Who were the biggest Beautiful Music vocalists and which tunes would be most often covered?
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Beautiful Music vocalists
- Thread starter johnbasalla
- Start date
Ray Conniff singers.
The classic Beautiful Music song was "The Last Farewell" by Roget Whitaker.
Some of the syndicators got away from the choral groups by the mid to later 70's and were more prone to have soft AC vocals instead.
Thanks to both of you for your fine advise.
QUOTE: "Some of the syndicators got away from the choral groups by the mid to later 70's and were more prone to have soft AC vocals instead.".
Would that mean certain songs by The Carpenters would work. What about soft songs by Anne Murray? Barry Manilow? Barbara Streisand?
QUOTE: "Some of the syndicators got away from the choral groups by the mid to later 70's and were more prone to have soft AC vocals instead.".
Would that mean certain songs by The Carpenters would work. What about soft songs by Anne Murray? Barry Manilow? Barbara Streisand?
I have always liked that particular song and assume it warms the cockles of anyone who lived through WWII. But I wonder why you would describe it as a classic beautiful music song? Compare it to "Rusty Bells" by Brenda Lee.
It was, for a decade, the most played Beautiful Music song of all. I even played it on my service to Latin America.
Rusty Bells does not "ring a bell" to me for having gotten broad Beautiful Music airplay. Neither did most Brenda Lee songs as the orchestration was a little to pop and not as compatible with the format.
What about “Lujon” by Henry Mancini?
Tennille of "Captain and Tennille" fame, singing Muskrat Love, for the WIN!
Not a big Beautiful Music song as it is not smooth... it has "irritating" portions in it.
A lot of vocals in the format were versions done in the "right" tone and style to fit the format but not the originals and often not original to the format songs.
Remember, nearly none of the instrumentals were original instrumental hits... they were covers of other people's vocal hits and established instrumentals in more modern styles
You must mean the squeaking, squealing synthesizer -- imitating, I suppose, the sounds of muskrat sex. The non-hit America version of the song, which left the listener to imagine the rodents' raunchy romp, was a lot smoother, much like the group's middling hit "Daisy Jane."
Today when grocery shopping we ended up at the more upscale independent as we were in that area. They always have strings and chamber-type music playing on the speakers. They had a Muzak-like strings version of "Like a Prayer" from Madonna playing over the speakers. I looked at my better half, as I knew I recognized the tune but couldn't quite place it. Once I figured it out, I laughed out loud and started singing it for the benefit of those shopping around us. Not sure if they were impressed but I hope it brought some July 4th joy to their hearts...
That reminds me of Lionel Richie's "Say You, Say Me" from the White Nights soundtrack. The Beautiful Music/Easy Listening station where I worked edited out that heavier part in the middle (where Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines had a powerful dance scene.)
All of us who programmed a Beautiful Music syndicated format had many edited songs. Mostly we edited to eliminate "harsh" segments like electric guitar solos. But we also edited to keep the length compatible with other songs.
Thank you all. This is interesting reading. I'm, slowly, working to, sometime, do another radio program on a non-comm featuring BM/E-Z music. I did it some years ago and the interest and response was gratifying. I want to get it as right as possible, which is why I will be asking questions now-and-then. What about "My Cup Runneth Over" by Ed Ames. That was his biggest solo hit.
Ed's vocal is very measured and effective, imo.
Ed's vocal is very measured and effective, imo.
I definitely remember Mendes' version of "The Fool on the Hill" played on 97.1 WJOI in Detroit (a Bonneville station at the time, if I'm not mistaken), so yes, Mendes material with Hall on vocals got played on B/EZ stations.
WJOI also played "Muskrat Love," though it might have been the shorter version with the synth part cut.
In general the vocalists I recall being played the most often from my childhood listening include: Barbra Streisand, Karen Carpenter, Barry Manilow, Frank Sinatra, Olivia Newton-John, John Denver, Bread (David Gates), The 5th Dimension (specifically anything with Marilyn McCoo on lead), Anne Murray, Helen Reddy, Dionne Warwick, Kenny Rogers, Andy Williams, and Engelbert Humperdinck, to name a few.
In the early decades of the format, before softer rock became more acceptable on MOR stations in general, the vocalists played were typically pre-rock-era stars (Sinatra, Cole, Day, Clooney) or contemporary vocalists who recorded in that style (Connie Francis, Jack Jones).
One vocalist I seemed to hear played only on Beautiful Music stations was Nana Mouskouri (particularly "Even Now" - not the Barry Manilow hit), She was very popular in Canada and had some mainstream airplay there, but I never heard her on a pop station in the States.
