Franz Conde TMA02 A179

FRANZ CONDE
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A179 * TMA 02
Is it accurate to classify ‘Unsquare Dance’ by Dave Brubeck and ‘Smash the Mirror’ by The
Who as “popular music”?
For the purpose of this essay, “popular music” will be defined as music composed,
performed or marketed according to the following characteristics: liked by many, mass
produced, lowbrow, counter-culture or folk.
The technical musical elements will be evaluated to assess how they contribute to these
pieces’ “popularity”. Also, some consideration will be given to the historical context that
surrounds them, and how this might affect the listener’s perception.
‘Unsquare Dance’ was released in 1961 as part of the Dave Brubeck’s “Time Further Out”
album. This record enjoyed high sales, reaching #8 in the Billboard charts, the de facto
measure of popularity used by the record industry at the time.
Regarding the elements of music, the piece most compelling attractiveness lies in its
unusual rhythmic structure: a fast, “un-square” metre (three-time with a longer final beat) is
accentuated throughout the track by the plucked double-bass with a recurring three-note
interval. The second foundation brick in the rhythm is a syncopated pattern of hand-clapping.
This rhythmic base, albeit rather thin in texture, manages to sound rich, instantly appealing
and memorable.
The ABA architecture of Unsquare Dance begins, after the rhythmic intro, with a melodic
motif in the piano (0’11’’-0’32’’) that reappears, with further development (1’38’’-1’58’’) after a
deceptively simple drum’s rim solo (0’33”-1’37”). The casual timbral character of the
percussive use of the drum’s rim give the piece a tap-on-the-table joviality and magnetism.
The piano carries the majority of the melodic weight (the double bass also has melodic
significance), but it has also an important rhythmic role, one that enriches even further the
zippy nature of this piece.
The ending contains one of the most widely used melodic motifs in popular music, the 7-note
“shave and a haircut, two bits” (1’55’’). This ending, and a final laughter (1’59’’), confirm the
casual, lively mood of the piece and its lighthearted mass appeal.
‘Unsquare Dance’ unusual metre might be a component of its “popularity” as it makes the
piece immediately puzzling, requiring many hearings in order to unravel and “square” the
dance.
‘Smash the Mirror’ was released in 1969 as part of Tommy, an album that was marketed
with the simultaneously ambitious and ironic term of “Rock Opera”. An analogy can be drawn
here with Weill-Brecht’s ‘The Threepenny Opera’: a lowbrow version of a highbrow musical
tradition.
Musically speaking, the piece contains several elements characteristics of the 60’s/70’s rock
repertoire: a “heavy” electric guitar timbre (0’37’’, 0’58’’) supporting, a raspy (1’00’’), guttural
(0’19’’) vocal line where word-painting is evident in the critical words: ‘you’ (0’19’’), ‘affect’
(0’28’’) and ‘rise’ (0’42’’).
The song has a suspenseful ABC architecture with a dramatic ending: a smashed mirror
sound effect (1’16’’) and a harmonically dissonant chord (1’20’’) that convey theatrical drama
and an unsavoury, unfinished sensation in the listener.
The Who’s energetic use of power chords and the irreverent timbral quality of the vocals
perfectly support a plot that deals with trending counter culture topics of the era such as
psychedelic drugs, rock-star fame and eastern messianic cults.
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FRANZ CONDE
T1684607
These two pieces definitely fit into the “popular music” category when we consider their high
popularity measured by sales and mass appeal. They also were vehicles of counter-culture:
‘Unsquare Dance’ defying the time signature canons of jazz and ‘Smash the Mirror’ as a part
of a status quo defying band and album. These two characteristics support the argument of
these two pieces being accurately called “popular music” but we must point out that the
concept of “popular” is one that is relative to an era. Popular pieces of the past, as for
example John Dowland’s songs in Elizabethan England, have become part of the highbrow
repertoire of present times. This might be the case for these two pieces. The Who’s ‘Smash
the Mirror’, combined the elements of music in a groundbreaking style fitted for the late 60’s
counter-culture movement but is now less known or heard outside Rock connoisseurs
circles, and despite its popular fame in the 70’s (due in part to an also “popular” Ken Russell
film version) is now regarded as an elevated expression of the Rock genre, having been
awarded various record industry prizes.
Unsquare Dance continues to enjoy popularity within the present day jazz repertoire but in
the current era, is definitely not a mass-market item.
‘Unsquare Dance’ and ‘Smash the Mirror’ are currently not considered lowbrow and arguably
both pieces still are unusual and innovative, with their very peculiar use of the elements of
music not completely assimilated into the mainstream.

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