Wait! You left out the #1 song kids of the 50's liked to sing and play poorly on their guitars or ukuleles...Puff the Magic Dragon..."A Dragon Lives Forever" ☺
Yup! Came out when I was 9. I loved it for a while and did play it then on piano and guitar. But I was a really good pianist and guitarist at that age. :)
"Allow me to stereotype a wee bit. At each such event, pre-teens and teens would self-isolate in a basement. At some point, a musically talentless boy would open the dusty piano and perform “Chopsticks.” Then, two giddy and equally talentless girls would sit together on the bench and bang out a duet of “Heart and Soul.” Afterward, an awkward boy with even less musical capacity would nervously round out the repertoire with “Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater” and “The Knuckle Song.” Then, other kids would repeat that four-song Playlist-from-Hell over and over."
OMG, this is nailing it in a league with the "Somewhere It's Green" montage in the film of the musical version of "Little Shop of Horrors." It is to laugh and cringe at the same time.
Growing up in a rural area, didn't spend much time in elevators, so don't believe I ever heard music in an elevator. But.... I do remember the 70s and 80s reign of the "beautiful music" stations. Orchestrations of popular music done by studio musicians and played in businesses as it was Muzak without the licensing fees. My first retail job at the department store played Muzak -- you could detect the repeating pattern. Think Lawrence Welk without the video feed. But it provided employment for musicians. Thanks for this post, a good diversion from the news of the day...
Long ago, in my musician days, I was told that Muzak-type musicians made a lot of money, compared with their colleagues doing the more satisfying stuff. For me as an economist, it makes sense. You pay people more for things they DON'T want to do. My parents owned a small clothing store. At one point, someone anted to sell Dad a garbage-hauling business. Much less pleasurable, but apparently quite a bit more lucrative. Dad decided to opt for pleasure.
The youtube video of the orchestra with suits, ties and wingtip shoes was...well, it was.
But now that song is playing back in my head and it will be some time before I can turn it off... Of course now it has fast-forwarded to Travolta's Summer Sun. Can I ever escape?
I enjoy the theme from "A Summer Place", especially Percy Faith's performance, because it reminds me of the movie and Sloan Wilson's novel, which is much better than the movie. I suppose my musical taste has been warped by playing so many minuets and other dances, but I can't help liking the "Summer Place" waltz.
The ill wind is merely the endless repetition, which can ruin any song. In the movie "One! Two! Three!", a pair of Stasi arrest a man and force him to listen to endless replays of "Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" until he cries out, "Stop! Stop! I'll sign anything!" I feel the same way about "Jingle Bell Rock". Nothing wrong with the song except that the radio stations play it constantly from Thanksgiving to Christmas Day.
I'm not remotely qualified to comment on the musical side of this issue. But that may be useful, here. Everybody's had a Summer Place. Or almost had a Summer Place. Or wishes he'd had a summer place fantasizes about a Summer Place, with different resolutions. The piece brings that up for its association, real or deeply wished for. Had it been named "Theme From A Gloomy Night", I'd suggest its popularity wouldn't have been two percent of the real thing. Should say, "rainy" would not substitute for "gloomy" in the loser category. "Gloomy Night In Georgia" isn't going to get it.
Back in the Sixties, in a field project in territory less congenial than we'd been led to believe, we were performing the orthopedically challenging task of keeping our heads down while looking over our shoulders. Two of the women volunteered that, due probably to guys at home, they misted up at the then big hit, "Gentle On My Mind". Didn't strike me as much at the time, but now....I'm back there, not at all wistful, but back there.
In my early teens, 1963 or so, my parents belonged to a club with a monthly food minimum.
All their friends would gather for dinner on the last Sunday of the month to use up their allotment. You nailed it: a steady repretoire of Chopsticks and Heart and Soul while the adults were having cocktails.
Well,,, I fancy myself an unashamed Doors and Van Halen groupie as well many other similar hard rock groups, but...
I really love “Theme from A Summer Place.” It fully represents that era (portrayed as) American pie and probably the last era that will ever be portrayed that way which ended with the advent of two and a half decades or so of music I love. Plus, I owned a monstrous 1959 Pontiac Catalina custom with fins, (also the end of an era) so it has its place. But no I wouldn't queue it up on my own. Well maybe Perry Como Christmas music is another contender.
Muzak: a friend's father owned the co. that made the hardware for Muzak. His father couldn't stand it!
Probably made some good money from it, though.
