Let's go back to 1972. Watergate is percolating in Washington D.C., and guess who's sitting at a fountain near the White House, making a music video?
He's wearing silver platform shoes, and it looks like he's really
enjoying the bright sunny weather. Did you guess? It's pop singer Johnny Nash.
Don't let his name confuse you; his style wasn't anything like the country legend Johnny Cash. But he wrote one of my all-time favorite pop songs. It hit number one on the Billboard hot 100 chart, and stayed there for four weeks, in fall of 1972.
The song is, "I Can See Clearly Now," also known to many as "Sunshiny Day." It's just a warm, all-around good-feeling kind of song, with a story about the sun coming through after the grey clouds and rain have gone.
The rhythm heard in this song was unique at the time-- reggae music was a brand new music form. Johnny, a Texan, had spent some time in Jamaica a few years earlier, and had helped to finance and produce some of Bob Marley's early reggae recordings. He wanted to introduce this rhythm pattern to pop music, and did so very successfully with this song.
For a small slice of American cultural and music history, see this 1972 video: http://vimeo.com/45062930
He's wearing silver platform shoes, and it looks like he's really
enjoying the bright sunny weather. Did you guess? It's pop singer Johnny Nash.
Don't let his name confuse you; his style wasn't anything like the country legend Johnny Cash. But he wrote one of my all-time favorite pop songs. It hit number one on the Billboard hot 100 chart, and stayed there for four weeks, in fall of 1972.
The song is, "I Can See Clearly Now," also known to many as "Sunshiny Day." It's just a warm, all-around good-feeling kind of song, with a story about the sun coming through after the grey clouds and rain have gone.
The rhythm heard in this song was unique at the time-- reggae music was a brand new music form. Johnny, a Texan, had spent some time in Jamaica a few years earlier, and had helped to finance and produce some of Bob Marley's early reggae recordings. He wanted to introduce this rhythm pattern to pop music, and did so very successfully with this song.
For a small slice of American cultural and music history, see this 1972 video: http://vimeo.com/45062930
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