Veteran journalist Professor John Watson has been educating students in AU’s Journalism Department for 16 years. Watson believes music can often be the “soundtrack of your life,” one that brings back memories more than anything else. Columnist Lauren Hain chats with Prof. Watson in this week’s Talkin’ Tunes.
Eagle: Describe your music taste in three words or fewer.
John Watson: Old school. I’d say 70 percent of the music I like is jazz, and there hasn’t been any good jazz recorded since probably 1978. I’ve fought with people over this.
E: How would your students react to your taste in music?
JW: Some years ago, I used to bring my iPod in and get to class 10-15 minutes early, and I would play my music. It was always jazz. Some people would say they’ve never heard it before, while some people would say, "Hey, my father used to listen to that! What is that called?" Other people would say, "Please, please, it’s horrible!"
It got to the point where people would bring in their iPod and we would play some of their music for the class. I wouldn’t complain about how horrible it was, but it introduced me to different types of music as well. I also like R&B from the late 60s through the early 80s. There’s even some hip-hop I like, although most of it I don’t like. Even the hip-hop I like is pretty old; it dates back to the 90s with Fifty Cent. Although he’s still recording, [I still like] some of his older stuff in the late 90s.
E: Who is your favorite artist?
JW: The Persuasions, an a cappella group. They’re in their 70s now. Somewhere in high school, I really liked a cappella. They had a real heavy bass singer who was just outstanding. Their favorite album title is “Still Ain’t Got No Band.” A few years ago, they were playing at Wolf Trap near Dulles Airport. I was really amazed they were still alive – they were really old, but they still sound outrageously good. Everybody in the audience was old, no young people in the audience. Everybody remembers how great they were – they sound just the same, just perfect. It was the best concert I’ve attended in 20 years – the best by far. Everybody knew every song, they had to tell people, ‘Don’t sing with us!’ because it was throwing them off.
E: What is your all-time favorite album?
JW: “A Song for You” by The Temptations. I only have one side of it, because this side was outstanding and the other side was just good. I can understand every single word, and even though they have a backup band, the harmonies were just outstanding. They had a singer who was known at the time as an "R&B shouter." Their singing is actually like shouting. The original R&B shouter of The Temptations was David Ruffin. On this album, Dennis Williams was the shouter. They shout normally and their voice is a bit stretched and ragged, but it works perfectly. Not everybody can do it – some people strain to shout.
E: What intrigues you most about a song?
JW: I’m teaching this course called Understanding Media, and I was giving a lecture on music and how it is very often the soundtrack of your life. It brings memories, at least emotional memories, back to you better than anything else. Better than pictures, better than letters, better than anything. Invariably, if I’m somewhere and I hear a song, sometimes it reminds me of the girl I was dating when that song played. I was sort of embarrassed to find out a lot of the songs I have I link to particular girls I dated back in college.
E: Name one song you think all AU students should listen to. Why this song?
JW: “Imagine”—it’s a Beatles song that was improved by The Persuasions. It talks about what divides people and if we get rid of those dividing things, we could come together. It was controversial when it came out because it said religion divides people – what if there were no nations, because nationhood and patriotism divides people. It’s a hopeful song and it’s sort of soothing.
