Re: instrumental explosion
Posted: 28 Feb 2024, 06:43
It is still a mystery to me that four-piece instrumental bands, or "combos" as we called them, erupted suddenly in 1960 like some biological species that merged spontaneously and spread rapidly across the world. In March 1960, the Ventures recorded Walk Don't Run, in June the Shadows followed suit with Apache, and teenagers across the globe picked up electric guitars.
What paved the way here in the islands was not radio, as there were no radio shows here broadcast from abroad, For me, it was the new stereo console that arrived at home one day in the late 1950s - "stereophonic" was new then. I listened to American guitarists Tony Motola and Al Caiola. The latter's album Italian Guitars, released January 1 1960, was a favorite. In one of the album covers, Caiola said the electric guitar was here to stay.
And there was Neil Levang on Lawrence Welk's TV show. In later years, he would sport sparkling new Jazzmasters and Jaguars, the stuff of my dreams. And of course we heard Duane Eddy.
Following the crackdown in the US in the late 1950s on rock-and-roll (and that day when the music died), pop music became sweeter, less rebellious, and "safer" in the eyes of conservative Americans. Pat Boone, Ricky Nelson, and so on became popular. Perhaps that contributed to the rise of instrumental combo music.
But it still an interesting mystery to me why the genre suddenly appeared with much success in 1960. The Ventures and the Shadows probably had never heard of each other then, but their sound, so different from each other, was heard 'round the world. The Ventures by the way can be credited with popularizing the genre here, and it is their music remembered most by non-musicians. In any case, like some biological strain, the genre morphed in 1964 and disappeared from the general audience's attention. It is nevertheless still pursued by folks like us!
Andy
What paved the way here in the islands was not radio, as there were no radio shows here broadcast from abroad, For me, it was the new stereo console that arrived at home one day in the late 1950s - "stereophonic" was new then. I listened to American guitarists Tony Motola and Al Caiola. The latter's album Italian Guitars, released January 1 1960, was a favorite. In one of the album covers, Caiola said the electric guitar was here to stay.
And there was Neil Levang on Lawrence Welk's TV show. In later years, he would sport sparkling new Jazzmasters and Jaguars, the stuff of my dreams. And of course we heard Duane Eddy.
Following the crackdown in the US in the late 1950s on rock-and-roll (and that day when the music died), pop music became sweeter, less rebellious, and "safer" in the eyes of conservative Americans. Pat Boone, Ricky Nelson, and so on became popular. Perhaps that contributed to the rise of instrumental combo music.
But it still an interesting mystery to me why the genre suddenly appeared with much success in 1960. The Ventures and the Shadows probably had never heard of each other then, but their sound, so different from each other, was heard 'round the world. The Ventures by the way can be credited with popularizing the genre here, and it is their music remembered most by non-musicians. In any case, like some biological strain, the genre morphed in 1964 and disappeared from the general audience's attention. It is nevertheless still pursued by folks like us!
Andy