Sunshine Pop: Part 1
Lately, we've had our fair share of foggy days out here on the West Coast,
so I thought I'd lighten up the place with some Sunshine Pop.
Originating in the mid-'60s in California, this subgenre of pop music is
naturally upbeat and cheerful, characterized by warm sounds, rich vocal
harmonies, and sophisticated sound productions. It is similar to baroque pop (my first featured series!) in its use of classical elements and instruments, although much less melancholic and dramatic. As this is a retroactive term, it's sometimes hard to pinpoint which songs actually fit this mood, especially since sunshine pop is influenced by easy-listening, has hook-like jingles, and sometimes contains psychedelia (minus the mind-altering aspect), drawing from other genres like folk rock, bubblegum, garage rock, and surf rock as well. Like I said, it's hard to describe, so hopefully the sounds of the next few posts will clarify the mystery of Sunshine Pop.
As an excellent composer and vocal arranger, Papa John Phillips perfected this sound of sunshine pop with the help of producer Lou Adler. While still embracing a hippie-like persona, The Mamas & The Papas brought this sunny yet apolitical sound to the airwaves and enjoyed great success in this genre. Released in June 1966, "I Saw Her Again" hit #5 in US, #1 in Canada, and #11 in the UK. Compared to the ultimate sunshine pop tunes "Monday Monday" and "California Dreamin'" (both previously featured), the lyrics may not be as light-hearted as the mood implies; written by Phillips and lead singer Denny Doherty, it was inspired by Doherty's brief affair with Michelle Phillips, who was then married to John, and it resulted in Michelle's temporary expulsion from the group (until fans complained!). In the recording, Doherty sings the first line of the third chorus a few beats early ("I saw her..."), but since it was left in the final mix, no one's quite sure if it was a mistake or not. Having a little too much fun in a clothing store, here's a cheerful music video that the group made to promote the single.
From 1965 through 1969, The Beach Boys (specifically Brian Wilson) began shifting gears from their usual surfing and hot rod racing tunes to musical experimentation in the recording studio. While their sunny vocal surf pop was a precursor to sunshine pop, it was at this time in the mid-'60s when their sophisticated music, with its warm sounds and prominent vocal harmonies, perfectly embodied this new genre. While predominantly a psychedelic rock/pop and baroque pop album, their '66 Pet Sounds is recognized as one of the most influential records in pop music history and one of the best from 1960s, including songs "God Only Knows" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice." Released as single in July 1966, "Wouldn't It Be Nice" reached #8 in the US and #2 both the UK and Australia, and has become one of the most widely recognized song by The Beach Boys. Written by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Tony Asher, this beautifully-produced tune features a wide variety of instruments including accordions, mandolins, saxophones, trumpet, and ethereal-sounding guitars in the introduction. Here's a cute promo video of this brilliant song.
Although sunshine pop is strongly associated with California, the genre did expand across the nation with groups like Spanky & Our Gang from Illinois. Although this folk rock/sunshine pop group was only together for under 2 years, their memorable vocal harmonies and well-produced music captured the essence of this upbeat genre. From their 1967 debut album, their most popular songs are "Sunday Will Never Be the Same" (featured during the Flower Power series) and "Lazy Day." Referred to as "a giddy joy no matter what" (Allmusic), the purely sunshine pop "Lazy Day" reached #14 on the charts and sold over a million copies. Since their Ed Sullivan Show performance is not available on YouTube, here's a video someone's original 45 recording by Spanky & Our Gang.
This next song is a fascinating one as it seems to combine those angelic harmonies of The Mamas & The Papas with the sophisticated productions of The Beach Boys, while throwing in the sounds of psychedelic pop and classical music. However, Sagittarius was not actually a band but a studio group devised by songwriter/producer Gary Usher (known for co-writing some Beach Boys tunes with Brian Wilson). Using LA studio musicians, Usher drafted friends like guitarist Glen Campbell (before his solo country career), as well as Beach Boy Bruce Johnston and record producer Terry Melcher (who produced The Byrds' biggest hits), and threw in some musique concrète(hey, so I do remember something from college!) in the middle. "My World Fell Down" was presented to Columbia executives under the group name Sagittarius, but when the song managed to reach #70 on the Billboard chart and there was pressure from the record label to tour, it was revealed that there was no group. Usher went on to complete the album with Curt Boettcher (a big influence on Brian Wilson just before Pet Sounds), but it was an expensive flop. With Glen Campbell singing lead vocals, here's the mysterious yet sunshine pop-ish "My World Fell Down" (and you'll know the musique concrete part when you hear it; it's the random noises in the bridge section).
