This Charming Man?
A fair amount has been spoken in the growing annals of Story to Tell, about the music of the 1980s. Let's not forget it was the decade that saw the remarkable growth in the rapidly burgeoning music and culture we have all grown to love, born in the Bronx and now the musical template arguably most commonly employed in the bling era battle of the hit parade. We have also wallowed in the decade's own pop canon, the source of seemingly endless retro joy in the 2000s as all of us 70s kids catch up with ourselves once more. Let's not even talk about the soul and funk, we know it's huge.
Anyway, the point I am meandering to is that we don't often talk about the shoe-gazing sibling of these sparkling gems, the "dreaded-for-some" guitar driven sound. But if music can come to define an age, in England it is difficult to argue against the importance of what would probably be termed indie or alternative music (despite it's equal prominence in the charts), and in equal measure the influence of the city of Manchester in charting the social landscape. The genius electronica of New Order, emerging from Joy Division's tragic story, the later period of baggy 'Mad'-chester guitar-driven rave, the brilliance of the Happy Mondays and the deified Stone Roses. And, of course, the sometimes maligned, often misunderstood but never understated shine of The Smiths.
I was listening to them recently and marvelling at what, to me, is one of the great musical partnerships, the melancholic gravity of Morrissey's voice and quite magical guitar of Johnny Marr. Perhaps not everyone's cup of tea, but undeniably important and gifted. To continue an earlier theme, to me it is truly evocative of an age. It defines not a glittering multi-coloured pop world, but what was actually a pretty grey period in English life defined by declining industry and social tensions. Yet it does so with a certain wit and charm that is a commonality of much of this entire island's musical heritage. So if you feel that way inclined there is much to discover in the sound of The Smiths, not least a particular essence of Englishness that only music can convey.
Anyway, the point I am meandering to is that we don't often talk about the shoe-gazing sibling of these sparkling gems, the "dreaded-for-some" guitar driven sound. But if music can come to define an age, in England it is difficult to argue against the importance of what would probably be termed indie or alternative music (despite it's equal prominence in the charts), and in equal measure the influence of the city of Manchester in charting the social landscape. The genius electronica of New Order, emerging from Joy Division's tragic story, the later period of baggy 'Mad'-chester guitar-driven rave, the brilliance of the Happy Mondays and the deified Stone Roses. And, of course, the sometimes maligned, often misunderstood but never understated shine of The Smiths.
I was listening to them recently and marvelling at what, to me, is one of the great musical partnerships, the melancholic gravity of Morrissey's voice and quite magical guitar of Johnny Marr. Perhaps not everyone's cup of tea, but undeniably important and gifted. To continue an earlier theme, to me it is truly evocative of an age. It defines not a glittering multi-coloured pop world, but what was actually a pretty grey period in English life defined by declining industry and social tensions. Yet it does so with a certain wit and charm that is a commonality of much of this entire island's musical heritage. So if you feel that way inclined there is much to discover in the sound of The Smiths, not least a particular essence of Englishness that only music can convey.
posted by Twelve Bar at 10:42 AM
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