[klaatumail] Re: New Dee Long solo rarities
- From: Jaimie Vernon <bullseyecanada@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <klaatumail@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 22:11:47 -0400
At Date: Sun, 19 Jul 2009 11:43:58 +1000
>
> Interesting thoughts. But here's the thing.
>
> When I was growing up in the 70's and 80's, my dad was really into The Beach
> Boys. Simply because of the fact that my dad loved them, I've avoided them
> for the last 20 years. But, recently I've delved into their music and
> discovered how important they were in the history of music, and what a
> genius Brian Wilson was musically. Their production may be of the 60's, but
> the music itself remains relevant and equally impressive to this day. That
> is what I mean when I refer to the timelessness of a band.
>
> I believe commercial music blinds the minds of the majority of music
> listeners to musical quality. I've found that if you want to hear good
> quality music, you have to go and look for it. Turning on the radio simply
> isn't enough. But that is what most people do, and so the rubbish that pours
> out of commercial radio influences the listener into thinking that because
> it's on the radio, it must be good. Wrong. And these are the people who
> ridicule music that isn't current.
>
> Listen to a pop song of the of the same period next to a Klaatu song, and
> you can easily tell how superior they are compared to the commercial pop of
> the time.
Your points are all valid but we're talking two different things here:
Timeless SONGS vs. Timeless SOUNDS
The debate here was never about QUALITY of songs...only about whether they
sounded 'dated'. Not always one and the same.
Whether something's good OR timeless is a matter of personal taste. Something
sounding dated will be strictly based on how well it remains tethered to
production styles through the ages.
Robert Johnson's always going to sound dated because it was recorded on a
single, mono microphone and played back at 78RPM. SOME of Klaatu's work does
not sound dated; "Knee Deep" still holds up pretty good to the current Easy
Listening crop of tunes...while "Neutrino" is something that could have only
existed when it did....reproducing it now would require some very obvious
'digital' impersonations taking it out of its era completely [just listen to
the new 'live' version by the boys themselves].
BTW - Klaatu WAS commercial pop for its time....but radio was geared to 3
minute tunes. Similarly, 10CC, Queen, Supertramp and others...who were willing
to play the 'game'. Klaatu's refusal to do so was why they weren't part of the
commercial radio landscape. People seem to forget that fact. It wasn't 100%
that radio didn't want them...it's that Klaatu refused to meet them in the
middle.
Jaimie Vernon
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