The Natural Born Killers soundtrack is a template for what a pop music driven soundtrack should be with songs from Leonard Cohen, Patti Smith, Duane Eddy, Patsy Cline & more used to brilliant effect – sometimes to propel the action, to comment on it or as an ironic counter point – rarely is it used to create emotional content. The film is a satiric blood-bath commentary on what Americans will do for fame & how they capitalized on it.
Capitalizing on fame was a trend though the 50’s, 60’s when TV ‘stars’ branched out into recording in hopes of hitting the top 10. So you find the likes of George Maharis, Shelley Fabares, even Telly Savalas releasing singles & Lps. I tracked down one by Christopher Connelly: The Boy From Peyton Place. Some of them could sing some of the couldn’t.
One who could sing was Ricky Nelson. I have All My Best & Garden Party. Ricky had a string of hits: Travelin’ Man, Hello Mary Lou & a dozen others. Well produced radio fodder that never garnered him critical respect – as a musician & singer he is equal to Bob Seeger & the like. Seeger got respect, Ricky was dismissed until his Garden Party lp. Reflective, self-aware songs that proved he was ‘real’ & not some studio engineer’s product.
The next N is the not-yet-golden-oldie NERD. I have stand-alones: In Search of, Fly or Die, Seeing Sounds. Almost current pop 🙂 funky with state-of-the-art engineering. I saw a video for one of their tracks & picked up that first cd, at HMV. Can they sing? Who knows, with what can be done with voice in the studio but pleasant enough. Songs about romance, fame with a dash of explicit heterosexuality. I enjoy them when they come up in rotation to be played but I don’t feel drawn to them otherwise. Always good to know what the kids are listening to 🙂
TOpoet 