Interactive Poll XXVI: The Dreadful Decade

And, Logan, I also love to read all of the quick reviews, people hear different things than I do and I like hearing their perspective, whether it echoes mine or not (even when reading about my own offerings here).  It is that lively discussion that, for me, is the reason to do these polls, it's much more than "winning."  

And of course, it's fun to hear new music and find certain music sometimes winning me over, that I would not have been exposed to otherwise.  

Thanks, Greg.

I changed the title: I tried to translate an Italian expression into English, but I think I made a mistake! 

Way to go Kees!  You got it right even if it is in coded form.  Your points are awarded (unfortunately, I can only give you one "Thank You" because that's all they allow per person per post).

(the years in which, as a teenager, I discovered music)

I share this story with you-

I was born on December 13, 1970, and at home, when I was a child, I listened to the music that the television sent, for example the melodic songs of the Sanremo Festival, or opera music (my father was a lover of Giuseppe Verdi, his favourite opera was "La Traviata"), and the melodic songs of the sixties which, in Italy, with small exceptions (the "beat" came at the end of the Sixties), were songs that had nothing to do with rock: everyone knew the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, but more for their fame than for the their records. 

The melodic songs of the sixties were still based on the "bel canto" derived from opera: my father listened to those because they reminded him of his youth (I posted one of these songs here in the Int. Polls: Sassi, by Gino Paoli , which as I explained was a song that had something unusual in its singing and lyrics for the time). 

Many musical groups of the sixties, as I discovered later in the years, sang English classics adapting them to Italian music and translating the lyrics freely (songs by Neil Diamond, Procol Harum, Beatles etc.).

 

So it was that I grew up with melodic music, especially from the sixties, and lyric music (especially Verdi - I know every single passage of "La Traviata"). 

Only when I listened to Lucio Battisti, I understood that melodic music could also have a nice rhythm, and in fact Lucio Battisti, present here on PA, was one of the last Italian melodic singers who had the merit of combining the Italian melody with the forms of pop and the English beat. But there was a problem: I didn't like his voice. 

Battisti is a great composer, but not a great interpreter, try listening to his songs sung by Mina .... 

do you know Mina? She was (perhaps still is, at almost 80 years old) the greatest Italian interpreter, a fabulous voice, an out of the ordinary mastery of singing, a formidable vocal range, an ability to combine beautiful singing with a youthful vivacity.

And I haven't gotten to the Eighties yet !!! Let's say that all this goes on until 1982. Then, starting from 1983 (twelve years old) things change, I start listening to music for teenage boys on TV.

But this to the next episode!

Hope you enjoy!

80s punky waves and hair... oh yes, there were good things in that decade - Page 2:

The Anders: Kliché, wow, what an entrance with that drum riff. Wouldn't have liked this back then, but it is interesting (a pity that Mao could not listen to it), very tight, like the Gnags one, but which I prefer, because there's much more going on in their music, including a bit more melody and other sounds. Sneakers bring us a romantic ballad that starts of nicely, romantically with piano-voice, before the synthy-funky finale. Very different and thus difficult to choose a favourite between this one and Gnags...

Tancos: A nice discovery for me with The Microorganism by Boiled in Lead: catchy up-tempo violin led folk-rock which juxtaposes with the sad lyrics of a fatal disease (AIDS, I guess...). A strong one! Rare Air bring us some nice (bagpipe) playing in this Dee Dee Diddley Bop, but it does not really move me more than that - it sounds a bit like a showcase and not a worked-out composition. Ginger an Fred by Don Ross offers us again some great - not to say impressive - playing, on the guitar this time. For me this is much more captivating than the previous one, but I still prefer Boiled in Lead.

jamesbaldwin: Wow, three artists I know from Lorenzo! Shame on you ;) But I explored Nick Cave a bit only after the 80s were over. The Carny really is a masterpiece, with its narrative quality, the theatricality and the industrial tinge added to that. Wonderful! The U2 song is maybe a bit too well known, and my problem with U2 has always been that I like many of their songs, but after two or three of them I get bored... This is a great live rendition of I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, the guests and the choir add a lot... And I love Suzanne Vega; everything is in here: great composition, good moving and storytelling lyrics, great playing and a wonderful voice. What is not to like. Hard to choose between Nick Cave and Suzanne Vega, they're so different...

TCat: Not sure if I've ever heard of Squeeze, but this is quite a good song, very dense with all the instruments and sounds, but it works out well (I don't hear a movie sample in the vid Lewian put up... There go my bonus points). Glass Moon make me think a bit of Billy Joel, but this is more theatrical and versatile within one and the same song, building up to the grandiose... Like it very much. I vaguely remember Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, they must have had a (minor?) hit in the Netherlands. Forest Fire is actually just a perfect song! Well written, music and lyrics, perfect build-up, convincing singing, great playing... Difficult to choose a favourite out of these three.

Rushfan4: Ah, rock 'n roll! Good idea to go local, too. Bitter Sweet Alley is nice, but as I said earlier, there were so many very good (hard) rock bands in the 80s and this one doesn't stand out (a bit too common, imo). Seduce deliver the need-for-speed hard rock that never really appealed to me, how impressive the playing might be... The Almighty Strut (Rambo is singing!) suffer here from the bad sound quality, but this is not one for me either, and the Helloween track is not the best they have done in the 80s - I like some of their work, especially in the 80s (we talked about them in an earlier poll), but not this one. From these I prefer the Bitter Sweet Alley song.