Big Phil Dissects Pop Songs of the 60s, 70s, Whatever

[Phil]

A pimp for my new year’s resolution:

http://60s70swhatever.blogspot.com/

I’m going to try to keep this song “criticism” blog updated straight on through 2009. Because that’s just the kind of generous, lonely guy I am.

Topic

[TheLeen]

Do you do requests?

[Phil]

Yep. I’e actually got a request that I’ll probably publish next. (I say “probably” because I’ve already got a backlog of entries just waiting to be published. It’s a slight cheat that should help me stay regular.)

Of course, it’d have to be a song I could potentially have access to.

[TheLeen]

Excellent :D

[Danny Stephenson]

For years I thought that the Bing Crosby/David Bowie video was like that BBC video with Elvis and all of those other stars in the same shot. Done with composition. Because as Phil says, the pairing is really obscure!

[Phil]

You know, I thought the same thing for a long time, and I even did my part to perpetuate that falsehood. There’s something about the stilted dialogue (and oddness of the coupling AT ALL) that almost screams false composition.

And yet the special really DID happen. The fact that it occurred so soon prior to Crosby’s death (a matter of a week or so, I believe) probably helps to keep the misunderstanding alive. And, in fact, the radio single was released several years after he died, which probably confused even more people into thinking it was just Bowie dubbing a few lines over Bing’s rendition of Little Drummer Boy.

In reality though it’s just one of those too-weird-to-believe moments that comes along every so often. And as such it should be treasured and ridiculed until the end of time.

[Steve Harris]

You know, when I first started reading the blog, I thought ‘what is this bloke on’..
Having read on, I have to say it’s extremely entertaining and amusing, great stuff, you have a new reader..

[Phil]

>when I first started reading the blog, I thought ?what is this bloke on?..

That is the nicest thing anyone here has ever said to me. And thanks. It’ll be interesting to see how long I can go with songs that are, arguably, immediately recognizable. At the moment it seems pretty limitless…

I’m also hoping to get plenty of people calling me nasty names because I insulted something they enjoy. Debate is always fun, but abuse is somehow so much more rewarding.

[pfm]

This is a great read but there’s something I’ve got to know, tell me that the title is a League of Gentlemen reference. I’ll never rest until I know! Though maybe in that they say ‘the 70s, 80s, whatever’.

[Phil]

It is in fact a League of Gentlemen reference. Good eye. In fact, I think it’s only in the commentary as a joke they were GOING to use but didn’t. It’s from the chalkboard when Creme Brulee reunites: “Creme Brulee takes us back to the 60s, 70s, whatever.”

Which I stole because it is funny, but also helpful, as it now allows me to hop over into the 80s (or even 50s) if there’s a song or two I really want to cover.

[Dave]

90s?

[Phil]

I’ll probably (weakly) succumb to the 90s, as well…if only because I did some “research” by way of pumping “one hit wonders” into my p2p program and came up a few 90s tunes I may not be able to resist.

Rest assured, the bulk of it will rest on the shoulders of the 60s and 70s, if only because, oddly enough, those are the decades within which I’m most knowledgeable.

[Dave]

>if there?s a song or two I really want to cover.

Are you going to be performing your favorites?

[Phil]

Only Rock Me Gently.

[Author]

Replies