Posted on 01/16/2021 10:31:34 PM PST by nickcarraway
From Kate Bush's 'Babooshka' to Fleetwood Mac's 'Dreams', the app's gone nostalgia crazy. We asked TikTok stars, musicians and psychologists: why?
Kate Bush's 1980 weirdo-banger 'Babooshka' has filled many a TikTokker with glee. Credit: Getty You don’t need us to tell you that TikTok now has a huge effect on the music industry. With the power to launch careers with one viral clip, we’re seeing the birth of a new star every day. But how about the revival of an old one? Last year saw TikTok revive vintage hits, from ‘70s classics such as Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’ to ‘00s deep cuts such as legendary Glasgow indie band Life Without Buildings’ ‘The Leanover’. Now ancient sea shanties are even going viral on the app, as is – perhaps more improbably still – The Wombat’s 2015 electro-pop tune ‘Greek Tragedy’.
With 41 per cent of users between the ages of 16 and 24, we hit up musicians, psychologists and some of the app’s biggest creators to find out why the app is bringing back tracks that outdate even their parents.
The Nostalgia Factor
It would be naïve to believe that we’re living in a world where the younger generation don’t know timeless anthems such as ‘Dreams’, or Bowie’s ‘Starman’ (the latter has amassed over 14,000 videos since being added to the app on his birthday). The cross-generational appeal of these songs could instead be a reason for their success. California-based psychologist and writer Dr. Ronald Riggio, who specialises in adolescent psychology, credits “greater involvement by parents” as a factor, with parents spending more time sharing their own interests and tastes with their kids, causing Gen-Z-ers to take to TikTok to create content soundtracked by songs from their childhood that trigger good memories.
And maybe that nostalgia doesn’t even have to be tired to a particular memory of a song, but more a vibe that puts you in a reflective mood. Talking about his own recently-revived track, ‘Life Without Buildings’ guitarist Chris Evans chalks its return up to its ability to “take you somewhere or to a certain somebody – it can also be a wilful thought, say if you’re singing along in the backseat of your stepdad’s car.”
TikTok tribes
However, this is definitely not the case for every viral vintage tune. Take Kate Bush’s 1980 banger ‘Babooshka’, for example. 200,000 TikTok videos have featured the song in some form or other (including a trending cover for which actor and musician Tobee Paik adds metal guitar) and Twitter is flooded with Gen-Zers delighted at having discovered Kate’s discography. Even 18 Year-Old Tennessee-based TikTok fantatic Sydney Rose White (aka @rosebewhite on the app), whose video using the sound has accrued more than 344,000 likes, admits to NME that she had never “heard of her or listened to any of her stuff before”.
Kate Bush has quickly settled into her rightful place on so-called ‘WitchTok’, with ‘Babooshka’ soundtracking content about tarot cards, love potion making and gothic-inspired videos with dramatic outfit changes, not too dissimilar from her original music video. This is down to the success of TikTok’s personalised ‘For You’ page, which like any algorithm-driven success story reflects your own tastes back at you. Or, as TikTok’s Communications Lead Barney Hooper puts it to us, it’s “powered by a recommendation system that delivers content that is likely to be of interest to a particular user, based on a combination of factors”.
Here’s a perfect example: it only took a 10-second-long clip of former NME cover star Beabadoobee lip-syncing the song to turn ‘The Leanover’ into a new alt-girl anthem with over 69k videos on the app and 3 million Spotify streams , 21 years after its release.
Inevitable gatekeeping
Naturally when this happens, the song’s popularity is quickly boosted by those desperate to prove that they listened to the track before it was TikTok approved. A quick search of “Kate Bush TikTok” on Twitter and you’re met with a wall of disgruntled fans fuming at the song’s revived mainstream popularity. They then take to TikTok to attempt to assert their superiority, and in turn only make it more viral.
Straight-up marketing
There’s definitely a case for TikTok themselves playing a part in this phenomena. When Idaho-based TikTok Nathan Apodaca posted a clip of himself TikTok cruising on a skateboard with some cranberry juice, soundtracked by ‘Dreams’, the Fleetwood Mac album it appeared on, 1977’s ‘Rumours’, re-entered the Billboard chart for the first time in 43 years. This also boosted sales of the song by an astonishing 374%. The app clearly saw an opportunity and have since welcomed the music estates of icons such as John Lennon, Whitney Houston and Elvis, and recently did a huge push around adding Bowie’s music to the app by launching the hashtag #TheStarman.
Ole Obermann, the Global Head of Music at TikTok, tells NME: “Record labels and artist teams recognise TikTok as one of the most powerful promotional tools in the business”, indicating that as more old songs go viral, it becomes more and more likely that boardrooms and suits are getting involved, marketing legacy songs on the app in the same way in which they approach new releases.