WJOI also played "Muskrat Love," though it might have been the shorter version with the synth part cut.
In general the vocalists I recall being played the most often from my childhood listening include: Barbra Streisand, Karen Carpenter, Barry Manilow, Frank Sinatra, Olivia Newton-John, John Denver, Bread (David Gates), The 5th Dimension (specifically anything with Marilyn McCoo on lead), Anne Murray, Helen Reddy, Dionne Warwick, Kenny Rogers, Andy Williams, and Engelbert Humperdinck, to name a few.
In the early decades of the format, before softer rock became more acceptable on MOR stations in general, the vocalists played were typically pre-rock-era stars (Sinatra, Cole, Day, Clooney) or contemporary vocalists who recorded in that style (Connie Francis, Jack Jones).
One vocalist I seemed to hear played only on Beautiful Music stations was Nana Mouskouri (particularly "Even Now" - not the Barry Manilow hit), She was very popular in Canada and had some mainstream airplay there, but I never heard her on a pop station in the States.
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Some of the songs definitely were.
KJOI played movie themes done as instrumentals, or with a soft background chorus.
The essence of Beautiful Music is a piano, French horns, and a lot of violins. If you're going to re-create a Beautiful Music sound, some instrumental movie themes with background chorus would be the following ( just off the top of my head).
These versions were charting, and it should not be too difficult to find these singles. Most of these have a choral backing.
Moon River - Henry Mancini
Cuando Calienta El Sol - Los Hermanos Rigual
Exodus - Ferrante and Teicher or Pat Boone, if you want all the beautiful music to be vocals
Lara's Theme - from Dr. Zhivago- Percy Faith
Dear Heart - Andy Williams
Never on Sunday- Hugo Winterhalter
A Time For Us - from "Romeo and Juliet"- Johnny Mathis
Non- movie themes might be:
The Wayward Wind- Gogi Grant
Tennessee Waltz- Patti Page
Canadian Sunset - Andy Williams
Wonderland by Night - Bert Kaempfert
Swingin' Safari - Billy Vaughn
Our Winter Love - Bill Pursell
Music Box Dancer - Frank Mills
I Left My Heart in San Francisco - Tony Bennett R.I.P.
Jean - Rod McKuen
Beautiful Music as a genre is different from soft pop as a genre. So, it's not so much "Muskrat Love" with the squeaky sound effects, or "Honey", ( too maudlin) etc. That is a soft pop sound.
Beautiful Music has a much smoother, or dreamy sound to it. If you have Comcast/Xfinity tv cable service, find the Music Choice channel called "Easy Listening." IMO, that channel is correctly programmed for the Beautiful Music sound. Just my opinion. -- Daryl
The essence of Beautiful Music is a piano, French horns, and a lot of violins. If you're going to re-create a Beautiful Music sound, some instrumental movie themes with background chorus would be the following ( just off the top of my head).
These versions were charting, and it should not be too difficult to find these singles. Most of these have a choral backing.
Moon River - Henry Mancini
Cuando Calienta El Sol - Los Hermanos Rigual
Exodus - Ferrante and Teicher or Pat Boone, if you want all the beautiful music to be vocals
Lara's Theme - from Dr. Zhivago- Percy Faith
Dear Heart - Andy Williams
Never on Sunday- Hugo Winterhalter
A Time For Us - from "Romeo and Juliet"- Johnny Mathis
Non- movie themes might be:
The Wayward Wind- Gogi Grant
Tennessee Waltz- Patti Page
Canadian Sunset - Andy Williams
Wonderland by Night - Bert Kaempfert
Swingin' Safari - Billy Vaughn
Our Winter Love - Bill Pursell
Music Box Dancer - Frank Mills
I Left My Heart in San Francisco - Tony Bennett R.I.P.
Jean - Rod McKuen
Beautiful Music as a genre is different from soft pop as a genre. So, it's not so much "Muskrat Love" with the squeaky sound effects, or "Honey", ( too maudlin) etc. That is a soft pop sound.
Beautiful Music has a much smoother, or dreamy sound to it. If you have Comcast/Xfinity tv cable service, find the Music Choice channel called "Easy Listening." IMO, that channel is correctly programmed for the Beautiful Music sound. Just my opinion. -- Daryl
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Someone in my Facebook group said he was in charge of that and had updated the sound.
I really liked the all instrumental sound I heard back in 2004 which someone at Time Warner told me was Music Choice. It was used on a channel with announcements, pictures of wanted criminals and real estate classifieds.