Billy Joel Is A Beatles Fan

ビリー・ジョエルはビートルズのファンだった。

なにげなしにWikipediaのエントリーを眺めていたら、面白いインタビューへのリンクがあった。

このリンク先の「Billy Joel Meets The Beatles」という音声ファイルを聞いてみてください。

１９６４年のアメリカ音楽シーンの情景が浮かんでくるようなビリー君若き日の思い出話。

ケネディ暗殺による若い世代の失望感。エルヴィスに代表される、ハリウッドに買収されて牙を抜かれてしまったロック音楽。そして公民権運動の高まりにより、穏健派世論を恐れたラジオ放送局がR&Bを流さなくなってしまう。

そうした飼い殺しの状況にいたアメリカの若者たちに、いかにイギリスからやってきた四人組が衝撃を与えたか。

自分たちで曲をつくり、自分たちの言葉で歌詞を書き、自分たちなりに演奏する。

そして反体制、反権力のスタンス。

年若いビリー君は「シビレテ」しまったわけだ。

聞いていて「なるほどねぇ～」、と納得しました。

それにしてもこのインタビューでビリー君が披露するハリウッド・ユダヤ人の口調や、ジョン・レノンの口真似は、あまりにもドンピシャで笑ってしまった。

ところで先日のエントリーでもタッチしましたが、日本のKanって本人も認めるとおりビリー・ジョエルの影響をうけまくっているんですな、これが。

日本で大学生をやっていたとき（１９８９年．．．のことです．．．）、先輩の車で聞いた「TVの中に」。Kanの歌い方がなにかに似ているんだよな～．．．と思っていたのですが、最近気がつきました。ビリー・ジョエル君の「Easy Money」でした。

Title Tunes From British TV

どうしてなのかはわかりませんが、イギリスのテレビ番組のテーマ音楽にはいいものが多い気がします。ただ単に１１年間滞在して聞きなれているからだけじゃないと思うんだけど．．．

まずは大御所。ITV（民放局）のGranada製作、日本でもおなじみのジェレミー・ブレット演じるシャーロック・ホームズ・シリーズのオープニング。

渋いな～。実際に原作でも「ヴァイオリンが下手の横好き（ワトソン談）」と設定されているホームズ君をふまえたのかどうなのか、ヴィクトリア女王時代の爛熟したロンドンの雰囲気が伝わってきます。

ちなみに、ジェレミー君は若いときに「マイフェアレディー」でオードリー・ヘップバーンに恋するフレディー役をやってました。その話もまたいつか。

探偵つながりで、次はジェレミー君の演じるホームズ同様、「決定版」との呼び声高いデイヴィッド・スーシェ演じるエルキュール・ポワロ・シリーズのオープニング。

これまた渋い！１９２０年代、ジャズ・エイジを彷彿とさせるサックスのメロディーにアール・デコ調のバック。こちらも製作はグラナダでございます。

ジャズ・エイジとくれば忘れてはならない、２０世紀前半のイギリスを代表するコメディー作家PGウッドハウスの「ジーブスとウースター」のテレビ版。はしにも棒にもひっかからない金持ちのボンクラ、バーティー・ウースターと彼の万能召使いのジーブスを、当時まだ若手売り出し中だったヒュー・ローリーとスティーブン・フライが好演しています。

こちらもITVで放映されていました。

BBCからはコメディー・シリーズ、「オンリー・フールズ・アンド・ホーシズ（Only Fools and Horses）」のテーマ曲。

「オンリー・フールズ・アンド・ホーシズ」とはテーマ曲の歌詞中にもあるように、「（汗水流して働くのは）バカと馬だけさ」というコックニーの慣用句です。

私自身はイギリス滞在中、全然観たことないのですが、有名どころでは、次の「Eastenders」でしょうか。

いわゆる「ソープ・オペラ」と呼ばれる連ドラのたぐいですが、アメリカの場合「ダラス」とか「ディナスティ」などのように超金持ちのゴージャスな世界を舞台にした話が多いのに、なぜかイギリスでは世知辛い庶民の生活を題材にしたものばかりです。ここら辺にも国民性が現れているような．．．。

