What recent popular songs would work for drum corps?

[skywhopper]

Back in the late 1970's? It was going on before that.

Sorry, I overedited my post. Quite a few of the championship finalist corps were playing pop music in the late 70s. I didn't check reps older than DCI-era.

[mr.mello]

Imogen Heap, Bjork, and Muse would translate well on the field. Norah Jones, Death Cab for Cutie, Feist, Fine Frenzy, Sarah Bareilles, Joni Mitchell would make some very good ballads for the field. I'm surprised no one mentioned Florence and the Machine, Duffy, Amy Winehouse.

[Fran Haring]

I'm sure somewhere in America, there was a high school band director who thought "Keep on Lovin' You" was the most powerful power ballad ever, and built it into his special Homecoming show. I'd have to think his arrangement only made a bad situation worse.

From the frying pan into the fire!!!!

[Triple Forte]

Teal Sound does that as a parade tune and extra piece on occasion.

Actually Teal Sound played the following in 2009.....and mighty well and exciting (And one of my favorite ballads of 2009)

The Velvet Rope - Music of Janet Jackson * Music of Cold Play * Music of Blue Man Group * Music of Justin Timberlake * Music of Christina Aguilera

[Musicman1084]

Sigur ros is kinda popular these days...well as popular as icelandic post rock is ever gonna get haha. I've always imagined a lot of their songs translating well to the field...maybe for a reallyreallyreally effective ballad.

Absolutely. Someone already mentioned Hoppipola, but Saeglopur and Untitled #1 (Vaka) would also make amazing ballads. I think Hoppipola would be better suited as a bit of a bridge between two pieces as opposed to an entire musical selection. I've known a good number of indoor groups that have performed some of Sigur Ros' music, and I know it would translate VERY well to the field with some brass (pm me if you want to know which groups).

Jonsi, the lead singer from Sigur Ros, has come out with a solo album in English recently, and it is also pretty amazing.

Untitled #1 (Vaka) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npZ-Iu-qPEY

Saeglopur -

Both of those videos were also amazing.

Jonsi "Around Us" -

(I've got some wacky arrangement ideas in my head that would sound NOTHING like the original)

[Musicman1084]

Some more thoughts, mostly for ballads...

1) When Crossmen played DJ Food's "The Crow" a few years back, it really got me thinking that they should have continued venturing into the Trip Hop/Electronica realm for something new. Lamb comes to mind, as well as Massive Attack, Sneaker Pimps and Thievery Corporation

Lamb "Gabriel" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM2cvLKjNZs

Lamb "Angelica" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIX8cqbmK5s (Based on Claire de Lune - would be VERY cool to hear on the field with the beat)

2) Regina Spektor, please -

3) India.Arie and Me'Shell Ndegeocello

4) The Cinematic Orchestra

5) One thought immediately come to mind for a corps like Teal Sound, based on their past repertoires: Circa Survive.

6) Susie Suh - "All I want"

7) Death Cab for Cutie - "Transatlanticism" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNqQC7R_Me4

[3rd Glasgow BB]

Absolutely. Someone already mentioned Hoppipola, but Saeglopur and Untitled #1 (Vaka) would also make amazing ballads. I think Hoppipola would be better suited as a bit of a bridge between two pieces as opposed to an entire musical selection. I've known a good number of indoor groups that have performed some of Sigur Ros' music, and I know it would translate VERY well to the field with some brass (pm me if you want to know which groups).

Given the musical direction of Teal Sound this season, I could see them doing amazing things with Sigur Ros.

[mobrien]

Interestingly, few of the suggested pieces (many of which I agree could work) really fit the definition of "popular music" as in the original post. "Pop music" used by drum corps in the 60s and 70s meant The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, the Bee-Gees (yech...), and Barry Manilow (yechier...). They were charted hits that also made it to the drum corps idiom. Some of the songs were a little gooey, but at least they had melody lines.

Look at the current Billboard Hot 100 to see the pulse of today's pop music, and you don't find many pieces of music that would lend themselves to drum corps arrangement (in part because in many of them, there isn't a melody for the horn arrangers to work with).

Dance music has taken over the pop charts, and drum corps doesn't do dance music very well. So why don't more corps use pop music now? Because there's precious little to use.

Edited September 2, 2010 by mobrien

[corpsband]

I will also say again that it's not just harmonic "complexity" that makes music more or less valuable, but about what real and honest emotions the music is trying to present, no matter what harmonic "language" it choses to do so with. As soon as we start making value judgments about music based on one narrow point, we will lose sight of what truly makes music such a great art.

[WOOHOO]

You are completely entitled to your opinion, but I do not agree with it at all. Having marched, taught, and worked with most of these people for over 30 years, your claim that 95% of the DCI music judges can't tell the difference between a maj/min7 and a min/maj7 chord is just plain incorrect. As to your 25 years of experience and my 34, neither really makes either of us an authority on anything. The fact that both span a similar period and a similar place makes our completely opposite views a little odd. True, I don't know much about you, but you really know very little about me either. How much do you write and arrange? How long have you judged and taught? Who did you study composition with? While I was judging, the person who was my direct boss I taught when he marched corps. I believe I have a pretty focused insight into this discussion.

I think your 95/5% claim is basically backwards. 95% can tell the difference. It is not about my "fraternity" as I am no longer a judge, but I do still respect those who are judging. Are they 100% perfect? - of course not. Are the vast majority (95% or more) of them working as hard as they can to do the best job they possibably can? - YES! There are more than a few judges and other arranger/composers in drum corps that I won't get into a harmonic theory discussion with, Robert Smith, Jim Prime, Wayne Downey, and Jay Kennedy to name a few, so I'm not the be all and end all either. Get into a discussion on this with Carl Bly (DCI music judge) and see how far you get.

I am not, and will not, get into a flame war on this, but when you attack the integrity and professionalism of a large number of people that I respect and work with, I can't just stand by. To say that 95% of the music judges are not prepared to do their jobs correctly is a real slap in the face of the entire activity.

I will also say again that it's not just harmonic "complexity" that makes music more or less valuable, but about what real and honest emotions the music is trying to present, not matter what harmonic "language" it choses to do so with. As soon as we start making value judgements about music based on one narrow point, we will lose sight of what truly makes music such a great art.

I will not post on this again, but completely respect your right to do so.

Couldn't agree more. Harmony for the sake of harmony is just as useful as loud for the sake of loud. That's not to say that BD's harmonic complexity is not as valuable as CC's harmonic simplicity, it's like the quoted statement said; it's about achieving an emotional, well performed statement , which BD obviously did this past year, and many other years.