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unclebuck
Joined: 19 Apr 2010 Posts: 278 Location: Warwickshire
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Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 1:12 pm Post subject: Sounds Of the Sixties - what's going on? |
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I should preface these remarks by pointing out that I have been an 'avid' for more years than I would care to count!
I used to think that the occasional obscure (and simply not very good) record was worth putting up with because it was played as a curiosity and to give perspective, and anyway there would be a good one coming along in a minute or two....
I now find that things have switched around, and on balance there are not many tunes in the show that I am bothered about.
I have been thinking this for a few weeks now, but didn't want to base any observation on a single show or couple of shows. I was finally prompted to write something by listening to Tony Blackburn running through a cracking chart from May 1965 - a show with comparatively little discretion over what to play - which simpy serves to reinforce how much fantastic music there was around in the sixties, despite the impression given by SOTS!
Is it just me? |
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Helen May
Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 19446 Location: Cheshire
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Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 6:45 pm Post subject: |
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No it's not just you!
I've felt this way for some time but today's show must have been the worst for a long time. I often miss the first half hour but always look back at the playlist but it's getting to the stage that I'm not bothered if I miss the whole of it and check back for anything at all that I feel like listening to.
As you say listening to this week's POTP chart just shows how good the music was then. I know some on here don't mind the obscurities but I'd rather listen to some of the good well known tracks rather than the dire stuff that we get served up these days.
H _________________ 88 - 91 FM this is Radio 2 from the BBC!
I said it live on air in the studio with Jeremy Vine on 10/3/2005 |
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Schizoidman
Joined: 20 Sep 2010 Posts: 1140 Location: Rural West Sussex
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Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 9:00 pm Post subject: |
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I agree with you both. Today's show was just a relentless barrage of ridiculous obscurities that few people could want to hear. You do get the occasional gem (such as Lulu's The Trouble With Boys played two weeks ago) which make the show sometimes worth hearing, but generally the show gives a completely false picture of the 60s, stuck as it is in a 1961 time warp.
It really is time the old boys Matthews and Swern were put out to pasture to let others with a bit more enthusiasm for 60s (preferably late 60s) music take over. |
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ruddlescat
Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Posts: 18010 Location: Near Chester
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Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 9:19 pm Post subject: |
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Well as you all know I've been banging on about this precise subject for months and months if not years but every time I do certain people on here say that I'm being irrational - no names no pack drill Ron
As I've mentioned many times before the show has simply become a vehicle for Mr Swern to indulge his own obscure pet preferences and I entirely agree it's about time he was booted out and replaced with someone who has more rapport with the music which people remember in real life in the Sixties
I fell asleep listening to the show today which is not by any means unusual these days _________________ Are you ready for a Ruddles? |
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Helen May
Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 19446 Location: Cheshire
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Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 10:00 pm Post subject: |
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I don't think it needs to concentrate only on the late sixties but just to play better tracks from the whole decade. Maybe a few years ago it was good to hear some more slightly obscure tracks, but as time progresses even the well known tracks are played less and less so they are not as overplayed as before. There are still an awful lot of well known tracks that don't feature on SOTS.
The music was so different at the start of the decade than at the end, something that applies I guess to every decade but I think even more so in the sixties. For a start you didn't get the big number of cover versions of songs at the end as you did in the early years.
H _________________ 88 - 91 FM this is Radio 2 from the BBC!
I said it live on air in the studio with Jeremy Vine on 10/3/2005 |
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ruddlescat
Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Posts: 18010 Location: Near Chester
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Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 10:24 pm Post subject: |
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Well Helen in my recent post I never suggested that the show should only concentrate on late sixties music - what I wnat to see is more mainstream British music from the whole decade - but having said that in a poll of Radio 2 listeners a few years ago the best year in music was voted for as 1967 followed by 1969 and 1968 so perhaps the station which commisined that vote should start paying rather more heed to the results _________________ Are you ready for a Ruddles? |
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nod
Joined: 24 Dec 2006 Posts: 3558
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Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 6:24 am Post subject: |
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I like to hear a mix of chart hits and obscure, it would be boring just to hear the top40 hits over and over, we get them on other shows like blackburns and the rest of R2 for any decade. |
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RockitRon
Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 7646
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Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 7:23 am Post subject: |
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Schizoidman wrote: |
It really is time the old boys Matthews and Swern were put out to pasture to let others with a bit more enthusiasm for 60s (preferably late 60s) music take over. |
You'll be sorry when they are, because at the very least they will be replaced by someone who plays all the 60s stuff you already hear on Radio 2 (vide Johnnie Walker's Sounds of the Seventies), or, more likely, by a Saturday Breakfast Show that's playlist-based, more interactive and aimed at families, presented by.... (I dare not imagine who) _________________ Ron |
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Helen May
Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 19446 Location: Cheshire
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Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 9:11 am Post subject: |
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nod wrote: | I like to hear a mix of chart hits and obscure, it would be boring just to hear the top40 hits over and over, we get them on other shows like blackburns and the rest of R2 for any decade. |
I agree but there is obscure and 'should never see the light of day obscure' which is what we are getting at the moment Nod.
