Randy Newman is one of the greatest popular songwriters of all time and doesn't get nearly the credit nor the notoriety that he deserves. The way Bob Dylan took pop music to the next level in the 60's, Randy Newman took on issues such as social injustice and racial prejudice beginning in the 70s and 80s. However, Dylan did so in a poetic and symbolic way, Newman confronted the issues head on with his bitter, sardonic wit.
Although, Newman never achieved mega super stardom, the fact that he was able to make a name for himself in the 70s and early 80s (a time when superior popular music was in plentiful supply) despite his highly intellectual and controversial songs, is a testament to his immense talents as a songwriter. Here Newman is pictured in a parody of 70s glam rock.
Newman topped the charts in 1978 with a silly little song "Short People" that was in no way representative of his tremendous songwriting skill, but nonetheless brought him some much needed press:
(From: thecatkeaton)
"Birmingham" is a song off of his album "Good Old Boys" about the American South and racial tensions in all segments of American society:
(From: lestermann)
SEE ALSO:
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1 comments:
blogs are confusing.
you should go back to the simpler format of opendiary!
-rach
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