Easy listening

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Easy listening music is a style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the mid-20th century, evolving out of swing and big band music, and related to Beautiful music and Light music. Easy listening music features simple, catchy melodies, soft, laid-back songs and occasionally rhythms suitable for couples dancing. The genre includes both instrumental forms (often played on light of tone instruments such as the Hammond Organ, "lush strings," or Ukulele); and vocal forms featuring pop singers, such as Perry Como, Andy Williams, Jack Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, Eydie Gorme, Barry Manilow, Harry Conick Jr., Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, Bing Crosby, Tom Jones and Mel Tormé. Exotica music stylists such as Les Baxter and Martin Denny are often included within the purview of easy listening music as well.

Use of term and related forms of music

The easy listening radio format has been generally but not completely superseded by the "Lite AC" form of Adult contemporary music radio.[1] Beautiful music is a subset of easy listening music, since, as a radio format, it had rigid standards for instrumentation (e.g., few or no saxophones) and restrictions on how many vocal pieces could be played in an hour. It is sometimes called Nostalgia music. Often, songs were re-arranged instrumental "cover" versions of popular songs of the 1960s and 1970s custom-produced for the radio format during its peak in popularity.

The term "easy listening" has sometimes been applied negatively in the years since it went out of fashion. It is similar to what is called "lounge" or "lounge core", but lounge music is much more jazz-oriented and dependent on musical improvisation than easy listening. Easy listening music is usually orchestrated by an arranger rather than improvised by a small ensemble.

Since easy listening music as such is rather unknown to the younger generation, the term "easy listening" is often incorrectly applied to other genres such as soft rock, soft pop, smooth jazz, or new age music. Easy listening music is also, sometimes, known as "mood music" or "MOR", or more pejoratively as "Muzak" or "elevator music".

Artists and music

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Radio stations playing easy listening music

Template:Easy Listening Radio stations

References

  1. ^ Radio Station Format Guide

See also

External links

  • Escape Radio Channel 78 by XM Satellite Radio Beautiful Instrumentals and classic vocals. XM Satellite Radio Channel 78 via subscription across America and Canada.
  • Easy Listening Stereo Light,easy,beautiful,vocal & instrumentals from yesterday and today. Easy listening internet radio.
  • Beautiful Music Radio Beautiful insturmentals and classic vocals. Beautiful music internet radio.
  • Easy Living Radio The original light,easy,beautiful music internet radio station on Live365.com.
  • [1] Easy listening vocal and instrumentals on the internet from the Northern California. Humboldt 101
  • FAIR Radio Easy listening from FAIR Radio, internet radio station on Live365.com.
  • Ace Holiday Artist that re-creates 1960's easy listening genre with newly composed songs. Uses vacuum tubes and multi-track tape for authenticity of sound. *Listen Here MP3 (free to public).
  • Solace.fm Solace.fm Internet Radio station network from Montreal, Canada offering Easy Listening Music.
  • Online Easy Music Listening
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