Music Lane It's all about the music, dude! Sit down, relax and listen to some tunes.

---

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Music Lane ] [ Return to Search Results ]

---

[ Alert Moderator ]

---

RE: May I Ask You Some Questions?

Posted by Bill Way (A) on May 3, 2016 at 00:12:38

In Reply to: May I Ask You Some Questions? posted by Newey on May 2, 2016 at 19:37:28:

I very very very very very rarely willingly make the effort to actually listen to some piece of pop music. That's only because of my contempt for it, but in fact, because I already know that whatever it is, it's likely to bore me [because, more than likely, it'll be based on - or consist only of - yet another I-IV-V chord progression - or it'll annoy me. Most of what I hear from the pop/rock world consists of recycled melodies [over I-IV-V progressions].

So, my question is, how did you decide that Mister Addaddo's a "great" songwriter?

> > I listen to his songs.

Are his melodies original?

> > He is a "singer/songwriter" so yes: melodies, harmonies, song structure, lyrics, arrangements, and, in his case, production.

Or, is that something that you wouldn;t even pay attention to.

> > I obviously paid attention to them.

It boggles my mind how the average person can here [sic] the same melodies and chord progressions, differing only that they're played by different bands or singers. One recent "smash hit" simply redid the melody and chord progression of an 80's "smash hit" called "Every Breath You Take", which itself stole the chord progression from a Cole Porter tune.

> > I don't care about smash hits.

Today, people don't seem to care that they're just listening to the same stuff, over and over.

> > I don't.

It seems that some performance art aspect [stage persona] is more important. Or, maybe it' something else. Would you shed any light on that question?

> > Songwriting is an art. So is performance. They can exist separately or together.

> > I come from the classical music world, and used to think pop songs were inconsequential fluff. Some years back I decided to learn how studios work, so I bought the Recording Connection course, which included one day a week in a studio as an assistant. The course lasted six months; I stayed a little over five years. The biggest surprise was learning that writing pop songs is a lot like writing operas. Both have an opening, a dramatic or musical build, a hook/chorus, and a resolution. The big difference is songwriters have one performer rather than hundreds, and a only 4 minutes, rather than 3 hours for the piece.

> > Steve Addabbo's early training was at Julliard. His knowledge of music theory is as good as anyone on the planet; certainly beyond mine, and I'm no slouch. (Is the binding of your Charles Rosen held together with tape?)

> > The great pop songs from Paul Simon, Elton John, Joe Jackson, Eric Andersen, and, yes, that all-time great pop songwriter Cole Porter stand up to anything from Donizetti, Berlioz, or Wagner. Yes, there are pop songs that are just little bits of fluff, and there are pop songs that are great because of the performance, the arrangement, or the other musicians in the recording. Leslie Gore's "It's My Party" comes to mind. That song needed her unique voice, the arrangement that gave it just the right amount of bounce, and it needed to be a simple thing. Yet that simple thing spoke so directly to 1963 teenagers that it became part of our culture. The lyrics are deliberately simple; it wouldn't work any other way. But the combination of it all gave us something that is still works today, fifty years later. (Aside: she was in the studio a few years ago and is one of the most delightful people I've ever met. She was also really tiny, like a lovely little bird.)

You can have as much contempt for pop songs as you want. I've learned to love a great pop song as much as In Questa Reggia. This winter I've been to probably a dozen operas, as many symphonies and recitals, and easily 30 evenings in small clubs to hear singer/songwriters. When it's good, it's good. It doesn't have to be a masterpiece to be good, to say something, and to make you feel something.

Here are a few other singer/songwriters from our sessions, should you want to test your contempt against their art: Gio Moretti, Richard Barone, Valerie Ghent, Nafsica, Deni Bonet, Tracy Stark, Marlon Saunders, Casey Breves, Darlene Love, Eric Bibb, Lisa Fischer, Caitlin Canty, Jenn Logue, Johnny Rogers, and Ana Egge. They are all great musicians, and my life is better for knowing them.

A couple weeks ago I heard (for the last time I'm sure) Levine conduct Simone Boccanegra at the Met, and Marin Alsop conduct the Mahler 5th at Carnegie, and they're pretty great, too.

There is drek in both pop music and the classical world. I listened to the 1958 Bernstein Shostakovich 5th the other day because I forgot how truly awful it is. (Won't do that again.) I try to skip the bad stuff, keep the good, and certainly skip the contempt thing, because it doesn't make my life better.

YMMV.

WW




"Put on your high heeled sneakers. Baby, we''re goin'' out tonight.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Signature Sound

[ Signature Sound Lounge ]

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---