Whatever Happened to the American Standard?

Almost since the dawn of the 20th Century, the lingua franca most vividly illustrative of our social attitudes as a nation, our modus vivendi, has been the popular song. Through its lyrics we can detect beliefs and fads and fashions; its melodies reflect our aesthetic values, for better or worse.

Is the American popular song still a durable yardstick, as it has been since the days of player pianos and primitive Victrolas? Or is it in danger of irrelevance and eventual extinction?

This was one of the topics dealt with at the recent Conference on World Affairs at the University of Colorado. Johnny Mandel, the Oscar-winning composer of “The Shadow of Your Smile” and of countless motion picture scores (starting with the jazz score for “I Want to Live” in 1958) came up with the idea for this discussion.

“The question is not whether popular songs are in danger of extinction; obviously there will always be songs that are popular at some point,” he said. “The issue should be: Is the American popular standard song in danger of dying out?

“The standard song is one that outlives its original life and is covered by many artists. Back in the early decades of this century, when recording was in its infancy, people had pianos in their homes; they could read music, and if they liked a song they’d buy the sheet music and play it themselves.

“When recordings became popular, customers would go into the store and ask for a song--they didn’t care that much whose version it was. During the swing era the requests were more specific: People didn’t just want ‘Begin the Beguine,’ they wanted Artie Shaw’s ‘Begin the Beguine.’ But the songs still had a long life and continued to be covered by other artists.

“The music publishers in those days controlled the business; at their instigation, innumerable recordings would be made of the songs that became standards, and the publishers kept half, even two-thirds of the income. But then in the mid-’60s a new phenomenon arose: with the era of the Beatles and the Stones, you saw the rise of the conglomerate: the composer-lyricist-performer-publisher. The artists were saying to themselves, why shouldn’t I have 100% of the pie?

“Suddenly, record companies didn’t cover songs anymore--we were into the era of the disposable song, which after a short time is discarded like Kleenex.”

The point is essentially valid; while it is true that there has been a substantial supply of high-quality songs by the Dylans and the Simons and the Beatles, their dissemination has become very limited. “People want to sell each product real fast, get it out of there and find a new one,” Mandel said. “In some cases you can understand why; you don’t hear too many people covering ‘Why Don’t We Do It in the Road.’ ”

Sadly, many fine songs have been neglected along with the lesser breed. According to Mandel, the standard in the old sense--Cole Porter, Berlin, Rodgers & Hart--has almost ceased to exist. A plausible explanation was offered by Ben Sidran, the record producer and composer who took part in the panel discussion:

“A song propagates life; it is the product of a certain cultural environment. We don’t have dinosaurs anymore. Why? Because the climate shifted--maybe a meteor struck the Earth, or a volcano blocked out the sun. By the same token, the conditions for songs as we’ve known them have blocked them out.”

Clearly, there are exceptions. A few years ago, against the wishes of her advisers, Linda Ronstadt recorded her now-famous album of pop standards, with Nelson Riddle’s arrangements. The spectacular sales led to sequels by Ronstadt and a few others; most recently the use of an old Louis Armstrong record on the sound track of “Good Morning, Vietnam” swam against the current and put “It’s a Wonderful World” on the charts. But these are almost freak events.

Movie sound tracks, in fact, have become increasingly rare sources of songs designed for posterity, as another panelist, the lyricist and author Gene Lees, pointed out.

“It’s important to remember where the standard songs came from,” said Lees, whose best-known works include Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Quiet Nights” and Bill Evans’ “Waltz for Debby.” “A great number stemmed from Broadway shows, films, nightclub revues, or, later on, television. What has happened to theater and movies has naturally influenced the course of American popular music.

“To speak from a devil’s advocate viewpoint, if I were a Hollywood producer today, making ‘Top Gun’ or anything designed demographically for the 14-to-30 age group, and if it’s a story about people in that age group leading contemporary lives, why would I score that film in any other way than with so-called contemporary rock ‘n’ roll hit song music?

“Sure, there are plenty of pop songs being written. Anything we’re watching on MTV has to be categorized that way. I suppose (Michael Jackson’s) ‘Bad’ is a contemporary pop song--but will it have a life beyond its original use? There have been fewer and fewer of these during the past 20 years.”

It is possible, without selective reporting, to draw an informative analogy here. Among today’s “Hot 100” one finds “Where Do Broken Hearts Go?,” “Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car,” “Naughty Girls Need Love Too” and “Da Butt.” How many of these will be remembered during the next five decades?

There is, however, an upside to the story. Johnny Mandel’s first hit was a movie song, “Emily,” from “The Americanization of Emily.” Later came “A Time for Love,” from “An American Dream”; “Close Enough for Love,” from “Agatha”; “Suicide Is Painless,” the theme from “MASH,” and others of motion-picture origin.

“Given the nature of what’s required for so many film scores today, however,” Mandel says, “movie writing has become a nightmare. If I had to make a choice between doing movie scores and just writing songs, I’d simply make my living writing songs,” Mandel said.

“During the past 20 years we’ve been going through the dark ages for the American popular standard; but I’m finding more acceptance now for my songs than I ever did before.

“In fact, I see a light at the end of the tunnel. I have to be optimistic--what choice do I have?”