Reviews
 Keep It Simple
Van Morrison
Roger McGuinn @ the Huntington IMAC, Long Island, NY - April 4, 2008
Emily Saxe @ the Allen Room/Jazz at Lincoln Center - April 5, 2008
Another Country
Tift Merritt
Be Your Own Pet
Get Awkward
Paul McCartney – The McCartney Years (DVD)
Juno – Music from the Motion Picture
Various Artists
Yes - Their Definitive Story
Day and Night Driving
Seven Mary Three
InterMedia Arts Center 2/2/08
Huntington, NY
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Abba
Say what you will about Abba, they did the best job of representing what was good about mid-‘70s pop. Their music might have been as rootless as a Chia Pet but, also like that bizarre animal/plant, it could grow on you. In the mid-‘70s, America was already awash with such popular non-rock acts as the Carpenters, Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow, Anne Murray, and Olivia Newton-John, so why not add a sweet-sounding, exotic band from Sweden? All of the above acts had plainly discernible talent (some more obviously than others), not to mention well honed and carefully maintained images, which made them the pop phenomena of the mid-‘70s. The music these artists created was aimed at a slightly older age group than rock-and-roll’s target audience, so it was geared to reflect the sophisticated tastes and more mature lifestyles that an older audience presumably possessed. An older audience also implied a more conservative demeanor and less musically adventurous tastes. Unfortunately, this also meant that the material, although crisply produced, was deliberately lacking in innovation or controversy. As a result, a cycle developed that stunted the growth of pop music. Abba embraced the homogenized lack of topicality that defined most middle-of-the-road artists but geared its material to a more sprightly audience. The typical teenage rock-and-roll fan and the typical mid-40s housewife might not have cared for Abba, but virtually everybody between these two extremes found something to like. The unprecedented appearance of a Swedish pop group on the American charts notwithstanding, Abba's first American single was catchy enough to become instantly familiar.
“Waterloo” was produced with the deliberate intent of crossing all cultural and age barriers. Since the early ‘60s, most European nations have competed in something known as the Eurovision Song Contest. Without going into detail about how material is chosen or how songs are judged, the contest usually breeds thoroughly disposable ditties that attempt to prove the creative superiority of their respective cultures while simultaneously appealing to judges from many cultures. In an attempt to mean something to everybody, the songs are usually trite and meaningless. “Waterloo” was Sweden’s entry in 1974 and has the distinction of being praised as the best song ever to come out of this rather dubious event. By targeting the broadest of audiences, Abba inadvertently discovered a huge fan base that the music industry had overlooked. America had always been oblivious to the outcome of the Eurovision Song Contest, but Abba appealed to a large piece of the public that had grown indifferent to pop music trends. Bull’s-eye. “Waterloo” was internationally huge and, in turn, the American record industry was astonished to discover that Abba had discovered a market demand that they hadn’t known existed.
Speaking of taste, what were we thinking of in 1974? I realize that my song selection for each year starts to slim down considerably starting in 1973, and I’ve been racking my brain trying to determine if this is directly attributable to my own personal prejudices. Of course, to an extent it is, but I don’t really think that explains things sufficiently. You see, 1973 to 1976 happens to have been my high-school years, my “golden age.” All previous generations seem to be able to reminisce about the music that accompanied them to adulthood, so why is it that I feel robbed of this pleasure? I’m not alone, either. Most of my contemporaries agree that popular music was atrocious when we were in high school. I’ll let the titles bear this out. Here’s a list of ten top-selling #1 songs from just five years earlier, 1969:
- “Get Back” – The Beatles
- “Honky Tonk Women” – The Rolling Stones
- “Everyday People” – Sly and Family Stone
- “I Can’t Get Next to You” – The Temptations
- “Crimson and Clover” – Tommy James and the Shondells
- “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” – Steam
- “Come Together” – The Beatles
- “Something” – The Beatles
- “Someday We’ll Be Together” – The Supremes
- “Suspicious Minds” – Elvis Presley
Now, here’s a list of ten top-selling #1 songs from 1974:
- “Seasons in the Sun” – Terry Jacks
- “The Streak” – Ray Stevens
- “(You’re) Having My Baby” – Paul Anka
- “Kung Fu Fighting” – Carl Douglas
- “Billy, Don’t Be a Hero” – Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods
- “The Loco-Motion” – Grand Funk
- “Hooked on a Feeling” – Blue Swede
- “Angie Baby” – Helen Reddy
- “Dark Lady” – Cher
- “The Night Chicago Died” – Pepper Lace
Now you tell me. In the ‘70s, it seems as though somebody took the charts, turned them upside down, and then shook like hell until all the garbage fell into the highest positions. Is it my taste that has skewed things unalterably toward the ‘60s, or is there just cause in labeling most mid-‘70s pop music as terrible? The truth is, Top 40 music was hijacked in the mid-‘70s and delivered into the hands of heathens who had no respect for our musical heritage. Through mergers, power plays, and buyouts, the industry was reduced to only six major players who together wielded enough power to seriously hamper the army of independent labels that had once defined the rock-and-roll spirit. At the same time, these mega-labels weren’t equipped to replace the music the independents had produced with anything of equivalent quality. An unfortunate consequence of these circumstances is that the Top 40 declined in significance. What did big business know about rock and roll? Apparently nothing. The industry deliberately catered to the lowest common denominator of generic tastes and waited to make a bundle. The struggle between artist and business interests was over (for the time being), and business clearly had won.
Or so it seemed. The truth is that record companies were suffering from a decrease in sales for the first time in decades. These huge conglomerates were reeling from bloated expense accounts and top-heavy management costs. A combination of fear and greed skewed the judgement of executives who would throw something at the wall only if they were sure that it was gooey enough to stick. Complacency also played a role, now that the market was less competitive. The major labels innately knew that it was much easier to duplicate a proven formula than to take risks. With fewer choices, were we beholden to choose from the dearth that was presented? As far as I can tell, the answer is that the best mid-‘70s music was to be found elsewhere (i.e., off the pop singles charts), and happened almost accidentally. In the mid-‘60s, you would trip over a good song whichever way you turned. In the mid-‘70s, good music was still there for anybody to find, but you had to be (very) selective. Albums were now a welcome refuge from the Top 40, since artists at least had some artistic control over their long-playing product.
Meanwhile, a reactionary underground culture was fomenting that would soon cause the industry to rethink its methodologies, but punk would take years to develop. When it did, independent labels would experience a resurgence that would shake the very foundations of corporate music. In the meantime, we would have to wait.
 
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