Both men are superb musicians and very good at their jobs.
But they’re not the same person and they are not related. Our Dave is, however,
responsible for a reprehensible series of pop/classical crossover albums that
appeared in stores in the 1980s… and, ever since, in bargain bins and charity
shops throughout the country.
Taking his lead from colleague Louis Clark, the former
member of the Electric Light Orchestra who foisted the hideous Hooked on Classics on the world by
dubbing a disco beat over fairly straight orchestral arrangements, Arnold took
the ball (or, rather, the baton) and ran with it. Clark - inspired by the
success of the late 70s Classic Rock
series - expanded the vision, bringing
in pop and rock musicians, including Roy Wood and Herbie Flowers, to augment
his sound, popifying popular classical tunes for an indolent audience. Hooked on Classics was an enormous
international success, and Arnold went straight for the jugular, rearranging
the same classical tunes and adding not only the obligatory disco beat but that
repugnant ‘scratchy’ funk guitar sound so beloved of British sitcom theme
writers, stabs of synthesiser and other pseudo-funk sounds from his grab-bag of
tools.
He began with the god-awful 45 Hooked on Christmas, before unleashing the peculiar horror that is A Classic Case of Funk on the world - an
album that the word ‘ghastly’ was invented for. 14 cuts, including Funky Swan, Funky Brandenburg and Radetzky's
Got A Brand New Bag… I’m not quite sure what this 1982 album is, but it certainly
ain’t funk. James Brown had the funk, Mr Arnold and the assembled members of
the London Philharmonic Orchestra definitely do not. We probably shouldn’t blame
Arnold for the whole catastrophe, but he did conduct the orchestra and rook
co-producer and arranger credits. So it is mostly his fault.
I’ve always hated these kind of crossover albums: it’s music
designed specifically to appeal to people who don’t like music. Like Coldplay.
Opera singers should not sing pop, pop singers should never attempt opera and
orchestras cannot play rock music. Orchestral arrangements have enhanced some
of the greatest pop and rock recordings of all time, but no one in their right
mind wants to listen to Puccini’s One
Fine Day played at breakneck speed over a ‘four on the floor’ beat. No one.
Anyway, here are a couple of tracks from the record... you
make up your own mind.
Emjoy!
To Download A Patriotic Case of Funk click HERE
These are so bad Trump would probably love them.
ReplyDeleteLove your informative background notes Darryl. Oh my. I agree 100% as regards this musical travesty. Just a total abomination.Absolutely awful concept. Truly dire.
ReplyDelete*I* enjoy the album (if we all liked the same stuff, it would be a pretty boring world). I'm on this page as I was searching for any similar records that may exist.
ReplyDelete