It's not Brian who needs to go but Swern who is the problem and has been since he took over as producer.
H _________________ 88 - 91 FM this is Radio 2 from the BBC!
I said it live on air in the studio with Jeremy Vine on 10/3/2005 |
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Lord Evan Elpuss
Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 3417 Location: Cloud Cuckoo Land
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Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 9:19 am Post subject: |
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RockitRon wrote: | Schizoidman wrote: |
It really is time the old boys Matthews and Swern were put out to pasture to let others with a bit more enthusiasm for 60s (preferably late 60s) music take over. |
You'll be sorry when they are, because at the very least they will be replaced by someone who plays all the 60s stuff you already hear on Radio 2 (vide Johnnie Walker's Sounds of the Seventies), or, more likely, by a Saturday Breakfast Show that's playlist-based, more interactive and aimed at families, presented by.... (I dare not imagine who) |
We know that nothing lasts forever, though I hope Sounds Of The 60s will still be with us for a long time to come. But when the time does eventually come, why should the show become 'dumbed down' if it's just a replacement presenter. And if it is a completely new show, why should it be just another showcase for Cowell's interns etc? Doesn't Anneka Rice already present a Saturday breakfast show? _________________ Lord Evan Elpuss, Your ideal job is a Lumberjack. |
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Schizoidman
Joined: 20 Sep 2010 Posts: 1140 Location: Rural West Sussex
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Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 8:33 pm Post subject: |
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Rockit Ron: my point here and in other similar posts is that Radio 2 does NOT play much 60s music in the daytime (Mon-Fri). When did you last hear a track by The Small Faces, Cream, Hendrix or middle of the road songs by Tom Jones, Dusty, Herman's Hermits played on Radio 2? Never would be my answer. Therefore it's disappointing that SOTS does not take the opportunity to play just such music, ie chart hits that seldom get played. Other stations are just as guilty of course. My worry is that such music will be completely forgotten about in years to come, as we're all force fed a relentless diet of Queen, Madonna and Madness. Other drivel is available.
Conversely Johnnie Walker's SOT70s should do the opposite, ie play more album tracks and obscurities instead of the stuff we also hear every day like Brown Sugar. |
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ruddlescat
Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Posts: 18010 Location: Near Chester
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Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 8:42 pm Post subject: |
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Schizoidman wrote: | Rockit Ron: my point here and in other similar posts is that Radio 2 does NOT play much 60s music in the daytime (Mon-Fri). When did you last hear a track by The Small Faces, Cream, Hendrix or middle of the road songs by Tom Jones, Dusty, Herman's Hermits played on Radio 2? Never would be my answer. Therefore it's disappointing that SOTS does not take the opportunity to play just such music, ie chart hits that seldom get played. Other stations are just as guilty of course. My worry is that such music will be completely forgotten about in years to come, as we're all force fed a relentless diet of Queen, Madonna and Madness. Other drivel is available.
Conversely Johnnie Walker's SOT70s should do the opposite, ie play more album tracks and obscurities instead of the stuff we also hear every day like Brown Sugar. |
That entirely sums up how I feel Schiz _________________ Are you ready for a Ruddles? |
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Helen May
Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 19446 Location: Cheshire
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Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 9:59 pm Post subject: |
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Me too.
H _________________ 88 - 91 FM this is Radio 2 from the BBC!
I said it live on air in the studio with Jeremy Vine on 10/3/2005 |
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John W
Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 3367 Location: Warwickshire, UK
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Helen May
Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 19446 Location: Cheshire
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Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 9:32 am Post subject: |
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They must be easily pleased or haven't been listening for very long so don't know how good the show used to be is all I can say.
I don't use Facebook.
H _________________ 88 - 91 FM this is Radio 2 from the BBC!
