"Seriousness is stupidity sent to college."
- P.J. O'Rourke
Did you know Johnny's out in space? That's right. A recording of Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode is floating around in the cosmos on the spacecraft Voyager. Launched in 1977, Voyager carried on board information about many aspects of earth along with a 90-minute recording of sounds, languages and music. Of all the music included, only one was chosen to represent “Popular Music.” The idea being that should aliens come across the craft, there would be information to help them glean some knowledge about the human species. Thanks to Chuck, they'll be familiar with the word gunnysack. A committee, of course, selected what would be included. And what better group of people to judge the worth of music than a collection of scientists. I'm not saying they made an unworthy choice in picking Johnny B. Goode. But, if you're a music person, I think you'll agree that picking one song to represent the entirety of popular music is a debate that would never end.
What would yours be? If a spaceship landed in your yard right now and an extra-terrestial walked up to your door and asked you, “Tell me earthling, what is rock-n-roll music?”, what one song would you offer as a representation?
For me, right off the top of my head, Jumpin' Jack Flash.
What would be your one selection for other categories? Blues? Country? Hip-Hop? Rap? Bluegrass? Gospel? Opera? Grunge? Feel free to submit your choices.
Birthdays in Music: It's John Prine's birthday (1946-2020). It should be a national holiday.
David Lee Roth (1954) Love him or hate him, one hell of a rock-n-roll frontman
Tanya Tucker (1958) Country Singer and then some.
Name That Movie: “They recently had the whole country carpeted.”
RP