3. The 1960s: A New Era for Pop Music

POP MUSIC

I. Introduction: A Brief History

Popular music, often shortened to “pop music” is just that – music that is popular among the average consumer. By nature of being popular, it is easy to think of pop music as a one-dimensional catch-all genre that caters to the broadest of audiences. While this type of music can easily be lumped under the “pop” umbrella today, in the 1960s, pop music had not yet become about commercialisation and accessibility, though it was popular among teenagers and tended to lend itself well to dancing^[1]. As such, much of the fondly-remembered pop music of the 60s was creative and whimsical (see the Beach Boys‘ ‘Pet Sounds‘)^[2]. Between its inception in the 1950s through its creative peak in the mid-to-late 1960s, some artists took elements of popular music and mixed them with other genres and styles (such as electronic, rock and roll, and avant-garde) to take it beyond its generally radio-friendly limits^[3]. Somewhat counterintuitively, artists such as these gave rise to a sub-genre of pop music known as experimental pop music which, despite being pop music, is otherwise hard to categorize^[4].

Some notable examples of music prominent artists in experimental pop in the 1960s that will be discussed throughout this entry include Jackie Shane’s ‘Any Other Way (1962), John Cale (the Velvet Underground)’s ‘Lady Godiva’s Operation‘ (1968), and Delia Derbyshire (White Noise’s) ‘Love Without Sound’ (1969).

II. Notable Artists

Some notable musicians who contributed to experimental pop music are outlined in the following section. As in the previous entry, my goal is to focus primarily on underrepresented, diverse musicians who were largely overlooked—either in time or at the time.

Jackie Shane (1940 – 2019)

Jackie Shane is notable for contributing to the sound of popular music in Toronto, ON in the 1960s and is often lauded as a pioneer transgender performer in north American pop music. She was born in Nashville, Tennessee but joined a travelling carnival which eventually brought her to Ontario in the 1959^[5]. Shortly thereafter, she would meet Frank Motley with whom she would regularly collaborate with^[6]. One of the tracks they recorded together was a cover of William Bell’s ‘Any Other Way’ in 1962 (see video below)^[7]. The song became a top 10 hit in the local Toronto area and later charted in Canada^[8]. Despite this success early into her career and a modest career throughout the rest of the decade, Shane would disappear from the public eye for decades around 1971^[9]. Finally, in the early 2010s, various documentaries about Shane’s life and career as well as her influence on the LGBTQ+ community^[6] were produced, but sadly Shane remains a relatively unknown figure in American pop music. In her version of ‘Any Other Way’, Shane flawlessly blends together elements of soul, R&B, and pop music to create something wholly unique and ahead of its time.

“One cannot choose where one is born, but you can choose your home”
Jackie Shane, CBC Interview (2019)^[8]

Reflection on ‘Any Other Way‘ (1962) by Jackie Shane:

This is easily one of the smoothest pop songs that I’ve heard in a long time. I love Shane’s vocals in particular here – they’re both buttery smooth and playful. Of course, sonically, the track sounds of its time, but I think that’s mostly an artifact of the recording quality of the early 1960s. For a pop song, this strikes me as relatively harmless and accessible, especially compared to contemporary pop music, but I wonder how it would have come across at the time. Especially if you knew anything about Jackie Shane. I read in my research that the line “tell her that I’m gay” was originally written by William Bell to mean “happy”, its original definition, but Shane sneakily twisted it, without changing the wording at all, to its current meaning which was not widely accepted at the time. I am really looking forward to listening to more of her output from the 60s!

