- Title: UNITED KINGDOM: CLUBBERS REDISCOVER EASY-LISTENING MUSIC
- Date: 11th January 1996
- Summary: (REUTERS TELEVISION) MIKE FLOWERS SAYING "PEOPLE HAVE DESCRIBED IT AS SEVENTIES, SIXTIES, FIFTIES - ESPECIALLY WONDERWALL WHICH IS FIFTIES, EARLY SIXTIES, BUT I USE THE WORD "MIXTIES", WHICH DESCRIBES IT, A BLURRING OF ALL THE MOST FUN EXUBERANT BITS FROM THOSE DIFFERENT PERIODS REALLY. DIVIDING THINGS INTO DECADES IS LAZY. IF I WAS PRIME MINISTER I'D MAKE A LAW WHERE PEO
- Embargoed: 26th January 1996 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM/VIDEO LOCATIONS
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Lifestyle
- Reuters ID: LVA6X01VPC1FVUZUQQZ6KXLKLXXU
- Story Text: The days of techno and rave music could be numbered in Britain as young trendsetters have been rediscovering the soft, gentle,easy-listening music loved by their parents.
Last Christmas, a previously-unknown easy-listening combo called "The Mike Flowers Pops" had a number two hit in the British charts, and almost toppled Michael Jackson from the top slot. The Mike Flowers record was a cover version of the Britpop band Oasis song, "Wonderwall", featuring backing singers in sixties evening gowns, soft strings and brass instruments, and frontman Mike Flowers himself, resplendent in a second-hand synthetic wig and authentic period suit.
Flowers said that the easy-listening sound is difficult to categorise according to the decade of its origin because the style spans the fifties, sixties and seventies period.
"I use the word 'mixties', which describes it, a blurring of all the most fun, exuberant bits from those different periods", Flowers said.
The chart success of Mike Flowers came as no surprise to London's trendsetting clubgoers. For the past year, they have been partying to the orchestral sounds of Burt Bacharach, Mantovani, Perry Como, Herb Alpert - the very music their parents might have listened to when they were young. Themes from film and television shows - for example the U.S. police series "Starsky and Hutch" - are particularly fashionable. Now there are several clubs in London that host special easy-listening nights, which are becoming increasingly popular.
Most easy-listening devotees are also fans of the fashions of the past, and hunt through charity shops looking for the original garments rather than buying modern interpretations of the look.
Early synthetic fabrics such as nylon, Orlon and Acrilan are much sought-after. Cardigans and "flower-power" print shirts or dresses are prized, as is any garment in purple or orange. "Go-Go" boots are a must.
The dance style is sixties, and the music played in clubs is quiet enough to allow conversation, a novelty in these days of pounding techno and rave music.
American disc jockey and recording artist Dougie Dimensional is one of the leading lights of the E-Z (easy) movement. Born in New Jersey, he was brought up in Los Angeles but has lived in London since 1990.
A devoted fan of Henry Mancini, he started playing the trumpet from the age of 8 years, and now sings with his group "Gentle People".
But true to the ever-changing nature of fashion, the easy-listening fad is already evolving into what Dougee Dimensional terms "E-Z core" music, taking the sounds of the past and adding modern elements to create the music of the future.
"Gentle People's" single "Journey" reflects this. Described by Dougie Dimensional as "ambient Abba on acid" (a reference to the hallucinogenic drug LSD), it reached number one in the "Tower Buzz" chart, which reflects the popularity of records being played on the club scene.
Now Dougie Dimensional is planning to take his sound into the United States, where he is due to perform as a disc jockey in the New York club TyNyNyNy (pronounced "tiny niney") on January 23, followed by a guest spot on the Los Angeles KXLU radio show "Molotov Cocktail" on February 6 and a club date at the "Three of Clubs" in Los Angeles the next day.
Mike Flowers will be playing live on a tour of the United Kingdom and the Irish Republic in February, and is recording a new single "A Groovy Place" for release later this month, followed by an album in March. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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