By The Landlord
Ah yes, and ... relax. So, perhaps a small martini, madam? A cigar, sir? After the gentle ping of the lift door, maybe spend time enjoying the grandeur of the hotel lobby, or the space age airport lounge, or stretch out by the exotic pool? Sounds drift to your ears – the tinkle of vibraphone or xylophone or small organ, a tootle of trumpet, a swoon of sax, the serene swing and swoop of romantic strings of an orchestra, perhaps the patter of some congas, bongos and even the coming in of cool, smooth voice. It's all understated style and sophistication, smart, yet with a loosened tie, never edgy, more soft, gliding contours and luxuriant comfort, often capturing an era, and a sense of place, especially that of a bar …
After last week's energetic frenzy of terrific toe-tapping, fun foot-stomping and fabulous finger-snapping, it's time to chill out a little and savour another musical flavour, one that will also span the globe, but with a journey that should feel smooth and easy, light and breezy.
Easy listening is a broad, slightly subjective genre, and while it has its origins in the 1920s and 30s, its heyday was certainly the 1950s, 60s and 70s, with a particular revival in the 1990s. It will conjure up plenty of instrumentals associated with cocktail bars, and other public spaces, particularly lounge and exotica, plus smooth overlaps with other styles from jazz to early electronica, a little Latin bossa nova, cha-cha-cha, mambo, soft rock and gentle pop.
The only thing I find difficult about easy listening is that it's difficult to listen to as background music. In fact, no music for me is background - I can't help but always get fully immersed in its style and structure, sound and lyrics. As a child I was always aware of something broadly called easy listening, but it was never to the fore. They signified middle aged men with beards in suits on record covers in charity shops. And it would be incidental – in shopping centres and on the TV, as a salad garnish in films and other visual experiences. It was seen as light and middle of the road, something for older listeners, it had sold by the bucket load, but that was for another generation, for characters on TV such as Alan Wicker listeing to the likes of James Last. But I was getting variously into glam rock, prog rock, punk and new wave, post-punk and electro pop.
First in his field of record sales: James Last
But then in the mid-1990s it became a bit of a revival alternative scene for me, a break from being into hip-hop, dance music, indie and Britpop. Every month I would swap my baggy shirts or bucket hat for a sharp suit and proper shoes, and attend a night called Workers' Playtime at an old working men's club with a smooth dancefloor and a tinsel curtain stage, listen to and dance to lounge and exotica with bands such as The Gentle People and DJ friends such as the Karminsky Brothers who sourced gems from around the globe - from Italy to Japan, Polynesia to Brazil, old classics from Martin Denny to Les Baxter, but also Yasuharu Konishi's Shibuya-kei style and Pizzicato Five, with contemporary revivalists and experimentalists of jet set, space age bongo tiki-bar styles. and performers such as Combustible Edison, Love Jones, Buster Poindexter, Jaymz Bee, The Coctails, Pink Martini, Don Tiki, and surf-style cover specialists The Bikini Beach Band.
Easy listening is one of those genres that seems initially not to everyone’s taste, but I find it seeps into the psyche because of its seemingly frictionless skill. It might offer a potent love-hate situation for listeners, but there are few styles more suited to an actual bar. So feel free to drink it all in …
So perhaps you want to go back further to the prime eras of easy listening, even to the pioneering composer and actor Jackie Gleason, a man as smooth as silk who could churn out the stuff with ease, and apparently expressed the goal of producing "musical wallpaper that should never be intrusive, but conducive".
And there are many other giants of the genre, as well as the aforementioned Baxter, Last and Denny, of course there's a whole cocktail menu to choose from. A mai tai or a mojito with your Henry Mancini, Margo Guryan, or Machito Orchestra? A chimayó with your Ray Conniff? A gimlet, Gibson or gin fizz with your Astrud or Joao Gilbertos or even some early Quincy Jones? A piña colada with Patti Page, Piero Piccioni or Piero Umiliani? A sumatra kula or Singapore sling with your Lalo Schifrin, Nancy Sinatra or Gábor Szabó? A daiquiri with your Syd Dale? An appletini with your Herb Albert? A strong bramble with a light touch of Bacharach? Rum punch with your Raymond Scott? A tequila sour, tuxedo or Tom Collins with your Stefano Torossi, Tijuana Brass, Cal Tjader, John Tartaglia or Joe Torres? A white lady with your Walter Wanderley? You get the idea ...
The Underwater Bar, Jules Verne Room, Marlin Bay Hotel, Florida
And here are some more images to get you further in the mood ...
So then, it's time for us all to take it easy, the menu is long and the flavours light and strong from hotel lounge to the tiki bar, or even the space age. We covered the topic of crooners earlier this year, which might offer overlaps, but perhaps for variety opt more for the other areas that are less about the voice? It's your choice though, to suggest what makes for the genre of easy listening.
Overseeing all of this, possibly under the bright sun with a cool drink on hand, is this week's chilled out expert, the coolly perceptive pejepeine! Place your suggestions in comments below for a gentle tinkling bell of last orders at 11pm UK time on Monday for playlists published next week. Take it easy ...
1960s Bush SRP31
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