Thursday, April 29, 2010

Alley Oop

July 1960

Ah, there's nothing like a novelty song, as a nice break from all the romantic woes we usually encounter in the pop charts. #1 for only one week, it's "Alley Oop," by the one-hit wonders The Hollywood Argyles.



It is the only popular song I know of that's based on a comic strip, unless you count "Charlie Brown," but I don't remember him calling the teacher "Daddy-o" in the strip. Anyway, I've never read the Alley Oop strip, even though it is apparently still in publication. I can only assume his depiction in the song is fair and accurate.

Most sources agree that the singer on the track is a guy named Norm Davis – although one of the record's producers, Gary Paxton, claims it was himself who recorded the lead vocal, in a somewhat bitter-sounding note on his personal website. An excerpt: "In the last 42 years, so many people have claimed things, all B.S. You've just read the actual truth."

Disputed authorship is fairly common in music, and it isn't hard to see why – if a record is a runaway success, everyone involved with it will want to claim the credit for themselves. It's a natural human reaction, but I have trouble understanding how a lead vocal could be disputed. To anyone who knew the performers personally, wouldn't it be obvious who the singer was? Wouldn't it be extremely difficult to fool people into thinking you sang a song that you didn't really sing? I guess this happens all the time in pop music – lip synching to someone else's voice (see Milli Vanilli). But here I just don't get it. It's not like this is a straightforward pop vocal – it's a highly unusual and distinctive performance.

Well anyway, as for the song itself, it's mildly amusing, which is all you can hope for in a novelty hit from the 60s. The funniest part of the song is the improvisation at the end – "He sho' is hip, ain't he? Like, what's happening?"

- Factoid: it's the second #1 hit in two months to contain the word "grizzly bear."

D+

Friday, April 23, 2010

Everybody's Somebody's Fool

June–July 1960

Who was the top charting female singer of the 50s and 60s? If Wikipedia is to be believed, it's Connie Francis, whom I've never heard of before in my life. So much for posterity! Neither did I recognize her first #1 single, "Everybody's Somebody's Fool."



Assessment: average pap. I guess there's a reason someone from my generation has heard of the Everly Brothers, but not Francis. Also, the song's title declaration doesn't strike me as, well, true. Really? Everybody? "There is no exception to the rule," she sings. I for one don't think I'm somebody's fool. Not currently, at least. Unless there's someone out there that I don't know of, claiming me as her fool, in which case I'd appreciate it if she'd leave me alone.

In case you were wondering what the song sounds like in German, here it is. It seems to have been pretty common in the 50s and 60s (and earlier? I don't know) for a pop singer to record a hit song in two or more languages. Even the Beatles sang a couple of their early hits in German. It makes sense from a business perspective, and it's not clear to me why this isn't done anymore. Here in China, English-language pop music is ubiquitous – the language barrier doesn't seem to dampen its appeal. In fact, many Chinese-language songs have a line of English in the chorus, as the main "hook" of the song. And this song, which is currently a smash hit here, is half Korean, half English – which hasn't stopped it from being a ringtone on about 5 billion Chinese cell phones.

It's counterintuitive that non-Chinese songs could become so popular here, especially since karaoke is one of the defining features of Chinese (and East/Southeast Asian) pop culture. Hang out at a KTV bar and you'll probably hear someone croaking out "Hey Jude" or "My Heart Will Go On," even if they have no idea what the lyrics mean (or how to properly pronounce them).

Of course, the situation in 60s Europe was vastly different from modern China. No Western music company would bother translating a song for the Chinese market, because it's almost impossible to make money with music here, due to a lack of intellectual property rights. And really, music piracy plagues record companies everywhere, even if it's to a lesser extent than in China. The future of the music business is pretty uncertain in this day and age. But in the days of "Everybody's Somebody's Fool," with no downloading or pirating, you had to actually buy a record to hear a song. So it made perfect sense to produce a version of a popular hit that was suitable for a foreign market. But what about the time between the 60s and the computer age – let's say the 80s? Why didn't Michael Jackson record multilingual versions of "Billie Jean"? Maybe there are examples of translated pop music that I'm overlooking. If so, I'd like to hear about them. And no, I'm not talking about "Mr. Roboto."

C-

Monday, April 12, 2010

Cathy's Clown

May–June 1960

Well folks, this is the 29th song so far, and yet it's the first one I would say I was familiar with before I undertook this project (young 'un that I am). Even cultural staples like "Mack the Knife" – I've definitely felt its influence, but I didn't really know the original version. But when I heard oldies stations in the car growing up, this one by the Everly Brothers definitely got a ton of airtime. It's the singing duo's third #1 single, but it's the first (and last) within our time frame.



First off, and I hope you'll agree – it's a terrific song. Foremost are the vocals, with as brilliant a two-part harmony as I can think of. The Everlys' singing was certainly an inspiration to many singers of the day, including a certain Paul and John. And the musical arrangement is great, too – especially those stuttering drums which seem to mimic the protagonist's nervousness. Because really, although he claims he's going to finally break it off with the titular girlfriend, we listeners aren't so sure if he'll really go through with it.

