Lately, things have been "Easy"
3-17-08 Lately, things have been “Easy”
My $1 goes pretty far in Los Angeles if I am am looking for Easy Listening LP’s – I picked all of these up last weekend, most for $1 or less. Incl. the Motherlode of Bert Kaempfert! I buy Easy Listening LP’s to look for “Easy Hits” – orchestra / chorus versions of rock music of the day (roughly ’65 – ’75). I can’t prove it, but I suspect Easy Listening LP’s stopped at the beginning of the 80’s.
ALDRICH, RONNIE – IT'S HAPPENING NOW, PHASE 4
CONNIFF, RAY – THIS IS MY SONG, COLUMBIA US LP
KAEMPFERT, BERT – FABULOUS FIFTIES…AND NEW DELIGHTS, MCA
KAEMPFERT, BERT – FREE AND EASY, DECCA
KAEMPFERT, BERT – GALLERY, MCA
KAEMPFERT, BERT – HOLD ME, POLYDOR DE LP amazing cover
KAEMPFERT, BERT – MY WAY OF LIFE, DECCA
KAEMPFERT, BERT – STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT, DECCA US LP mono
KAEMPFERT, BERT – THREE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING, DECCA US LP mono
KAEMPFERT, BERT – WARM AND WONDERFUL, DECCA
KAEMPFERT, BERT – WORLD WE KNEW, DECCA US LP mono
KOSTELANETZ, ANDRE – YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE,
LETTERMEN – NEW SONG FOR YOUNG LOVE, CAPITOL
LUBOFF CHOIR, NORMAN – BLUES – RIGHT NOW!, RCA
MANN SINGERS, JOHNNY – DON'T LOOK BACK,
MANN SINGERS, JOHNNY – FLOWING VOICE OF…, SUNSET
MANTOVANI – MANTOVANI TOUCH, DECCA
NERO, PETER – FIRST TIME EVER (I SAW YOUR FACE),
STRAWBERRY STREET SINGERS – TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING, RCA US LP “When I’m 64”
STUDIO STRINGS – PLAY CAROLE KING'S 'TAPESTRY', COLUMBIA US LP – that’s right the whole album recreated by a studio orchestra about ’80 or so!
VAUGHN SINGERS, BILLY – EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL, DOT
VAUGHN, BILLY – TRUE GRIT, DOT
Bert Kaempfert’s albums have a lot of ‘original compositions’ – in other words, most are only half ‘cover versions’ – but Bert has a nice sound – doubtlessly all or most of his LP’s were recorded in some nice large room / studio in Germany. They (his LP’s) sound amazing (I love his bass player).
posted by Ron Kane @ 6:39 AM
4 Comments:
Easy Listening probably stopped when its demographic audience was beyond caring about records. Also, the format shift to cassettes for a few years there probably threw the fan base for a loop. By the time CDs came into play, it was not worth pressing CDs of EL since there was a pent up demand for rock music, maaaaaaaan! We need our Phil Collins and Dire Straits CDS!
In a similar fashion, by 2040 will heavy metal be DOA? That's 70 years after the Led Zeppelin debut, more or less. But HM seems to move along generations, where EL was supplanted by "hipper" formats acceptable to an aging population raised on rock: CHR, etc. Hard to believe looking back at those millions of EL records from the 50s to the 70s, but I guess there wasn't enough money in it for labels to pursue it further.
On the other hand, the neo swing revival of the late 90s was probably a healthy reaction of generation Y against their headbanging parents and the uncool hard rock music they listened to growing up! So you never should say never.
Who knows how it will all play out in generations to come? I just spent several days with my fifteen year old nephew. This kid is like a sponge absorbing anything I can throw at him. He's a pretty good guitarist, so there was plenty of classic rock discussion, but he went home with CD-Rs as diverse as XTC's "Black Sea", Boom Crash Opera's "Fabulous Beast", the first two from Joe Jackson, Mitch Easter's latest, and yes, Blam Blam Blam. If he Johnny Appleseeds this kind of stuff to all his friends... well, who knows?
I also made a CD sampler for my eleven year old daughter just to see what might peak her interest.
Now she's begging for more Beatles, Jenny Morris, Icehouse and gulp... Duran Duran!
Working hard to change the world - one listener at a time.
Whaaa....? Pre-teen females STILL interested in Duran Duran?
It was the music maaaaaaaan!! She had no idea what they looked like. In case you're wondering, it was music from their terrific "Astronaut" LP.
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