The term "Retro" with reference to art or fashion has in recent years, infiltrated our vocabulary.To hipsters, and anyone trying to sell you something old, retro is cool.
Like your granddaddy's tweed blazer from an age when tailors took pride in every garment they created, and things were not yet mass-produced by robots in China, retro is ostensibly superior.
So what does that say about retro music? Are we talking about "oldies", or a new genre unto itself?
My research led me to the consummate funnel of all modern verity and wisdom: Wikipedia. To paraphrase the "pedia", Retro is "a culturally aged style or trend from the overall postmodern past, that has since become the norm
once again." It goes on to say, "It generally implies a vintage of at least 15 or 20 years."
Not so much about music, but luckily I have a gift for metaphoric translation, so please allow me to elucidate, and if you pay attention, you might find common musical ground between the generations.
Everything is interesting when it's new; Art, fashion, cars, puppies...all eventually lose their lustre when familiarity rears it's tedious little head. We move on to newer things, scoffing at the overexposed banality we left behind, until we discover one day, that we've been scoffing for 15-20 years. Then a torrent of nostalgia motivates us to proudly profess our "guilty" pleasures. We say, "Damn it, I like Boy George, and I don't care who knows it!", and begin belting out the chorus of Karma Chameleon. I caution readers to avoid having this epiphany at a
biker bar. A gay bar is fine.
In any case, a good song is an eternal gift. It can eventually seem dated, but just as a fashionable person can integrate vintage clothing into their modern style, so can an artful musician breathe new life into a classic, or take a previously unsuccessful song, and give it wings. Moreover, a good song-smith can create original music employing a retro mode of expression.
Since the 90s, we have seen an influx of artists who pay hommage to the greats gone-by with elements of their vintage style fused with original modern music. Harry Connick Jr. swooped in with Sinatra-like vocals, while Brian Setzer, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, and Squirrel Nut Zippers saved Swing music from extinction.
The artists below are those that have risen to prominence through a style that appeals to the listener for its hybrid of familiarity and originality. The penultimate compliment to the long-forgotten innovators of any genre, is not to mimic, but to perpetuate by turning their legacy into something new.
Here are some that do it well:
Adele: Everybody knows her now and she is barely 23 years old, but the force is strong in this one. While
extraordinarily unique, her tone conjures images of old songstresses like Nina Simone and Etta James. Her music is fresh, and her style is timeless. She will be around long enough to become the comparative standard for the next generation.
Aloe Blacc: A rapper and musician in several groups for the better part of a decade, he finally shed his anonymity this year with his solo debut, Good Things. You've probably heard I Need A Dollar, and thought you were listening to Bill Withers or Billy Preston. Aloe could easily be mistaken for a one-hit wonder if not for his artistry, vocal prowess, and commanding presence. For further proof, I recommend Loving You is Killing Me (Seriously, you will thank me), and for kicks, his Spanish rendition of John Legend'sOrdinary people.
Amy Winehouse: Long love-line, short lifeline. Her presence was brief, but her legacy ample. Despite calling to mind jazz and R&B legends of yesteryear, both male and female, her sound was never dated. In fact, the traces of hip-hop and funk in her music distinguished her from others who seem to counterfeit the genre. Hers was never disingenuous, and always massively appealing.
Cee-lo Green: Green possesses an old-school R&B flavor in his voice, and alludes to a similar influence in his music. During a recent guest spot on the NBC series, Parenthood, Cee-lo records his interpretation of Erma
Franklin's original version of the Janis Joplin hit,Piece of My Heart... and it smoked. He has an organic soulfulness to his vocals that I liken to Stevie Wonder or Sly (of the family) Stone, and that is some lofty praise. I refer listeners to his 2004 album entitled Cee-Lo Green... Is the Soul Machine, or his 2007 Gnarles Barkley album, St. Elsewhere.
Erykah Badu: Badu pioneered the "Neo-soul" genre, and earned the monniker "First Lady of Neo-Soul" with her Baduizm CD in 1997 (Not just anyone is granted their own "izm"). This hot-lipped babe burst onto the scene so fiercely with her Billie holiday-meets-Foxy Brown style, that we forgave her for wearing those garish head-wraps. We may even forgive her for the 3 children she bore to Andre Benjamin (of Outkast), Common, and D.O.C. respectively. Not because each has a different father, but because she named them Seven Sirius, Puma Sabti Curry, and Mars Merkaba Thedford. As Ms. Holiday once said, "G-d bless the child".
Janelle Monáe: Discovered by Big Boi (of Outkast), this phenomenal 26 year-old somehow managed to fly under the radar for 5 years until 2010's hit, Tightrope. If scientists were to clone and blend the rhythmic DNA of Michael Jackson, James Brown, Lauryn Hill, Prince and Lady Gaga, we might end up with something resembling Janelle. Like most geniuses, she is eccentric, and has created an alter ego named Cindi Mayweather. Cindi is a messianic female android in some neo-orwellian version of earth's future, a concept that Monáe plans to turn into a movie and graphic novel. And I'm exhausted just from writing this blog.
John Legend/The Roots: They should be 2 separate items, but I would inevitably have to mention their collaboration album, Wake Up. The Roots have been regaling us with their funk-infused brand of Hip-Hop since the early '90s, and Legend materialized in 2004 with the Donny Hathaway-esque ballad, Ordinary People. The offspring of this alliance is a CD rife with vintage Philly and Motown R&B, even covering the likes of Marvin Gaye and Teddy Pendergrass. The Roots, who are now the house band on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, have gained respect by merging '70s soul to Rap without compromising the urban sensibility of the music. John Legend is a talented star with a throwback vibe that belies his years. I simply saw this album as a peanut butter cup. Both are great alone, but together... downright decadent.
Michael Buble: Some say he's a white-washed version of the real deal because he rose to stardom on the coattails of the artists he covered. Okay, I was the one that said it but that was before he showed that he could write his own music, and creatively re-invigorate obscure classics for a new audience. Furthermore, as much as I loves me some down-home, rough-edged, dirty rhythm & blues, I'm also a sucker for a well-produced, mid-tempo, finger-snapping, Vegas lounge love song.
long after her contemporaries have been muted. The fact that she debuted on the Blue Note Record label seems fitting given her retro-jazzy influence. She invokes the spirit of greats like Dinah Washington and Ella Fitzgerald, but is an accomplished artist in her own right who need not (and does not) live off covers alone. Easy to enjoy for the casual listener and music afficionado alike.
Raphael Saadiq: This multi-faceted musician was 1 of 2 Wiggins brothers in the 90s R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné!, but he changed his name to Raphael Saadiq so that he could never be confused with anyone else (He and Englebert Humperdinck). The best story I found was of his audition to play bass in Sheila E's band. He got the gig, and went on tour... with Prince... just before his 18th birthday! Saadiq's devotion to the vintage soul of Motown and Staxx records is so strong that the release of his 2008 album, The Way I See It, included in addition to the traditional CD, a collector's edition box-set of 45s (I just lost everyone under 35). This album honors those styles so authentically, that my cousin refused to believe the songs were not remakes, even though every single one was an original Saadiq production. There's a lot more where that came from in Saadiq's past and future.
I can go on to praise singers like Joss Stone, or go further back to Sade, but my mission is only to provide the spark. If you appreciate vintage jazz like Sarah Vaughan and Louis Armstrong, or classic soul singers like Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, and Al Green, but you think those days are gone, think again. The spirit lives on, and the music is being handed down to your children.
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