Blue Mink - Good Morning Freedom

[kas]

This could be an offshoot to Adam's earworm thread...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV-ni04N854

I took a listen to this a few days ago, and now it refuses to leave my head. Silly me...
Madeleine Bell is a good singer though, and they did have a knack for writing annoingly catchy melodies.

The reason why I sought them out was that we had their Real Mink album at home when I was a kid. My dad used to buy bunches of cheap cutout lp's from the nearby supermarket in those days, when our first stereo set was brand new.

Blue Mink may have been more of a presence in the UK, over here they were a one-hit thing only (that very record I think). I remember trying to listen to the album later, when I spotted a track with my new magic word "reggae" in it, but thinking their song "Gimmie Reggae" was a more than a bit clumsy. Still do:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4xeFSov0cw

[Adam Blake]

I think it was Andy's thread actually, Kas, and I dread to think what he's going to make of Madeline's outfit in that video. Yes, that song was an earworm for me too and it has now been re-instated! But I don't mind. I always liked Blue Mink. They were one of those bands who made crap records but you didn't mind when they came on the radio. (A rare trick in pop - Chicory Tip and Marmalade spring to mind as others who managed it.)

[AndyM]

Hmm. not sure I'd call the best Blue Mink & Marmalade tracks 'crap'.

This Marmalade single is beautiful (aside from a few clumsinesses in the lyrics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79NiN7ISW7E

Joni Mitchell once said she loved that track & if it's good enough for Joni.....

My favourite Blue Mink - too slushy for some but hey ho:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD6gV4npRfA

[Adam Blake]

Oh dear. I see we must speak by the book lest equivocation be our undoing! Of course their "best" records aren't "crap"! I was referring to some of their lesser efforts. Perhaps we can agree on Chicory Tip? ("Son Of My Father" and "Good Grief Christina" both wonderful crap that always make me smile.)

Those are both lovely records, aren't they?

[AndyM]

Sorry, had a long day trying to persuade students that precision is advisable!! Need to disengage preachy teacher head and rejoin real world.

Chicory Tip - what a bunch of douchebags! How's that??

'Son of ny Father' was an early Giorgio Moroder wasn't it ? Such humble beginnings for someone who would change the world so soon afterwards.

[Adam Blake]

Yes, but my contention was that even though you knew it was crap, you didn't mind when it came on the radio. I am groping for a whole new genre of pop here. Beyond the "trash aesthetic", something far simpler and yet more subtle. Help me out here, Andy!

[Jamie Renton]

A guilty pleasure. A sugary rush that you know is junk, even as it makes you feel all warm and happy inside. You know that glow isn't going to last, but you can't help smiling anyway.

I don't think this is a whole new genre Adam, I think this is how most people consume music, film, TV...food even.

[AndyM]

It's tricky, Adam, because if it was REALLY crap (Coldplay, for example) then you WOULD mind.....

I think you're looking for a way to describe things that exist beyond the claustrophobic parameters of 'cool'. Things that one responds to with straightforward pleasure but for which no critical vocabulary is adequate.

I think this bottle of Nero D'Avola is rather strong.

[Adam Blake]

Yes...ish... It's not as engaging as a guilty pleasure, it just kind of bounces off you but you like it anyway as opposed to feeling actively hostile towards it. Maybe like the difference between, hmmm, say, Rihanna and Coldplay.

[Adam Blake]

Ah you got in there as I posted, Andy. I wish I could share that wine with you and ruminate on this at greater length. I feel there's something there but I can't...quite... put my finger on it. Certainly it requires no criticism or judgement, it's just there and you quite like it. I suppose other people feel similarly about Mantovani or Mozart or indeed techno.

Coldplay have overtones of meaningfulness which I deeply object to. But then so did some Beatles records which I absolutely love. It's tricky.

[Rob Hall]

It's tricky.

Well spotted. Welcome to my world.

[Adam Blake]

Would you care to expand on that, Rob?

[Rob Hall]

It is often the case that there is a conflict between alliances we make in the world outside and the unfiltered emotional responses that we experience internally. It's tricky. If you want any more, I'll have to charge you.

[AndyM]

It is often the case that there is a conflict between alliances we make in the world outside and the unfiltered emotional responses that we experience internally.

And that's why (thread cross-reference alert!) I had to hide my Steve Hillage album in the late 70s.

[Jamie Renton]

Certainly it requires no criticism or judgement, it's just there and you quite like it.

As I said, this is how most people (as opposed to the kind of people who pontificate on internet forums at 10.45 on a Thursday evening) consume music. It comes on the radio (or music TV or whatever) and it makes them smile. It doesn't have any real meaning, it doesn't become a part of their identity, it's just a catchy song.