Wait! You left out the #1 song kids of the 50's liked to sing and play poorly on their guitars or ukuleles...Puff the Magic Dragon..."A Dragon Lives Forever" ☺
Yup! Came out when I was 9. I loved it for a while and did play it then on piano and guitar. But I was a really good pianist and guitarist at that age. :)
Still play every day: https://www.youtube.com/@RFGraboyes/videos.
"Allow me to stereotype a wee bit. At each such event, pre-teens and teens would self-isolate in a basement. At some point, a musically talentless boy would open the dusty piano and perform “Chopsticks.” Then, two giddy and equally talentless girls would sit together on the bench and bang out a duet of “Heart and Soul.” Afterward, an awkward boy with even less musical capacity would nervously round out the repertoire with “Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater” and “The Knuckle Song.” Then, other kids would repeat that four-song Playlist-from-Hell over and over."
OMG, this is nailing it in a league with the "Somewhere It's Green" montage in the film of the musical version of "Little Shop of Horrors." It is to laugh and cringe at the same time.
I am honourèd. :) I saw the musical when it first came out, but I had to look it up: https://genius.com/Original-off-broadway-cast-of-little-shop-of-horrors-somewhere-thats-green-lyrics. I see what you mean.
It occurred to me later that I should have said that both girls pounding out Heart and Soul had braces.
Growing up in a rural area, didn't spend much time in elevators, so don't believe I ever heard music in an elevator. But.... I do remember the 70s and 80s reign of the "beautiful music" stations. Orchestrations of popular music done by studio musicians and played in businesses as it was Muzak without the licensing fees. My first retail job at the department store played Muzak -- you could detect the repeating pattern. Think Lawrence Welk without the video feed. But it provided employment for musicians. Thanks for this post, a good diversion from the news of the day...
Long ago, in my musician days, I was told that Muzak-type musicians made a lot of money, compared with their colleagues doing the more satisfying stuff. For me as an economist, it makes sense. You pay people more for things they DON'T want to do. My parents owned a small clothing store. At one point, someone anted to sell Dad a garbage-hauling business. Much less pleasurable, but apparently quite a bit more lucrative. Dad decided to opt for pleasure.
The youtube video of the orchestra with suits, ties and wingtip shoes was...well, it was.
But now that song is playing back in my head and it will be some time before I can turn it off... Of course now it has fast-forwarded to Travolta's Summer Sun. Can I ever escape?
Nope. :)
I enjoy the theme from "A Summer Place", especially Percy Faith's performance, because it reminds me of the movie and Sloan Wilson's novel, which is much better than the movie. I suppose my musical taste has been warped by playing so many minuets and other dances, but I can't help liking the "Summer Place" waltz.
Which, of course, is fine. Somehow, you avoided the ill winds that swept over the song for many of us.
The ill wind is merely the endless repetition, which can ruin any song. In the movie "One! Two! Three!", a pair of Stasi arrest a man and force him to listen to endless replays of "Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" until he cries out, "Stop! Stop! I'll sign anything!" I feel the same way about "Jingle Bell Rock". Nothing wrong with the song except that the radio stations play it constantly from Thanksgiving to Christmas Day.
I'm not remotely qualified to comment on the musical side of this issue. But that may be useful, here. Everybody's had a Summer Place. Or almost had a Summer Place. Or wishes he'd had a summer place fantasizes about a Summer Place, with different resolutions. The piece brings that up for its association, real or deeply wished for. Had it been named "Theme From A Gloomy Night", I'd suggest its popularity wouldn't have been two percent of the real thing. Should say, "rainy" would not substitute for "gloomy" in the loser category. "Gloomy Night In Georgia" isn't going to get it.
Back in the Sixties, in a field project in territory less congenial than we'd been led to believe, we were performing the orthopedically challenging task of keeping our heads down while looking over our shoulders. Two of the women volunteered that, due probably to guys at home, they misted up at the then big hit, "Gentle On My Mind". Didn't strike me as much at the time, but now....I'm back there, not at all wistful, but back there.
In my early teens, 1963 or so, my parents belonged to a club with a monthly food minimum.
All their friends would gather for dinner on the last Sunday of the month to use up their allotment. You nailed it: a steady repretoire of Chopsticks and Heart and Soul while the adults were having cocktails.
Well,,, I fancy myself an unashamed Doors and Van Halen groupie as well many other similar hard rock groups, but...
I really love “Theme from A Summer Place.” It fully represents that era (portrayed as) American pie and probably the last era that will ever be portrayed that way which ended with the advent of two and a half decades or so of music I love. Plus, I owned a monstrous 1959 Pontiac Catalina custom with fins, (also the end of an era) so it has its place. But no I wouldn't queue it up on my own. Well maybe Perry Como Christmas music is another contender.