The Mighty Musical Observations Thread

[Dr. Medulla]

Is there an American or Canadian equivalent of Our House?

What do you mean by that?

[revbob]

Is there an American or Canadian equivalent of Our House?

You mean awful?

[Heston]

Is there an American or Canadian equivalent of Our House?

What do you mean by that?

Like a song about the ordinariness of Canadian life.

[Heston]

Is there an American or Canadian equivalent of Our House?

You mean awful?

The Limeys will be along soon to defend me. Go and stick some Sabbath on until they get here.

[revbob]

Is there an American or Canadian equivalent of Our House?

What do you mean by that?

Like a song about the ordinariness of Canadian life.

That genuinely made me laugh.

[revbob]

Is there an American or Canadian equivalent of Our House?

You mean awful?

The Limeys will be along soon to defend me. Go and stick some Sabbath on until they get here.

I know the song was quite popular and all it just doesn't do anything for me. The lyrics seem good but the music is dreadful.

[Dr. Medulla]

Is there an American or Canadian equivalent of Our House?

What do you mean by that?

Like a song about the ordinariness of Canadian life.

Stompin' Tom Connors made a career of celebrating Canadianness, whatever that means.

[101Walterton]

Madness were never just a ska band but because their first single was on the 2 Tone label and was a nod to Prince Buster (see above) they were considered a ska / 2 Tone band. Their debut album is a mix of ska, music hall, fairground, Kilburn and the High Roads, pop.

Huh. Okay, then I'm seriously ill-informed in thinking they were a ska band that branched out/sold out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUKnDnWTVt0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbVktaE0llk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2krdk4K0Wo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG878yrVXFw

[tepista]

The last 2 or 3 times I've heard "Jukebox Music" by the Kinks on the radio it made me think of VU's "Rock and Roll".

[BostonBeaneater]

Is there an American or Canadian equivalent of Our House?

What do you mean by that?

Like a song about the ordinariness of Canadian life.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iIGKlicb8n0

[WestwayKid]

Is there an American or Canadian equivalent of Our House?

What do you mean by that?

Like a song about the ordinariness of Canadian life.

Didn't The Tragically Hip make a career of singing about the ordinariness of Canadian life?

[Dr. Medulla]

Is there an American or Canadian equivalent of Our House?

What do you mean by that?

Like a song about the ordinariness of Canadian life.

Didn't The Tragically Hip make a career of singing about the ordinariness of Canadian life?

More about making music sound ordinary.

[Kory]

Question for the Two-Tone crowd: What's the view on Madness' "Our House"? It's popped in my head a few times the last several days—I think it's being used for a commercial and it's penetrating my skull—and I've wondered if it's treated as legit in their catalogue or a dumb tune that caught the ear of the masses.

I like it. With a band that goofy, I think it's hard to justify anything as being "legit."

Less the goofy aspect than not being in any way ska. Is that meaningful to serious fans. Kind of like a lot of Clash fans sneering at TiV or SISTOSIG.

In my case (and thanks to the Clash, really) I'm not very hardline about a band sticking with the genre they introduced themselves as. I usually appreciate the chutzpah it takes to do something like that, and more power if the song is as good as "Our House." I'm sure there's much more militant 2-tone fans out there though.

At one point in my life, I would have been part of that outraged "sell-out!" crowd, but I've come to believe those kinds of straitjackets that fans place on bands are symptomatic of the worst part of fandom.

Me too, for sure. I was very interested in elitism and what it meant to sell out. I'm still sensitive to selling out and probably always will be, but my thoughts on it are more subtle these days.

[tepista]

My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my heart is calling won't you stay with me

[Marky Dread]

Question for the Two-Tone crowd: What's the view on Madness' "Our House"? It's popped in my head a few times the last several days—I think it's being used for a commercial and it's penetrating my skull—and I've wondered if it's treated as legit in their catalogue or a dumb tune that caught the ear of the masses.

"Our House" is a legit great pop song. No thoughts ever about Madness selling out as they were never a Ska band but just a band that liked Ska among many other music varieties. They were always a fun band but they were never just a throwaway pop band either as in a lot of their music you will find an underlying message. Madness played just as much RnB as they did Ska.