[78-L] Mitch Miller Horrifies

[Steven C. Barr]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Lennick" <dlennick at sympatico.ca>
> Jeff Sultanof wrote:
>> I wonder what the motivation was to put this set together. There is no
>> question that Miller, a very talented man, was responsible for some of 
>> the
>> worst recordings ever perpetrated on the public. The fact is that that 
>> very
>> public bought a lot of these records, and his radio and television 
>> program
>> was very popular.
> And nobody brought them back and asked for refunds. I'm getting a little 
> pissed
> off at the general tone of this thread. We're all free to poop on Mitch 
> Miller
> and generally do, but the fact of the matter is that nobody held a gun to
> Goddard Lieberson's head (or anyone else at Columbia) and said "Hire our 
> boy
> Mitch and screw up the music forever or kiss your kneecaps goodbye". He
> produced hit records. He happened to produce them in an era known for 
> boring
> crap, imitation country and western, stolen folk songs, novelties 
> featuring
> barking dogs, an era that is generally regarded as a low point in popular 
> music
> and one which could only have led to the rise by default of rock 'n' roll 
> and
> R&B, and he made records that SOLD. There was garbage before Mitch came 
> along,
> too. And Sinatra made some stinkers before Mitch was at Columbia..check 
> out
> "The Dum Dot Song".
>
The sad reality is that a LARGE portion of the general public have the 
musical
taste of, say, the average brick...yet we still consider record sales as a 
quick
and dirty definition of the "quality" of musical works...?!

Popular music essentially hit its LOW point between c.1948 and c.1955;
"swing" bands could no longer afford to travel as units, and the "general
public" then demonstrated its hopeless lack of musical taste...?! Just
consider that "Doggie In the Window" was one of the MAJOR hits of
that period (I won't recite others...it is too embarassing to watch grown
men cry in public...?!)!

However, the sixteen thousand or so "Sing Along With Mitch" LP's most
certainly prove this point...simply look at the merchandise in your local
Goodwill emporium...?!

"Easy Listening" music...an actual radio format of those days...was
simply music selected to be as INoffensive as possible!! Something
like a restaurant run along the same lines..."Oh, no...we DON'T
serve chili...it's WAY too spicy, and someone might object on
those grounds! Have a dish of oatmeal instead...?!"

...stevenc