Monday 5 May 2008

musicology #141

SpectrumOfLove #1

(The Radiants - I’m In Love)

LISTEN

this weeks theme is dedicated to the quest for the ‘holy grail’ .. LOVE

some ‘thing’ that we all need, and if we’re lucky .. give and receive.

the love theme stretches across the full musical spectrum and I can’t think of a genre where it isn’t included in the repertoire and it’s of particular interest to themusicologist for the simple fact that I struggle to under/overstand and therefore express it.

to be honest I think it’s partly why I listen to and appreciate the musical arts to such a degree as it seems to capture the essence of this emotion like no other form of external expression, (in my humble opinion of course), and these next six, (maybe seven), pieces are examples of that.

first up is a slice of prime 1963 Soul from vocal group The Radiants whose track ‘Voice Your Choice’ was a BIG Mod/ernist tune in London’s clubs and dancehalls on release in 1964. The production has the Billy Davis ’stamp’ written all over it, (even though there’s no mention of the cat on the label), a man whose contribution to developing Soul, as well as Coca Cola, (he wrote the famous advertising jingles), is always worthy of a mention…maybe even his own category.

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