_____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ S P E C T R O P O P __________ __________ __________ _____________________________________________________________ Volume #0370 January 15, 2000 _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Enoch Light Presents the Fresh Young Sound of The Free DesignSubject: Soft Pop Received: 01/15/00 6:48 am From: chuck To: Spectropop List Jamie LePage wrote: "so what is this evasive genre called soft pop" Jamie, There is no doubt in my mind that "soft rock" exists as a genre post 1970 and the first band ever mentioned when speaking of soft rock is Bread. Check out the allmusic.com guide under styles and you'll see this exact definition. Soft rock is definitely slow rock ballads influenced by/or soft country rock "Soft pop" is pop music usually before 1970 (except for a few bands such as Free Design) that is soft, Everyday by Buddy Holly, To Know Him Is To Love Him by the Teddy Bears, Come Softly by the Fleetwoods are good early examples. By 1967 soft pop was very popular, and along comes Warner Brothers' producer Waronker, a lot of other West Coast & East Coast influences, Midwest, London and the hippy cultural perspective, and up pops Sunshine Pop. Sunshine pop is a whole genre unto itself! Its like soft pop but it is different because its full of sunshiny choruses and a late 60s hippy pop feel. Harpers Bizarre, Association, Sunshine Company, Cowsills, Spanky and Our Gang and Free Design are the best examples of Sunshine Pop Music. Now soft pop which is NOT Sunshine Pop did not die in 1967, it kept going strong. Good examples of post 1967 soft pop are Simon & Garfunkel and the Moody Blues and the BB's Friends. Straight up soft pop, updated with a late 60s feel but without the upbeat sunshine choruses. Close but no cigar. The Sunshine Pop distinction from Soft Pop and the Soft Pop distinction from Soft Rock are quite useful. Simon & Garfunkel and Love do soft pop chorus music without the sunshine feel of Harpers Bizarre, Spanky or the Association. Simon & Garfunkel are not a Sunshine Pop bands but they are a soft pop bands. Certainly Love's Forever Changes contains soft pop elements but Love is not Sunshine Pop. The Sunshine Pop distinction is used now by record companies like Varese and Sequel to describe late 60s pop bands doing shared vocals like the Association on Windy or Spanky on Sunday Will Never be the Same. Sunshine Pop does exist as a valid distinction these days. Bubblegum exists and also psyche pop which is not sunshiny but is overly hippy in feel. And Soft Rock exists to describe that 70s style of county rock ballad/soft ballad/ rock ballad music. The genre that exists but hasn't been categorized yet by the labels (to my knowledge) is 1956-1970 soft pop music. I think that Soft Pop is such a huge category of music and isn't it just Pop music that is soft? The confusing thing for me is a song like Blue Velvet by Bobby Vinton, it's pop music, it's soft, but is it soft pop or just the same soft pop ballads that existed in the 30's or 40's or early 50's? I saw the sheet music for Blue Velvet yesterday and it was written in 1951. Where is there a CD collection containing Frankie Avalon and Buddy Holly, Simon & Garfunkel and the Moody Blues? Rhino or somebody ought to get out there and put out a soft pop box (Can you imagine the texture of the Rhino box?). There certainly are lots of 90's modern soft pop collections. At the same late 60's time with soft pop and sunshine pop bands up comes Bubblegum. What I really enjoy are Sunshine Pop songs that border on Bubblegum Music. It's not much of a stretch to go from the Cowsills' The Rain the Park to Sugar, Sugar which I think has Sunshine Pop feeling in it but is just pure Bubblegum. The Cowsills were aimed at 15 year olds the Archies and Bubblegum aimed for 10 year olds, on up. Also interesting to me is that Abba, a 1970s pop band, were so successful doing soft pop music in the soft rock decade. Easy listening in the Big easy Chuck --------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------- Subject: Sturm und Drang und Doo-Lang Lang Received: 01/15/00 6:48 am From: jake tassell To: Spectropop List Dear Spectropop I'm not so sure about all this 'sunshine pop' stuff - I'm much more inclined toward 'Thunder Pop!', myself. Wagnerianly Jake 'Everyone knows it's Windy' Tassell --------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------- Subject: Before and After (Losing You) Received: 01/15/00 6:48 am From: Jamie LePage To: Spectropop List Nat wrote: >I couldn't leave on the Chad and Jeremy cut. >Then again, the same tune "Before and After", made the >grade when done by The American Breed, who also aren't >really soft pop. I've never heard the American Breed recording, but have you ever hear this wonderful Van McCoy song as recorded by the Fleetwoods? I love their version! More reaction to the soft pop thread later, Jamie --------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------- Subject: Green Tambourine mystery Received: 01/15/00 6:48 am From: Nat Kone To: Spectropop List Maybe one of the experts on this list can solve this very minor but still nagging mystery. It concerns the tune "Green Tambourine". Somebody Xeroxed me the story on that song from the Billboard something or other book. How Paul Leka, who wrote the music, took the song to the Lemon Pipers and told them that if they didn't record it, the label would drop them. But the story doesn't mention the Peppermint Rainbow. I have their record "Will you be staying after Sunday?" and it's sorta soft pop in a Mamas and Papas kinda way. Anyway, the record is produced by Paul Leka and he also wrote some of the tunes. And they do "Green Tambourine". I guess the singer is just imitating the Lemon Pipers here but the instrumental track is identical. It sounds like the exact same record. I'm trying to remember what the mystery is. I'll get back to you.... Nat --------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------- Subject: We've All Gone Soft... Received: 01/15/00 6:48 am From: Keith D'Arcy To: Spectropop List Hello. This sort of discussion is what I wait for on the list. I'm huge on soft pop, and I think it's the kind of category that fans have defined rather than bands themselves (not all of a band's material has this sound sometimes, like the Paupers [whose "Oh That She Might" is amazing]. It is a mixture of lots of subtle textures from all the various pop genres we all like, but it's not a clearly definable as, say... disco. The essential soft pop record has to be Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends LP on A&M. What I'd like to offer is a list of things that I think are beautiful soft rock and pop records, and If others do the same, I'll be in heaven. I tend to go for the darker, moodier, slightly sad soft rockers, and I'm not afraid to go into the early 70's a bit. here are a few monsters: "Summer of Miranda" by Toast "Move with the Dawn" by Mark Eric "Butterfly" by the Hollies "Sun" by Margo Guryan "That's Alright (I Don't Mind It)" by Alzo "Summer in Your Savage Eyes" by Chrysalis "There is Now" by Euphoria "Looking Through Windows" by John Summers (thanks, Harvey...) "Take A Look at Love" by Sweet Charity "First Hymn from Grand Terrace" by Mark Lindsay "Happy Miranda" by Excelsior Spring "Welcome to the Rain" by Mid Day Rain "The Coldest Night of the Year" by Twice As Much "She's Beautiful" by Saint Jacques "You've Come This Way Before" by Nancy Priddy "Van Lingle Mungo" by Dave Frischberg (baseball soft rock) "It's Better Off This Way" by Terry Sylvester "Lisa Was" by Bergen White "Les Fleur" by Minnie Ripperton "Hurdy Gurdy Man" by the Sounds of Feeling "I've Seen to Dream" by Harmony Grass There's some of my favorites (there are thousands more...) and I'd love to hear some of yours. Over, KD --------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------- Subject: Re: soft rock Received: 01/15/00 6:48 am From: Buffalo Bill Barnacle To: Spectropop List Jill wrote: >the other day when I referred to "soft rock", >someone thought I meant Bon Jovi! Well, I've always thought "Livin' On A Prayer" had a real Harpers Bizarre feel to it :-) T. --------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------- End
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