Australian Story last night gave a quick history of The Seekers. I had forgotten how relatively briefly they had been together. Also how young Judith Durham was when they started (she was 19 when they left for England.)
Their heyday was when I was in primary school, but you know, I never cared for them. There is something folk melancholic about their sound which infects all of their songs, even the ones which are meant to be more upbeat.
They seem to be nice enough people, though.
What are you talking about? Melancholy trumps upbeat anytime.
ReplyDeleteWriting this post did make me think: folk music does not have to be melancholic, but my impression is that an awful lot of it is. Maybe especially 60's folk? It was a fairly depressing decade in many respects. But it did have rockets, so I was happy.
ReplyDeleteNow folk music about rockets, there's an idea...
ReplyDeleteThe folk movement of the 60s onwards is a strange beast.... not really, or not always 'folk' music proper; it was based on an idea of what most people had listened to and sung about a century before. Maybe that's it; it longs for the authenticity of a rural existence.
ReplyDeleteI know I once started watching that folk mockumentary "A Mighty Wind", but didn't finish it for reasons I don't recall. (I think I was just sleepy and it had started late?)
ReplyDeleteI should track it down, to see if it helps explain why it's a genre I don't warm to.