Sunday Night Video – The Trade Winds, “New York’s A Lonely Town”
April 8, 2012 4 Comments
One of the jokes on last week’s episode of Mad Men was that Don and Harry chase after The Rolling Stones but wind up with The Trade Winds. Who are The Trade Winds? Here are The Trade Winds, appearing like a somewhat awkward Beach Boys imitation.
About Matthew
Dang, never even heard of these dudes, and I like to think of myself as having an above-average knowledge of music. Definitely a sub-par Beach Boys thing going on there. And maybe it’s just because it’s Monday and I’m not 100% on form, but those black pants against the black backdrop made it look like they were a band of floating torsos during a few shots.
No, you’re on form! They’re desperately trying to be stylish, but have obviously got no one guiding them, and it’s in the days before television would make sure to prevent something like this from going out, although we still get some glimpses of awkward unformed acts in the “embarrassing auditions” segment on shows like American Idol.
OK…..You people leaving comments obviously have no knowledge of the music industry in the 60′s…..The Trade Winds were not trying to imitate the Beach Boys. They were a legitimate group, produced by Kama Sutra Records out of NYC. They actually had some very good songs that did not make the charts but probably should have. Unfortunately, the DJ’s did not play their songs enough……these NYC guys had something special, but just did not get the breaks to hit it big…….but they were not trying to imitiate anyone……..
They did some great stuff in the studio…..
It seems a tad extreme to say that not knowing The Trade Winds means “no knowledge of the music industry in the 60′s” but I definitely appreciate you adding to what knowledge I have.
I would also add that I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing when artists imitate each other. From the Beach Boys to the Beatles, I think there was a whole lot of imitation and influence going on, which in the best cases leads to something that’s new.
In any case, I’ll heed your recommendation and see if I can find any of their studio stuff to give a listen.