Oh, how we love those ’80s saxophone solos! Music from this decade made great use of them, and music videos played up the sax-y drama with visuals like the “city at night” setting, as shown in Wham’s “Careless Whisper” or Glenn Frey’s “You Belong to the City.”
’80s sax player style was no less disappointing. Mullets, brimmed hats, and over-sized blazers swayed to the soulful rhythm of the sax.
There’s many an internet tribute to the wonder of the ’80s sax (including YouTube compilations), but one of my very favorites can be found at the following link:
Analyzed with detail and abundant humor, this web page is created by Ryan Kelly, who seems to have experience as a sax player and a true understanding of the workings of this instrument! For our convenience, he’s embedded the actual solos of numerous ’80s songs and rated them, noting which ones are “blaring,” “overdramatic,” or at a “middle school level,” among other attributes.
And then there’s my personal favorite: the “solo to fade-out,” which refers to those songs that choose the last few seconds to insert a fading sax solo as a desperate attempt to end the song in a way that leaves the listener yearning for more. Yes, folks, this tribute to ’80s sax solos has it all–fair and technically accurate musical assessments, wit, and lots of great ’80s sax clips.
I’ll leave you with some ’80s sax player style–check out the first few seconds of this Glenn Frey video for “The Heat Is On”…And for a special ’80s touch, the first shot of the saxophone player is through a set of opening mini-blinds! Enjoy!
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