Harpsichord in popular culture

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The harpsichord has a highly distinctive sound that often finds use in popular music. The archaic character of the harpsichord (it was for many decades obsolete and unplayed, and had to be revived in the twentieth century) also makes it appropriate for conveying a sense of history or archaicness, and thus has made the harpsichord a useful atmospheric device for other forms of popular culture.

For information about the instrument itself, see harpsichord.

It should be noted that many instances of harpsichord sound in popular culture are not from actual harpsichords, but rather are generated electronically by synthesizers. The examples below have not in general been assessed for what was the actual sound source employed.

In addition, the sound of the harpsichord is often confused with that of the fortepiano, which was the early version (ca. 1700-1820) of the piano. See Fortepiano in popular culture.

Contents 1 The harpsichord in popular music 2 The harpsichord in other forms of popular culture

[edit] The harpsichord in popular music

Editors are requested to date their contributions and add them in chronological order.

• The Beach Boys used harpsichords on Pet Sounds (1965) and on Good Vibrations (1966).
• The Beatles used the harpsichord on "Fixing a Hole" (1967), "Piggies" (1968), and Because" (1969) (electric harpsichord).
• The Kinks used the harpsicord substantially on the track Two Sisters (1967).
• Donovan used the harpsichord on the song Sunshine Superman (song) (1966).
• The Left Banke used the harpsichord on their hit song "Walk Away Renee" (1966).
• The Rolling Stones used the harpsichord on "Lady Jane" and "In Another Land" (1967).
• The Doors' "Love Me Two Times" (1967) contains a harpsichord solo.
• Judy Collins' 1967 recording of "Both Sides Now" featured harpsichord accompaniment prominently throughout the song.
• Harpichord is used throughout Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Ponies' 1967 hit "Different Drum"
• The Bee Gees song "I Can't see nobody" has a part for the harpsichord.
• Lalo Schifrin sometimes featured harpsichords in his jazz recordings during the 1960s.
• The Yardbirds used a harpsichord in their popular song "For Your Love." This was a particular bone of contention to guitarist Eric Clapton, and it was partly what pushed him to leave the group in 1965.
• Jimi Hendrix featured a harpsichord in his hit "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" from the Electric Ladyland album. It is easily heard playing the same main riff as Jimi on the guitar.
• The Moody Blues used the harpsichord on the song "Cities" the B-side of "Nights In White Satin" and on the album "In Search of the Lost Chord."
• Strawberry Alarm Clock used the harpsichord in some of their songs.
• Rick Wakeman often used the harpsichord in his works with Yes, as well as his solo works in the 1970's.
• Kate Bush featured a harpsichord in her 1978 song "Oh England My Lionheart".
• Procol Harum used the Harpsichord in "Look To Your Soul" in the epic "In Held 'Twas In I"
• Traffic (band)'s "Cryin' to be heard" uses the harpsicord on the verses.
• A harpsichord was part of the ensemble for the Linda Ronstadt song "Long, Long Time".
• British group The Stranglers used the harpsichord to lead their 1982 hit "Golden Brown".
• French Musician Yann Tiersen features a harpsichord in many of his songs.
• Another French Musician Paul Mauriathas a part for the harpsichord in his rendition of "Love is Blue"
• In 1996 Tori Amos featured the harpsichord on several of her songs of her album Boys for Pele: "Caught a Lite Sneeze", "Blood Roses", "Professional Widow", "Talula", and "In the Springtime of His Voodoo". She has performed the songs live on Saturday Night Live, playing both a harpsichord and a piano in turn. In addition, she played the song "Bells For Her", originally not featuring the harpsichord, on said instrument in her Dew Drop Inn tour. The harpsichord is also featured in the song "Glory of the 80s" from her 1999 album To Venus and Back, although it's not as obvious as it is in the songs previously mentioned. The instrument has also been confirmed as a collaborator on her as-of-yet untitled 2007 record.
• A harpsichord is used to provide the accompaniment to singer-songwriter Dory Previn's song "Michael Michael".
• Jim Croce's hit song "Time in a Bottle" uses a harpsichord.
• The Japanese psychedelic band Ghost has used the harpsichord.
• Queen used a harpsichord on their song "Fairy Feller's Master Stroke" from their album Queen II.
• The Buggles used harpsichords on Video Killed the Radio Star (1980)
• The Paula Abdul Top 10 hit "Blowing Kisses In The Wind" features the harpsichord.
• Blur used a harpsichord in "Clover over dover" in 1994's Parklife album.
• Björk uses the harpsichord in her songs "Cover Me" (1995), "All Is Full of Love" (1997), "Scary" (1997), "Human Behavior (unplugged)" (1999), and "Ambergris March" (2005).
• Many Power Metal bands such as Stratovarius, Sonata Arctica, Children of Bodom, Warmen, and Imperanon use their keyboard synthesizers to emulate the sounds of harpsichords.
• Joanna Newsom used the harpsichord for the track "Peach, Plum, Pear" on her Milk-Eyed Mender album.
• Jazz/Folk artist J.T. Ridenour uses harpsichords extensively throughout his earlier works.
• Japanese gothic band Malice Mizer uses harpsichords in many of their songs.
• In Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds, the instrument is used several times for interesting effect.
• Massive Attack used a harpsichord backing track on their song "Teardrop" (1998)
• Japanese rock/metal band Moi Dix Mois (and their predecessors, Malice Mizer) often use harpsichord in their songs.
• "Weird Al" Yankovic Plays the Harpsichord on the Brian Wilson-style parody named "Pancreas" on Straight Outta Lynwood
• No Doubt used harpsichords on Tragic Kingdom
• Brian Wilson plays Harpsichord on the album Smile (Brian Wilson album)
• Ben Sidran plays harpsichord on the Boz Scaggs-penned song "Baby's Calling Me Home" on the Steve Miller Band's first album Children of the Future.
• The Divine Comedy uses a harpsichord in many of his songs.
• There is a brief harpsichord solo in "Drilling Holes" by Marillion .
• Ratatat used the harpsichord and harpsichord samples on Seventeen Years. (2003)

