Some, one would hope, but the 80's seem, in retrospect, to be a somewhat frivolous age, musically speaking. There was a terrible lot of New Wave pop-synth (A Flock of Seagulls, Pet Shop Boys, etc.) as well as big hair metal (Ratt, White Snake, etc.).
Probably the biggest development, musically speaking, would be the birth of rap and hip-hop into a mainstream musical form. But, I am not into it enough to discriminate Tone Loc from Run DMC (ok that's an exaggeration, but you get the point).
Now there is no question that Father Time separates the wheat from the chaff and what I am exposed to from the 60's era is the the cream of its crops, so to speak. Still, if I was trapped on a desert island and had to choose an oldies station that would play 80's hits vs. 60's hits, the 60's wins hands down.
Have a listen... I ain't lying :)
http://www.last.fm/music/The+Rolling+Stones/_/Gimme+Shelter
The lyrics of the song speak of seeking shelter from a coming storm, painting a picture of devastation and social apocalypse while also talking of the power of love:
Oh, a storm is threat'ning,
My very life today;
If I don't get some shelter,
Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away
War, children, it's just a shot away, It's just a shot away;
War, children, it's just a shot away, It's just a shot away
A much higher-pitched second vocal track is sung by guest vocalist Merry Clayton. Of her inclusion, Jagger said in the 2003 book According to... The Rolling Stones: "The use of the female voice was the producer's idea. It would be one of those moments along the lines of 'I hear a girl on this track - get one on the phone.' "
Clayton gives her solo performance, and one of the song's most famous pieces, after a solo performed by Richards, repeatedly singing "Rape, murder; It's just a shot away, It's just a shot away," and finally screaming the final stanza.
At about 2:59 into the song, Clayton's voice cracks twice from the strain of her powerful singing; once during the second refrain, on the word "shot" from the last line, and then again during the first line of the third and final refrain, on the word "murder".
She and Jagger finish the song with the line, "Love, sister, it's just a kiss away." To date it remains one of the most prominent contributions to a Rolling Stones track by a female vocalist.
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1 comment:
It's important to remember that 80s music is the birthplace of the widespread use of electronic instruments in everyday popular music. For the first time, synthesizers were portable and cheap enough that every band used them. They were seriously limited in the sounds available and really helped form the 80s sound. In teaching popular music, I've noticed some revolution to 80s music. This is mostly because the sound of the 80s is defined by what we would describe now as truly terrible, cheap, and primitive synth sounds. Sometimes it's hard to get past these sounds to get at the art. But just like any age, sometimes there's no art to get at.
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