Jamil Ragland Photo
Violist Michael Wheeler
I Want My ’80s: A Totally Rad Musical Rewind
Hartford Public Library
Hartford
Nov. 19, 2024
What makes a song a classic?
I was pondering that as I listened to members of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra play as a string quartet in the I Want My ’80s concert at the Hartford Public Library.
Simon Bilyk and Candy Lammers on violin, Michael Wheeler on viola and Adam Willson on bass brought to life some of the greatest songs of the 1980s in imaginative and fun arrangements that maintained the spirit of the originals while making them sound amazing when played by a string quartet.
It was also a bit of a trivia game, where we were challenged to identify the songs that the quartet performed. Granted, it’s not hard to recognize “Billie Jean” as soon as Willson hit the audience with that funky baseline, yet I admit that I was stumped on a couple of the songs. I didn’t recognize the first song at all, but I got my feet under myself when the quartet launched into a great version of the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams.”
It was right about when the quartet started playing one of my favorite songs of all time, A‑Ha’s “Take on Me,” that I formulated my theory on what makes a song a classic. Even though the songs had been expertly arranged and transposed to be playable on instruments they weren’t written for, it took only a few seconds for the audience to recognize them. Those memorable few notes — whether it’s an unforgettable riff or a bassline that gets your foot moving or a chorus you can’t get out of your head — are the most important aspects of a classic song.
I found myself grinning uncontrollably as I recognized the first few notes of song after song, from the legendary opening guitar of AC/DC’s middle finger to death “Back in Black” to the methodical piano playing that starts off Journey’s karaoke classic “Don’t Stop Believing.” That song finally got me to start singing along. I’d resisted the whole evening, but when the song reached “A singer in a smoky room,” I couldn’t help myself.
“In the ’80s there were a lot of different sounds,” Bilyk said between songs. “So we’re being synthesizers, pianos, guitars, so many different sounds that we usually aren’t.”
That was a big part of my enjoyment of the evening as well, because the audience could tell that the performers were having fun too. I’ve often wondered if classical musicians, who have often spent decades honing their craft, ever feel like playing popular music is “beneath” their talents. It was obvious that the performers were having as much of a blast as the audience was. We kept feeding of of each other’s energy until the concert ended with a tender rendition of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time.”
I was born in 1985, so any claim to being an “’80s Baby” is a quite literal one, as I don’t remember much of anything before the Berlin Wall fell. Still, the classics never die, and the Hartford Symphony Orchestra is doing a great job of helping them to stay alive.
Final Score: 11/13 Songs Recognized
Sweet Dreams- Eurythmics
Don’t You- Simple Minds
Take on Me- A‑ha
I Wanna Dance With Somebody- Whitney Houston
Africa- Toto
Back in Black- AC/DC
Don’t Stop Believing- Journey
Sweet Child O’ Mine- Guns N’ Roses
Billie Jean- Michael Jackson
What’s Love Got to Do With It?- Tina Turner
Time After Time- Cyndi Lauper
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The Hartford Symphony Orchestra will return to Hartford Public Library in February 2025.
Jamil goes to check out some more music at the Four Dads Pub.