Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Soul Music

 Many of today's most popular female artists paid tribute to American Soul Music in VH1's most recent incarnation of it's Diva's series.
The one interlude which caught my eye was the Soulboy/Casual piece which brought up the 80's New Wave of acts who dominated early MTV by selling Black music back to the States presented by mostly white people.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soulboy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casuals

Wham, Spandau Ballet, Culture Club, Simply Red, ABC, Human League, Heaven 17... The list of British Soulboys/Casuals reads like a "Best of MTVVH1" list.
Odd... When a culture seems to be on the verge of dying, it is only with the injection of Soul that it can be saved.
at

8 comments:

  1. CNuDecember 20, 2011 at 3:34 AM

    and 30 years prior to the "Casuals" rock and roll?

    so what's next on the salvation injection popular cultural event horizon?

    ReplyDelete
  2. uglyblackjohnDecember 20, 2011 at 3:46 AM

    Of course Rock and Roll, and before that Gospel, Ragtime, Jazz, ...

    Next? Man if I knew that I'd start a record company. I think it's gone beyond the tipping point though. It's pretty bad when even Soul has no soul.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ValDecember 20, 2011 at 10:33 AM

    It's happening again, UBJ. Adele, Josh Stone and Florence + The Machine are all White British imports with heavy soul music influences.

    ReplyDelete
  4. CNuDecember 20, 2011 at 10:53 AM

    @Val the thought of sad little Amy Winehouse had crossed my mind along those lines, as well.

    ReplyDelete
  5. ValDecember 20, 2011 at 11:09 AM

    @CNu

    Amy is definitely on that list.

    ReplyDelete
  6. amandaDecember 21, 2011 at 3:02 AM

    Those boys look so pretty. I can remember just how much that new romantic look affected me especially with Adam Ant in his pirate gear. Sort of pop goes mills and boon.

    ReplyDelete
  7. uglyblackjohnDecember 21, 2011 at 4:53 AM

    @ Val - And Sade is STILL around as well.
    I guess the originals will always be the best.

    @ Miss AJ - The New Ro/Casuals crossover blurred the lines of one movement and the next.
    We had a lot of groups who did well here from your part of the globe as well. Midnight Oil and Inxs were my favorites.
    MO - political.
    Inxs - soulful.

    ReplyDelete
  8. LeopoldMarch 5, 2012 at 12:58 PM

    A lot of effective data for myself!
    this site

    ReplyDelete