Back to the Groove
December 9th, 2009 | Published in Ian-ything Goes | 10 Comments
AS I was walking to the car park after the Earth, Wind and Fire concert I’d dreamed of since I first heard their stuff in secondary school, I heard some lady say this…
“Actually they only have one or two (hit) songs loh … Only the last few songs, like September… (voice trails off as she can’t name any of the other songs).”
I could almost scream. The masters of funk had just performed a perfect set at the Sunway Lagoon Surf Beach, Selangor; a superbly crafted 90-minute showcase of pure musicianship – no pauses, none of the usual concert histrionics, no phoney speeches with the obligatory “tuh-ree-muh ka-seeh”; just pure, unadulterated music – and this woman reduces them to a one-hit wonder.
Honestly, I felt almost depressed.
The three remaining members of the original EWF line-up, Philip Bailey, Ralph Johnson and Verdine White, had led their band through a silky smooth and at times roof-raising run of all their best tunes – Reasons, Devotion, After The Love Is Gone, Sing A Song, Got To Get You Into My Life, Let’s Groove and many more.
The original members of EWF - Verdine White, Ralph Johnson and Philip Bailey - still had the goods. - Photos courtesy joshuachay.com.
These are songs that have defined funk/soul/R&B andmusic as a whole, songs written out of pure inspiration and genius, and performed with equal amounts of ability by musicians whom I consider to be part of music’s royalty.
But guess what? Most of the audience only got excited when the intro to September was played, and that was the second-last song.
It was symptomatic of a problem I’ve had with modern music for some time now. Virtuoso performances and good music these days are of less value to music “fans” than the empty worth of a single’s hit factor and danceability.
People now are more interested in novel songs (that lose their novelty factor in two weeks when the next novelty comes along) that catch their fancy and tickle their shallow music sensibilities; while the appreciation of music as the ultimate combination of poetry, sound and live performance as demonstrated by EWF last week is left to a minority.
The problem isn’t with the artistes as many of the contemporary ones are still producing the goods; but it’s up to the music fans to start looking beyond the charts and clubs for good music before we all turn into vacuous music illiterates.
* Have to give a big shout out to my friend Joshua Chay for scoring me tickets to the show, and for the photos. Check out his blog!
The kids are fine
We’ve seen two major over-reactions in football over the past couple of weeks.
First of all, some journalists implied that Manchester United’s Anderson, Daron Gibson, Kiko Macheda, Danny Welbeck and Gabriel Obertan had no future after they lost one game. In the Champions League. To the Champions of Turkey (Besiktas). By a single goal.
Obviously, the “Fuming Fergie” headlines were churned out again as Sir Alex Ferguson understandably jumped to the defence of his young stars. He was promptly proved right when eight members from that same team of youngsters defeated a full-strength Tottenham Hotspur team 2-0 in the League Cup in their following game.
The second over-reaction came after Arsenal’s own version of Fergie’s Fledglings (Anak-anak Arsene?) lost in the League Cup to Manchester City.
This time however, the over-reaction came from Arsenal’s manager, as Arsene Wenger edges closer and closer to the dark side from which he invariably loses his way and entire seasons’ worth of good work.
The red mist is descending over Arsene Wenger again.
His team has only lost two games in a row, hardly a setback a team with such talent, quality and form will find difficult to overcome. Yet he’s already bristling with his seasonal us-against-the-world diatribes to anybody that will listen; and nothing can be more detrimental to a group of youngsters’ mental focus than to see their fatherly figure going on such an unseemly verbal rampage.
It has been an extremely unfortunate fortnight for Wenger, with the loss of Robin van Persie for the rest of the season, the subsequent hammering by Chelsea for which van Persie’s absence was a huge factor, and his anak-anak losing to a full strength Manchester City team.
But the way he and Fergie dealt with their respective cases of over-reaction might just be an reflection of the edge which the Scot has over Wenger, and if he snaps out of his current rage in time, he might just have a chance of salvaging the Gunners’ season.
