From The Ink Spots to Notorious B.I.G.

How it started:

The Ink Spots added spoken word sections to their splendid vocal arrangements.

How it’s going: melodies have disappeared entirely, and profanity and violence dominate utterly. Is there any way back?

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5 Responses

  1. A depressing comparison indeed. And unfortunately, the latter is not just perverse “art” — it seeps into life, to judge by the news…

  2. My parents loved the Ink Spots, and my Dad was friends with Harry Mills of the Mills Brothers. It wasn’t my cup of tea, I preferred the Drifters, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, the 4 Tops, etc.
    To me, Rap and Hip Hop have destroyed one of our greatest cultural treasures-African-American music. Where has it gone?

    1. ….. Clyde McPhatter, Sarah Vaughan, Ivory Joe Hunter, Sam Cook, Johnny Mathis, Nat King Cole, Etta James, etc, etc, etc, etc. ….

  3. I love the Mills Brothers too. The Platters recorded “If I Didn’t Care” and “My Prayer” and they hit again in the 50s. Another one of the great vocal groups of all time.

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