Today's TV theme, at #8 in our list,
belongs to a series that debuted in the US in 1981 and went on for 7 seasons,
till 1987. It won 3 Golden Globes and 26 Emmies and had 30 more major awards wins
and 108 major awards nominations. It's called Hill Street Blues.
The show revolutionized the concept of cop
drama: Instead of a wondercop central character surrounded by sidekicks with no
other function than to show how clever and important the hero is, the show had
a dozen main characters of equal screen importance, whose personalities were
fleshed out and whose lives both inside and outside of the police department were
given apt attention. Instead of a "crime of the week" storyline,
various interconnecting storylines were happening at once; some would be
concluded within the episode, while others would be developed through a series
of episodes. Instead of studio (floor) cameras and mainly medium shots in
studio scenery backdrops, the series employed handheld cameras and long shots
in natural surroundings. All these may appear mundane now, but that was not the
case in the early 80s. The show originally had low ratings, but with the
studio's support, excellent word of mouth and the awards that started
happening, the ratings picked up. They were never spectacular though, but this
was a prestige show for NBC, so they let it run for 7 years.
The series theme was written by Mike Post,
who has also written the theme songs for The Rockford Files, Magnum, P.I., L.A.
Law, NYPD Blue, Law & Order and many others. Post said that when he was
writing the theme, he first wanted the music to match the gritty visuals he was
shown. He then decided to instead do the opposite, to create a theme that was
beautiful and serene, that "took you away" from what you were seeing.
The theme won a Grammy and made #10 in the US Hot 100 in 1981. Here it is:
Now to our statistics: In this week's
list, the US is very comfortably leading Greece by almost 5:1. Greece itself is
leading Germany by more than 2:1. Russia is in 4th place, very near Germany and
comfortably ahead of France which is 5th. Canada is 6th, the UK and Portugal
are tied in 7th place, while Argentina and Croatia are tied in 9th. Portugal
appears in the Top 10 for a 2nd week in a row, while Argentina and Croatia are
newcomers. Also dropping in for a visit during the week were Azerbaijan,
Brazil, Cyprus, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland,
Romania, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and Turkey. Happy to see you
everybody!
As for the all-time list, there has been
some movement, but not in the first two places. The US is always at the top and
Greece is immovable at #2. Germany has established itself at #3, while Russia
has broken free of Ireland and stands alone at #4. The UK has had a few visits
this week and caught up with Ireland, which was completely inactive: they both
tie at #5. The rest are the same as last week: Canada at #7, France at #8,
Cyprus at #9 and Spain at #10.
My random song choice of the day was a
surprise #2 hit in the UK in 1981. Laurie Anderson, an American experimental performance
artist, composer, musician and film
director, originally released the single O Superman in a limited quantity, but
big demand of the single in the UK led to the single being re-released in
enough copies to meet the demand.
Anderson started dating Lou Reed in 1992,
and was married to him from 2008 until his death in 2013.
Good morning Sir Y, the random theme of your Sunday post allows me to continue our Beatles list without hijacking the subject so here goes. I believe we left off in the mid-period and you so graciously agreed to a separate psychedelic period which for the sake of chronology, I'm limiting to the one year period between the release of Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields and I Am The Walrus which is basically all of 1967. What a magical ride they took us on! Sgt. Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour, various singles. Incredible artistry. I've narrowed it down to a top 15:
ReplyDelete15) Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
14) She's Leaving Home
13) Fixing A Hole
12) Getting Better
11) Lovely Rita
10) Sgt. Pepper/With A Little Help From My Friends
Sgt. Pepper was a big deal in 1967. It over-powered everything else in the Summer of Love but IMO, it's the singles released outside of it that really shine hence the logjam of Pepper tunes in the bottom rungs. They are all stellar but there was more to consider.
9) Across The Universe . Whatever version you prefer. Me, I guess I'll stick with the original though I kinda miss the strings.
8) Hello Goodbye. I wasn't a big fan of this confection at the time and really resented it's chart dominance of Walrus but whatever. It's actually grown on me over the years but c'mon, seriously?
7) Baby You're A Rich Man. I love the swirling production. Lennon may have been high as a kite but it sure didn't damper his creativity.
6) Magical Mystery Tour. Another anthem that shoulda been a single. Great Horn charts!
5) All You Need Is Love. For the Beatles, 1967 was the year of the anthem and this exhortation to love really is all you need.
4) A Day In The Life. The centerpiece of Sgt. Pepper despite it's position at the end. This one blew everyone's mind.
3) Strawberry Fields. I really want to consider this and Penny Lane as one entity but that would be a disservice to both tunes. I know this is the Holy Grail for many Lennon fans and if it's any consolation, only the thinnest of lines separates the two.
2) I loved this song as a teenager and it still gives me the feels 50 years on. Paul's English travelogue was wondrous to a boy living on a tropical island.
1) I Am The Walrus. Why this psychedelic fever dream appealed to an impressionable teen-aged mind I'll never be able to rightly explain. The funny thing is, it failed to encourage any drug use. Not then anyway.
Well, that's it. Can't wait to see your list.
1) I Am The Walrus.
Greetings, RM! I was happy to see your list: it's an excellent one! I'm glad that you consider SPLHCB/WALHFMF as one song, this is my opinion as well. Also, I too would be tempted to examine SFF/PL together, but I think you did well in examining them individually. As for our next list, I would suggest that we consider the Abbey Road medley as one song: the whole is so much bigger than its separate parts. Now, to my list:
Delete15) When I'm Sixty-Four: McCartney best of his trio of British Music Hall numbers (the other two being Your Mother Should Know and Maxwell's Silver Hammer). It's light and breezy and camp enough to be an enjoyable experience.
in a tie with:
15) She's Leaving Home: McCartney's stylistic follow-up to Eleanor Rigby lacks the former's magnificently clear structure and poetic lyrics. Still, it's a song that any other composer would have sacrificed an arm and a leg to have been able to write.