December 9th, 2009at 2:52 pm(#)
I actually felt kinda segan to dance when I arrived cuz everyone else was sitting still?? SITTING??? i thought the crowd would be pretty warmed up, and I missed almost half the show. In the end, I couldn’t care less, got up, went to the back of the seated area and just boogeyed
Great seeing you after…. ages!!
December 10th, 2009at 3:17 am(#)
“It was symptomatic of a problem I’ve had with modern music for some time now. Virtuoso performances and good music these days are of less value to music “fans” than the empty worth of a single’s hit factor and danceability.”
Such elitist, “modern-pop-is-stupid” statements are completely uncalled for. The catchiness of a tune, the dancaebility of a song, adds value to the music as much as vocal and instrumental performance do. Would it be wrong to say that good music is also something that is instantly memorable and makes people happy, make them want to get on their feet and dance?
There are a lot of people in my college who typically enjoy non-mainstream pop music. That doesn’t mean they can’t appreciate the catchiness of a Lady Gaga tune. At any campus party here you see these people who like classic rock or jazz or chamber music, all of them coming together, dancing and singing along to Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA”.
My definition of good music? Anything that makes people feel good listening to it. A piece of music does not need an amazing instrumental solo, or a breathtaking vocal accompaniment, to be considered of value. If Miley’s song can make a group of sleep-deprived college kids dance and sing the night (and the worry of endless tests and papers) away, then heck yeah it’s good! Music on top-40 charts are there for a reason- they appeal to the masses! I mean, the Beatles were once a top-40 band, they were as mainstream as can be.
We need to stop this elitist view of what is “proper” appreciation of music. Who are we to say the music another person likes is worthless? Also in reference to the previous comment, who are we to judge how people should react to music? If my way of fully appreciating music is by sitting and listening, then does that make my way of appreciation any worse than your way, which is to dance?
December 10th, 2009at 10:22 am(#)
cy: Appreciate the comment! I have to give you props for a VERY well-constructed argument =)
But honestly, I am totally cool with mainstream music. Like I said in the final paragraph, I have no problem with contemporary artistes, which I had intended as a loose reference to all “current” music. I am a big fan of Gaga, btw. Miley Cyrus ain’t my cuppa tea though =P
I just feel that audiences need to have a greater appreciation of “good music” – and not dismiss them ignorantly just because they don’t climb the charts.
We need to separate what is music for sake of the masses, and what is music for the sake of music – and by that I mean music that was created as an art form, not just to sell records. I think you made the distinction yourself when you brought up the term “mainstream” music; which if you noticed, I did NOT mention in my article.
But you are right – there is value in top 40/mainstream/music for the masses. After all, the likes of Gaga, Alicia Keys, John Mayer, Kings of Leon, Coldplay, Kanye West, etc. are all chart toppers, and they all produce music and performances that I enjoy greatly.
By all means, enjoy whatever music you enjoy, however you want to. But at the end of the day, there should also be an appreciation, or even a respect, for good music created by those who have dedicated their entire lives to perfecting their art – like Earth Wind and Fire. It would be sad if no one did.
You might say it is elitist to consider some music to be “good” and some to be “bad”, but I think it can be equally naive to have an “all music is good” approach – especially in this era where blatant exploitation of mainstream markets is the norm.
December 10th, 2009at 10:23 am(#)
sash: And yes, it was nice seeing you there too!!
December 10th, 2009at 11:50 am(#)
You guys suck!
Green Day is the best band in the world and Lady Gaga is the best solo artiste ever!
And Queen will live in my memory as the best music the planet has ever experienced, after Bach, of course.
LOL! Great comments! YAY to all music!
December 10th, 2009at 12:45 pm(#)
nasa: GASP!! You put Gaga ahead of MICHAEL JACKSON, the greatest entertainer of ALL TIME???? It’s like I don’t even know you anymore…. =P
December 10th, 2009at 12:49 pm(#)
Ian, good post. You’re right though. I think the value of music is somewhat deteriorating.
Wish I could’ve been at that gig man.
December 10th, 2009at 1:22 pm(#)
I think that the greatest entertainer of all time is BRITNEY SPEARS!
December 10th, 2009at 5:31 pm(#)
ah well.. i never saw MJ live though
It makes a world of difference when you’ve seen your favourite acts live 
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