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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
OT: When did the solo die in pop?
OT: When did the solo die in pop?
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Martin
489 posts
Oct 17, 2013
2:10 PM
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In 1989 Belinda Carlisle recorded a single called "Leave a light on for me".
It was a real smoking pop hit. And I confess that in inebriated states I may occasionally have been seen dancing to it; as you know,"nemo saltat sobrius, nisi infanus est", and I´m generally sane.
But more importantly, it has a solo. Slide guitar, played by George Harrison, no less.
That same year Chris Isaak released "Wicked game" -- an even greater pop tune, with fabulous guitar playing by ... (I forgot his name).
My interest in pop has since declined in a big way, that I confess, but I have a hard time identifying a single tune that has something resembling a solo in the traditional sense that´s crossed my way these last two decades.
So, did the instrumental break in mainstream pop music die in 1989?
Conter-examples would be welcome.
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didjcripey
646 posts
Oct 17, 2013
2:49 PM
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Don't know if you'd call it pop, but there are some great guitar solos on Talking Heads 'Remain in Light ' album, I think it was Adrian Belew?
One of my favourites was on the track, 'The great Curve'.
(just realised that was released only a year later in 1980)
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Lucky Lester
Last Edited by didjcripey on Oct 17, 2013 2:50 PM
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Frank
3025 posts
Oct 17, 2013
5:02 PM
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The solo's died when the King of Pop did. His music contains some of the greatest solos ever...David Bowie has some great soloist is his bands too :)
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Martin
491 posts
Oct 17, 2013
5:11 PM
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didjcripey: Final Talking Head album in 1988, as I understand it, so I´m still a bit ahead.
Frank: "King of Pop"? (Ah, you Americans with all your "kings" and "princes" and whatnot: here in Sweden we have a -real- king!)
Wasn´t that Michael Jackson? Did his tunes have solo parts? Must have missed.
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Frank
3028 posts
Oct 17, 2013
5:20 PM
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We are full of kings over here...Burger King holds a lot clout :) Check out the Kings tune "Bad" rockin solo...
"Bad"
BAD
Your Butt Is Mine
Gonna Take You Right
Just Show Your Face
In Broad Daylight
I'm Telling You
On How I Feel
Gonna Hurt Your Mind
Don't Shoot To Kill
Come On, Come On,
Lay It On Me All Right...
I'm Giving You
On Count Of Three
To Show Your Stuff
Or Let It Be . . .
I'm Telling You
Just Watch Your Mouth
I Know Your Game
What You're About
Well They Say The Sky's
The Limit
And To Me That's Really True
But My Friend You Have
Seen Nothing
Just Wait 'Til I Get Through . . .
Because I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
Come On
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
You Know It
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
Come On, You Know
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
And The Whole World Has To
Answer Right Now
Just To Tell You Once Again,
Who's Bad . . .
The Word Is Out
You're Doin' Wrong
Gonna Lock You Up
Before Too Long,
Your Lyin' Eyes
Gonna Take You Right
So Listen Up
Don't Make A Fight,
Your Talk Is Cheap
You're Not A Man
You're Throwin' Stones
To Hide Your Hands
But They Say The Sky's
The Limit
And To Me That's Really True
And My Friends You Have
Seen Nothin'
Just Wait 'Til I Get Through . . .
Because I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
Come On
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
You Know It
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
You Know It, You Know
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
And The Whole World Has To
Answer Right Now
(And The Whole World Has To
Answer Right Now)
Just To Tell You Once Again,
(Just To Tell You Once Again)
Who's Bad . . .
We Can Change The World
Tomorrow
This Could Be A Better Place
If You Don't Like What I'm
Sayin'
Then Won't You Slap My
Face . . .
Because I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
Come On
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
You Know It
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
You Know It, You Know
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
Woo! Woo! Woo!