John Cale – The Velvet Underground

Born in the south-west of Wales, Cale studied music at Goldsmiths College, University of London before moving to the United States in 1963. From a relatively young age, Cale had talent for the viola which he would go on to use throughout his career^[10]. In 1964, Cale met Lou Reed with whom he would co-found the Velvet Underground. The two were joined by guitarist Sterling Morrison and drummer Maureen Ann “Moe” Tucker^[11]. While Cale would only record two albums with the band before leaving, his use of electric viola drone instrumentation gave their first album, ‘The Velvet Underground & Nico‘ a distinctive sound^[12] (see the track ‘Venus in Furs‘)^[13]. While Reed was often the creative mind at the helm of the Velvet Underground in their earlier years, Cale co-wrote and co-created their second studio album, ‘White Light / White Heat‘ (1968)^[14] and would provide lead vocals on a couple tracks for the first and only time, like on ‘Lady Godiva’s Operation‘ (1968) for instance (see video below)^[15]. The Velvet Underground would go on to be considered one of the most influential rock bands of all time in the following decades, but in their time, their music was largely ignored^[16]. While today many people know of the Velvet Underground and Lou Reed, John Cale goes comparatively under-appreciated as a contributor to experimental music despite a his successful six-decade career as of 2023.

“[White Light / White Heat is] a very rabid record . . . The first one had some gentility, some beauty. The second one was consciously anti-beauty”
John Cale, Peel slowly and see box set (1995) liner notes ^[14]

Reflection on ‘Lady Godiva’s Operation‘ (1968) by the Velvet Underground:

From the opening seconds, I can already hear Cale’s distinctive electric viola droning away in the background. It, mixed with Moe Tucker’s simple, laid back drumming and the distorted guitars by Morrison and/or Reed, gives the track a fairly noisy sound palette for the late 60s. I can’t help but focus on the instrumentation which is simultaneously simple in terms of chord progressions and riffs, but the microtonal, noisy droning and distortion really adds a lot of roughness which adds a chaotic complexity. The lyrics are also really interesting and evocative. I might have to look into the mythology of Lady Godiva to fully understand and appreciate them, but the use of vocal effects towards the end really sound like a noisy, steam-punk surgical procedure which adds a neat layer of immersion to the track. While I am admittedly fairly well-acquainted with the Velvet Underground’s music, I always find myself enjoying their early work for its interesting musical qualities and the unique chemistry between Cale and the other members.

Delia Derbyshire – White Noise (1937 – 2001)

At the age of only three of four, Derbyshire’s family was relocated from her birthplace, Coventry, to Preston, Lancashire in England as a result of the Coventry Blitz, a series of bombings on Coventry in WWII^[17]. She studied mathematics and electricity at Girton College, Cambridge but then switched to study music a year later, graduating with a BA in music^[17]. Wanting to find a job in the music field, when she applied for a position at Decca Records she was told that they did not hire women^[18]. After being hired as a trainee assistant studio manager at the BBC a couple years later, she would go on to assist composer Luciano Berio with some electronic composition. One of her earliest compositions was the 1963 theme for the Doctor Who series—the first major television theme to be composed entirely electronically^[17,18]. To add yet another landmark experimental music achievement under her belt, Derbyshire also went on to collaborate with another electronic musician, David Vorhaus, with whom she would co-found an experimental electronic band, White Noise. Their debut studio album, ‘An Electric Storm‘ (1969), in which Derbyshire played a large role in the electronic instrumentation, would go on to be an influential album in the history of experimental electronic music^[19]. One track from this album, ‘Love Without Sound’ (see video below)^[20] demonstrated the unique sounds Derbyshire helped capture in this weird, psychedelic record.

Reflection on ‘Love Without Sound‘ (1969) by White Noise:

This is one of the earliest fusions of electronic music from decades past with pop, rock, and psychedelia of the late 60s. Delia Derbyshire’s masterful electronic instrumentation and production on this track are mesmerizing and way ahead of their time. I can tell how this track and the rest of the album must have been immensely influential on many sub-genres of popular music going forward. I really love the use of vocal effects and interesting electronically-generated percussion-like sounds. The track sounds like it could easily fit into a sci-fi or even retro horror soundtrack with how eerie and abstract some of its sounds are – especially the feminine vocalizations interspersed throughout the latter half. While I have listened to the rest of the album, I am eager to listen to it more and check out the rest of Derbyshire (and White Noise)’s music