thefluteboy

I do have a highly varied taste in music. Being a DJ, this can only be a good thing. You need to listen to literally anything and everything that has ever been made in the history of music. Musical snobbery should honestly have no place. Championing Radiohead while pouring bile on Gary Barlow is just pathetic. Music in all of its forms is made to be LISTENED TO, so it will do us good to open our mind and our ears, and consider the whole Universe of music, as opposed to just some of it!

Here follow three examples:

First up are a couple of tracks taken from one of those pop compilations that does not feature the the original artists. Here in the UK, we had a series of LP's entitled Top of the Pops, which gave us the then-current hits as performed by a bunch of faceless session musicians and singers. These approximations were usually very pale imitations of their respective originals. In Canada, a 3 LP set entitled Let The Good Times Rock was released. Quite why it warranted 3 LP's is another matter. All of the tracks contained were poorly-thought-out covers of familiar songs. Two songs seems to stand out - and not in a favourable way.

First is a cover of the Simon and Garfunkel folk staple Scarborough Fair, which features some rather cackhanded piano playing on the left channel. Things become more surreal however, when at 2:25, we are treated to the sound of children crying. If anything, it just makes Scarborough Fair sound like a very unhappy place to be!

Unknown Artist - Scarborough Fair

Second up, there is a cover of the Beatles classic Let It Be. Upon listening to it, you may well wonder why the musicians just could not take the song's own advice! This is clumsy beyond all description. Observe how the drums come in - not at 1:17 where they should do, but are belatedly faded in at 1:31.

Unknown Artist - Let It Be

Our third exhibit came to me courtesy of Channel 4's excellent video clip show Rude Tube. In 1979, A composer and arranger by the name of Adrian Munsey, released two sheep-based singles. You read that correctly - SHEEP-based singles. First was a single entitled C'est Sheep, which just so happened to be produced by those two guys from Sparks - Ron and Russell Mael. Then came a second single, entitled The Lost Sheep. Until I viewed this on Rude Tube, I had no knowledge of its existence. All I can do is urge you to watch and listen, and take in the spectacle of a man impersonating a sheep - with considerable fidelity - and seeking to convey a highly emotional message.


Like I said - when it comes to music, an open mind is required. Are you up to the task?

For further reading, see also my post of Monday, 9 June 2014, entitled Record rip-offs