Heroes and Villains — Beach Boys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgSgOTxcEMk

This is an enigma – the Beach Boys sing about cars, girls, surfing, the beach, cars, girls, the beach, more cars. They have a set, they stick to it, it's perfect. They're a snapshot of culture and history and geography; they'll never not be Cali in the '60s.

But there are exceptions — Pet Sounds is a big one. There's a lot more issues on Pet Sounds. It's the sound of Brian Wilson dealing with abandonment issues, depression and sorrow and the need to expand his life. And Heroes and Villains, not even on Pet Sounds, is the most different. It's about... it's a Gabriel García Márquez novel, about a Carribean town, deserting your family; about seduction and time and mistakes; it invents baroque pop as a genre; it's just different. And I don't know what to make of it, but it's gorgeous and fantastic and layered, and layered and layered and layered.

 

Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers — Why Do Fools Fall In Love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=q96ylFiQK_I#t=135s

This song (which begins at 2:15) is fifty-seven years old right now; by the time I have oldies of my own, this'll be some kind of super-oldie, an oldie for my parents, pop music for perhaps my grandparents, although maybe a little after their time. And yet the chords and rhythms are recognizable; the horns and breaks and harmonies are nothing particular; it's rock, maybe, but it has swing horns and jazz bass; lindy hop rhythm and doo-wop vocals, a vocal group with big band backing. This was before records had genres; there was simply the music being made now and the music that was written before. It was all good music — you either followed or you didn't. It pleased everyone. And you hear echoes of it — particularly the Jackson 5, Diana Ross, and the Beach Boys, perhaps most of Motown.