Is it ok to wish the saxophone again?
Thanks to the saxual harrasment of the 1980s, when practically every Lite FM staple featured a schmaltzy brass crescendo, mainstream musicians had largely soured on the saxophone until this year.
Forget the Summer of Sam - its the summer of sax. From Lady Gagas Edge of Glory, featuring Bruce Springsteens longtime sax man Clarence Clemons, to Devs In the Dark, which oozes a sexy sax melody for its chorus, to Alexandra Stans Euro hit Mr. Saxobeat, suddenly low-bellowing reed tones are in vogue.
Of course, the pawn has a farseeing and brilliant history, which runs the gamut from old school jazz greats like John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman to the more contemporary Kenny G and Mindi Abair, but for the purposes of this list, weve narrowed it downward to use in stone and pop. Read on for THRs rundown of 12 awesome sax solos from the past 40 years.
Lady Gaga Edge Of Glory (2011)
Lady Gaga - The Border Of Glory
The envelope-pushing pop star recruited the Big Man himself, Clarence Clemons, for the eighties-influenced track from her Born This Way album. According to producer Fernando Garibay, Clemons nailed the solo on the outset take. It was magical,he told THR in May. I had created this musical break where I felt like it required a moment. Clarence came in and goes, Let me see it, so we played it down one sentence and surely enough, he base his pouch and only started soloing. It was amazing. Clemons died on June 18, weeks after playing with Gaga, whom Garibay describes as a massive Springsteen fan, on the American Idol season 10 finale.
Dev In the Dark (2011)
DEV - Dancing In The Dark
The latest single from the singer best known as the daughter who delivers the lift on Like a G6, Dev coos of dance-dance-d-dance-dancing in the shadow on her latest sultry single, which features a sax melody in the chorus. Just as addictive as her hit with the Far East Front and Devs own Bass Down Low, it stands to just build anticipation for her proper Universal Republic debut, The Night the Sun Came Up (due out in the fall).
Alexandra Stan Mr. Saxobeat (2010)
ALEXANDRA STAN - Mr. Saxobeat
Hot Bucharest-based singer Alexandra Stan released her epic homage to mysterious sax playing men (we think) in late 2010, but it wasnt until this summer that the song exploded worldwide. So far this year, it has topped iTunes charts all over Europe and was No. 1 on Billboards Dance Airplay chart for over a month before this summer. Not alone does the song feature a sax riff as its raison detre, the cross itself is called Mr. Saxobeat.
Mighty Mighty Bosstones "The Effect That I Get" (1997)
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - The Opinion That I Get
The Boston ska band's biggest hit was this horn section-fueled stomper. It also made its way into several movies, including Step Brothers, Chasing Amy and Clueless; the latter featured the Bosstones as the band performing at the school dance. Fun fact: gravelly-voiced frontman Dicky Barrett is the announcer on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
INXS What You Need (1985)
INXS - What You Need (HQ music video)
Australian rock act INXS employed so much sax in the 1980s, they may as easily have been the instruments publicists. The trick INXS used, was to wind it so effortlessly into their songs so that the listener nearly forgot they were still listening to a sax solo. What You Take was only one instance of INXS ability to create non-annoying sax sounds in pop songs, and it worked out well for them in the mid 1980s, arguably the peak of their success in America.
Glenn Frey You Go to the City (1985)
Glenn Frey - You Go To The City - HD
If theres one song synonymous with cheesy-yet-epic saxophone of the 1980s, its this hit from the Eagles guitarist. While the song gained fame via the tv series Miami Vice (the tune appeared on the soundtrack of Vice, which was perched atop American album charts for a staggering 11 weeks in 1985), the promo for the cover is all steamy New York City nights, with a random actor performing the hauntingly iconic riff over and over again. Even Don Johnsons white suit cant break the television to the classic track, which lives on via recurrent airplay to this day (both video and radio).
Wham!/George Michael Careless Whisper (1984)
George Michael - Careless Whisper
British saxophonist Steve Gregory delivered one of the most iconic melodies to get out of the 10 of excess. The ballad about adultery and heartbreak hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1985 but also marked one of the last collaborations by the duo Wham!, which featured George Michael and Andrew Ridgley. The video, shot in Miami in the summer of 1984, is almost as well-known and showcases not only Michaels acting chops, but his much envied golden feathered hair.
David Bowie "Modern Love" (1983)
David Bowie - Modern Love
One of Bowie's biggest MTV hits, "Modern Love" featured the boogie-woogie stylings of three saxophonists, Stan Harrison and Steve Elson, who thrust the song's bridge and penultimate end, and Bowie, who's credited with performing the pawn on the album's liner notes. It was the third single off Let's Dance, the singer's most commercial effort, but it simply made it as eminent as No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Duran Duran Rio (1983)
Duran Duran - Rio
Inspired by Duran Durans travels to various exotic locales as the buzz on the British new wave band was still building, Rio was the last single off the album of the sami name, which remained on the Billboard 200 chart for a staggering 129 weeks. The tenor sax solo came courtesy of musician Andy Hamilton, who had also appeared on songs by Wham! and Elton John. In the video, hes shown playing the instrument while trying to rest on a makeshift raft. The Duran boys, meanwhile, got to pluck up the sun in an impressive yacht. No surprise there, frontman Simon Le Bon was an avid sailor himself.
Bruce Springsteen Born to Run (1975)
Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run
After four decades of acting with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, so many Clarence Clemons solos stand out - Rosalita, Jungleland, even Dancing in the Dark - but youd be hard-pressed to get a New Jersey resident who cant hum the end to Born to Run, where the Big Man truly shined. As Springsteen eulogized at Clemons Florida funeral: Every night, in every place, the magic came flying out of Cs suitcase. His untimely passing means future generations wont be capable to see the magic live in person, but the music lives on.
Pink Floyd Us and Them (1973)
Us and Them - Pink Floyd - Pulse - HD
Among the most epic numbers on the band's seminal and eternally psychedelic Dark Side of the Moon (and that's saying a lot), "Us and Them" clocks in at 7 minutes and 51 seconds - long enough for there to be two sax solos. Actually, the pawn has a nearly constant presence in this opus, and synchs up incredibly well when played along to The Genius of Oz. The scene: Dorothy's introduction to and eventual departure from Munchkinland.
Lou Reed Walk on the Savage Side (1972)
Walk on the Wilderness Side - Lou Reed
The monotone former frontman of Velvet Underground released this ode to hard living as a 1 from his 2nd solo album Transformer. In a cause of rock star kismet, the sax solo at the end was played by Ronnie Ross, who taught a new David Bowie how to meet the instrument. Bowie also happened to be the manufacturer of Reed's album. Curiously, the song's dirty lyrics and risque subject matter were rarely censored as it became - and remains - a basic of FM radio.
More awesome sax solos: David Bowie's "Young Americans" (1975), Steely Dan's "Deacon Blues" (1978), Sad's "Smooth Operator" (1984) and, lest we forget, the eight greatest seconds of recent sax solo history, Eurovision's Epic Sax Guy.
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Did they lack any of your favorite sax solos ONTD?
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