I said it live on air in the studio with Jeremy Vine on 10/3/2005 |
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R2Icon
Joined: 10 Sep 2009 Posts: 1444
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Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 9:30 am Post subject: |
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RockitRon wrote: | Schizoidman wrote: |
It really is time the old boys Matthews and Swern were put out to pasture to let others with a bit more enthusiasm for 60s (preferably late 60s) music take over. |
You'll be sorry when they are, because at the very least they will be replaced by someone who plays all the 60s stuff you already hear on Radio 2 (vide Johnnie Walker's Sounds of the Seventies), or, more likely, by a Saturday Breakfast Show that's playlist-based, more interactive and aimed at families, presented by.... (I dare not imagine who) |
Chris Moyles!
He's coming.
The obscure tracks: a vehicle for the listeners willingness to get rid of the old, out of date shows and presenters. If you give people what they don't want, they become eager for what they don't know they do want. |
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Helen May
Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 19446 Location: Cheshire
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Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 10:05 am Post subject: |
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R2Icon wrote: | If you give people what they don't want, they become eager for what they don't know they do want. |
On the contrary, they switch off or to another station which gives them what they want. I know I'm doing it more and more.
H _________________ 88 - 91 FM this is Radio 2 from the BBC!
I said it live on air in the studio with Jeremy Vine on 10/3/2005 |
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ruddlescat
Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Posts: 18010 Location: Near Chester
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Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 6:26 pm Post subject: |
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Moi aussi Helen - sorry I've been entertaining a group of French tourists today few of whom speak any English _________________ Are you ready for a Ruddles? |
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becky sharp
Joined: 01 Dec 2008 Posts: 6871
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Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 6:57 am Post subject: |
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nod wrote: | I like to hear a mix of chart hits and obscure, it would be boring just to hear the top40 hits over and over, we get them on other shows like blackburns and the rest of R2 for any decade. |
I agree,nod,no surprise there....SOTS is just fine the way it is as far as I'm concerned. |
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unclebuck
Joined: 19 Apr 2010 Posts: 278 Location: Warwickshire
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Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 9:49 am Post subject: |
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I certainly wouldn't Brian Matthew to move on - he is one of my favourite presenters - knowledgeable and affable.
I would just like a bit of a tweak to the balance between the obscure and the slightly better known: some of these tracks are unheard of for very good reason! I still like to hear the curiosities now and again.
On Saturday mornings I make breakfast for my offspring who are strapped sulkily to their chairs whilst I drone on about how great music was 'when I was a lad' (doesn't everyone do this?) Recently, I have had the rug pulled from under me by some pretty awful output on SOTS: so bad that I don't really want to listen to it myself. When that happens, I have to watch CBBC with them, which is just not on!
SOTS shouldn't just cater in an academic way for 60s aficionados - there are listeners in their 30s and 40s would be bowled over by the best music of the 1960s.
It feels like there is too much emphasis on the 'dying' music from the fifties (housewives choice stuff, crooners, people trying to sound like Buddy Holly, etc) and not enough on the new, exciting music that gave rise to everything that followed.
Don't get me wrong - I am a long-term fan of this programme! It's about getting the mix right. |
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becky sharp
Joined: 01 Dec 2008 Posts: 6871
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Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 12:41 pm Post subject: |
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unclebuck wrote: |
On Saturday mornings I make breakfast for my offspring who are strapped sulkily to their chairs whilst I drone on about how great music was 'when I was a lad' (doesn't everyone do this?) |
My two are in no doubt about how wonderful the music is from back then.....they love it!
unclebuck wrote: |
It's about getting the mix right. |
But for who? ...with the small representation on this thread it's plain to see there is a split about what the 'mix' should be
You know what they say about pleasing all of the people all of the time...it's an impossibility!
Carry on SOTS! |
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oldraver
Joined: 18 Dec 2006 Posts: 1202 Location: London
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Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 12:56 pm Post subject: |
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Rock on Becky!
I've C&P'd something I posted on the other SOTS thread a while back, as it's as relevant on this one...please indulge me.
.........................................
Thoroughly enjoyed last week's, as per. Nice mix of all years, and obscure b-sides. What's not to like..? It'd soon get boring if it turned into a "best of". Whilst there are always songs on there that I've never heard, and in all truthfulness, wouldn't care if I never heard again, I'm also aware that they mean something to someone, even if that someone happens to be Phil Swern. Still the best programme on R2, and such a lovely way to usher in the weekend.
