90s Easy Listening Scene: 80s Roots? Any suggestions?
- Thread starter Pattrick
- Start date
batmon said
r. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band Late 70's
Or their white equivalent, The Blow Monkeys.
I kid. Though perhaps not entirely.
Pizzicato 5? I don't know.
This is a real interesting thread. I don't know that I have a lot to add, but would mention, Pattrick, that the opening chapter of Geoffrey O'Brien's excellent Sonata For Jukebox is all about the late-90s Bacharach revival, and might be worth a quick skim. It's probably a little late-model for the exact phenomenon that you're talking about, but it's got some interesting stuff on how and why the easy-listening vein gets mined in the modern age.
r. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band Late 70'sOr their white equivalent, The Blow Monkeys.
I kid. Though perhaps not entirely.
Pizzicato 5? I don't know.
This is a real interesting thread. I don't know that I have a lot to add, but would mention, Pattrick, that the opening chapter of Geoffrey O'Brien's excellent Sonata For Jukebox is all about the late-90s Bacharach revival, and might be worth a quick skim. It's probably a little late-model for the exact phenomenon that you're talking about, but it's got some interesting stuff on how and why the easy-listening vein gets mined in the modern age.
batmon said:What lead up to Esquivel being revisited makes me wonder. One event or a culmination?
I don't know whether they were thee thing, but I remember those RE:Search Incredibly Strange Music jernts being talked about a whole lot, and really kinda consolidating and crystallizing the whole exotica/space-age bachelor scene in a way that moved it away from its "funny uncle"/You Live At Home With Your Mom/loser vibes, and making the whole shit more palatable to hipsters looking for something new.
At a flea market outside of Atlanta sometime in the 90s, I saw some o.g. Esquivel record, but spent my money on the "Keepin' The Faith" twelve-inch instead. I have since lost said twelve-inch, but still regret nothing.
I don't know whether they were thee thing, but I remember those RE:Search Incredibly Strange Music jernts being talked about a whole lot, and really kinda consolidating and crystallizing the whole exotica/space-age bachelor scene in a way that moved it away from its "funny uncle"/You Live At Home With Your Mom/loser vibes, and making the whole shit more palatable to hipsters looking for something new.
At a flea market outside of Atlanta sometime in the 90s, I saw some o.g. Esquivel record, but spent my money on the "Keepin' The Faith" twelve-inch instead. I have since lost said twelve-inch, but still regret nothing.
I think the time was right.
Grunge was the new punk and for anyone old enough to know better, what was the grown and sexy way of repping?
There was a definite Zeitgeist around y'know, respek for all that mid-60s futurist leather & chrome chair, wheel in space, TV-in-a-big-orange-ball furnitureways or all that stuff Greyboy has in his yard. And what are you going to be blasting on your reel-to-reel? Metallica just won't do. Come sundown and the long, Autumnal shadows split your polished wood, man is the in the mood to grab a square scotch decanter, load up some Dionne Warwick and appreciate the arrangements.
Also a bunch of popular artists were coming through who had grown up around the OG easy listening vibes of their parents and who were citing Bacharach and dem as influences. Look at the Carpenters tribute stuff. It was OK to be Easy again. Better, it was actually cool.
Grunge was the new punk and for anyone old enough to know better, what was the grown and sexy way of repping?
There was a definite Zeitgeist around y'know, respek for all that mid-60s futurist leather & chrome chair, wheel in space, TV-in-a-big-orange-ball furnitureways or all that stuff Greyboy has in his yard. And what are you going to be blasting on your reel-to-reel? Metallica just won't do. Come sundown and the long, Autumnal shadows split your polished wood, man is the in the mood to grab a square scotch decanter, load up some Dionne Warwick and appreciate the arrangements.
Also a bunch of popular artists were coming through who had grown up around the OG easy listening vibes of their parents and who were citing Bacharach and dem as influences. Look at the Carpenters tribute stuff. It was OK to be Easy again. Better, it was actually cool.
Dean R said:Not so sure about the others, I think Sade and Weekend were coming more directly from the UK Soul / Jazz scenes.
Sade definitely was. Weekend was more post-punk/indie-pop meets jazz - Alison Statton had been in Young Marble Giants, and both Larry Stabbins and Harry Beckett were old stagers of the 60s/70 British jazz scene who Simon Booth took with him when he formed Working Week.
Sade definitely was. Weekend was more post-punk/indie-pop meets jazz - Alison Statton had been in Young Marble Giants, and both Larry Stabbins and Harry Beckett were old stagers of the 60s/70 British jazz scene who Simon Booth took with him when he formed Working Week.
J i m s t e r said:
There was a definite Zeitgeist around y'know, respek for all that mid-60s futurist leather & chrome chair, wheel in space, TV-in-a-big-orange-ball furnitureways or all that stuff Greyboy has in his yard. And what are you going to be blasting on your reel-to-reel? Metallica just won't do. Come sundown and the long, Autumnal shadows split your polished wood, man is the in the mood to grab a square scotch decanter, load up some Dionne Warwick and appreciate the arrangements.
