When saxophones roamed the earth

 

When I began listening to popular radio in the early 80s, there was about a 1 in 3 chance that any given song was going to feature a saxophone. Saxophones have long had some presence in pop music, but in the 80s, the sax – if not quite king (that was the guitar) – was royalty.

Nowadays, not so much. I like a lot of today's music, but at best you'll hear a sample of a sax every once in a great while.

This was brought home to me recently when I was listening to Huey Lewis' "80s Radio" show on Apple Music. Huey hosts this hour-long show once a week, and as you might imagine, it focuses solely on songs from the 80s...well, there are a few very late 70s and very early 90s tunes thrown in there, but you get the gist.

Huey will often organize these shows around a theme, and this morning I listed to his saxophone-themed show.

I still have 20 minutes more to go through, but so far I like his selections. Men at Work's "Who Can It Be Now" was in there, as was Hall and Oates' "Maneater." "Harden My Heart" by Quarterflash was a nice surprise, and it was good to hear "Smooth Operator" by Sade.

One selection that baffled me was Rick James' "Super Freak." Great song, but the sax solo at the end is incidental at best. Certainly not an "iconic" 80s saxophone song like the others.

Still, on balance, it's a fun listen, as it hearkens back to my favorite era of pop music AND features the instrument I've played for more than 40 years.

When the saxophone becomes cool again, I'll be ready to lay down some cool licks in the studio. I'll be 90 years old, of course, but when a modern artist comes looking for that 80s sax sound, trust me, I'll be everyone's go-to.

Do the iPod Shuffle with me again

A few months ago we played a game here on the blog where everyone would grab their iPods, play them in "shuffle" mode, and report back the first five songs that came up. Song-by-song commentary is more than welcome. I'll start, but you are highly encouraged to give us your list in the comments below or on Facebook, if you happen to be accessing this post from there.

Scott's iPod Shuffle Results - 5/9/12

(1) "Keeping the Faith" - Billy Joel:  This is from 1983, I think, when Billy was in his 50s/60s mode and tried to resurrect the music of that era all by himself (well, with help from The Stray Cats, I guess). I've always thought Billy Joel has been unfairly maligned as a soft rock/schmaltz artist because some of his hits - like "Just the Way You Are" - have a lounge singer feel to them. In reality, he's an amazing musician whose music has spanned everything from doo wop to hard rock. Not my favorite Billy Joel tune, but a worthy representative.

(2) "Roxanne" (Live) - The Police:  Sting wrote this song in Paris circa 1977 about a fictional French prostitute. It ends up being a much nicer song than the subject matter would suggest. I just counted and found that I have eight different versions of this tune on my iPod. This one was recorded at a concert in Atlanta in the early 80s, but my favorite was when Sting sang it with just a guitar and Branford Marsalis on soprano saxophone at Live Aid in 1985.

(3) "Dark Blue" - Jack's Mannequin:  The only non-80s song on my list. Interesting. My daughters were really into this tune when it came out six or seven years ago. It reminds me of summer 2008, when I took Elissa and her friend Jackie to see The Warped Tour in Cleveland. Warped Tour is a collection of bands that tours the country every summer. In my day, we would have classified these sorts of bands as "punk," I guess, but there's really a mix of ska, alternative, and genres I can't even identify. It was hilarious being one of the only people older than 25 there. I was also was of the few non-tattooed attendees. I may as well have been wearing sandals with black socks.

(4) "Hip to Be Square" - Huey Lews & The News:  Terry and I saw Huey and his band live in concert in 1990. It was really loud. You wouldn't expect a Huey Lewis concert to be loud. But it was. There's a great tenor sax solo in this song. I wish there were more tenor sax solos in popular music these days.

(5) "Mandolin Rain" - Bruce Hornsby & The Range:  This isn't the song that most people associate with Bruce Hornsby (that would be "The Way It Is"), but I think it's the best of his popular songs. Great piano, great chorus. If I could sing, this is one of the songs you would hear me warbling up on stage at some karaoke bar.