In July, I made my trek north to Erieau Ontario, to our small cottage on Rondeau Bay. I thought for sure I’d write a lot of great things, but what poured forth was dark and ominous. A spilling out of the things that have been weighing heavily on me I guess. I mostly can't control what comes out and so I went with it.
That being said, I'd had one other thing weighing on me for at least a month. If I'm honest, it may have been weighing on me for six months, a little nagging, "what the fuck?".
While driving the first leg of my two day northern journey, I started a playlist of albums I associated with the summer. I forced my brain to dig deep and remember. 1986 was for sure the summer of The Cult, Electric. 1992, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Pale and so on. I listened to each album start to finish, the way artists intended them to be heard. I am going to write about this at some point.
As I went back and back I eventually landed on Tears for Fears, Songs from the Big Chair for 1984. I got through Shout and then the second song, The Working Hour when that same nagging hit me...
There sure was a fuck ton of saxophone in the 1980's.
The Working Hour is 6:31 long, and it feels like 5:47 are devoted to saxophone. The melody and smooth vocals of Roland Orzabal lost in a sea of squawk. I mean the playing is flawless, but why though?
Saxophone in songs feels more self indulgent than the soaring guitar solos of the hair metal bands of the same era mostly because it feels totally unnecessary. What feels doubly unnecessary is having a saxophone player as a permanent member of your band (looking at you Clarence Clemons, RIP).
This may seem like an odd thing to be bothered by, but I'm nothing if not consistent. I latch onto to something weird and I bludgeon it to death. A quick search of the internet tells me I'm not alone.
If one searches 80's saxophone songs, a list of 47 "hits" comes up with everything from Smooth Operator by Sade to arguably one of the most iconic 80's sax memories, the "saxophone guy" from 1987's Lost Boys one hit wonder I Still Believe. This peak 1980's superfluity and in fact this whole post only exists so I could post this picture.
I don't know that I hate saxophone as much as I just wonder why? I 100% realize that this was just another 1980's overindulgence. A Miami Vice pastel jacket in musical form. I gotta give it to a whole generation of sax players who said. "This is our time! We shall not be denied our place in the sun!".
I also understand that it must have become the go to move of 80's producers. "Man, you know what would really take Careless Whisper to the next level? A sax solo.". I also can't deny that they may have been right. However if that were truly the case then why is ska so bad?
My favorite 1980's sax song is easy. Brass Monkey by the Beastie Boys. No more commentary is needed here.
By the 90's this phenomenon seemed to completely disappear save for one band left carrying the saxophone torch, and carry it they did. Dave Mathews Band. They said, well, no one else is playing the saxophone any more WE WILL PUT IT IN EVERY SONG. And they did.
There feels like no real way to bring this to a tidy close other than to share this TWELVE HOUR LONG 80's SAXOPHONE PLAYLIST!!
BLESS UP!
(also, I felt the need to count how many times I typed saxophone in this. 12)
Not just sax, either, but “smooth jazz”, reverb-drowned sax! As someone who grew up in the 80s and who is also a huge (non smooth) jazz head, as soon as any sax gets just an iota of too much reverb I have a visceral reaction
Brass Monkey!