テーマ音楽でBBCが優れているのはスポーツ番組でしょう。まずは定番、総合スポーツ番組「Grandstand」のテーマ。

お次はサッカー専門番組「マッチ・オブ・ザ・デイ（Match Of The Day、最近では略してMOTD）」のテーマ。

グランドスタンドとマッチ・オブ・ザ・デイのテーマがハミングできれば、世界中どこのバーに行っても飲んだくれのイギリス人とお友達になれます。

こちらはもう少しお上品な「Wimbledon」のテーマ。

こちらは個人的なお気に入り、「Ski Sunday」

イギリス人選手がほとんど活躍していないスポーツなので、超マイナーな番組です。

最後、おまけ。

おまけのおまけ。

おまけのおまけのおまけ。

今年の９・１０月にニュージーランド航空に乗るのは避けておこう．．．。

"Beautiful Girls" and My Son's Questionable Taste In Music

Lately, my son has been running around our flat, shouting,

"♪Beaaaautifuuul Girrrrls~♪"

His sudden outburst of lust has puzzled me for some time but I have finally found out the source of it.

Here it goes. Y'all, give it up for Sean Kingston!



I mean... Sean who? And that baseline is a shameless copy of Ben E. King's immortal "Stand By Me" for crying out loud!

I must say it's a bit spooky to see my 5-year-old son running around the house singing

"suicidal, suicidal..."

And why does this sort of reggae-ish groove appeal to him? I might blame this on that Jamaican midwife who made it doubly sure that he had two testicles when he was only 5 minutes into this world.

Of course, a far easier answer to the conundrum is that he got it from one of the summer camps he has been attending.

I have ceased to have any strong feelings about these musical copycats. There are too many of them to be upset about, starting from Mozart recycling some of the melodies from his operatic arias in his piano concertos, Billy Joel using a theme from Beethoven's piano sonata and Strawberry Switchblade using Sibelius' symphony. Some do it well, with style. Some make pathetic excuses, like Vanilla Ice on sampling Queen/David Bowie's "Under Pressure".

Still, I cannot help feeling a little sad about those young "talents" wasting their 15-minute fame on cheap repackages like this, only to be forgotten by the next year and briefly resurfacing circa 2020 in Vh1's "I Love 2000's" (if MTV is still interested in music then, that is).

Those boys and girls have been reduced to be mere lubricant for the increasingly creaking music industry machine. The industry nowadays seems to be only interested in creating revenue on cheap replaceable commodities like Mr. Kingston, Ms. Spears, High School Musical and so on and so forth.

I think there are two interesting developments out of the present malaise in music industry.

One is the increased emphasis by the artists on and renewed appreciation by the fans of artists' ability to carry live performances.

Prince gave away free CDs of his latest album, turning his back of record companies and encouraging his fans to appreciate his phenomenal talents at live concerts. True music fans are also beginning to realise that nothing beats live performance for truly unique musical experience. (Can Christina Aguilera be included in this group, too, although my eyes would be as busy as, if not busier than, my ears at her concert?)

The other interesting development is the shifting moral hazard of copying.

It is somehow reminiscent of the current "sub-prime scandal".

Securitizaiton of mortgage loans has replaced the traditional direct relationship between borrowers and lenders with indirect relationship between borrowers and fund investors, who ultimately underwrite the risk.

The mass-production of music on the back of copycat-repackaging by the industry has replaced the hitherto direct relationship between the copying artist and the copied artist. It is now the record companies and their producers who are encouraging so-called "artists" to perform the copied materials for instant hits.

This seems to me that the music industry is by themselves undermining the value of intellectual property rights that they proclaim to protect against the encroaching Internet industry.

I have no idea how these trends will play out in the next, say, 10 years. In any event, it may be a good idea to take my son out to BB King Blues Club and Grill and expose him to some live music whilst we are in New York.

And finally... some examples of dubious sampling, Japanese style...

This is Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl".




