where did all the saxophones go? 7

Posted by Forrest L Norvell Tue, 15 Jan 2008 22:32:47 GMT

Doesn’t it seem like every song from the 80s had a sax solo in it? Where did that come from? Why did it stop?

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  1. Avatar
    Jesse about 6 hours later:

    I think the saxophones fit into the super-slick Patrick Nagel-ified ideal of pop culture – cool like cool jazz, but never overly funky or involving.

    I think as production got more and more synthetic, the saxophone was replaced by various synthesizers to give that effect.

  2. Avatar
    Forrest about 6 hours later:

    Well, sure, in Duran Duran or Glenn Frey songs that was sure the case, but what about James Chance & The Contortions or Cabaret Voltaire or 23 Skidoo or any of the ten zillion post punk or ska bands who got popular in the 80s? Not all that sax abuse was designed to make stuff smooooth.

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    Jesse about 8 hours later:

    Postmodern commentary, in some cases unconscious?

    (Excepting the ska – they just liked horns.)

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    Tammy about 19 hours later:

    Two favorite songs featuring sax solos comin’ atcha (neither from the 80s, btw, although close enough on either end)

    Gerry Rafferty – Baker Street (oh, YEAH!) Galaxie 500 – Blue Thunder

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    amy about 22 hours later:

    yo yo, i really hate saxophones. also generally unfortunate? ska! that and christian rock are the only things i get allow myself to categorically despise. hopefully this means in 20 years i’ll be a born again trombone player or whatevs.

    anyway, i hope it started because of nepotism. i hope it stopped cuz it suuuuuckkkkkkkkked.

  6. Avatar
    Forrest 1 day later:

    Hah, Tammy! I spent a minute trying to come up with “Baker Street” when I was responding to Jesse and failing. I should have known you’d pipe up.

    And Amy, I respect your right to categorically despise a genre or two, but ska and rocksteady are two of the things that have come to represent summer for me. I’m not so into Sublime or No Doubt or whatever, but the old Jamaican ska is pretty sublime for reals.

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    Tammy 1 day later:

    holy shit Sublime and No Doubt so DO NOT COUNT as ska! If that had been my only experience with ska, I’d hate it too ;) (not saying that’s the case with you, Amy)

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