Blackwash

A couple of days ago, I heard the original verson of "Hello, it's me" by Todd Rundgren. for the first time Previously, I'd only known the version of the song as interpreted by the Isley Brothers. I'm proud to say that I'd always known that it was not the orignal, however. But, all I can say about Todd Rundgren's version is ----- CORNY!!!

This song, which, in the hands of the Isley Brothers becomes an almost anti-beautiful ballad, a sort of ode to a lover filled with yearning, regret, and touching sincerity, is more of a 1970s ABC Monday-night movie kind of theme song chez Rundgren. Amazing. Perhaps this is a reflection of the '1970s-ness' of it all, the time when Rundgren's original version (RV from now on) was recorded and released. But the catch is, the Isley's version (IV) is also a product of the 1970s. In fact, both versions were released in 1974, which refutes the theory I was going to propose, that the IV was perhaps recorded in the mid to late 1980s. Perhaps, it has more to do with the fact that the RV is not even remotely influenced by R & B, not it a direct sense, that is. I guess what I'm saying is that it sounds, well, very white. There's just no other way to describe it. Not that this is a bad thing.

For a girl who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s in Chicago listening to the old WBMX and WGCI, my musical palate was shapted by the likes of the Isley Brothers, The Spinners, Marvin Gaye and later people like Teena Marie, Debarge, and Prince. My father was also a jazz fanatic and I spent many a rainy Saturday being forced to listen to old blues recordings by artists like Blind Lemon Jefferson (for god's sake), B.B. King and countless others. However, I also love Rock and Roll. Okay, Led Zepplin, a little Black Sabbath for good measure, the Stones, Cream, Jimi Hendrix....

As such, I consider myself an 'equal opportunity' kind of girl when it comes to music (and most other things in my life) but there is a whole, let's call it genre that I just can't wrap my head around, I feel about it the way most people feel about Country music. Artists like the Doors, the Grateful Dead, the Beach Boys, Janis Joplin (although I recognize her brilliance), I'm just not feeling any of it. I've tried. What makes me love the others, I just don't know. The thing is, when I hear the Doors, the Grateful Dead, the Beach Boys, I cringe, I can't take it, I must immediately change the station, completely eradicate the source of the offense. This is no exaggeration. I don't know much of Todd Rundgren's music, but it sounded dangerously close to this particular group of artists that causes me so much music listening pain.

I guess what I am really talking about here, what hearing Rundgren's version of the song made me think of is the whole idea of black artists remaking the work of white artists, and why it doesn't really happen too regularly, as far as I can think of. Although, the Isley Brothers did so at at least one other time with Summer Breeze, which also turned out to be much cooler than the original, in my opinion. We just don't see as much of this. From music to slang to styles of dress, pop cultural/musical trends tend to originate, harder-edged, within the black community and end up whitewashed (no pun intended here) , slicker when they become mainstream, more palatable, to the majority.

It seems to be a common pattern though, in the reverse. It is a commonly known fact about the early (and maybe current too, for that matter) history of popular music that white artists generally usurped the style and work of black artists, made it their own, and benefited by reaping great profits, none of which were shared by those innovative black artists. But this is a subject for another blog entry at another time.

This also makes me think about how slang changes as it becomes adopted by different groups. I was riding the #18 bus into downtown Seattle the other day when I overheard a guy on his cell phone talking to his friend about possible plans for the evening. He ended by asking his friend if he wanted to join him by saying: "Are you down to go..." Anyone in the know is aware that the correct usage would never include the final infinitive. You would never say "Are you down to go..." you would just say 'are you down?' the rest is implied, but when the slang is co-opted, it morphs into something a bit different with different rules. Take the whole -izzle craze prompted by Snoop (sigh). When this once pig latin-esque dialect once used by gang members as a way to communicate secretively became mainstream, the D-O-double-G conceded that it was time to retire the -izzle. But even this 'language' was derived from the 1980 R & B hit by Frankie Smith, "Double Dutch Bus". But here, I digress even further......

Hey, I could go on and on with this one, but do I want to? Not particularly, it's late and I just got home from a long night of waiting tables. I do think, though, that if you have a chance to give a listen to both versions, you should. And hey, let me know what you think.

Todd Rundgren's version

Isley Brothers version


***By the way, everyone should own the album Love Songs by the Isley Brothers, the link above takes you to it on Amazon.com***