RIP

If you grew up listening to music of the 1960s, you're doubtless also familiar with the music of television programs of this era. A link to the obituary of Earle Hagen, one of the most prolific composers of 1960s television, is here.

RIP

Larry Levine, who collaborated with Phil Spector to create the famous "Wall of Sound," passed away May 8. Full details are in the NY Times obituary.

The Rascals--the Pinnacle of '60s American Pop?

C'mon now...was there really a better American pop group in the 1960s? Did anyone sing better than Felix Cavaliere or Eddie Brigati? (Any American?) Did any American group write more iconic and superlative songs? Did any group play as well individually or collectively?

(For purposes of this comparison, The Band does not count. They did everything I mentioned--singing, playing, songwriting--better. But they are by no means a pop group. I may be a little fuzzy on this, kind of like the Supreme Court Justice (Potter Stewart?) who can't define pornography but knows it when he sees it. What I "know" is pop groups write songs about girls and love.)

OK, maybe Gene Cornish was not a guitar superhero, and yes, they did have those corny outfits early on. But Dino Danelli's drumming is solid, if not superlative, and Felix Cavaliere's integration of the Hammond organ is more authentically soulful than any other group of the time (except for Garth Hudson, who is in another league).

What's more, they're from New Jersey! What's your take? Who would you put up as the best American group of the 1960s?

The Beatles have it

In our small, and decidely unscientific, sampling, The Beatles were favored 2 to 1 over the Stones and the Dave Clark 5. And that ratio is also followed in our song list, as we have more songs by The Beatles than anyone else. Heck, they were only the most influential pop group ever! I suppose I could blog about that at length, but I'll spare you...

We've got a new question posted that is sure to change Western thought, so be sure to weigh in. And please feel free to offer suggestions for new questions as they occur to you.

Returning to my AM radio roots

I use a computer every day at my job (or I did), but I would not consider myself a power user. In fact, as the readers of this blog know (all 4 of you, and I know who you are!), I only recently purchased a computer to help keep band business on track and to launch myself into the 21st century.

And I have to say, I do like it. I like the convenience of instant access to arcane information, to weather reports without the bother of commercials or waiting for particular times, for directions on the fly, and more. Guitar tablature? Check! Lyrics? All there! And don't even get me started on YouTube!

But with all this up-to-the-minute technology, it also occurred to me tonight that in some ways this has taken me back in one major way. As I said, I'm no computer geek, and my weapon of choice is a simple Dell laptop, pretty much stock. And as I'm sitting here tonight, with Paul Revere "blasting" out of the computer's onboard speakers, it suddenly occurs to me that the sound is no better, and no different, really, than that coming out of the speaker of the transistor radio I received as a present on my sixth birthday.

Yes, a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then, and the sheer magic of hearing a good song for the first time at that young age is something that cannot be replicated by technology of any stripe. There was something so captivating in that--a transistor radio was a personal thing, but not personal in the fashion of an iPod, which isolates through its personalness. No, it was personal but could also be shared, and it was talismanic--not in the sense of consumer culture, where earbuds seem to denote possession of a fetished object, but in its magical power to help say to someone "listen to this!"

Today, through (or despite) technology, sharing seems to happen at some remove. Using my new computer, I'll burn a track and send it to friends via e-mail (while respecting all copyright laws, of course ;-)). It's music as commodity, and "listen to this" seems a process rather than a portal to new experience.

Don't get me wrong, getting together with friends and playing new (or old) music for them still happens and is still immensely satisfying. A shared listen is a near-religious experience for me when introducing someone to a song I love. But if the speakers on my new computer can take me back to wonderful old memories, all the better.