The Who was a mass of contradictions. Were they pure pop purists? Were they revolutionaries? Well yes and no, they were many things besides, but first and foremost they were angry agitators and the first Heavy Metal band, who literally punched their instruments to death. Whilst āMy generationā was an important song of the 60ās, it could have been written at any point in musical history, close your eyes and you can imagine The Sex Pistols singing it. āCanāt Explainā was their defining moment of the 60ās. It was an incredibly important because of the music, a short, sharp punchy three chord trick, inspired the dancing scene of Mod culture and tapped into the spirit of Northern Soul. And then the words, aloof, confused yet defiant. Within its three minutes, it defined an attitude, spirit, and beat that showed how mod music should be delivered. There are lots of drugs references for different types of 60ās music, and for Mods, the drug of choice was most definitely speed. With Canāt Explain, The Who tried to capture this, and define the Mod sensibility, tight, sharp, intense, narcissistic and wide-eyed with a love of life and music. Itās not typical dance music, but as soon as Pete Townsend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon kick into the riff itās impossible not to try a shake a leg to it.
No article of landmark songs from the 60ās could possibly be complete without the behemoth that was Motown records, the hit factory that defined the rules of songwriting for both bands and songwriters. The mission statement was simple, to craft tunes and lyrics that people connected with, providing them with connection and catharsis, the āthatās exactly how I feelā moment. Motown was the master of this because they didnāt have the distractions of having to think about a bands identity, they were focussed on the songs, which in turn became the bedrock of their artistās identity. So picking a landmark from what they did from the 60ās is a task equal to doing the same for The Beatles and The Stones, but there is a clear winner here, and thatās āWhere did our love go?ā by The Supremes. If there was an examiners checklist for a Motown song then this ticks all the boxes. Within these golden three minutes there is a lyric to die for, three sassy divas delivering the vocals, which are of Olympic standard, a tune you canāt get out of your head and an arrangement that sounds ridiculously simple, but that on closer inspection is as complex as anything The Beatles or The Beach Boys served up. But the key strength is this, the words. The utter pleading, misery, and desperation of what The Supremes are singing should knock your socks off. Rarely has a song of heartbreak sounded so happy, but thatās what makes it a genius composition.
The Beach Boys were a perfect example of the construction that took place in the 60ās, starting out as clean-cut, West Coast surfer boys, they quickly moved with the changes that were taking place to create some of the most out their compositions of the era. Legend has it that when The Beatles released their two masterpieces, āRubber Soulā and āRevolverā, Brian Wilson decided to match them punch for punch and wrote āPet Soundsā, from which āGod only knowsā emerged as their piece de resistance. Lennon and McCartney, realizing that they were in a title fight, hit back with āSgt Peppers Lonely Heart Club Bandā. This delivered the metaphorical uppercut to Wilson, whose attempt to fight back hit the ropes when he couldnāt finish the āSmileā album. But thatās the end of the story, and hereās the start, āGod only knowsā is one of the most wondrous songs you will ever hear, a total declaration of love with some of the sweetest words ever written. Going against the emerging hippy chic of āI love everyoneā, this is very much a story of āI love youā. With lines as humble as āI may not always love you, but as long as there are stars above you, you need not ever doubt it, Iāll make you so sure about it.ā Not only did they raise the bar for production, vocal harmonies, and baroque arrangements, they laid down a statement of intent that The Beatles themselves felt that they had to raise their game to surpass. How many songs can say that?
Well, we couldnāt have an article about landmark songs from the 60ās without including Andy Warholās Velvets, a band who took one look at pop in the 60ās and decided one thing, which was āHereās how itās doneā. To make their seduction of the listener they realised that they had to play the game to an extent, songs such as āThere she goes againā which were borne from Lou Reedsā previous day job as a songwriter for hire, but it was āVenus in Fursā that really set them apart from the competition and would be an everlasting influence for the more outrĆ© guitar bands up to the current day. There are so many things to say about this song and the first thing is that is it incredibly vicious. As a paean to S&M, it has no peers, John Caleās viola sounds like a whip to the back and the drone of the other instruments makes the experience sound arduous and unpleasant, whilst its compelling itās a story you want to hear about, not experience. What made this such a landmark was that it showed that the musicianship didnāt need to be masterful, but have the requisite raw power to blow the listener away, Lou Reedās voice bears no comparison to Scott Walker on a technical level, but it doesnāt need to. Without this song, most of the guitar bands that you love wouldnāt exist.
This is one of the coolest, kick-ass moments in musical TV history, where a tribute blows the idol of affection not just out of the park, but off the planet. This is an amazing example of what Jimi Hendrix could do with six strings, holding the groove down with simple rhythm playing and that amazing blues/soul voice and an unbelievably tight rhythm section. But what made this so inspiring is when he said āāWeāre going to stop playing this rubbishā¦ā and breaks into an instrumental of āSunshine of your loveā by the recently defunct Cream. Can you imagine a band doing that today? Because āHey Joeā was the song that announced him, and whilst he had a string of other classics, āHey Joeā was so important because it was the antithesis of what was to become guitar hero culture of the 60ās and 70ās, this was a storyteller who used the guitar to help him tell the tale Whilst ā, Purple Hazeā and āFireā were tremendous examples of his ability as a player, this song and āThe wind cries Maryāis the real breakthroughs, no one this macho had unleashed such femininity to their playing before. And lest we forget, what a voice.
Credits: whatculture.com
Ā
Previous 3 of 3
Theirs has been quite the romance since they got married in 1988, and according to…
Clint Eastwood and John Wayne were two icons of the Western drama, yet they represented…
Many features have come and gone within the blueprint of the ideal home. But their…
Cass Elliot a.k.a Mama Cassā daughter Owen Elliot-Kugell recently released a book titled My Mama,…
Amidst a flood of familial turmoil, the royal family has had cause to celebrate, as…
A newly released book titled The Fixer: Moguls, Mobsters, Movie Stars, and Marilyn gives shocking…