The situation in the song is pretty extreme – her cheating on him is so well-known that people openly laugh at him in the street – but it works because the emotion is believable on a basic level. I'd say most people have had the experience of staying in a relationship longer than they probably should have. With love can come a sense of attachment that's hard to exaggerate. People stay in abusive relationships all the time – everyone else around them can see the problem except themselves. It's easy to forget how powerful that feeling can be, but this song is strong enough to remind us. But in this case, it's not hopeless. He's finally declaring he's had enough. It's a pretty heavy emotion, and furthermore a dynamic one. What I mean is that the change from powerless cuckoldry to freedom feels like it's happening during the course of the song. It's not just a static image of heartbreak, or true love. I think this is why you can listen to the song so many times and it doesn't tire out. And those harmonies!

And here – in case you want the song ruined for you forever, be sure to check out this version.

A+

Friday, April 9, 2010

Stuck on You

April–May 1960

Because of my arbitrary starting date of August 1958, I won't be covering most of Elvis's biggest hits. Ask someone to hum a bar of an Elvis song, and 9 times out of 10 they'll come up with "Hound Dog," "Don't Be Cruel," or another of his many smash hits that were popular before the Hot 100 chart existed. But even so, he had 6 number ones in the 60s – it's pretty remarkable that he was able to chart with some kind of regularity, all the way up to his death in 1977, 21 years after his first big hit, "Heartbreak Hotel."



So it's interesting that so far, both of the Elvis songs I've covered (this and "Big Hunk o' Love") were previously unfamiliar to me. Two of the biggest hits of the best-selling solo artist of all time, and I'd never heard them. Success in one's time doesn't guarantee that a song will be remembered, as we've seen with many other songs already. Why are his earlier hits so much more familiar in my lifetime?

Well, for one thing, they were more original. "Heartbreak Hotel" was pretty different from what else was out there in 1956, and you could probably say the same about a number of his other songs. On the other hand, "Stuck on You" is, musically, more or less the same exact song as his earlier hit "All Shook Up." By 1960 Elvis was still a mainstay of the zeitgeist, but his performances weren't as shocking as they had been 5 years earlier. He'd settled in his ways.

So a lot of his early 60s songs have a sort of "crankin' out the hits" kind of feel to them, in that he didn't really progress any more artistically, even though he continued to dominate the charts. The people knew what they liked and by golly, he gave it to them. This certainly isn't a bad song. You can be damn sure I'd rather listen to this than the Summer Place theme.

Other observations:
- Elvis is apparently "stuck on you" against your will – you can hide in the kitchen, hide in the hall, ain't gonna do you no good at all. This conjures up some bizarre imagery of Elvis as some kind of gremlin, holding on for dear life.
- He uses "yessiree" when addressing a woman.
- The way he says "GRIZZ-a-lee bear" is probably my favorite part of the song.

B

Friday, April 2, 2010

Theme From "A Summer Place"

February–April 1960

It's not uncommon for a song from a movie to become a big hit. But here's an instrumental movie theme that was not only a hit, it was a monster smash that spent 9 weeks at the top. The movie was A Summer Place, and no matter how old you are, you'll instantly recognize Percy Faith's rendition of the tune:



It's one of those pieces of music that is so ingrained in our culture – in movies, TV, commercials, etc. – that it's easy to forget it actually had to come from somewhere, originally. Frankly, I have no desire to see the film – although its director, Delmer Daves, also gave us the classic western 3:10 to Yuma, this romantic drama is not remembered as fondly. The musical theme has far surpassed the film itself in our cultural environment.

The tune was written by Max Steiner, whom you may know as the composer for the film Gone with the Wind, but the famous version definitely bears the Percy Faith stamp. A lifelong opponent of good taste, Faith made a career out of producing campy, "lite" orchestral versions of popular tunes – he's known as one of the premier champions of the "easy listening" genre. This sort of music used to be a lot more successful on a widescale, commercial level. These days it's relegated to a niche market, and even banks and grocery stores don't play it anymore. (Strangely, neither do elevators – did they ever?)

Except, apparently, in China, where muzak is ubiquitous and always, always too damn loud. Tourist spots of cultural importance or natural beauty (as well as the bus rides to and from them) are all too often accompanied by a sort of easy listening music which is so sickening it makes me pine for Percy Faith. It is actually difficult for me to understand the appeal of this music. It is supposed to be soothing and calming (I guess) but for me it has the exact opposite effect of irritating me to no end. A misty mountainside or a river at night is serene enough for me without a sappy piano ballad telling me how serene it is. I guess it's pretty much my ultimate pet peeve – being subjected to bad music against my will. It's one of the main reasons I disliked working at corporate retail stores in high school and college.

So listening again to "A Summer Place," well... it's not so bad, I guess. But 9 weeks at number one... wow, people. The times they have a-changed.

F