I didn't forget. But it seems as though its fortunes on the singles charts pretty much collapsed in the mid-'60s and never really recovered. What you had left was a smattering of hits, many of them with rock/contemporary pop crossover elements. Contemporary pop/rock also kind of blended into the traditional pop space with acts like The Carpenters and later the rise of "light" rock and softer R&B acts like Roberta Flack. Acts that blended jazz and rock - like Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell - you could also argue began to encroach on the same traditional pop space. Is Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are" a contemporary pop/rock classic or a traditional pop classic? Seems to me it has elements of both.
Easy listening songs never went away, they just became less of a force on the singles chart. We still got popular hits like: Is That All There Is - Peggy Lee (1969) Love Is Blue - Paul Mauriat (1968) Love Theme From Romeo & Juliet - Henry Mancini (1969) Jean - Oliver (1969) The Way Of Love - Cher (1972) The Last Farewell - Roger Whittaker (1975) A slew of Manilow hits You Needed Me - Anne Murray (1978) And I'm sure ya'll can come up with many more that populated the charts over the years.
Did "Is That All There Is?" even make it into the top 20, though? Few of those cuts made it to the top 10. And I'd argue "You Needed Me" is more country than it is traditional pop.
Ray Price, a country legend covered Kristofferson's "For the Good Times" don't recall where it charted pop wise. Perry Como's "And I Love You So" and "It's Impossible" both were played a lot in these parts. Al Martino's "Door to the Sun" is that the correct title? I would say " Humperdincks "After the Loving" and I remember people being shocked that his "Release Me" kept the Beatles "SFF/ PL" out of the top spot in '67.
I liked Strangers in the Night fine. Fifties Sinatra is better, but Sixties Sinatra was pretty good, too. But whenever I think of this song, I always recall a particular episode of the Mary Tyler Moore Show. Murray's wife goes out of town for a few days. There's a lady in the neighborhood who seems to have the hots for him, and he's considering having an affair. She trumps up an excuse to visit him to "buy his piano", but actually love is on her mind, and he knows it. Alone in their house, Murray demonstrates to her how the piano plays by playing "Strangers in the Night" (perhaps not the best song to play if you are on the verge of an affair). Anyway, he's nervous and can only remember the first verse, so he sings it over and over: Strangers in the Night/Exchanging glances/Strangers in the Night/Exchanging glances, too... Now, every time I hear that song, I only ever remember the first two lines! (Spoiler: he doesn't cheat on Joyce Bulifant! Whew!)
It hit #11 in '69. My point wasn't about top ten songs per se, just that while traditional pop/easy listening type songs weren't the force they once were, they still were represented in the top 40 well into the 70s. As for You Needed Me, while AM was considered Country, this particular song straddles the Easy Listening category much like other Country hits like For The Good Times, Behind Closed Doors and The Most Beautiful Girl. Potato, potahto.
The Welk show catered to the blue hairs, it's true. But then they occasionally did something like this:
Arghh!! This show was the bane of my childhood. I dreaded early Sunday evenings because it meant for one solid hour, my ears would bleed from this horror. Strangely enough, I did prefer The Lennon Sisters version of this chestnut: The Lennon Sisters - Sad Movies (Make Me Cry)
I don't think anybody said they vanished from the charts completely, just that they weren't chart toppers anymore. We've essentially come to the end (or at least the beginning of the end) for traditional pop records as a force on the charts by '66. #11, but it's also a country tune, although like with "He Needed Me" it pretty effectively blends genres. Also, is "easy listening" really traditional pop? Seems to me that it evolved from traditional pop, but you can pretty clearly delineate it.
Easy listening music, in the sixties and very early 70s, was essentially album music. That's what it boils down to. Judging, say, a Claudine Longet or a Jim Nabors solely by the singles is only telling part of the story, if that.
I was fortunate. My family did not watch this mess. We watched The Real Don Steele Show (or was that on Saturday night?). The only way I know about this show is because my friend's parents used to watch it religiously every late Sunday afternoon.
I got halfway into your comment and was all set to reply, "Yeah, but what about the Lennon Sisters?" I suspect they were - and are - the exception for a lot of Welk-haters out there. (Since we're currently on a Sinatra #1, it's worth mentioning their version of "Something Stupid" isn't half bad, although Welk made them change the line about "a drink or two" to "a dance or two".)
