Nothing makes a rock song more impotent than a harpsichord solo

HMMMBWAHAHAHAAA! Repent or face eternal harpsichord!

 

Harpsichord beautifully integrated into this song - wouldn't be the same without it :




D.D.

 

Now I'm just trying to imagine a harpsichord on Song 2

 

The first line of the OP says it succinctly. He/she has problems with the harpsichord. That is, the OP is the one with the problem.

 

Came across this harpsichord hate joke on an old MST3k and had to laugh (and post it here). at 1:02:13 or so

 

And "Love Me 2 Times" had some downright funky harpsichord.

 

I LOVE harpsichords in rock songs and Baroque pop. It doesn't make a song impotent. It makes it magical!

 

First heard this song the other week, via this forum as it happens, although I have loved The Move for years. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and proof that Roy Wood is a genius... (in my opinion!)

 

Same here! Meat Puppets included some tasty harpsichord on their 2019 "Dusty Notes" album.

"Unfrozen Memory" - Meat Puppets

 

I would say steel drums in rock is a far more serious crime.

 

I thought of "Siberian Khatru" when I saw this thread. Great song. But anyone who's really put off by harpsichords can check out the cover version by Stanley Snail (a one-off band that formed just to cover the song). It's mostly faithful to the Yes original, but with a twist in the middle instead of the harpsichord solo. A fun ending too.

 

There's one thing that I hate about harpsichords - they're hard to get to a hold of/expensive to rent

 

take THAT!

 

Ok missed a lot of this but The Moody Blues House of Four Doors, when one of the doors opens to an early music interlude, there is a great harpsichord sound, but with Mike Pinder it was probably taped through a Mellotron

 

That was good stuff.

 

My grandfather had hundreds of rock 'n' roll and hillbilly records all of which were 10" 78 RPM shellac discs, and a seriously powerful phonograph to play them on too! He had that Rosemary Clooney record you mentioned, which I heard on that system when I was around 4 or 5 years old and it blew my mind!

 

I agree when it gets too calypso-heavy, but they worked great on the Hollies' "Carrie-Ann."

 

They're much better in jazz.

 

Gotta say that excluding certain instruments from rock is really messing with my head in bad way and is what sucks creativity and joy out of music. For example, when I first heard AC/DC use bagpipes in Long Way To The Top, I was blown away!!! It’s clever and imaginative and adds interest! Harpsichords meld well with baroque influenced pop rock. I’m certain that with some imagination, harpsichords can be applied to many forms of rock. By the way, I love steel drums in pop rock!

 

Very 60's pretence but it's ok.
I am sure the phrase "check this out, it's far out" was used in a lot of the conversations for suggesting harpsichords and sitars in the 60's.

 

I am very fond of harpsichord soli.

 

I can't think of a single time a harpsichord has ruined/deflated a track for me. It's a delicious, astringent texture which can perk up a track when used properly.

The first time I listened to Dark Side Of The Moon, when the saxophone and female b-vocs started up I went "Oh, no -- my favourite cult band is going for the mainstream ..."

And I was right ...

 

I don't know where this museum is, but there is a similar one in Granada. I visited it. I didn't see any harpsichords, but there were several bagpipes in evidence.