[edit] The harpsichord in other forms of popular culture

Editors are requested to date their contributions and add them in chronological order.

• Holiday Inn (film) has a scene where they use a harpsichord.
• The Lawrence Welk Show and some songs that Lawrence Welk conducted such as the song Calcutta (song) has harpsichords.
• The jazz theme tunes to the Avengers and Danger Man television programs from the 1960s both feature harpsichords.
• The harpsichord was often used in the 1960s sitcom The Addams Family.
• Michel Legrand improvised on the harpsichord throughout his soundtrack for The Thomas Crown Affair (1968).
• The theme to The Odd Couple movie has a part for the harpsichord.
• The harpsichord was a key component of the "sound" of recordings created for the popular 1970s TV show and albums of The Partridge Family, featuring David Cassidy.
• Rocky Horror Picture Show used the harpsichord in some of the songs on the soundtrack.
• William F. Buckley once played the Harpsichord on an episode of the late night talk show Late Night With Conan O'Brian.
• Danny Elfman often uses (and reputably plays himself) the harpsichord in his soundtrack compositions; one recent example is Tim Burton's Corpse Bride where the harpsichord was used in nearly all tracks and filler music for gothic effect, and also in a few accompanying jazz pieces.
• The computer game Heroes of Might and Magic III featured the harpsichord in some, if not many, of the in-game music tracks.
• The video game Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance 2 uses a harpsichord as a key object for a quest. (Details cannot be revealed due to spoilers.)
• Garfield and Friends would use a Harpsichord-like sound on the TV series.
• The early-90's animated series The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog's main antagonist, Doctor Robotnik, had his own theme music, in which the harpsichord was used.
• Toward the end of the 1995 Linklater film Before Sunrise, a harpsichord is heard by characters Jesse and Celine through a window from a street in Vienna, setting a warm, memorable mood.
• Hans Zimmer used the harpsichord for Lord Cutler Beckett and the East India Trading Company theme in the score for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. There is no singular track on the score where those themes are the most prominent, but you can hear them in parts of "Tia Dalma" and "Hello Beastie".
• A harpsichord has been made out of Lego toy bricks ([[1]]).
• Harpsichord music is used in Lili's full-motion video ending in Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection. As she is described as a wealthy girl, the music seems to fit the description.
• A harpsichord is used for the theme of Queen Valentina in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, known as "Margarie Margarita".
• In the cartoon Cyberchase, a harpsichord can be heard when the Hacker enters the scene.
• The harpsichord is used at several parts throughout Avenue Q.