22 min listen
Harry Styles and the Sledgehammer Horns
FromSwitched on Pop
ratings:
Length:
25 minutes
Released:
Jul 12, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
As we hit the dog days of summer, the artist that’s started to soundtrack pool parties across the country is former One Direction bandmate and contemporary sex symbol Harry Styles.
In May, Styles released Harry’s House, an album propelled by the number one hit “As It Was.” Despite having critical and commercial success, a barb often thrown at the album is the idea of it being inoffensive: pleasant, “easy listening” music apt for an elevator, grocery store or, perhaps, a sushi restaurant.
Fans of Styles have warmly accepted this, and have come to love his sly appreciation of different decades of pop music history. This latest album reveals an interesting connection to one era in particular: the 1980s and the percussive, full-bodied horn sections that came with it.
The first track on Harry’s House, “Music for a Sushi Restaurant,” offers a whole chorus of just horns, in an homage to one of Styles’s musical touchstones, Peter Gabriel. These 80s “sledgehammer horns” connect to a deep well of 80s grooves—from Lionel Richie's "Up All Night" to Janet Jackson and Herb Alpert's "Diamonds," —as Styles's strives to achieve the same effortless funk and propulsion of his brassy icons.
Songs Discussed
Harry Styles - As It Was, Music for a Sushi Restaurant, Daydreaming
Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer
Lionel Richie - Up All Night
Donna Summer - She Works Hard for the Money
Sheila E. - The Glamorous Life
Steve Winwood - Higher Love
Janet Jackson and Herb Alpert - Diamonds
Herb Alpert - Rise
Notorious B.I.G. - Hypnotize
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In May, Styles released Harry’s House, an album propelled by the number one hit “As It Was.” Despite having critical and commercial success, a barb often thrown at the album is the idea of it being inoffensive: pleasant, “easy listening” music apt for an elevator, grocery store or, perhaps, a sushi restaurant.
Fans of Styles have warmly accepted this, and have come to love his sly appreciation of different decades of pop music history. This latest album reveals an interesting connection to one era in particular: the 1980s and the percussive, full-bodied horn sections that came with it.
The first track on Harry’s House, “Music for a Sushi Restaurant,” offers a whole chorus of just horns, in an homage to one of Styles’s musical touchstones, Peter Gabriel. These 80s “sledgehammer horns” connect to a deep well of 80s grooves—from Lionel Richie's "Up All Night" to Janet Jackson and Herb Alpert's "Diamonds," —as Styles's strives to achieve the same effortless funk and propulsion of his brassy icons.
Songs Discussed
Harry Styles - As It Was, Music for a Sushi Restaurant, Daydreaming
Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer
Lionel Richie - Up All Night
Donna Summer - She Works Hard for the Money
Sheila E. - The Glamorous Life
Steve Winwood - Higher Love
Janet Jackson and Herb Alpert - Diamonds
Herb Alpert - Rise
Notorious B.I.G. - Hypnotize
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Released:
Jul 12, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode
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