Romantic Obsolescence
(The second they landed on the Moon - this music became more obsolete than it already was)
Prior to this particular day in 1969, one of the most universal song sentiments had to do with all things Moon.
It became a cliche, it was the epitome of corn. It was quaint, from a bygone age - but it was a romantic staple in our culture. No getting around it.
The Moon and all its implications were things of wonder, things people dreamed about, something people used as a great excuse to make out to.
And it had a huge history - long before the first records were ever made, but certainly a main attraction for the record buying public.
In the early part of the 20th century, Vaudeville was the main source of outside entertainment most people had. No radio - movies were relegated to sideshow curiosities - television was the thing of science fiction.
When records became a popular form of entertainment, most vaudeville stars of the time cranked out hundreds of discs, cashing in on the new medium.
One of those acts were the duo Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth. This song "Turn Off Your light, Mister Moon Man" was a big hit in 1911 from the Musical "Little Miss Fix-it". It was almost as big as their 1908 hit "Shine On Harvest Moon", another staple of the vaudeville repertoire.
I am suspecting very few of you have actually heard any of these discs. They are crude and somewhat fossilized with time. They seem very ancient. And for being 100 years old, they actually are.
But it's always good to introduce yourself to something you're not familiar with. You can laugh, giggle and parody -but at least you get the chance to hear the actual stuff.
Besides, ignorance of your culture is considered uncool. Moon landings notwithstanding.
Nice excuse for rounding up some REAL old stuff, but I think it is just a matter of a trend that ran its course.
Besides, the 1977 King Harvest single, "Dancing in the Moonlight"?
Kinda shoots a hole in the theory, does it not?
:)
But that was a time when telescopy was coming into its own. Percival Lowell was charting the "canals" of Mars and publishing his work to a receptive audience, Burroughs' character John Carter of Mars debuted in 1912...Space was on the front page often...Then WW I happened, knocking space exploration from the front pages, and the interest died.
But that interest awoke again in the post WW II era, with the advances in rocketry, and expanded throughout the space race era. There are too many films and songs from that later era to list here, but The Day The Earth Stood Still, Day Of The Triffids, Telstar, Fly Me To The Moon and Flying Purple People Eater come quickly to mind. But then once we reached the moon, and showed that it was a dust covered rock without an atmosphere, interest again waned.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
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