Forget The Lyrics!

(originally posted January 14, 2008)
Browsing through some compilation CDs of hits from past decades recently, I noticed the number of hits that were instrumentals.  Even during the 80s, instrumentals could become hits.  When was the last time an instrumental tune actually became a hit?

It was totally acceptable in the 50s, 60s, and the 70s to have an instrumental enter the charts and do just as well as a song with vocals.  Big hits like "Telstar", "Joy", "Popcorn", "The Entertainer" or "Frankenstein" immediately come to mind.

Even in the 80s, songs like "Love Theme from St. Elmo's Fire" by David Foster, "Axel F" by Harold Faltermeyer,  and Jan Hammer's "Theme from Miami Vice" were all big hits, all tied to films as well.

Well, blame Kenny G. (as I do for a lot of things).  "Songbird" was the last big hit to reach the charts that was completely instrumental, in 1987.  It seems to me that the 80s was the last decade where things became less image-marketed, and more sincere in general.   At least, it seems that way.

So what happened?  My guess is that videos became so much more important when it came to selling music, and if you have an instrumental tune, you better have a great image that you can sell with it.  Well, Jan Hammer and David Foster look slightly goofy, and certainly not cool in the videos for their respective hits.  But that's ok because in those cases, the music is intended to be the most important, not the visual aspect.

But as the 90s progressed, it eventually got to the point where the video was the biggest selling point, and could boost the sales of a lesser tune as a result, instrumental or not - talented or not.  Britney, Spice Girls, etc.

Daft Punk scored some notoriety in 1997 with their instrumental tune "Da Funk" only because of the video, featuring a luckless talking dog named Charles.   But the tune itself doesn't stand up without the video.

And you could even point to Crazy Frog, who recently had a hit with a super-annoying cover of "Axel F", but that version wasn't purely instrumental and the frog character was the real selling point.  Obviously the lesson here is make a video with an animal in it.



Here's some videos from a time gone by, when the melody was the key (and no Kenny G):

Jan Hammer - "Theme from Miami Vice"



Harold Faltermeyer - Axel F



Edgar Winter Group - Frankenstein



Gershon Kingsley - Popcorn



Vangelis - Chariots of Fire