When this song hit the radio airwaves in early 1973, I don't believe there had ever been a sound quite like this on the charts before. There were artists (and imitators) drawing from them later on, but few (maybe no one) had previously tapped into the jazz motif quite like these guys. Steely Dan - Do It Again (1972-73)
Ween - pretty much anything off of The Pod. In all my musical forays, I've never heard the like before or since. And I've rarely - if ever - heard better. Their influences are worn on their sleeves, but how they play them out in practice is simply unique.
IMO, there has not been any music released since that has as much of an original and novel sound as SFF. I realize that’s a big statement to make and that a ton of great, classic stuff has come out in the last 55 years since the song’s release but I think the track is a superb illustration of the OP’s topic. If there was music coming out today as unique and that would grab me the same way, I’d sure love to hear it.
"You Win Again" - Bee Gees Genre: ??? Song Structure: none noticeable Lyric: pretend passive/SUPER AGGRESSIVE Sounds: Begins with Giant Robot stalking/clomping the earth, which brings in gentle, harpsichord-like intro chords. The drums are so powerful and resonant that they bring '80s era Phil Collins to mind, but even louder. Which is I guess is why he was brought in as guest drummer on some of their live performances of this song.
Musically, it's a fairly common sounding pop ditty. But, I've never heard a song before with such odd subject matter! Beyond the song's literal interpretation, which I agree is unprecedented, is there more to it than my admittedly naïve old self is missing?
I'm not familiar with pop music prior to The Beatles, but I can name hundreds of classical and jazz composers who were changing time signatures on their songs way before the Beatles existed
Springsteen's "Born to Run." Nothing no one did before--or after-- sounds anything like this, and in his own catalog, only the WI&ESS out take " Seaside Bar Song" --which wasn't publicly available until 1998--sounds kinda sorta in the same ball park.
What are ones that would have influenced Lennon or sounds like any of the songs he did? That's the idea...was there something that sounded like Lucy In The Sky before Lucy In The Sky, not just the production, but the music...melody, chords, structure...the abrupt shift from 3/4 to a rock beat 4/4. I suppose this is mainly about pop music, but The Beatles were influenced by classical or other forms...so I'm curious where the stuff came from.
I don't think so.... but I just read a review of Plastic Ono Band from Rolling Stone. John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band What it mostly inspires is irritation, even in hardened fans of free music and electronic noise. Two Virgins, Unfinished Music No. One, and the distinctly uncatchy Peace jingles on Wedding Album were the ego-trips of two rich waifs adrift in the musical revolutions of the Sixties, as if Saul Bellow had suddenly discovered the cut-ups of William Burroughs and recruited Lenore Kandel to help him forge them in the void. Dilettante garbage, simply. The electronic/collage stuff, like the radio bit and the silent grooves, was a John Cage takeoff equaled by precocious teenagers with tape recorders everywhere, and the screaming had been explored much more effectively by Abbey Lincoln in Max Roach’s 1960 We Insist: Freedom Now Suite (ditto Yoko’s pre-/ post-coital sighs) and Patty Waters in a weird 1965 ESP-Disk recording (a classic rendition of “Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair” which found her shrieking the word “black” through every possible disten-tion for 15 minutes). So she may not have been all that original.
It sounded like Santana, right? I'm joking. I know some people say that, but I don't think it sounds at all like Santana.
On Lennon again , Happiness Is A Warm Gun not only has time changes, but it also moves through 4 very different sections, 4 songs in 1, something The Beatles ended up doing a few times...did anyone (in pop) do that before? If so, what?