Thursday, April 25, 2013

LEST WE NEED REMINDING

How bad were the eighties? Just listen to these two versions of "Ball of Confusion". The original by the Tempations is quintessential Norman Whitfield. (Whitfield produced much of the psychedelic soul era Motown stuff, that much you should know.) When the Temptations made the leap from matching suits to flashy paisley, Whitfield was the guy who crafted their sound. Listen to all of the stuff going on. Man, oh man, it's thick. "How about some fuzz over that bass?" "Let's get a little crazy with the percussion", and so forth. Now listen to the version that Tina Turner did with BEF in the eighties. Even with a certain amount of wiggle room for just going with the synth wave that permeated the decade, and with all due respect to Turner's prior output, it pretty much blows. Jeez, did the eighties suck.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
The Tempations - Ball of Confusion mp3 at LZ Center
Tina Turner - Ball of Confusion mp3 at AM Then FM
Another good one produced by Whitfield:
The Temptations - Papa Was a Rolling Stone mp3 at Radio George.
Visit:
Norman Whitfield at Wikipedia

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