Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Ray Charles - Rockhouse, Parts 1 & 2

Available on Amazon and iTunes.

This tune is in my top 3 LEAST favorite songs of all time. I'm not even really sure what the other two are--I'm just being conservative. It drives me nuts. I hate the groove, I can't stand the hits on 1 and 4 that just go on and on and on. It doesn't go anywhere, and there is no sense that the musicians are interacting at all--the rhythm section is really just backing the pianist the whole time, and I think they sound tired and mechanical and plodding.

I don't like dancing to this song, and I don't like the sort of dancing that this song pushes people towards (as far as I have observed). Since there's no give-and-take among the musicians, I think dancers tend to try to be "musical" with this song by just mimicking the most obvious rhythm in the melody. And the hits on 1 and 4 are so painfully strong in the melody, it makes the dancing choppy--and it makes me wince.

Rockhouse is also one of the most overplayed songs in Chicago, even at Fizz. Can y'all just lay off? Please? There's tons of other Ray Charles out there--he recorded for close to 60 years. What would you think of just leaving that cd at home for six months? Please?

1 comment:

  1. I can hear you asking for an Amen at the end of that.

    So, let me just say...

    AMEN.

    ReplyDelete