Ivan Orr
The Return of TLC
A Reminder: Don’t Bore Us, Give Us A Great (and Memorable) Chorus
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I often try to avoid the urge to wax poetically in the area of nostalgia. The reason for this is that sometimes I believe it’s easy to go to a space that is comfortable and where we can edit so that we can only deal with the pleasant and not the painful. Ok, enough of being a Donald Downer (in this instance). There have been a few occasions in my life where I’ve become so far removed from a time and place, an era if you will that when I’m presented with reminders of said era many years later it provides an awakening if you will to a time in my life that has long since remained dormant and out of mind.
I can think of a few instances… one being when I saw “School Daze” for the second time literally a decade after I first saw it in the movie theater. For some odd reason I never viewed it again on cable or video and then all of a sudden sometime in early 1998 here it was again in my life. I had first viewed the film right on the brink of graduating high school and now I was able to mark the time a decade later. The good, the bad, the whatever was all in the front of my mind. Ten years? Had I changed? Had the world changed?Similarly, not only in viewing VH-1’s TLC biopic the other night but also taking time to run through their discography/videos I was able to mark that era not only in my life but to take a moment to put TLC in proper musical and pop culture context. To be quite honest with you I had forgotten who large they truly were. Further, I had forgotten how much their music was the soundtrack of those crucial developmental years. We’re essentially of the same age group so on their tremendous run of hits and success we all go through a lot of changes from our twenties to our thirties.What I realized that I missed most and what I genuinely appreciate and admire about TLC’s “return” is that TLC is not trying to be any other group besides TLC. What I mean by that is, in watching the film and listening to their music I was reminded how infectious all of their tunes were. Great melodies and hooks that you can sing at the drop of a hat. I hadn’t listened to a lot of TLC in a very long time but as soon as the music dropped for any of their hits total recall for every lyric crept in my head and ear. I have only listened to their latest “Meant To Be” (which they collaborated greatly with Ne-Yo on) twice but the hook is stuck in my head which is a great thing I believe.The return of TLC truly served as a reminder to me that there was and can be a time where music that can make you feel good, think and be memorable all at the same time can truly exist. A welcome return. -
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TLC on “CrazySexyCool” Biopic & “Meant to Be” Song Written By Ne-Yo
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Ivan Orr is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, performer, and writer. A native of Charlottesville, Virginia Ivan was involved with the forming and nascent days of The Music Resource Center as its first Program Director. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Music, Ivan currently resides in Richmond, VA where he maintains an active performance and production schedule while serving as the Music Editor for Grown Folks Music, a position he has held since 2010.
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