Day 226: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – Hooked on Classics III
Today’s album is an interesting one. I remember I was reading an interview with some artist (I can’t remember who) where the interviewer asked about Hooked on Classics, he didn’t know about it, it was described as something that everyone’s mother was blasting in the car at some stage, presumably in the ‘80s. I was interested, I put a pin in it, today is the day I’ll give it a go.
Album cover courtesy of RCA Records
If like me you’re unaware, Hooked on Classics is a series of albums where the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra plays classical music conducted by Louis Clark from ELO – as you can expect from the last bit, it’s not really classical music in the traditional sense. It’s very much sped up and with a steady disco beat in the background, played on a LinnDrum drum machine.
I kind of went into this expecting that I could listen to a novelty album and we could all have a bit of a giggle at its expense, but I ended up actually having a genuinely sort of fun time. That’s because this album is very fun. As soon as we got into the swing of it, I started laughing, then I bopped my head for 40 minutes. Is it corny? Yup. Cheesy? Oh yeah, definitely. But try and tell me that it’s not fun. You can’t.
And I am allergic to snobbery and elitism, I fully believe that some people want to keep things like classical music as hoity-toity and inaccessible because admitting to themselves that it’s just music that anyone can appreciate makes them feel less special. If this was a 1980s gateway drug into classical music for the middle classes, that’s only ever a good thing – we need more people going to opera houses and concert halls, not less.
I’m reluctantly admitting that this was a bit of a vibe, at least as something that you only listen to once. I’m not sure if I’m ever going for this again, but it does work as a fun bit of novelty. And it sold 15 million copies! I’d be willing to bet a fair few sales for actual classical music records were made on the back of this. I bite my thumb at the purists, I’m giving it a 6.5/10.