A is for "ABC" - The Jackson 5As near as dammit, the perfect pop-song, and a most appropriate place to begin my 'ABC' of all-time great singles. The Jackson 5's ABC is 2:54 of pure, unbridled, unselfconscious fun -it is a song that exists to remind everybody what pop music is. Exuberance, vitality, sheer youthful joyfulness - ABC is conceptually patterned as a lesson in love, but the real lesson here is in pop-ology. It is the York Notes of sweet soul music. Musically, it's as arresting as anything Motown ever did. ABC has the good sense to kick off with a fat, buzzing fuzz-bass line, before dropping into a steady pimp rollin' funk groove 5 seconds in; the mix is packed with loadsa conga, tambourine and jangling piano, and at some point around the 1:40 mark the J5 strip it all back to a breakdown like a kindergarten Temptations. Vocally it's just on another level; every line is delivered like it's the hook, and wildly creative things are done with the phrasing and arrangement throughout. I wonder what ever happened to that kid with the high pitched voice?
3 comments:
There are way too many people in this world who seem to think that good music involves po-faced musos delivering a "message", but they're utterly wrong. Good music, to me, is stuff like "ABC" or "The Love You Save" or, in fact,just about anything the J5 did - songs that crackle with unadulterated fun & joy of life.
This is a great idea for a series, Paul, not least because it means we're likely to get 26 posts from you this year, and I'm going to get to think about some classic pop songs in a whole new light.
Here's hoping that B is for Bugpowder Dust by Bomb The Bass featuring Justin Warfield (surely a hugely under-rated talent, and a man who's sensibilities fit this blog's style like a glove)...
LOVE "Bugpowder Dust", dude. What a track. I'll try to repay your kind words and continuing interest in my blog by actually sticking with this A-Z thing. Still trying to decide on "B"...
Post a Comment