Today, I've found a relatively new (2016) song that has managed to evade me until now. I don't listen to terrestrial radio anymore, mostly because the Internet has plenty of options and I've become a fan of Ambient Chill, something that no over-the-air radio station would play under penalty of death.
Also, I pretty much find that almost all current music--well, to coin a phrase--sucks. I don't know my Katy Perry from my Ariande Grande, but I can tell when something has been touched by Max Martin.
Max is a Swedish producer/songwriter/Svengali who has essentially created the sound we hear on pop radio. Just about everything Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, and any number of Pop Chanteuses that have been populating the charts with the past 10 years released was written/produced/influenced by him. When he produces something, you can't mistake it.
I don't have children, and therefore don't see all that many movies aimed at them. Yes, I saw How to Tame Your Dragon (both of them) and anything Pixar makes, but a number of kid movies go right by me. And it's that blindspot that allowed me to miss today's Happymaker when it was attached to the movie Trolls.
I also missed the first 15 minutes of this year's Academy Awards, or else I'd have gotten exposed to this song in February. I'm not a big Justin Timberlake fan (too old, obviously). But man, did I miss this one. It's simply the best dance tune I've heard in 10+ years.
And I'll even forgive Justin and Max for stealing (let's be frank, this isn't a "sample", or an "homage". It's outright theft) of the baseline from Chic's "Good Times". Same number of bass notes, same pause, same run down the fretboard between two three note and the six note runs. Bernard Edwards (genius bassist who created all those memorable tunes ("Everybody Dance", "My Feet Keep Dancing", the aforementioned "Good Times", "My Forbidden Lover") is rolling (and rocking) over in his grave.
Theft aside, this is a fabulous tune, with that signature Max Martin touch (throbbing baseline, brighter than bright chorus atmospherics, at least one or two breakdowns). I also know that this song would have been top 10 without a vocal. How do I know? Listen to this:
And as evidence of the felony, the prosecution enters into evidence this clip:
Go to 3:22. Hard to miss it.
Anyway, my endorphin level peaks when I hear Justin's song, and I'm happy Disco has made a comeback. I told Disco Haters in 1977 that their children would be listening to it because it was universal, and easy to digest. Turns out their children's children will also be hearing it. Besides, this song has HORNS, a surefire nod that whomever wrote/arranged/produced it grew up listening to music from the '60s and '70s.
And to leave you, here's a YouTube clip with Timberlake's song synced to dancing from 70 years worth of movies. It's fun and I can't imagine the work that went into it. Enjoy.
More later...
Pete
