Just Because Its Popular...

Music is as much of a divisive element as politics, religion and sport. We all know what we like don't we? And, if lots of us know that we like the same music that can be both unifying and divisive. Because pieces of music of all genres can be seen as less worthy of praise purely for being popular. Now your popular is different to my popular I grant you but just by being readily recognisable and to some overplayed can't devalue that music surely?!
I worked with someone once whose musical knowledge was limited but he knew what he liked and what he didn't like. Early church music. None of that English classical tosh particularly not 19th and 20th century English classical music. In fact he didn't really like anything by Mozart/Beethoven/Chopin/Brahms well in fact most popular composers. Now he may have been an exception to the rule but he highlights my problem. popularity shouldn't diminish the quality of the music.
My first example is one of the most popular pieces of classical music ever written. Gustav Holst wrote The Planets Suite a seven movement composition between 1914 and 1916. Holst an English composer worked as a music teacher at a school in London and produced some wonderful orchestral pieces during his life. The Planets however stood head and shoulders above his other work in popularity. The fourth movement Jupiter- Bringer of Jollity is the best known of all seven (with Mars - Bringer of War a close second). It is a rollercoaster of changes in tempo, key, intensity. It never fails to make me smile. But some music snobs see it as populist tosh purely because so many love it. They are surely wrong. Have a listen and you tell me!

Pretty good eh?
Holst is not the only classical gem that is worth considering. Antonin Dvorak is another composer to suffer the ignominy of writing a incredibly popular piece of music. He composed his 9th Symphony 'From The New World' between 1892 and 1895. It was influenced by his interest in native American music and African American Spirituals. The second movement (Largo) has a passage within it that is instantly famous partially to do with it being used in the Hovis Ads of the 1970s and 80s. It should not detract however from the sheer beauty of the music. Gentle, subtle and almost dreamlike in parts.

Two very readily recognisable pieces of classical music often dismissed due to their popularity. Pop or rock music has its titans too. Those tracks that everyone is bored with because they've been played over and over again.
For example, Led Zeppelin released their fourth album Untitled but known as (Led Zeppelin Four to us afficiandos) in 1971. It is sen by many as an iconic album with not a duff track on it. Stairway to Heaven, the longest track on the album has gone down as probably their most famous song of all their work before and after. I remember going to Fairport Convention Cropredy festivals in the early to mid 80's. After the crowd returned to the campsite, you could hear campers sat round playing folk numbers for a while until everyone ended up doing their own rendition of Stairway. It is not my favourite Zeppelin track admittedly but nevertheless, it is a wonderful piece of music. It builds from a gentle almost medieval sound to a magnificent crescendo. It shows every member of the band off in all their glory. It is still today hugely popular and instantly recognisable therefore overlooked by certain music snobs.

A young man from Hippings Minnesota came to New York in 1960 after dropping out of University in Minneapolis. He worked the folk clubs, slept on floors and gradually made a name for himself. He released his first album in 1962 and followed it up in 1963 with what I regard as a masterpiece. Freewheelin Bob Dylan has some colossal tracks on it (Masters of War, Don't Think Twice Its Alright, A Hard Rains Gonna Fall, Oxford Town) but one track is seen as probably his most famous and influential track ever written. Blowin In the Wind has been endlessly copied, admired, analysed. To write such a monumental and profound song at the age of 22 only seeks to further enhance it. It is also seen as a 'yeah yeah whatever' track. I sadly can't get the original version on this post but do have a fine Outtake version from the album. Sit and listen to the wonderful lyrics, the simple yet sublime music one guy with a guitar and harmonica can make. One track that arguably shook the music world forever. Then the next time time someone says yeah but I prefer .... Tell them to listen to it.

My last example of famous yet somehow undervalued purely because of that fame is by Simon and Garfunkel.
These two rose to fame in the 1960's, working the folk clubs both in the US and UK. They wrote endless hits, wonderfully produced and beautifully performed. The pair went their separate ways at the beginning of the 70's and both went onto solo success (although musically Paul Simon had arguably more than Art Garfunkel). Their 5th and final studio album, Bridge Over Troubled Water released in 1970, is packed with brilliant songs but the title track is a giant of a track. It is a modern classic and can be skipped often when looking for less monumental pieces by them. It is however in my opinion, one of their finest compositions. The tenderness matched with huge almost symphonic qualities makes it unforgettable.

Now I know I haven't included any Pink Floyd, Beatles, Dolly Parton, Elvis, Mozart and so on. I didn't say it was inclusive. I merely put these tracks up as fine examples of the dangers of overlooking hugely popular music purely because it is popular! Enjoy them and don't feel guilty.