"Pop" Music

I finally discovered working in the Showband of cruise ships, there was this style of music in existence that didn't resemble anything in my music education. I was taken aback by it, and a comment by our guitarist raised questions in my mind. "Pop is different," he said. More than a few years later, I finally put my finger one it. I enjoyed listening to this style of music for the most part, but when it came time to play I couldn't imagine abandoning 35 years worth of piano study. This is good touch on the piano. This is how you get a good sound out of the piano. This is how you swing. Why would I chuck all of my intense and passionate study of music and the piano to play only this style? It was a difficult situation. In more than a few bands it caused interminable stress. In one band we, the members, were just waiting to implode. No one could really define musically what was happening. We wanted our drummer to "drive" the band, that is lay down a solid groove that defined "time." "Here is the time, mother @#$%." There was no smoke and mirrors as to where the beat was. He failed, but I won't say he wasn't satisfying the requirements of HIS particular job description. Upon listening to his part on the prerecorded track, he was doing what the studio drummer was doing, which was NOT laying down the time. I guess the arranger felt that blasted click track, that obnoxious temple block, or that synthesized snare drum sufficed for the time. The problem was, it was not audible to either the cast or the audience. The arranger was playing games by disguising the time feel. I pondered this issue for a while trying to figure out whether this device was purposeful and had a meaning, or whether it was just short-sightedness. After researching this style of music ("pop") that was new to me and not generated by the keyboard, I decided it was what they wanted. Imagine, rhythm section tracks that did not actually define pulse in a way people could pat their foot or clap their hands to it. This did not make sense to me seeing as there was a full cast of dancers on stage attempting to DANCE to this music. On my second ship the drummer was adamant about playing this and only this style. He was coming from Drums and Bass, and that music is generated by a computer also. Now I have two things to contend with, a track that has no feel and a drummer that insists that is the only way to play music. It turns out many of my fellow band members didn't enjoy that musical concept either. These guys loved it, and the reason is perplexing. When your music has no real feel of its on, that is by definition can't generate anything because there is nothing going into the production of it, then it can take on any particular feel you ascribe to it with your mind. I have found many musicians use this ploy. They play in this lackluster facade of a musical style, then project a particular feeling on top of it to try to sell it. I have on more than on occasion exposed this phony culprit. If your playing is so lame that it can't generate rhythmic drive with time, then a contrived feeling projected on top of that is "jive." There, ladies and germs, would be the ultimate definition of "jive." "Jive" is something that is disingenuous, something disguised as something else but lacking the substance of the real thing. "Yuck!" These particular musicians projected the "sex vibe" on top of our music, and it made me sick to play it. "Is this what my life had come to, playing in a strip club band?" At least in caricatures of those bands the guys played aggressively while a stripper danced on top of the bar. This realization of music was at its worst "weak," and I don't ever remember playing weak music. Two years of full time Rhythm and Blues and Hip/Hop playing made me play strong. This music by nature was strong, uplifting, and empowering. It gave you strength in times of weakness, just like Wynton Marsalis's definition of the blues. "The blues are affirmation in the face of adversity." Here here, poppy! I asked myself time and time again if this was the true intent of the cruise lines. Did they really want the music to be weak, so the dancers could just sell sex? I said no, and continue to try to make the music the way it should be. On certain ships where the band allowed me to do this, the ratings almost immediately rose. On the Carnival Destiny the ship's rating rose to number one in the fleet, and the cruise director, Mark Hawkins, was taken aback. His ego was hurt that his performance as a Cruise Director had nothing to do with the rating. Many captains have the same perception. They somehow feel their job description should have something to do with why a ship is rated well by their guests. The reality is, people want substance, reality, and effort in entertainment. Life and business should not be a popularity contest. We have all graduated from high school, and the jocks, student counsel members, and cheerleaders have hopefully moved on to more meaningful lives. Entertainment at is best is more than something that pleases or amuses. To become art there needs to be a historical context with a deeper meaning. "Formidable" has been the top-rated Production Show on the seven seas. That is because the music is drawn from a variety of sources that have substance and have endured the test of time. Georges Auric's "Song from Moulin Rouge" and Jacques Offenbach's "Can Can" are in this particular show. They deal with cultural and artistic themes that transcend time and reach audiences.