A little something special
On a more optimistic note, there’s perhaps also a remixing element at work, as Gen Z-ers see new qualities in tracks they were previously unfamiliar with. With 14.9 million followers, TikTok make-up tutorial star Abby Roberts is one of the biggest UK creators on the app. She reveals to NME what she looks for when creating content: “Something like a good beat drop is ideal for TikTok because it means I can do transitions”, referring the dramatic jump-cuts between the make-up looks she creates, which amp up the effect of the ‘before’ and ‘after’.
Homing in on this, Guildford-based producer Timmy Dillow explains that while modern production may feel more vibrant than older tune, it’s actually “less effective through a phone’s mono speaker” because “popular music in the ‘50s to ‘80s put a lot of emphasis on harmonic and melodic change from verse to chorus”, lending for a more standout, rousing jump that still sounds great through your iPhone.
The Visual Element
Beyond the science of production, songs such as ‘Babooshka’ and ‘Starman’ were made in a time when music videos were a big deal. Songs were more likely to be written with a visual element in mind, making them far easier for TikTokkers to come up with trending concepts or use them to soundtrack scroll-stopping transitions. ‘The Leanover”s opening humming lends itself to an exaggerated satisfied smile as TikTokers lip-sync along to the track, casting themselves in the lead role of their own mini music videos.
When ’80s hip-hop duo L’Trimm’s ‘Cars That Go Boom’ hit the app, it came accompanied by a cheesy dance routine that could’ve been pulled straight from the original video. Remember: in a time when TV shows like Top Of The Pops made or broke a song, artists were crafting dance routines in the same way that Drake‘s ‘Tootie Slide’ shimmy unashamedly catered for TikTok last year.
Who doesn’t love a new song?
Overall, Life Without Buildings’ singer Sue Tompkins summarises it best with her excitement: “I love discovering new music, old music, anything that just makes me feel something new and excites me… I think it’s just that you find things at the right time.”
For Gen-Zers discovering these songs for the first time, it is no different to stumbling upon an up-and-coming band. Years on, these old songs are falling on fresh ears, judging them and connecting to them in the same way they would a new release, and adding it to their playlists regardless of its production date.
TikTokkers don’t care that Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers‘ ‘Just The Two Of Us’ – which has also gone viral on the app – was made in 1985 [It was recorded in 1980, released in 1981. - Nickcarraway] when it’s still catchy as ever today. Good songs with a good sentiment don’t age, and the feeling of finding a song you love and playing it on repeat doesn’t have any time constraint.
pretty young girls dancing to them?
It could also be that there was much more variety and professionalism to be found in radio music up until the last decade or two. Said another way: Seen one Cardi-B Strip-Twerk&Cuss video, seen ‘em all!
One of them was an old guy on a skateboard drinking cranberry juice.
First call session guitarist said that session work is basically extinct. He used to do 25 session guitar parts a week. He said now he's lucky to get 2 a year.
These poor deprived kids. Then again, it took me a few years to realize the music my parents listened to was pretty cool, and timeless.
“It would be naïve to believe that we’re living in a world where the younger generation don’t know timeless anthems such as ‘Dreams’,...
I have no idea what song that refers to.
” or Bowie’s ‘Starman’ ...”
Hardly a well known Bowie song compared to others.
Sure. It's only been voted one of the greatest songs of all time, been used in tv commercials, in movies, in Presidential campaigns and in the launch of Elon Musk's cars and space ventures. You may not recognize the name but you would probably recognize the song instantly if you heard it.
I know Starman. I said it not as well known as others.
Maybe it is, I don’t watch commercials, but it’s not one of Bowie’s better songs. Lind if boring and dumb.
I don’t think it’s as universally known as this author thinks.
Heroes. Fame. China Girl. Let’s Dance. Rebel Rebel. Off the top of my head I’d think they are more well known. They’re certainly all better songs.
Corporate money and influencers.
And because no one need actually buy a record or CD or digital download it all makes money for the publisher just because people “did it” for 15 seconds.
>>>You don’t need us to tell you that TikTok now has a huge effect on the music industry.
As much influence as STDs and video game soundtracks
the disco/rap stars will just sample his session guitar lick from the hit song and he won’t get paid but the “star” act will.
They aren't deprived. They have the whole bloomin’ history of recorded music for the past 100 years at their fingertips for free.
And they still list to the same top 10 shat.
>>For Gen-Zers discovering these songs for the first time, it is no different to stumbling upon an up-and-coming band. Years on, these old songs are falling on fresh ears, judging them and connecting to them in the same way they would a new release, and adding it to their playlists regardless of its production date.
Nullshite
They are still only listening to a very narrow strip of music styles and even tracks by these artists, no deep cuts and certainly nothing decades beyond the “hip zone” (75-99).
They are programmed to respond. As they are in their political views which come from YahooooooNews and late night comedians and instagramg/twitter memes.
You’re missing the author’s point between what makes a good song and what makes a good song for a viral video. Starman has it all: the beat, the massive octave jump, the la, la-la, lala chorus, everything you need to make a great video. Try doing that with Ground control to Major Tom.
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