It was OK to be Easy again. Better, it was actually cool.
This
There was a definite Zeitgeist around y'know, respek for all that mid-60s futurist leather & chrome chair, wheel in space, TV-in-a-big-orange-ball furnitureways or all that stuff Greyboy has in his yard. And what are you going to be blasting on your reel-to-reel? Metallica just won't do. Come sundown and the long, Autumnal shadows split your polished wood, man is the in the mood to grab a square scotch decanter, load up some Dionne Warwick and appreciate the arrangements.
It was OK to be Easy again. Better, it was actually cool.
This
bassie said:
Do Scott Walker and Julee Cruise belong in this conversation?
Yes, esp. Scott Walker. As far as the Brit post-punk thing goes, the compilation Julian Cope did for Zoo in the early 80s, The Godlike Genius Of Scott Walker (probably pretty rare now), was instrumental in putting his name back in front of a generation of kids who may have only known him as that dude their big sister and all her friends dug for a minute during the 60s.
I think Julee Cruise was (via the Lynch association) more a beneficiary of the post-No Wave/artfag fetishism of Esquivel, Martin Denny and Les Baxter that yer Stereolabs were also briefly connected with.
I'm expecting there to be a distinct transatlantic division between how and where this Easy Listening Revival concept developed. In the UK, it's rooted in a number of things - post-punk proto-indiepop and the jazz-dance scene, mainly - but the US experience would appear to be somewhat different.
Do Scott Walker and Julee Cruise belong in this conversation?
Yes, esp. Scott Walker. As far as the Brit post-punk thing goes, the compilation Julian Cope did for Zoo in the early 80s, The Godlike Genius Of Scott Walker (probably pretty rare now), was instrumental in putting his name back in front of a generation of kids who may have only known him as that dude their big sister and all her friends dug for a minute during the 60s.
I think Julee Cruise was (via the Lynch association) more a beneficiary of the post-No Wave/artfag fetishism of Esquivel, Martin Denny and Les Baxter that yer Stereolabs were also briefly connected with.
I'm expecting there to be a distinct transatlantic division between how and where this Easy Listening Revival concept developed. In the UK, it's rooted in a number of things - post-punk proto-indiepop and the jazz-dance scene, mainly - but the US experience would appear to be somewhat different.
sticky_dojah saidoes this fit in somewhere in the discussion?
Yeah. Matt Bianco was a spin-off of Blue Rondo A La Turk, a much-hyped, short-lived early 80s band fronted by London scenesters like Chris Sullivan and Christos Tolera, backed by a bunch of session players with jazz/latin chops. They just took it in a poppier direction, with half the band eventually leaving to take a more straight-up cocktail jazz route.
oes this fit in somewhere in the discussion?Yeah. Matt Bianco was a spin-off of Blue Rondo A La Turk, a much-hyped, short-lived early 80s band fronted by London scenesters like Chris Sullivan and Christos Tolera, backed by a bunch of session players with jazz/latin chops. They just took it in a poppier direction, with half the band eventually leaving to take a more straight-up cocktail jazz route.
DocMcCoy said:batmon said:
'82
This is straight-up jazz, though. I remember this used to get bumped by some of the more adventurous jazz-dance DJs bitd.
Yeah, this was before i understood what the specific request was. I was thinking overall Easy Listening/Smooth Jazz/Adult Comp.
And yeah Doc and I think US/UK looks will be different.
Kid Creole was already mashing thangs up by the time Buster Poindexter emerged.
Buster had that high profile SNL band gig to push that look/style.
And where does the Rockabilly resurgence factor into this?
'82
This is straight-up jazz, though. I remember this used to get bumped by some of the more adventurous jazz-dance DJs bitd.
Yeah, this was before i understood what the specific request was. I was thinking overall Easy Listening/Smooth Jazz/Adult Comp.
And yeah Doc and I think US/UK looks will be different.
Kid Creole was already mashing thangs up by the time Buster Poindexter emerged.
Buster had that high profile SNL band gig to push that look/style.
And where does the Rockabilly resurgence factor into this?
DocMcCoy said:I think Julee Cruise was (via the Lynch association) more a beneficiary of the post-No Wave/artfag fetishism of Esquivel, Martin Denny and Les Baxter that yer Stereolabs were also briefly connected with
Julee Cruise's music was mostly a product of David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti. At least her work from around Twin Peaks era was all composed by those two. But this feeds into what some of you guys are saying - both Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks were about taking that 50/60s nostalgia and feeding it through a warped lens, and the music had a similar approach. Badalamenti's scores also had a lounge vibe going on.
Julee Cruise's music was mostly a product of David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti. At least her work from around Twin Peaks era was all composed by those two. But this feeds into what some of you guys are saying - both Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks were about taking that 50/60s nostalgia and feeding it through a warped lens, and the music had a similar approach. Badalamenti's scores also had a lounge vibe going on.
