MLT Club Member David Herrick
MLT Club MemberForum Replies Created
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Yes, Jacki, they were masters of the bowing fade-out. They were basically a studio group, but they looked so darned good that they just had to be on TV.
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Well, you’re talking to a Monkees fan who saw that awkward transition once or twice in every episode of their TV show. But agreed that they did a remarkable job on their end of the process. The tiny differences were beyond their control.
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For me the giveaway is the sudden disappearance of the background noise when John stops talking and starts singing. Secondarily, the tone of his voice changes abruptly, and he appears to be making a face at Ringo while singing “understand”, with his lower jaw extended, that would make it difficult for him to articulate that word properly.
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Seeing the Hard Day’s Night film was my first ever Beatles experience, and that performance of If I Fell was what launched my personal journey into Beatlemania. It’s still my favorite Beatles song.
That amp-knocking moment is interesting. It’s clear from the sudden change in the audio quality that they were lip-syncing to a recording of the song, and yet you hear the amp being knocked over, so they must have decided to dub that sound in later.
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Yeah, I forgot about the effect of key changes in the middle of the song. When it just goes up half a step near the end it’s pretty predictable, but I had never even noticed that the refrain of Penny Lane is in a different key from the verses.
I think I’m getting better with practice, though. A few weeks ago I looked up the chords for a song that I wanted to learn, and immediately recognized that the C major that was listed at one point was not right when I played it. Then a part of my brain that had never introduced itself to me said, “That should probably be an F7.” I tried it, and it was right! So apparently I’m starting to intuit something about chords.
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I thought they had said that this would be the week they’d be answering the questions about their musical influences.
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That’s so cool, Jung! I really really wish I could hear, and think in terms of, chord progressions. That’s the key to understanding what makes a song musically intriguing.
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There’s also this, from their Decca Records audition in early 1962:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nOrAJTu3R4
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This, according to Wikipedia, was the very first Motown release, in January 1959:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4f6eTz9F84
With apologies to Virginia Slims, you’ve come a long way, baby!
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Yes, I enjoy most of the Motown stuff as well. To me it’s a natural progression from the era of doo-wop and girl groups.
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Agreed, Jung. I vaguely recall that the Beach Boys and Chicago toured together in the late 80’s. Searching YouTube I learned that each group performed its own set of songs, and then they did a joint encore:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLexPbKNf6Q
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Jung, I think Motown is defined by the record label that the artist records for, so Bill and Bobby would not officially be considered Motown. But agreed, incredible vocal performance!
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Yeah, it’s by Bobby McFerrin, from 1988. As apathetic as I was toward contemporary pop music, that was just one of those songs that I couldn’t avoid. It was everywhere!
