More Than Words Can Say
Written Dec. 16, 2008 by Sean Ross in Content with 2 Comments
A few years ago, there was a public radio piece on the death of the instrumental. Once a staple of Top 40 radio, instrumentals existed in dribs-and-drabs through the mid-'80s. (Remember "Axel F"? Jan Hammer's "Miami Vice Theme"?) There haven't been many in recent years. Even instrumentalists like Jim Brickman usually end up drafting a guest vocalist. And while some historians think the instrumental was doomed about the time that music stations no longer had to back-time to a top-of-the-hour network newscast, there's more to it than that:
TV shows, a source of instrumentals like "Miami Vice" or "Theme From 'S.W.A.T.," stopped doing their own themes and began using outside, already recognizable music.
Jazz artists and producers, who gave us hits like Herb Alpert's "Rise," Chuck Mangione's "Give It All You Got," and Kenny G.'s "Songbird," eventually had Smooth Jazz to accommodate their music and no longer had to come up with the song that might work at Top 40 or R&B.
Dance music became a steady supplier of electronic instrumentals in the late '90s (e.g., Darude's "Sandstorm"). Then producer-driven dance music moved away from the pop mainstream as well. (There's still plenty of dance music on the radio, of course, thanks to "Hot 'N' Cold" and "Don't Stop The Music," but it's coming from mainstream artists, not producers who might come up with an instrumental).
But you still hear instrumentals during the holiday season. I was newly reminded of that this afternoon hearing WAEB-FM (B104) Allentown, Pa., playing Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "Wizards In Winter" and segueing it into "Whatever You Like" by T.I. (That segue is part of a long proud history of variety on B104 that, by itself, would barely rate a mention, by the way.)
So I wondered: Are Mannheim Steamroller and Trans-Siberian Orchestra merely receiving holiday exemptions of the same sort that go to Andy Williams and Burl Ives at holiday time? Or are listeners more receptive to the right instrumental than you might think?
Listeners have been exposed to more instrumentals lately because of "Guitar Hero." They've been to YouTube this week to check out Joe Satriani's "If I Could Fly," the song that may or may not have been the inspiration for "Viva La Vida." And, of course, in today's producer-driven pop world, many hits are signed by a label as instrumental tracks and then deployed as actual songs later.
So could the right instrumental end up on pop radio next year? Your thoughts welcome.
Reader Comments
Your 2¢, in chronological order — add your comment below.
The only reason "Wizards in Winter" gets played is because of the viral video of the house with the synchronized lights to it that went around two seasons ago. Otherwise that song would go unnoticed.
Their "Christmas Eve Sarajevo 12/24" instrumental dates back to their days as "Savatage" and took many seasons to reach mainstream acceptance.
So no - I don't think we'll see a Christmas instrumental next season.
There is always the rare chance of an instrumental hit, but I think they are likely done.
--*Rob
Triple A stations have always had success with instrumentals. Most recently it was Rodrigo y Gabriela "Tamacun." Nickel Creek "Smoothie Song" before that. Yes, instrumentals can do well in call-out or internet testing. Joe Satriana, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Santana, and Johnny A instrumentals are in the library at many Triple A's. Instrumentals can be a secret weapon "oh wow" song for many formats and differentiators for many stations. You just gotta look for those songs.