I have written extensively about the importance of putting the music you play into some sort of context. I even coined a name for this that has become widely used: Contextual Radio Programming.
I’ve pointed out that the difference between a music personality and a jukebox is:
The experience of the song is always the same when played by a jukebox.
A while ago I found myself in a restaurant in England, having dinner with a couple of radio blokes the night before a seminar.
The restaurant had a music track in the background, consisting of pop hits from the early ’70s. Being an old radio programmer, during the dinner I found myself noticing & critiquing their music programming.
One pair of songs they played leapt out at me, because they shared a context.
Those songs were Don McLean’s “American Pie” and Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly With His Song.”
Both had been massive hits, of course. But they form a unique context.
In 1972, “American Pie” was nominated for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.
It lost both awards to a record by Roberta Flack: “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.”
In 1973, another Don McLean song — Perry Como’s recording of “And I Love You So” — was nominated for Record of the Year.
Once again, though, Roberta Flack came out on top, winning Song of the Year and Record of the Year again with “Killing Me Softly With His Song.”
“Killing Me Softly With His Song” was written by Norman Gimbel & Charles Fox and originally was recorded by Lori Lieberman.
Lori had attended a performance at a small club in Los Angeles called The Troubadour, and she was blown away by one of the songs by one of the acts.
She described her feelings to Gimbel & Fox, and they turned her feelings into a song.
The singer who impressed her so much was…Don McLean.
And the song that affected her so deeply was…”American Pie.”
Pretty cool, huh?
That’s a context.
It’s also pretty solid evidence that you do not want to eat dinner with me….
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The whole blog post reminds me of a feature that happens to be done nearly every day on our shores, that being the “Tedious Link” on BBC Radio 1’s Chris Moyles Show, connecting one record to another day-to-day.
They tend to use more than just 6 degrees of seperation…
I understand the specific song that “killed Lori softly” was Empty Chairs, which has had that effect on me too.
Great post as always, Dan.