Tuesday, September 30, 2003

Still have KFOG on

It's been apparently a pretty long time since I've really listened to commercial music radio. Maybe a decade. But the latest thing they play is from the 80's anyway, so have I missed anything?

They played The Eurythimcs' (see Sept 7 entry)"Would I Lie To You." Stuck in traffic at the time, I deconstructed why this song always disappointed me. (no, it wasn't due to the lack of a euphonium).

The basic bottom, drums-base-guit, are great. Even the lead guitar histronics work. It's the glossy surface fixtures that blow the song. Like a poorly designed and cheap home improvement chain faucet - it makes everything look/feel/sound chinzy.

The horns. Or, are they synth horns? Utterly wrong. The arrangement, the playing. Yuck.

But the worst is Annie Lenox's lead vocal. Where she's providing the backing vocals(would I lie to you, would I lie to you honey? now would I say something that wasn't true....), that's all fine. If it only ended there. Her lead vocal is devoid of soul. It's a bad day in Memphis. Since we were stuck in the 80's, sitting in traffic, I immediately thought, "why didn't they invite David Byrne to provide the lead vocal?" Or, even Robert Palmer (rip)? That and a Memphis, or even a Muscle Shoals, horn section. Something much more loosey & goosey. Like James Brown used to order: "Hey man, your horns' too white. Get me a black horn in here!"

Then, a few exits later, I heard the new Sting song. He's got religion now, but it's for himself. Or, his music. Way out, Sting. Yay radio.

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