This is 「愛は勝つ(Ai wa Katsu)」 by Kan.

What do you think?

Origin of Harajuku Gothic Lolita?

先日ボケ～っとVh1の「One Hit Wonders」を観ていて気がつきました。

そのスジの人たちにはもうすっかり常識なのかもしれないけれど、「ゴスロリ」ってやつのルーツはここらへんにあるのでは。



Strawberry Switchbladeの1985年のヒット。「Since Yesterday」。ちなみにイントロのホーン・セクションはシベリウスの交響曲5番のパクリです。

しかし徹底的にブルーカラーなスコットランドのグラスゴー出身のねぇちゃんバンドの現実逃避ファッションスタイルが、日本の現実倒錯ファッションの源泉ってのは．．．笑える手品の種明かしみたいだね。

Nobody Does It Better (Nobody Has It So Good, For That Matter)

A couple of blocks down the Avenue of the Americas from my office building is Rockefeller Center. At a corner of Rockefeller Center stands the building that houses the headquarters of Simon & Schuster, the venerable publishing house, one of the Big Four (the others are Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins).

Simon & Schuster was founded in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster.

Richard Simon married Andrea Louise Heinemann, half black half Jewish singer and civil rights activist. Their third daughter also became a singer and went on to win two Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe and Oscar.

Her name is Carly Simon.

Sometimes, the god does give away excessive amount of blessings. I mean, she does have a prominent mouth, but she is not bad looking, either. Then I realise that she is only a year younger than my parents. Wow...

I am not a big fan of her music but some of her songs do stick to my musical memories.

Like this timeless ditty... about Warren Beaty, allegedly...



Then there is this song about me... in my dreams...



Some scary reflections of a broody woman... as used in the movie "Heartburn" (1986).



And the Oscar winner. The Best Music, Original Song winner for 1989 Academy Awards from "Working Girl".



You have had it so good, baby. I bet you think this song is about you...

Lullaby of Birdland

I have been to Birdland last night.

Yes... the legendary Jazz club. The very one.

Of course, the current one stands at the different location from the original where Charlie "Bird" Parker (a.k.a. Forest Whitaker in my memory) graced the stage. Still, it was a spine chilling sensation to be there.

But, last night, I was after more than just a Jazz legend.

I was at Cast Party, an "open mic" cabaret hosted by Jim Caruso on Mondays at Birdland.

Just to reassure some of my friends who are familiar with my sing-along antics, no, I did not inflict myself on the audience.

It's a very good value entertainment.

Some performers are good.

Some not so good.

Some are just downright horrible. (Strangely, the worse the performance is, the more the performers seem to be enjoying themselves.)

In any event, the host, Jim Caruso, keeps the audience entertained with his acid sense of humour and his own phenomenal performing talents. The back-up musicians are great, too.

Music tends to be jazzy, with some Broadway stage numbers.

Highly recommended.

I must admit that I am a bit of musical geek. It must have something to do with my childhood encounter with Julie Andrews in "Sound of Music" and a decade of learning English through many other musical films and their songs.

It is definitely uncool in the current music climate but, hey, I am old enough not to care. Apparently, pop music industry's target consumer's average age is 14. One of my favourite recently-discovered comedians, Rob Paravonian, explains that that is why Fergie has gone solo from Black Eyed Peas. The musicians were holding her back from becoming a pop hit.

Leonard Bernstein said that musical is the reflection of the way American people speak. I suppose the Americans are speaking Hip-Hop now.

Anyways...

If you are a musical geek like myself, another place you might find fun (and alarming) is Marie's Crisis. It's just a basement bar with a piano. But the piano is played by some Broadway stage rehearsal pianists (I think) and they play musical tunes with full audience participation. Yes. I mean "full". Everybody sings along at this bar.

It is one thing to have the self-awareness as a musical geek. It is entirely another thing to be surrounded by like-minded people and having your inhibitions stripped away in public.

I must admit that it is slightly worrying that these two venues make up most of my notable after work activities so far in NY after 5 months. Maybe I am far more uncool than I thought I was at first.