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There’s a scene in the movie The Big Chill that sums up my feelings about music:
Old college friends from the sixties have reunited for a funeral. As they hang out
afterwards, a soundtrack of 60’s favorites flows from the turntable. One of the
visitors, looking through his host’s preserved-in-amber record collection, looks up and
says, “Hey dude,” (or something like that) “you know, they have made new music in
the last twenty years.”
I’m like the guy who owns that
collection.
Yes, I’m dimly aware that new music comes out now and then.
But the fact remains that what I want to hear now is what I wanted to hear back then.
I’m talking about the years 1969-79, when music was at its best.
That’s
why I still listen to the stuff. Looking at the box of CDs under my car seat, there’s
hardly anything new there. The latest Dido, Dixie Chicks, and the O Brother soundtrack
– that’s about it.
So what else is in there? I thought you’d never ask.
There are the wonderful, timeless sounds from the days of my youth.
For
example, Close to the Edge, by Yes. Yes made a lot of good music back in the
70’s, but this disc is special. From the chirping of zillions of electronic crickets, to
Chris Squire’s chunky bass, to the flying keyboard fingers of Rick Wakeman, it’s a
classic-rock tour de force. John Anderson’s clarion voice and bizarre lyrics still make
me wonder what planet he’s from.
Long before Rod Stewart crooned mellow
standards that my parents might enjoy, he was a working-class bloke from Scotland and
“gravel-voiced rocker,” according to the monthly catalogs sent to me by the Columbia
Record and Tape Club. The album I bought was Never a Dull Moment, graced by “You
Wear it Well” and a transcendent version of Jimi Hendrix’s
“Angel.”
Another favorite is In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, by Iron Butterfly.
These guys are a strange cross between The Doors and The Archies – heavy and light at
the same time. When I put this one on, I want to travel back in time, grow my hair, drop
out, tune in and turn on. The tracks “Flowers and Beads,” “Termination,” and “Are You
Happy?” are groovy, man.
Possibly the best background music for reading
“The Hobbit” or other Tolkien works is Selling England by the Pound, by Genesis.
In 1973, Phil Collins was not yet the lead singer, but you can hear him right behind
Peter Gabriel, biding his time. Here the band reached their creative peak, as heard in
“Cinema Show,” the album’s perfect climax.
The B52’s were all over FM
radio in 1979, with tunes like “Planet Claire,” ”Rock Lobster,” and “52 Girls.” Ten
years after that they bounced back with the mega-hits “Love Shack” (now an unlikely
wedding reception staple) and “Roam.” All these classics reside on my Time
Capsule CD. No, I don’t listen every day, but sometimes…you just gotta hear ‘em.
That’s just a sample of what I still like. And I will keep an open mind
about new music. I fully expect Dido to have something new out by 2007. In the meantime
– hey look, here’s Three Dog Night!