I prefer the mid to late 60's, but if that's all I want to hear, I'll stick a compilation CD on the stereo. I like hearing stuff I've never heard before, even if it grates. _________________ life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans |
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unclebuck
Joined: 19 Apr 2010 Posts: 278 Location: Warwickshire
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Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 11:01 pm Post subject: |
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As usual, there are no rights or wrongs, just opinions.....
But I was interested to see that I am not the only one who struggles these days to listen to a show that I used to listen to throughout, religiously.
The only thing I would add, is that there seems to be a determination to believe that what we we grumblers are looking for is some kind of sixties 'greatest hits' show. That is not the case. Obscure is good, but everything in moderation. |
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R2Icon
Joined: 10 Sep 2009 Posts: 1444
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Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 9:53 am Post subject: |
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The show has been going so long, they must have played all the good stuff many times over. Obscure is good, I like obscure. If it was there, it was there and if it was there, it should be in the show. One person's obscure is another person's deep and meaningful. |
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unclebuck
Joined: 19 Apr 2010 Posts: 278 Location: Warwickshire
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Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 9:58 am Post subject: |
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unclebuck wrote: | Obscure is good, but everything in moderation. |
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R2Icon
Joined: 10 Sep 2009 Posts: 1444
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Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 10:09 am Post subject: |
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unclebuck wrote: | unclebuck wrote: | Obscure is good, but everything in moderation. |
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But what is moderation? Once a fortnight? Once a month? Once a year!!? It's not sex for the over 60s, it's sounds of the 60s, every week! |
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unclebuck
Joined: 19 Apr 2010 Posts: 278 Location: Warwickshire
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Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 10:47 am Post subject: |
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I guess it's a number of tracks per show.
I wouldn't make it a number - it's a judgement call. |
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R2Icon
Joined: 10 Sep 2009 Posts: 1444
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Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 1:13 pm Post subject: |
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unclebuck wrote: | I guess it's a number of tracks per show.
I wouldn't make it a number - it's a judgement call. |
Yep, if it makes sense, play it. |
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unclebuck
Joined: 19 Apr 2010 Posts: 278 Location: Warwickshire
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Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 3:23 pm Post subject: |
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As I have been computer-bound for much of the day, I put Saturdays SOTS on in the background, just to see if it had been just some kind of strange dream.
I noted the following:
There were 34 tracks played.
21 were from the first half of the decade, 13 from the second - a statistic worthy of note in itself.
Of the 34 tracks, more than half (19) never made it into the UK charts!
These 'obscure' non-charting tracks ranged from the bizarrely-chosen 'Roll Along Wagon Train' by Robert Horton, through the execrable 'Dining Dancing and Talking' by Rick Randell, to the truly stunning 'Individuality' by someone called Hoyt Hudson.
This final song was a tacky rip-off of 'Fever' performed by a man with a staggering inability to sing, which reminded me of one of the funnier auditions for Britains Got Talent. (I've met spaniels that could have done it better.) Understandably, it was never even released in the UK, presumably for fear of some kind of legal redress if sold as music.
Anyway, for me at least, I'm afraid these are not the Sounds of the Sixties. At best, they do not capture the spirit of the decade, at worst they badly misrepresent it. |
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ruddlescat
Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Posts: 18010 Location: Near Chester
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Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 7:18 pm Post subject: |
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Exactly what I have been saying for months Uncle
The balance is completely wrong _________________ Are you ready for a Ruddles? |
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nod
Joined: 24 Dec 2006 Posts: 3558
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Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 10:14 pm Post subject: |
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Schizoidman wrote: | My worry is that such music will be completely forgotten about in years to come, as we're all force fed a relentless diet of Queen, Madonna and Madness. Other drivel is available.
Conversely Johnnie Walker's SOT70s should do the opposite, ie play more album tracks and obscurities instead of the stuff we also hear every day like Brown Sugar. |
As a matter of interest in what year should sot70s switch to old top40s like sot60s ?
And in 10 years we won't get queen etc it will be xfactor stuff |
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Ian Robinson Site Admin
Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 3613 Location: Chorley, Lancashire
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Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 11:12 am Post subject: |
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To me, that sounds far more interesting than Johnnie Walker playing Virginia Plain, Don't Stop Me Now and Hotel California (as he did yesterday) for the millionth time. |
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unclebuck
Joined: 19 Apr 2010 Posts: 278 Location: Warwickshire
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Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 1:01 pm Post subject: |
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I thought the show was massively, dramatically better this week.
Have put the hit-man on hold. |
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