential moodiness to a more general sense of paranoia, there was a ton to choose from:
*The early ‘80s new wave that played it for laughs, or at least Bowie-esque irony — “Cars,” “Who Can It Be Now.”
*The real Bowie with Iggy Pop’s “China Girl”
*Alan Parsons Project, “Eye in the Sky” (and deeper into prog-pop, Asia’s promise to be the “Sole Survivor” falls into that first “me on the hellscape” category)
*Styx’s “Mr. Roboto”
*The Rolling Stones’ “Undercover of the Night” (even though ripped from real headlines)
*Even Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” now the song used to encourage front-line workers, had a typical-of-the-times lovers-against-the-odds lyric that we heard again in “Livin’ on a Prayer.”
*The early ‘80s new wave that played it for laughs, or at least Bowie-esque irony — “Cars,” “Who Can It Be Now.”
*The real Bowie with Iggy Pop’s “China Girl”
*Alan Parsons Project, “Eye in the Sky” (and deeper into prog-pop, Asia’s promise to be the “Sole Survivor” falls into that first “me on the hellscape” category)
*Styx’s “Mr. Roboto”
*The Rolling Stones’ “Undercover of the Night” (even though ripped from real headlines)
*Even Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” now the song used to encourage front-line workers, had a typical-of-the-times lovers-against-the-odds lyric that we heard again in “Livin’ on a Prayer.”
How this whole topic is relevant to current times:
So how did pop music get out of the darkness, start “Walking on Sunshine” and decide, “Don’t Worry Be Happy”? It didn’t, entirely. “Livin’ on a Prayer” is the direct spawn of Springsteen and “Don’t Stop Believin’,” but it’s more direct, and so is much of the Def Leppard/Desmond Child/Guns N’ Roses-dominated hair pop that dominated the last few years of the decade, and pushed the soundtrack pop of the ‘80s aside. New jack swing did the same; by the late ‘80s, R&B was more “Poison,” less Pointers.
Paranoia is one thru-line in early ‘80s pop. In songs like “Far From Over” or “Neutron Dance,” it’s tempered with the other, grim determination. In spring 2020, grim determination is what we’ve got to work with. It’s already made its way into our music. And everybody is wondering how “Walking on Sunshine” happens again.
Paranoia is one thru-line in early ‘80s pop. In songs like “Far From Over” or “Neutron Dance,” it’s tempered with the other, grim determination. In spring 2020, grim determination is what we’ve got to work with. It’s already made its way into our music. And everybody is wondering how “Walking on Sunshine” happens again.