(And The Whole World Has
To Answer Right Now
Just To Tell You Once
Again . . .)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
Come On
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
You Know It-You Know It
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know, You Know, You
Know, Come On
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
And The Whole World Has To
Answer Right Now
(And The Whole World Has To
Answer Right Now)
Just To Tell You
(Just To Tell You Once Again)
You Know I'm Smooth, I'm
Bad, You Know It
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm
Bad Baby
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know, You Know, You
Know It, Come On
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
And The Whole World Has To
Answer Right Now
(And The Whole World Has To
Answer Right Now)
Woo!
(Just To Tell You Once Again)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
You Know It
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad-You
Know-Hoo!
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad-I'm Bad-
You Know It, You Know
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
And The Whole World Has To
Answer Right Now
(And The Whole World Has To
Answer Right Now)
Just To Tell You Once Again . . .
(Just To Tell You Once
Again . . .)
Who's Bad?
Last Edited by Frank on Oct 17, 2013 5:24 PM
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Gnarly
728 posts
Oct 17, 2013
7:46 PM
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Before I became a musician, I was a music fan. I would buy records, and I liked the songs to be short, with no solos.
After I got better on the guitar, I began exploring solo work.
When I became a professional musician, being able to improvise came in handy.
But then I noticed, starting in the 80's, that songs would have recitation in place of the solos. I mean rap!
These days, I don't know how valuable improvisational skills are. Most people are like I was, they want to be able to recognize the song and they want to dance. Most folks don't care about solos!
Last Edited by Gnarly on Oct 17, 2013 7:48 PM
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wolfkristiansen
216 posts
Oct 17, 2013
8:33 PM
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Katy Perry - Last Friday Night (2010)
Sax solo at the 3 minute mark
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZVJWh02I_M
Cheers,
wolf kristiansen
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nacoran
7236 posts
Oct 17, 2013
9:05 PM
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They are still there, sometimes. The last ones I really really noticed though were back in the days of Slash and a skinny Axl Rose. Grunge still had some... I think dance music tends to be short on solos. We seem to be going through a period where the singers are singing more notes, so there may not be as much room. When Mariah Carey or Alicia Keys is doing all the ornamentation you may not need a fun on solo.
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Nate
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wolfkristiansen
217 posts
Oct 17, 2013
9:09 PM
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Lady Gaga - The Edge Of Glory (2011)
Sax solo at the 3 minute mark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeWBS0JBNzQ
Cheers,
wolf kristiansen
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didjcripey
647 posts
Oct 17, 2013
10:41 PM
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Quite right Martin; I was out by a decade! Just goes to show how long its been since I listened to modern pop music.
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Lucky Lester
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joe
112 posts
Oct 17, 2013
11:18 PM
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i find this very interesting since i have done a fair bit
of time arranging instrumental performances.
my first response was that it has to do with the rise
of the pop 'star' maybe not wanting to share the stage
but i am sure that is a too easy response. the question really
needs a full survey to get a better idea. did Brenda Lee's
performances have soloists for example?
i have mentioned this young performer before. he's in the
Australian version of Xfactor which is in its final weeks.
i am sure there are a whole number of reasons he is one of
the final performers but there is a showman in the making.
his performances have been distincly different from the beginning.
one thing that i notice are the instrumentalists he shares
this performances with.
Ronan Keating under whom he rehearses is not afraid to have Jai share
the music with instrumentalists. while this last clip
does not include actual solos the camera work implies that musical
cooperation. this is different style of performance to all the other
performancers in the competition.
though i may be accused of shading reality towards what i would like to be
the truth, i really wish the kid would discover the blues. i can hear
all sorts of harmonica, sax and guitar solos goin' on for the way he sings.
it needs someone who can extend the music of the past into a contemporary
sound. and not only blues but new ways to use the instruments in
contemporary performance.
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Last Edited by joe on Oct 18, 2013 12:43 AM
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MindTheGap
17 posts
Oct 17, 2013
11:55 PM
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I think it's broadly true. But britpop had lots of great signature guitarists, here is a random selection of songs from that era that have traditional guitar solos...
Primal Scream, Rocks, 1994
Shed Seven, Ocean Pie, 1994
Dodgy, So Let me go Far, 1995
Ride, Dawn Patrol, 1996
The Stone Roses, Breaking into Heaven, 1994
Maybe you can push your cutoff date to 1995!
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