14) Getting Better: Paul was the driving force behind SPLHCB. John was in the process of putting his own life ahead of the Beatles, George was deeply into Indian philosophy and Ringo was dissatisfied. Paul's premise was of placing the album 20 years after the band was formed, which would make it around 1980. So, in Getting Better, Paul from the future was looking back at this difficult time for the band and reassuring his band-mates that it would, indeed get better.
13) Hello Goodbye: as a child I loved the song. Then as a teenager I semi-rejected it as too simple for its period. I re-appreciated it as an adult, especially for its vocal harmonies. The Beatles' voices blended together in a magical way and this was one of the best examples of it.
12) Baby You're A Rich Man: I stand by your description - my feelings exactly.
11) Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite: the prevalent feeling of SPLHCB album is that of a Sunday in a British holiday town, like Brighton or Bournemouth. It's especially true for this song: a walk in the park on a sunny Sunday morning, with the military band playing marching tunes and suddenly you notice this poster on a billboard, concerning a not too ambitious variety performance. However, "a splendid time is guaranteed for all".
10) Across The Universe: Lennon's spaced out philosophy actually made a lot of sense at the time. It still does, to those of us that are still incurably romantic... I do think that I prefer the version with the strings, though.
9) Magical Mystery Tour: I didn't care much for it, originally, but it eventually won me over completely. It has crazy infectious energy: it's really "coming to take you away".
8) Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds: Whether it was Julian's kindergarten drawing, or whether it was LSD, the song is inspired. Lyrics that define psychedelia, John's voice processed to sound almost other-worldly and that guitar riff...
7) Sgt. Pepper / With A Little Help From My Friends: Paul, working as an MC, introduces us to the magical world of Sgt. Pepper and his band with the title track, a hard rocker and a Rule Britannia nostalgia piece in equal parts. He then passes over the torch to Ringo for WALHFMF. That was done for a reason: Ringo was feeling particularly low in self-confidence during that time: he felt that the others held the creative reign and he was just a fourth wheel. He even considered leaving the group. Initially, he was reluctant to sing the song, feeling that he would not do it justice. The others eventually persuaded him and the result was excellent. One song flows seamlessly into the other and spells out the spirit of the Beatles. Joe Cocker's cover of WALHFMF took the song to another level, though.
6) Fixing A Hole: we discussed this at an earlier date, so I will be brief. I got to really appreciate this song over the last decade or so. I think it's of the kind of songs (in a category that includes the evergreen Stardust and Lou Reed's Magic And Loss) that you need to be of a certain age to fully appreciate: having fought battles, both won and lost and being in a position to look at life from a distance. There is something about this song that is existentially soothing.
Delete5) Strawberry Fields Forever: #5 may look low, but since every song in my Top 6 is graded A+ for me, the difference between each position is very small. #5 and #4 in particular are practically in a tie. Lennon's look at his childhood is magical and yet completely grounded on real, fully identifiable feelings. There is poetry and there is wisdom and there is George Martin's production that does impossible things. (Also if you listen carefully, near the end of the song you'll hear "cranberry pie". Or is it "I buried Paul"?)
4) Penny Lane: if John was writing a song about his childhood, Paul would certainly write one too. This is how those two worked - and in my opinion it's that mutual admiration/rivalry that helped make the Beatles the greatest group ever. John's song was about memories of feelings and was sketched out as ideas floating around as dreams. Paul's song was about memories of incidents and was sketched out as images that would fill a young boy's gaze with wonder. John's musical treatment was anchored in the future while Paul's was anchored in the past. They were both as distinguished. Plus, I just adore the connecting phrase "and meanwhile back..."
3) I Am The Walrus: who could imagine that the phrase "yellow matter custard, oozing from a dead dog's eye" would sound so appealing. Yet it does and as you rightly say, the appeal of the song is quite inexplicable. Yet it's magnificent, it's a work of genius and from what I've read, it was so easy for John to write. (Like Yesterday was for Paul). These guys had a special connection to the creative juices of the universe.
2) All You Need Is Love: the yang to the Stones' yin: while the Stones were singing "rape, murder, it's just a shot away" the Beatles countered with "there's nothing you can do that can't be done. IT'S EASY." This song is a celebration of the concept of "the Beatles'". If I were to ever make a film about their career and lives, this would be the song I would be closing the film with.
1) A Day In The Life: well, it's my favorite Beatles' song of all-time, so naturally it's #1 in this list too. A song that transcends Pop music and is up there with the best that Bach, Beethoven and Mozart have to offer. This was also the last time and also the supreme example of a John-Paul collaboration. As for George Martin's production, I could write paragraphs about it... Fact: if you let this song take you along, you can actually feel yourself flying. And no. I don't use drugs.
Loved your comments on each song. Since you added an extra song with that tie, I'll squeeze When I'm 64 in as well. I actually loved this song more when I was younger but it's old-timey feeling hasn't held up as well as the rest IMO. Or maybe it's just getting close to that age makes me nervous? I also thought I'd tip my hat to a few others that could have fit in if not for the parameters I set forth. Dear Prudence, Because, Sun King and You Know My Name all have that dreamy, gauzy vibe associated with psychedelia. Well, maybe that last song not so much but it's still out there.
ReplyDeleteThanks, RM! Because and Sun King are part of the Abbey Road medley, so we'll give them a hat tip by including that. As for Dear Prudence, I think we can allow it to be part of our next list, being in the White Album. Finally, You Know My Name... No. Just no.
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