When Chicago was hot.

[iLaw]

Yep. Rockin' in odd meters. Loved that band.

 

Larry.

 

[Mark Schmieder]

Yep, I once had that orange Live in Japan vinyl release, which I felt was way tighter and more exciting than the earlier Carnegie Hall set.

 

It helps that V is one of my favourite Chicago albums and features prominently in the Japan set. My one-time Chicago cover band did almost the entire V album, much of the CTA album, and a few sprinkled in from II and III.

 

"A Hit by Varese" blew me away when it came out, and busted my bass chops at the time (in terms of playing that riff cleanly and fluidly).

[C.J. Lewis]

Sorry, folks. Although I totally dig their early stuff, I have to say that the Foster era is my favorite. Let the beatings begin

[ProfD]

Sorry, folks. Although I totally dig their early stuff, I have to say that the Foster era is my favorite. Let the beatings begin

 

Here is the man in his words:

 

[video:youtube]

 

No beating. He is a fellow KB player. I recognize the appeal in his work.

[ITGITC]

Yep.

 

Great video, ProfD. Thanks for that find.

 

[ProfD]

Yep.

 

Great video, ProfD. Thanks for that find.

 

 

I was going to start a Foster thread but fearing bannination and the continued discussion, I decided to post it here.

 

I really appreciate Foster's real world perspective of the music business. In other clips, it is clear that he has a genuine passion for music.

[Joe Muscara]

Despite the personnel changes over the years, the group is still active four decades after its founding. They are one of the few major rock groups that have never broken up or even taken an extended hiatus. Four of the six surviving founding members (major songwriters Lamm and Pankow, plus Loughnane and Parazaider) remain to this day providing continuity, while Jason Scheff has over 23 years with the band, Tris Imboden over 18, and Keith Howland over 13.

 

There's something to be said for that. I do like the early stuff better, but to each their own.

[mate stubb]

Now hold on!

 

Before you get all warm and fuzzy about latter day Chicago, remember these things:

 

1. Yamaha DX-7 chorused Tine piano. Over. and over. and over.

2. UNTILLLL THEEE ENDD OF TYMEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

3. OOOHHHH NOO BAYBEE PLEEZE DON'T GOOOOOO....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[synthdogg]

Thanks for posting that, it was interesting. I'm a Foster fan myself....and I'm fascinated by his confusion over why musicians start to become "less creative" as they get older...I think that's how they worded it, maybe I'm wrong. He seems to believe that it has something to do with the musician's creativity "atrophying" (sp?) as opposed to the public changing over time.

 

My experience with many musicians is that they actually become "more creative" over time, but begin to care less about public opinion...or realize that at a certain age trying to win over a young audience is pointless and begin to music for their own sake instead of the public's.

Interesting.

[Mark Zeger]

3. OOOHHHH NOO BAYBEE PLEEZE DON'T GOOOOOO....

 

I don't know about this one, Moe. It was on Chicago X when the band was still righteous, Terry Kath was still alive, and the DX7 EP and David Foster were many years away.

 

And I liked "If You Leave Me Now".

[Mark Schmieder]

I've become MORE creative as I've gotten older.

 

It may be due to my generation.

 

See, my generation was "taught" by the Hippies (our schoolteachers, that is, since during the Baby Boom, teachers were being hired so fast that they often were just a few years older than the students).

 

We were taught that anything that had an obvious influence wasn't "original" and thus wasn't a valid idea or creation.

 

This stymied me for some twenty years. And when I go back to the stuff I actually didn't throw out, I'm floored.

 

I also had never been outside U.S./Canada until slightly over ten years ago. This broadened my horizons, thus increasing creativity.

 

If people become less creative as they age, it is by personal choice or because they are boxed in by the ways in which they are deriving income from music (fortunately, I do not depend on music as my primary source of income).

 

I'm totally with the second half of Synthdog's comment. :-)

 

BTW I do like Foster and Paich, it's just that that era of Chicago doesn't strike me as being characteristic vs. other middle-of-the-road pop, whereas the earlier stuff is unique.

[Mark Schmieder]

Yep, I like the softies too... especially as I get older. I've written at least six songs that are directly influenced by Chicago, and in particular their balladic side. It takes some talent to pull off a song like that convincingly, and Cetera does.

[jarrell]

 

If people become less creative as they age, it is by personal choice or because they are boxed in by the ways in which they are deriving income from music (fortunately, I do not depend on music as my primary source of income).

 

I'm totally with the second half of Synthdog's comment. :-)

 

BTW I do like Foster and Paich, it's just that that era of Chicago doesn't strike me as being characteristic vs. other middle-of-the-road pop, whereas the earlier stuff is unique.

I agree with your last statement... I especially like Bill Champlin, and I appreciate David Foster's craft. I liked Chicago, but stopped listening to them after the 2nd or 3rd album, so I missed all those album cuts... looks like I have a lot of catching up to do, probably a lot of good music there.

 

I think creativity vs. aging is a whole topic unto itself. The reasons why someone might become less creative as they age could be personality driven, social/cultural, financial or biological. I doubt people choose to be less creative. It is true that many people have more financial responsibilities as they grow older (house payments, children, etc.) so they cannot afford to take as many chances with career/artistic decisions then they could when they were younger.

 

In the most general sense you can say that people get more conservative as they grow older, but there are always exceptions. Then again an artist could become conservative (stick to the style they were working in when they were young) but become even more creative in how they express themselves within it. Some would see them as players past their prime simply for remaining in the same style, while others would see them as doing their best work.

[Musicale]

Hey Man,

 

Colour My World Rocks !

 

Discuss:

 

Musicale

[Mark Schmieder]

Just listened to the first half of VII on the way to work today, and was reminded of what a HUGE influence it had on my early Jazz Fusion instrumentals that I did from the late 70's through the early 90's.

 

The complex polyrhythms aided by the addition od Laudir de Oliveira to the lineup, helped fuel my later interest in Latin Jazz, and the jazz instrumentals on this album were probably my first strong taste of the predominance of the flute as a major lead instrument in those genres.

 

What I had forgotten, though, is that much of that material was written by Danny Seraphine and Walter Parazaider. Chicago VII was definitely the most democratic of all of their albums, and may have been their last gasp before the record company put the lid on their jazz and modern classical experimentations, which had made up a large portion of II and III as well.

[harmonizer]

I agree that Chicago VII was interesting. To me it was their last attempt to be truly ambitious. I am on the fence as to whether all those attempts in VII worked well or not - my favorite parts of that album are sides 3 and 4 of the LP, as opposed to the longer more experimental stuff on side 1. I really do like some of the songs on side 3 and 4 including "Wishing You Were Here", "Call On Me", "I've Been Searching....", and the Pointer Sisters collaboration on "Skinny Boy".