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Notes -
The other day I was thinking why 80s music was so much better than modern music and then it hit me: It's the saxophone solos!
What are some of your favorite songs with epic sax solos?
I'll start with Girl Meets Boy - Waiting For A Star To Fall (solo at 3:07) and Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street (solo first at 0:24 and then repeats at other times).
Edit: No need to limit suggestions to the 80s. Epic sax is epic sax!
Blue Giant - First Note.
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"Midnight City", M83.
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Hot take but sax is bad. Trumpets and trombones are just better.
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Ah, you're referring to the Bad Saxophone Solo (BSS). I stayed up much later than I should trying to find this incredibly on-point article posted to a now defunct file sharing site back in 2002. I'm posting it here not only for the enjoyment of everyone on the site, but so I can find it without searching the depths of the Internet Archive and its dead links. It goes to show how much hip musical tastes have changed in the past 25 years, and is a bit of a time capsule (it would be unthinkable now for a serious critic or music fan to shit on Hall & Oates, but back then they were punching bags). Enjoy:
It’s funny, but it starts from the premise that the “BSS” is “B” without really describing why.
You just had to be there. There's nothing bad about sax solos per se, but by 1992 they had gone out of style and were a reminder of the 80s, which wasn't held in high esteem. Sax solos in pop records were ersatz soul. In R&B records they had worn out their welcome. But mostly it was just an ick factor involving anything associated with the 80s. The article isn't meant to be taken too seriously.
Would it be fair to call them the "rap interludes" of their time?
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Man, we have definitely gone too far in the other direction, but Gen-Xers are truly an insufferable generation.
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The Night Court theme is asked the question of "how can you possibly give an appropriate introduction to such an awesome show", and yet manages to answer with a confident "don't worry, I got this".
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This is a very recent one, but Louis Cole - Life. He's one of my favourite modern jazz fusion artists, and the sax solo towards the second half of the song is absolutely tremendous. The underlying chord progression moves very quickly and isn't a particularly easy pattern to improvise over, yet the sax player almost seems to glide around all these constant key changes. Another great, albeit discordant, version of this from the same album is Bitches.
Oh, also, here's one actually from the 80s - JAGATARA's album The Naked King has some killer sax solos on it. Some good examples from there are the songs Hadaka No Osama (the sax solo in this one goes on forever, just wait for it) and Misaki De Matsuwa.
Also much of what Colin Stetson makes is achieved only with saxophone, so it's technically 100% sax solo, though his output is quite ritualistic, soundtracky and meditative and almost certainly not what you're looking for. It is beautiful music though; it's almost religious in quality.
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"Money," by Pink Floyd has an epic tenor sax solo by a session pro in the song's primary 7/4 meter, preceding the more epic guitar solo in the easier to play 12/8. "Doctor Wu," by Steely Dan famously featured jazz-great alto saxophonist Phil Woods. (Also, jazz-great Wayne Shorter on "Aja," but that song's a bit pretentious.) And any Joni Mitchell song with Wayne Shorter.
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Lily Was Here was literally 50% sax.
I think this proves sax is only appropriate in moderation.
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At the risk of being satirical, can I nominate this?
You also can’t go wrong with Take Five or the Pink Panther theme song. Of course, none of these are from the ’80s.
I'm slightly disappointed you didn't link to the 10 hours version.
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Careless Whisper
On the topic of music, does anyone know of any good blogs/videos aimed at laymen that explains why current pop music sounds the way it does?
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Another Day by Dream Theater
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Gunship is one of the bands bringing this back (that a music ignorant normie like me knows about). Tim Cappello's solo in Dark All Day was great.
Also recommend The Midnight, in the same vein.
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Obviously the big ones that immediately come to mind are “Rio” by Duran Duran, “Who Can It Be Now” by Men At Work, “What You Need” by INXS (they’ve got a number of great saxophone parts, played by the great Kirk Pengilly) and “Born To Run” by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (another band with a great full-time saxophonist, Clarence Clemons, who also has a great saxophone solo on his duet with Jackson Browne, “You’re A Friend Of Mine”).
EDIT: I read your post as specifically asking for 80’s songs with saxophone solos. A modern pop song with a great sax solo would be “Ancient History” by Marianas Trench. (Although TBH I think this is actually a synth mimicking a saxophone.)
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