On MySpace Music there is a genre setting called "melodramatic popular song" which is flown over many an artist. The moniker is somewhat shady but it can be used with some of the best music ever. First of, it is far from whiny music, its more tragic and deep.
One of the first melodramatic pop songs was The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore by The Walker Brothers. Scott Engel, John Maus, and Gary Leeds would spring to #1 in 1966. Scott "Walker" would later move onto a vast solo catalog. Baroque Pop and melodramatic feeling went hand in hand. Walk Away Renee's rainy-day violin-soaked feel cuts baroque and melodrama perfectly. Like the Zombies, they used harmonies and orchestral instruments and integrated them into pop songs. Nico also did this with The Velvet Underground in 1969. Leonard Cohen's dark, prophetic voice was very much present here also. Each artist (except the Walker Brothers) developing a darker sound and usually a cult following, apart from a few single successes. Scott Walker and his cohorts had major success in Britain parred only by the Beatles.
In the 70s, Tim Buckley's Starsailor alienated him from droves of fans. Do an Amazon appetizer listen of Tim Buckley from 1965 and Starsailor and catch my drift. Into the next decade, Buckley is exploring more avant-garde jazz and drum sounds, however: this is about Melodramtic POP, people gotta listen Tim...By 1976 The Cure was in existence and 4 years later they would release Three Imaginary Boys in the UK and it's sister album Boys Don't Cry in the US the following year. Insert good melodramatic punk anthem here. Long live Robert Smith!
Moving onto the 80s we encounter Echo & the Bunnymen. Melodrama would now begin to mold with post-punk. In 1978 Ian McCulloch and friends from Liverpool started playing with a drummachine named Echo. Two years later they got a real drummer and produced Crocodiles, thier debut. Reaching #17, thier subsequent releases Heaven Up Here and Porcupine would reach #10 and #2 repectively. Porcupine is the quintessential melodramatic pop album: lyrical evidence. Apart from sounding amazing, this album does a good job defining the genre.
By the Mid-80s there is a bunch of great melodramatic pop out there. Some no wave acts, such as Swans added an intensity to the scene. New Music Express' C-86 cassette comp also put out very important melodramatic stakes. The Smiths, who came along in 1984, put out 4 incredible albums and a worthwhile singles double album. Morrissey was a crooner of the melancholy and guitarist Johnny Marr could package it like a pop song. For all melodramatic song was, after the Smiths indie rock took off like a rocket and emo bands began imposing upon the idea of melodrama.
In the 90s, Britpop had a hint of melodrama. Pulp's 'low class anthems' are a good example, but Blur and Oasis were essentially Britpop. My Bloody Valentine could be considered such, but it is first and foremost Shoegaze. In order to have true melodramatic popular song, their cannot be a veil over it.
Dip your beak:
- Left Banke - Walk Away Renee/Pretty Ballerina, 1967
- Scott Walker - Scott, 1967
- Nico - The End..., 1974
- Josef K - The Only Fun in Town, 1981
- Modern English - Mesh and Lace, 1981
- The Smiths - Meat is Murder, 1985
One of the first melodramatic pop songs was The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore by The Walker Brothers. Scott Engel, John Maus, and Gary Leeds would spring to #1 in 1966. Scott "Walker" would later move onto a vast solo catalog. Baroque Pop and melodramatic feeling went hand in hand. Walk Away Renee's rainy-day violin-soaked feel cuts baroque and melodrama perfectly. Like the Zombies, they used harmonies and orchestral instruments and integrated them into pop songs. Nico also did this with The Velvet Underground in 1969. Leonard Cohen's dark, prophetic voice was very much present here also. Each artist (except the Walker Brothers) developing a darker sound and usually a cult following, apart from a few single successes. Scott Walker and his cohorts had major success in Britain parred only by the Beatles.
Moving onto the 80s we encounter Echo & the Bunnymen. Melodrama would now begin to mold with post-punk. In 1978 Ian McCulloch and friends from Liverpool started playing with a drummachine named Echo. Two years later they got a real drummer and produced Crocodiles, thier debut. Reaching #17, thier subsequent releases Heaven Up Here and Porcupine would reach #10 and #2 repectively. Porcupine is the quintessential melodramatic pop album: lyrical evidence. Apart from sounding amazing, this album does a good job defining the genre.
By the Mid-80s there is a bunch of great melodramatic pop out there. Some no wave acts, such as Swans added an intensity to the scene. New Music Express' C-86 cassette comp also put out very important melodramatic stakes. The Smiths, who came along in 1984, put out 4 incredible albums and a worthwhile singles double album. Morrissey was a crooner of the melancholy and guitarist Johnny Marr could package it like a pop song. For all melodramatic song was, after the Smiths indie rock took off like a rocket and emo bands began imposing upon the idea of melodrama.
In the 90s, Britpop had a hint of melodrama. Pulp's 'low class anthems' are a good example, but Blur and Oasis were essentially Britpop. My Bloody Valentine could be considered such, but it is first and foremost Shoegaze. In order to have true melodramatic popular song, their cannot be a veil over it.
Dip your beak:
- Left Banke - Walk Away Renee/Pretty Ballerina, 1967
- Scott Walker - Scott, 1967
- Nico - The End..., 1974
- Josef K - The Only Fun in Town, 1981
- Modern English - Mesh and Lace, 1981
- The Smiths - Meat is Murder, 1985
- The Bodines - Played, 1987
- Orange Juice - The Glasgow School, 2005- Antony and the Johnsons - The Crying Light, 2009
