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Two Standards Stations Have Departed

K.M. Richards said:
We are, and I support deportation as well, especially if they take all of the "it was a hit so it should be played" proponents with them.
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I remember we were taking bets on whose voice would change first, Donny Osmond or Wayne Newton. I think Donny won. After Wayne reemerged with a voice about an octave lower, he said something like, "No one ever told me I could sing that way."! For anyone who has no idea what I'm talking about, please feel free to go to YouTube and compare "Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast!" or any later song to "Danke Shoene", "Red Roses For A Blue Lady" or just about anything else from the 60s. He was a grown man; he just didn't sound like it.
 
landtuna said:


Are Standards considered a genre now or, like the old days, does it mean songs by the 40's-60's mainstream crooners (Sinatra, Crosby, etc.)
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Tuna:

It's become so blurred as the Standards label was kept on stations that crept into 70s & 80s AC.

My definitions (which I use for playlists on my iPhone):

Standards: Largely from the 1930s-50s by artists like Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como and Ella Fitzgerald.

Post-Standards Easy Listening: Songs largely not from the Great American Songbook by newer non-rock artists like Johnny Mathis, Andy Williams, Sergio Mendes and Barbra Streisand.

There's some bleed-over. Sinatra and Perry Como did some things in the 60s and 70s that I wouldn't call standards. And Tony Bennett kind of straddles the two.
 
michael hagerty said:
Tuna:

It's become so blurred as the Standards label was kept on stations that crept into 70s & 80s AC.

My definitions (which I use for playlists on my iPhone):

Standards: Largely from the 1930s-50s by artists like Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como and Ella Fitzgerald.

Post-Standards Easy Listening: Songs largely not from the Great American Songbook by newer non-rock artists like Johnny Mathis, Andy Williams, Sergio Mendes and Barbra Streisand.

There's some bleed-over. Sinatra and Perry Como did some things in the 60s and 70s that I wouldn't call standards. And Tony Bennett kind of straddles the two.
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Where would you put contemporary artists like Michael Buble and Harry Connick Jr., whose vocal stylings and instrumentation are obviously modeled on the crooners and bands of the '30s-'50s, and who may even sing some Songbook material? Are they in with the Standards bunch or with the Easy Listenings? Or is it a song-by-song decision?

I'm not a huge fan of this music, but I'd question the inclusion of Sergio Mendes and his musicians and singers in any standards format. Mendes recorded Brazilian-tinged covers of pop hits, for the most part, with his biggest hits having been originally done by the Beatles and Dusty Springfield. A far cry from Mathis, Williams and early Streisand.

One other question: Where do ballads with a "standards" sound sung by rock stars figure? Would you consider Elvis' "Can't Help Falling In Love" a standard? How about Rod Stewart's "Have I Told You Lately"?
 
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CTListener said:
Where would you put contemporary artists like Michael Buble and Harry Connick Jr., whose vocal stylings and instrumentation are obviously modeled on the crooners and bands of the '30s-'50s, and who may even sing some Songbook material? Are they in with the Standards bunch or with the Easy Listenings? Or is it a song-by-song decision?

I'm not a huge fan of this music, but I'd question the inclusion of Sergio Mendes and his musicians and singers in any standards format. Mendes recorded Brazilian-tinged covers of pop hits, for the most part, with his biggest hits having been originally done by the Beatles and Dusty Springfield. A far cry from Mathis, Williams and early Streisand.

One other question: Where do ballads with a "standards" sound sung by rock stars figure? Would you consider Elvis' "Can't Help Falling In Love" a standard? How about Rod Stewart's "Have I Told You Lately"?
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CT: I have a "Contemporary Standards" category for Connick, Buble', Diana Krall and the like (in fact, it's not so contemporary...it goes back to the Linda Ronstadt/Nelson Riddle albums of the 80s and even to Harry Nilsson's "A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night" from 1973).

Sergio was played along with Johnny Mathis, Andy Williams and Barbra Streisand on the MOR stations I grew up with (KMPC, KFI and KGIL, Los Angeles), so to my brain and ear, it fits. I also have a "Brazilian" category, but the Brasil '66 stuff sounds too Americanized in that setting.

I haven't dealt with Elvis yet. As for Rod Stewart, I never thought his voice was right for the standards albums he did (though they did very well commercially) and I prefer Van Morrison's "Have I Told You Lately" to Rod's. As to where I'd put that, I don't categorize everything into playlists. I still just play some albums straight through...and Van's one of those.
 
CTListener said:
Where would you put contemporary artists like Michael Buble and Harry Connick Jr., whose vocal stylings and instrumentation are obviously modeled on the crooners and bands of the '30s-'50s, and who may even sing some Songbook material? Are they in with the Standards bunch or with the Easy Listenings? Or is it a song-by-song decision?

I'm not a huge fan of this music, but I'd question the inclusion of Sergio Mendes and his musicians and singers in any standards format. Mendes recorded Brazilian-tinged covers of pop hits, for the most part, with his biggest hits having been originally done by the Beatles and Dusty Springfield. A far cry from Mathis, Williams and early Streisand.

One other question: Where do ballads with a "standards" sound sung by rock stars figure? Would you consider Elvis' "Can't Help Falling In Love" a standard? How about Rod Stewart's "Have I Told You Lately"?
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As far as most radio stations calling themselves "standards" are concerned, and certainly Westwood One America's Best Music, all of these are counted as standards.
 
KeithE4 said:
It's reasonable to conclude that those who actually like Men Without Hats need intervention...FAST!
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I like the song but only as an interesting novelty. It wouldn't be part of my preferred playlist.

There's also K.C. and the Sunshine band, but again, that's not relaxing. Not all the music I want in my "preferred" playlist will be relaxing, just as not all Christmas music I like is relaxing, but big band is different from rock and disco.
 
Gregg. said:
I don't think you could have a #1 song if it only appealed to mothers and grandmothers. Younger people must have been buying the Carpenters and Barry Manilow records because they sold so well.
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There was a TV series a few years ago called "Don't Forget the Lyrics". It was sort of like karaoke but they would put blanks up on the screen and the contestant had to fill in those blanks to win money. The contestants were hardly grandmothers. The host, one of these boy band singers, said "We're all Fanilows. You're safe here." Yes, there are young people who admit to liking Barry Manilow.
 
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