Cassettes & Chocolate Milk

I have just made the most startling discovery: a vast majority of the songs I love feature the chord progression Bm G A. You may think I'm joking, but seriously, The Beat, Girl You Know It's True, Listen To Your Heart, Hate You, I've Been Thinking About You, Lost in the Night and about 70 other songs I fail to mention (but can now play on guitar) follow this musical sequence. It compels me to ask, in a style not too dissimilar to a question that may be posed by Carrie Bradshaw: Am I just falling in love with the same song over and over again?

Yes, quite possibly, but it isn't a question that particularly offends me. Sure it might get a bit awkward if you realise that you're not looking for the perfect song, you're only looking to subliminally reinforce an already-existing musical quality. This notion of subliminal reinforcement is hardly surprising within the confines of a genre such as Mod Revival or Italo Disco, where, to a new listener "everything sounds the same". What's interesting is the idea that an already-existing musical quality can transcend genre and the very thing that attracts you to Garage could be the same thing that attracts you to Eurobeat.

Perhaps it is a far-fetched theory, but I think there is definitely something in it. The phenomenon is central to the practice of those friends who have the ability to accurately predict and recommend songs I would love, with almost 100% accuracy. It's quite possible that they, too, have somehow tapped into that key and that chord progression, that sound which is going on far back in the bassline. It's a worthwhile thing to remember, when listening to the most disposable of pop or the grittiest of metal, when you strip it down to its most fundamental level, it's all the same... and to be loved, it really needs to contain Bm G A.

Cassettes & Chocolate Milk: Italo Disco Podcast #50
Costas Charitodiplomenos - Lost in the Night
Mike Rogers - Just a Story
Dyva - Leftover Love
Stage - Ocean of Crime
Radiorama - Fire
Hiroko Murata - Valentino
Kay Franzes - Shadow in the Night (Special Club Mix)
Modern Talking - Atlantis is Calling (SOS for Love)

Download (67.6 MB)