Strangers in the Night is a nice smooth song but I was not and am not a big fan. As for Streisand, the only '60s track I remember much of was Second Hand Rose.
We didn't watch it at our house, either... I watched a ton of music shows, but Welk was not one of them. American Bandstand, Soul Train, Bobby Goldsboro Show, Pop Goes the Country... and before I was born, my brother and sister loved Where the Action is.
Welk drove me right out of the room, but the 'rents were fans, so what could I do? Sounds almost like the theme to a spaghetti western...
My parents watched Lawrence Welk when I was young, so I saw it as well. When she was in her eighties, my mother was suffering from Parkinson's disease and living in a nursing home. I used to visit almost every Saturday evening and watch the Welk reruns that were running on PBS with her. She enjoyed that. Sorry, I'm not going to join in the trashing of Lawrence.
Hmmm. I think we've been talking about Welk more than Sinatra! I grew up with Sullivan, American Bandstand, Lloyd Thaxton, Hullabaloo, Hollywood Palace, Where The Action Is and probably many more that slip my mind. I could take Welk in small doses but a solid hour of this hokum was asking too much of a 10 year old. The Lennon Sisters did rule, though.
Sorry, but I have heard "(You're My) Soul And Inspiration" from the album today and the song is in stereo.
I won't bash Welk or his show because it just wasn't part of my culture. I don't understand the culture that created and supported it. It is what it is. As a note, though, Welk once booked The Beatles on his show but cancelled it after he got cold feet, or was advised that it would be a bad move. Weld said that he didn't dislike their music, but he just didn't understand it. My opinion is that they should have done the show and performed a song like "This Boy" or "Yes It Is". It would have worked, i'm sure. Bobby Goldsboro's show. I had forgotten all about that one. We watched that too, but I don't remember too much of it. The only show that the whole family gathered around to watch was Soul Train on Saturday afternoon, except when it was pre-empted for an L.A. Dodgers game. My sister closer to my age and I were the only ones who watched American Bandstand, and my mom watched the rest. My father despised Hee-Haw for reasons I won't get into here.
It's hard to know how to approach Revolver; there's so much one could talk about. I'm sure there have been many entire threads on this forum dedicated to it. But for those who don't know, not everyone was taken with the album when it first came out. In 1966, Ray Davies of the Kinks was asked to review the entire album by one of the music magazines of the time, track by track. For the most part his reaction was, 'meh'. (!) Interesting the songs that he did like, some of which are very Kinksian (is that a word?). The entire review is here: Ray Davies reviews the Beatles LP Some highlights: "Taxman" (by George)--lead voice, George: "It sounds like a cross between the Who and Batman. It's a bit limited, but the Beatles get over this by the sexy double-tracking. It's surprising how sexy double-tracking makes a voice sound." "Eleanor Rigby" (by John and Paul)--lead Paul: "I bought a Haydn LP the other day and this sounds just like it. It's all sort of quartet stuff and it sounds like they're out to please music teachers in primary schools. I can imagine John saying: 'I'm going to write this for my old schoolmistress'. Still it's very commercial." "I'm Only Sleeping" (by John and Paul)--lead John: "It's a most beautiful song, much prettier than 'Eleanor Rigby'. A jolly old thing, really, and definitely the best track on the album. "Yellow Submarine" (by John and Paul)--lead Ringo: "This is a load of rubbish, really. I take the mickey out of myself on the piano and play stuff like this. I think they know it's not that good." "Good Day Sunshine" (by John and Paul)--lead Paul: "This'll be a giant. It doesn't force itself on you, but it stands out like 'I'm Only Sleeping'. This is back to the real old Beatles. I just don't think the fans like the newer electronic stuff. The Beatles are supposed to be like the boy next door only better." "Got To Get You Into My Life" (by John and Paul)--lead Paul: "Jazz backing--and it just goes to prove that Britain's jazz musicians can't swing. Paul's singing better jazz than the musicians are playing which makes nonsense of people saying jazz and pop are very different. Paul sounds like Little Richard. Really, it's the most vintage Beatles track on the LP." "Tomorrow Never Knows" (by John and Paul)--lead John: "Listen to all those crazy sounds! It'll be popular in discotheques. I can imagine they had George Martin tied to a totem pole when they did this!"