Since this thread is about EL, and EL really makes my hambone slip, I will parlay.
In addition to my previous comment, EL is very much about Hi-Fi, stereophonic, and state-of-the-art recording techniques. As an analog guy, I enjoy how the sound was produced. Conniff strings had marvelous stereo, Lyman recorded in the geo-dome, and the technical specification starting showing up on record covers. Telefunken u-47's and western electric 633a's were common and the high quality resulted in more people tuning in and for longer times. The label command used 35mm, Ultra Audio 1/2 inch.
To make a long story short when Miserlou was made to order sound shifted into pure entertainment through and through.
In addition to my previous comment, EL is very much about Hi-Fi, stereophonic, and state-of-the-art recording techniques. As an analog guy, I enjoy how the sound was produced. Conniff strings had marvelous stereo, Lyman recorded in the geo-dome, and the technical specification starting showing up on record covers. Telefunken u-47's and western electric 633a's were common and the high quality resulted in more people tuning in and for longer times. The label command used 35mm, Ultra Audio 1/2 inch.
To make a long story short when Miserlou was made to order sound shifted into pure entertainment through and through.
Looking through this thread, I???m surprised that I haven???t seen the words Balearic or Ibiza mentioned at all. As far as I???m aware, a lot of 90s easy listening particularly of the Caf?? Del Mar variety was driven by the soundscapes synthesised on the Spanish holiday isles in the 1980s.
Test pressing is an excellent resource for these sounds and I think there are a few interviews and articles on there that you might find interesting.
http://testpressing.org/2011/01/the-balearicist???s-guide-to-the-revolution-what-is-balearic/
http://testpressing.org/2012/02/what???s-it-all-about-balearic-beat-in-2012-2/
Also visit DJ history
http://www.djhistory.com/interviews/jose-padilla
http://www.djhistory.com/interviews/dj-pippi
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/feb/08/electronicmusic
Regarding the 80s roots, here???s some of my picks:
Test pressing is an excellent resource for these sounds and I think there are a few interviews and articles on there that you might find interesting.
http://testpressing.org/2011/01/the-balearicist???s-guide-to-the-revolution-what-is-balearic/
http://testpressing.org/2012/02/what???s-it-all-about-balearic-beat-in-2012-2/
Also visit DJ history
http://www.djhistory.com/interviews/jose-padilla
http://www.djhistory.com/interviews/dj-pippi
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/feb/08/electronicmusic
Regarding the 80s roots, here???s some of my picks:
Pattrick: Pre-95 lounge/EZ interest in the US was mostly underground; any mainstream coverage of it was largely to clown on how uncool it was. Besides the people in cinema that have been mentioned like Waters and Lynch (I'll have to note here that Badalamenti was an easy listening veteran, and Vinnie Bell played on the Twin Peaks soundtrack), the first rumblings I remember were early ???80s industrial titans like Throbbing Gristle and NON cooing about the charms of Martin Denny and tiki culture.
Then later in the '80s came the Subgenius crowd, as entrenched as they were in the embrace and ridicule of post-war culture. This would include folks like Brother Cleve (who shepherded the return of Esquivel), Irwin Chusid, and L.A. artist Byron Werner, whose EZ mix tapes spread far and wide and were incredibly influential.
Then came the catalogs of Paul Major and Greg Breth, who started selling exotica records to psych collectors, and then the L.A. misanthropes (Adam Parfrey, Amok), and RE/Search books.
There wasn't any one thing that created the scene in the mid-'90s, it's more like the mainstream finally caught up with what the underground had been into for years (always the case, right?).
We had this discussion on Waxidermy a few years, back, check it out:
http://waxidermy.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16490
Then later in the '80s came the Subgenius crowd, as entrenched as they were in the embrace and ridicule of post-war culture. This would include folks like Brother Cleve (who shepherded the return of Esquivel), Irwin Chusid, and L.A. artist Byron Werner, whose EZ mix tapes spread far and wide and were incredibly influential.
Then came the catalogs of Paul Major and Greg Breth, who started selling exotica records to psych collectors, and then the L.A. misanthropes (Adam Parfrey, Amok), and RE/Search books.
There wasn't any one thing that created the scene in the mid-'90s, it's more like the mainstream finally caught up with what the underground had been into for years (always the case, right?).
We had this discussion on Waxidermy a few years, back, check it out:
http://waxidermy.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16490
I would also suggest the 90s appreciation of the genres here in N America birthed the irony/ironic hell we are slowly coming out of today. Co-workers at my first record store job would put on Walter Wanderly as a big joke, Daniel Clowes' Ghostworld and remember William Shatner sings Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds? There was a whole CD of lounge/easy listening covers.
could a strand of this be 'diggers' who were turning up a lot of mfp cheese from charity shops and decided to have a bit of revisionism?
