Shannon's "Let the music play"

Most likely place I would have picked this up is Keyboard Magazine, which I read religiously (well, that's a bad metaphor) during my High School Years. But I could be confusing it with something else.

And yes, GREAT song.

this is u&k.

Porquois?

I want an OB8 more than ever now. has anyone here ever heard a DMX? is that really the drum machine used?

is this the fonda rae version?

I doubt you'd find the text itself online, but the article I'm thinking of was "Let the Music Play: The Keyboard Teamwork Behind the Shannon Sound" in the May 84 issue of Keyboard Magazine, beginning on p. 10.

Pet Shop Boys got much of their sound from Bobby O(literally) while New Order were definately listening to italo-disco and ny club records. Bobby O thought New Order stole Blue Monday from him enough to sue them and lose, then steal Blue Monday and turn it into one of his weaker singles, Love Reaction by Divine.

i know it, and as much as i love fonda rae as a singer i think the cathy dennis version is actually WAY better.

xpost - yeah i think the wish version is a little too regimented maybe, but its nice to have. i sort of like the idea of playing it out because it is a little less known, more fresh, etc.

Is it me, or was Shannon just another one hit wonder?

This is the best song ever.

I remember dancing to this song (when it was relatively new) at Temple University when I was an undergrad there, and I always sort of associate it with being safely out of high school and in an environment where it would be okay to want to dance to something like this.

Surprised I never said anything on the thread -- great song, still stands out in the memory, sounded wonderful on the radio in middle school...

startrekman threads are my favorites

It's all about those cowbellish synth percussion sounds. You know what I mean...

I seem to recall that, in the video, Shannon was dancing on what looked like huge sliced potatoes.

Either way, great song.

Awesome tune. I recall that about the same time Jocelyn Brown's "Somebody Else's Guy" also came out and it's awesomer.

i remember the week this went to number once casey kasem had a story about how shannon (who was like an accountant or something) had said she wasn't going to quit her day job until the song topped the charts. i've always wondered if she eventually went back to office work.

although on checking, i guess this topped out at #8. maybe he meant #1 on the dance chart. anyway, it was probbably a made-up story.

I can't decide if I like this more than "Give Me Tonight."

Famously Neil Tennant's all-time favourite song

Pet Shop Boys produced a version of this song that is on the Crying Game
soundtrack.

REALLY? Who performed it?

Carroll Thompson, according to Discogs. Will have to track it down & report back!

Also, anyone reckon we'll get a freestyle revival on the level of italo revivalism? Of all things, the new Excepter record reminds me of the Latin Rascals producing the Dead C, heh ...

I love this record, I like the way it's clunky and lithe at the same time.

I think "Give Me Tonight" and "Let the Music Play" are as close in quality as any two songs ever. Both brilliant, and I really couldn't choose one over the other (I know this isn't a t/s, I'm responding to Alfred's dilemma upthread).

This is almost as good as the first two singles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2D0CzH-yxY

I agree completely. I like to think of this song as one of triplets separated at birth, the others being 'Candy' by Cameo and 'Endicott' by Kid Creole & the Coconuts.

Hmmm....I don't detect the bloodline in "Endicott."

Don't you think they have exactly the same beat and tempo, or am I just wrong?

"Endicott" is relentless -- it's a punk song in fancypants trappings. "My Heart's Divided" is more trad R&B in post-disco drag.

I see your point! Anyway, My Heart's Divided was a pretty big dance hit in Philadelphia at the time, but it is a lost treasure and I appreciate your attention to it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0RPBoFdB7Y

This and Lucky Star were mandatory at every college dance. And the world was much better for it.

the drums on this sound like an 808 with gated reverb on the snare.

still adore this record. have a few different copies of it on 12".
did we avoid a freestyle revival? would be fun to go to a party with nothing but this stuff being played but I would dread the inevitable cash-in records. this music requires a certain earnestness in delivery no art student can attain ;-)

I don't hear the 'Endicott' connection either but you made my morning reminding me about that song

Search out the "Shannon Stone" version...
― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, April 5, 2004 8:28 AM (5 years ago) Bookmark

one of my favorite mashups ever, it really becomes a whole different song

http://www.binarybooty.com/Go-Home-Productions-Shannon-Stone-download-Hh9yqhC_5kypN6qZxklLBw.htm

another vote for that Go Home mash; it's an old fave on my end too.

i thought this was with a 303?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mvSHevf68o

the intro this sounds so much like let the music play. esp the riff that comes in at 1min 30 - is this *exactly* the same as the shannon track? must be a nod toward it as i dont think it returns later in the song

it's a blatant nod, the first half-minute or so, yeah, and the melody from 1:20

i didn't listen longer coz it's shit

i'll never forget the first time i heard this again - as an adult - after being heavily into electronic music for a few years. it was like realizing that ice cream was really one of the secret building blocks of the universe.
― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Monday, April 5, 2004 6:01 PM (6 years ago) Bookmark

^^^

great post

haa otm

a lot of this song in here, including a blatant quote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiBtL7A9Uss

^^^holy shit that's great^^^

This is the best song ever.

― Curt1s Stephens, Wednesday, March 5, 2008 12:27 PM (3 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

it's up there

This is the best song ever.

― Curt1s Stephens, Wednesday, March 5, 2008 12:27 PM (3 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Friday, February 24, 2012 5:50 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"give me tonight" is up there too

I can't decide if I like this more than "Give Me Tonight."

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, March 5, 2008

This is the best song ever.

OTM X 1,000,000

<3 give me tonight

are there any low key versions of "give me tonight"? I love the original but it sounds like it was written as a ballad.

It's good, but it's no "Heat You Up (Melt You Down)" or "You're the One for Me" (if we're talking about tunes in the same genre).

(xx-post)

no

"what does love want me to do?"

Does anyone remember a thread from within the last year or so that discussed all of the 80s songs that have this style of production, with lots of percussion and urgency? I think someone even coined a term for the subgenre...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freestyle_music

lol

i love that this kind of mental qn had a potentially legit answer

ok let me ask you this...

How many synthesizers were used in "Let the music play" and which kind were they?

― startrekman, Monday, April 5, 2004 12:19 AM (7 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

>>>

After googling:

I doubt you'd find the text itself online, but the article I'm thinking of was "Let the Music Play: The Keyboard Teamwork Behind the Shannon Sound" in the May 84 issue of Keyboard Magazine, beginning on p. 10.

― Paul in Santa Cruz (Paul in Santa Cruz), Monday, April 5, 2004 4:56 PM (7 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that is top notch librarian work there. unless Paul in Santa Cruz was trolling, heh

stevie d and i did this at karaoke once

i'm kind of surprised that soul jazz or one of those boutique labels hasn't done a "definitive" freestyle comp.

I would buy a double CD freestyle comp LAMF.

http://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2015/09/key-tracks-shannon-let-the-music-play

Thanks

Happy 40th to this ALL-TIME JAM

Yes!

Ian Wade’s celebration

https://iamwadey.medium.com/happy-40th-birthday-let-the-music-play-by-shannon-652def2c1422

tunes that made me! thanks for that link, ned. this typo made me laugh: Gnus & Roses’ Sweet Child O’Mine

I've loved this song since I was a radio listenin' kid.

The greatest song in recorded history; its only rival is "Give Me Tonight."