And we'll conclude this first post of Sunshine Pop with the popular family group The Cowsills from Rhode Island. Like The Beach Boys, this family was known for their ability to achieve 4-and 5-part harmonies with impressive accuracy and relative pitch. Although their music ranges from bubblegum to rock and roll, one of their most popular hits, "The Rain, The Park, and Other Things," is a prime example of this sunny genre as it features their warm vocals and a elaborate arrangement. However, since this #2 hit song was already featured last year (here), I'll post their cover version of another quintessential Sunshine Pop song, originally by The Mamas & The Papas. Performing live on The Johnny Cash Show in 1969, here are The Cowsills singing "Monday Monday" (as well as "Children, How Do I Send Thee" with Johnny Cash; very different genre, of course, but cute nonetheless). Little Susan Cowsill sure seems to enjoy groovin' in their performances.
Flower Power: Part 6
Well, it's turning out that Flower Power means all kinds of things to different people. Sometimes it's psychedelic, hippie music, anything Summer of Love, or sometimes any late 1960s music that goes with images like smiley faces, peace symbols, lava lamps, and paisley prints. Well, here are some pop-ier sounds that go with all that retro groovy-ness.
Similar to the Flower Pot Men (just featured a few weeks ago here), British pop group Edison Lighthouse was originally a studio-only band that existed solely for session vocalist Tony Burrows, who has sung the lead vocals on hit singles for more groups than any other recording artist (including Flower Pot Men, as well as White Plains' "My Baby Loves Lovin'" and The First Class' "Beach Baby" to name a few). Released in January 1970, "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" became the fastest climbing UK #1 hit record in history and peaked at #5 on the U.S. charts. After the single's success, Burrows went on to record other projects, so a group was assembled to mime a performance of this million-seller on Top of the Pops (not the featured clip below). For several years to follow, many members would come and go from the group, but since they didn't score any further chart activity, they became known as a transatlantic one-hit wonder.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Starting out in the mid-1960s in Los Angeles as R&B back-up singers, Sonny & Cher (Bono) were an American pop music duo and husband and wife team that even became media personalities with the success of their TV shows in the mid-'70s. In their ten years together, they sold over 80 million records worldwide, after which Cher went on to have a highly successful career as a singer and actress and Sonny became an elected Congressman. A defining record of the early counterculture movement, "I Got You Babe" was released in July 1965, becoming the duo's biggest hit and signature song. Written by Sonny Bono for himself and his wife late at night in their basement, he wanted to capitalize on the popularity of the word 'babe,' as heard in Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" (a hit for The Turtles). Spending three weeks at #1 on the Billboard charts, as well as hitting #1 in the UK and Canada, this song even made the list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (Rolling Stone magazine).Just at the beginning of their career, here's a live performance by the comic relief duo Sonny & Cher.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Known for their vocal harmonies, Spanky & Our Gang was an American folk rock/sunshine pop group that formed in Bloomington, Illinois in 1966. Led by Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane, the band's name comes from the popular Our Gang comedies of 1930s (also known as The Little Rascals), and Elaine was nicknamed "Spanky" by one of the band members (possibly influenced by her last name) who said she resembled thecharacter George "Spanky" McFarland. Released on their self-titled debut album in 1967, "Sunday Will Never Be the Same" was their biggest hit, which reached #9 on the Billboard charts during the Summer of Love. However, during the fall of 1968, an upsetting blow came to the group when their lead guitarist (and trombonist and vocalist) Malcolm Hale died of carbon monoxide poisoning in his home at the age of 27. He had done most of the music arrangements and pretty much had kept the group together, so after his death, deciding they were satisfied with their musical output, the group disbanded in early 1969. McFarland went on to have some success as a solo artist and even toured with The Mamas & The Papas in '80s, singing Cass Elliot's vocal parts. Originally written as a ballad until the group changed the feel, here's Spanky & Our Gang in a rare live performance of "Sunday Will Never Be the Same" for a Murray the K Special.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While nearly every Flower Power CD set out there includes The Monkees' "Daydream Believer" (which we'll save for Bubblegum Week instead), I've decided to post another song that seems to relate more with the psychedelic sounds of the counterculture movement. Written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King as the title song for The Monkees' 1968 feature film Head, the ethereal and psychedelic "Porpoise Song" is a great mix of distorted, echo-y vocals with organs riffs, strings, woodwinds, and horns floating in and out of the song, complete with lyrics that call into question one's place in the world (and as seen below, visually paired with the lava lamp-like solarization effects). Becoming a cult classic in recent years, Head itself is a 'head trip' that plays mind-games on the audience where each scene abstractly connects to the next. When my sister and I first saw this film as young teenagers, we were slightly disturbed that our beloved Monkees had made such a confusing and strange movie, nothing like their TV series, but years later, I've made sense of the symbolism and it's fascinating. In fact, it's all symbolic of how The Monkees were themselves manipulated by the greatest of manipulators, Hollywood, and how they fought their made-for-TV image (i.e. in this clip, Micky Dolenz is not committing suicide but "breaking free," which by the end of the film [or is it the beginning?], the others follow suit). OK, this film's analysis and music should be featured on its own separate post, so for now, here's the haunting yet beautiful "Porpoise Song" that only managed to reach #62 on the charts in the fall of '68.
