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Great Albums Not on Billboard’s Top Ten
Post By: Alan
Good music has never been a subjective matter. In my pre-to-early-teens my father told me that whether or not I liked a song, I should appreciate it. At the time it didn’t make much sense, but as I got older and began to delve into the realm of music, I became aware of the passion that went into making music. Even if a song wasn’t a match with my particular taste in music that didn’t mean that it wasn’t good.
One such record not even in the running for any popularity contests was Marlena Shaw’s 1976 album Just a Matter of Time. By no means does the album have an original sound, but what it does, it does well. Of the many well-produced songs on the album, one stand-out track is ‘Love Has Gone Away’, which has an almost epic sound to it.
Mongomania by Mongo Santamaria was one of the Latin band’s less popular albums, but nonetheless it was still an exciting and powerful endeavor. Each solo, whether it be congo player, trumpeter or guitarist, poured their energy into their performance. Even if a listener is not a fan of the Latin genre such as myself, Mongomania is an album anyone can tell was made with a love for the artform.
The Dramatic’s What You See Is What You Get is one of my favorite albums of all time. Like Marlena Shaw’s ‘Love Has Gone Away’, ‘Hot Pants in the Summertime’ is another one of those epic songs that sounds the title and takes the listener to the summertime no matter what month he is in. The lyrics of the chorus – “Hey there girl! (Hey There…) You sure look good in those… Hot Pants, hot pants!” make it a feel good, carefree song that isn’t concerned with the politically correct way of approaching a woman. Similarly, the album’s title track ‘What You See is What You Get’ is just as real as real can get. It’s a story that holds true for most of us, as much as we would like to deny it.
Good music is truthful, no matter how difficult it may be for the listener. Most of us are bombarded by the fraudulent ulterior motives of others every day of our lives. Isn’t it nice to know that the voices of these old songs continue to resonate with us even today?
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Topics: Latin Music, Music, R&B | 1 Comment »
July 15th, 2010 at 8:54 pm
I’m not sure when this was published, but there appears to be no comments, so I figured I should show my appreciation.
You are my hero. So many people are quick to call music “bad” because they don’t like it. As a musician myself, I understand what goes into making music.
If only everyone had the open mind that you do.
Thanks for the post!