Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Jul 21, 2017 8:11:58 GMT
Occasionally, in music there have been revivals of past styles, which have once again, become quite big. In the late 50s/early 60s there was a revival of Jazz which seemed to kind of fill in the gap between the early rock n roll and the beat groups like the Beatles. Later I remember two from the end of the 70s/early 80s, there was a Mod revival and a 50s Rock n Roll one, Shakin Stevens, The Stray Cats and a group called Matchbox who had two or three hits in 79/80. I remember this quite well as I worked with a girl at that time who was into it, she would sometimes turn up at the office in a 50s type dress, you know, the ones with petticoats which made the skirt stick out. Her boyfriend was a Ted who had a '59 Ford Consul.
It seemed to have faded out by about 81/82 ish. Anyone else remember it?
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Post by Dirty Epic on Jul 21, 2017 10:36:28 GMT
Good post Cartman. I think that 50's revival thing comes and goes every now and then and from what I can see that era seems one of the more popular ones. I think there was some of that in the early/mid 70's before punk came along - and took on some of it's elements, then as you say a bigger 50's revival happened in 1979-82 and another one in 1987 with many re-releases and covers from that period hitting the charts before the Rave scene began and became large post 88. The Mod revival likewise comes and goes too probably it's most notable with The Jam/Quadrophenia in the late 70's and to some extent the Britpop scene in the mid 90's. A few newer revival's have been 1980's new wave and synthpop being taken on by a fair few bands within different geners in the 2000's and I've also noticed a 40's Jazz/Swing revival in London in the last couple of years too. Got to admit I'm not really a fan of revivals of old music era's/styles and prefer to see things to progress to something new and interesting but in some respects I'm victim to nostalgia like anyone else and I also think once the technology within pop music reached a certain point in the late 90's there isn't really many other ways as a musician you can go (doing new things). Also some of the stuff around now doesn't excite or do much for me neither - Grime anyone... I think not.
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Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Jul 21, 2017 10:50:19 GMT
Yes, Dirty, on the 50s thing in the 70s I think you are right, Showaddywaddy and Mud were influenced by the era. The late 70s/early 80s revival was bigger, possibly Darts kicked it off in 78, but it took a bit of time to develop.
Agree, I prefer music to evolve and develop and revivals often seem to be a kind of fall back/default when there isn't much new stuff. However, that doesn't apply to the period 79-81 ish as that was a very creative and exciting period so I think that that Rock n Roll revival was a bit of an anomaly
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Post by Dirty Epic on Jul 21, 2017 10:58:33 GMT
Yeah that's what surprised me about the TOTP repeats from 81-83 so much 50's Rock n Roll being in the Top 30 around that period. Suppose they have their fans but thought the stuff acts like Coast 2 Coast did was absolute tosh.
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Post by Sam Tyler on Jul 21, 2017 11:57:30 GMT
From what I recall at the time the 70's revival of Rock n Roll were influenced by the release of films such as That'll Be The Day, Stardust, and from the septics we had American Graffiti.
The Stray Cats being the name of the group from Stardust is also a bit of a giveaway there too.
As mentioned by DE, the mod revival was influenced by Quadrophenia as well.
Off to a tangent but look at the impact Convoy had at the time on people using CB radio!
So the big screen clearly impacted on tastes at that time, though I very much doubt the same would happen today? Glam rock revival? New Romantics revival? I wouldn't mind it myself but I can't see it happening.
Sam.
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Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Jul 21, 2017 12:17:56 GMT
There is the odd current song with a feeling of the 70s about it. As the dad to a 10 year old I now get exposure to the current charts - 10 years ago I didnt have a clue, btw! Anyway, Miley Cyrus (who I normally don't like) has one out at the minute called Malibu and it really has a summery 70s feel to it. It could have been a hit in, say, summer 74/5
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Post by D.C. Burtonshaw on Jul 21, 2017 12:40:26 GMT
I can remember the Rock and Roll revivals at around the late 70's and early 80's, the film Grease probably also helped with the 50's R & R nostalgia and even possibly the US comedy drama series Happy Days. It was like all of a sudden young late teenagers (I was about 7/8 onwards then) were dressing up as Teddy boys and girls and the lads wanting to buy a MK2 Consul/Zephyr or Zodiac or similar era car which also helped the preservation and interest of those cars -(although the chances of an original Ted being able to afford to buy one when they were new would have been very slim indeed! Lol). And maybe Elvis Presley's death in 1977 had a hand in rekindling the interest in the genre as people rediscovered or discovered for the first time his music.
I can also remember on a visit to London (and seen around Luton) fashion conscious young lads walking around in long coats, white shirts and black ties and Pork pie hats and getting on buses, around 1980. They may not have acquired a scooter yet......
And the Teds and Mods you see now, sometimes at Nostalgia events and car shows are now around mid 50's upwards themselves, too young to remember the genre first time round but were "there" during that revival time, maybe listening to their dads or uncles records, so its time for nostalgia about the revival period too! There are of course younger people have got in to it in the last 10 years etc as you see them at the events.
Not yet mentioned is the Ska/Rocksteady and 2 tone period (the record label for the ska revival music set up by Jerry Dammers et al), as this too was instrumental (no pun intended!) in getting interest revived with cover versions, new style songs recorded in the old style (by Madness or The Specials etc) and then the original recording with the original groups also getting a second time round airing! There's still interest there, including from the younger generations a little bit and from my age group (46) as I was just a primary school kid when all the above revivals were all starting, so even that's nostalgic for me now! It's great when I go to the music nights I go to in Beds pubs hosted by one particular DJ and enthusiast!
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Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Jul 21, 2017 12:48:45 GMT
Yes, DC, I liked Ska and Two tone. I didn't know at the time, but quite a lot of ska records which came out in 79/80/81 were actually cover versions of Jamaican songs from the 60s. As very few people (myself included) had ever heard any of them, the assumption was that they were new songs.
And, yes, a Ted in the 50s would never have been able to afford a Zodiac or Vauxhall Cresta, their transport would have been the train/bus/push bike, or possibly a cheap motor bike at best!
PS The fact that Olivia Newton John looked insanely hot in the final scene in Grease might have helped the revival!!
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Del Boy
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Post by Del Boy on Jul 23, 2017 15:34:29 GMT
One theme that ran through the TOTP repeats from 76 until 82 was the frequent and sometimes good 50's inspired records. Seen a few posters around for forgotten one hit wonder 90's bands doing a tour. Strewth, a 90's revival leave it out.
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Jul 23, 2017 16:12:27 GMT
I find revivals all a bit naff & to be honest I've never liked the idea of putting music or anything else into a box & giving it a name. I've never seen the attraction of dressing a certain way & adhering to a lifestyle & it becomes worse still when it's 'revived' years after the event. There's something false about it all unless you were part of the original 'movement' like an old mod.
It's understandable, particularly in this age, why people want to recreate the past or live by a certain set of values but when I see say a 20 something dressed in mod clothing & it's all word perfect- the shirts, shoes, haircuts, etc. - it just looks like he/she's dressing up, ie. it's not 'authentic'. I think the worst offenders are punks, there's a punk festival in Blackpool each year called 'Rebellion' & more or less everyone who attends looks the same, where's the rebellion in that? I like punk music, but the idea of 'being a punk' or mod, rocker, etc. seems ridiculous to me.
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