C'mon and let the music play (minus vocals)

Does anybody remember the last time they heard a new instrumental on the radio, or wherever you get your music? Do musicians even do mass-market instrumentals any more?

This thought came to mind the other day while listening to a Herb Alpert instrumental from the ’70s on one of those Casey Kasam Classic Top 40 shows. It struck me that, at least as the Top 40 goes, at least for rock, country, pop and such, it’s been a while since I’ve heard a good instrumental. Or an instrumental of any kind.

Sure, Brad Paisley likes to show off his guitar skills in his videos and concerts, and even has an instrumental or two on albums, but he hasn’t released an instrumental single. At least, I’m not aware of any.

Instrumentals used to be a mainstay. Remember “Wipe Out”? Every high school drummer I knew tried to play the drum solo from that surfing tune. Go back a little and recall “Telstar” by The Tornadoes. You know it when you hear it, even if you don’t know the name. I checked, and that came out in 1962.

I still was a kid in the ‘60s, but the music stuck with me, and I liked the instrumentals. “Green Onions” by Booker T & The MGs, “Hawaii Five-O” by The Ventures, “Rebel Rouser” from Duane Eddy, and who could forget “Last Date” by Floyd Cramer? Mason Williams did wonders for the guitar with “Classical Gas.” When I was in high school, nearly every band played “The Horse,” which was a top hit in the late ’60s. In the Dekalb High School Bear Band, we played “Hawaii Five-O” and “Leap Frog” at football games.

Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass scored big back then, and he inspired lots of high-school trumpeters. The group hit the charts with “A Taste of Honey,” “The Lonely Bull” and other Latin-flavored instrumentals. I can’t remember the name of it, but Herb Alpert had a solo hit in the late ’70s or early ’80s that I think became a hit because, besides being good, it was used as the background music for some of Showtime’s aerobicise videos. Some who saw those videos might actually remember the music.

There were lots of instrumentals courtesy of the movies. Going way back, “Exodus” was the rousing theme from the movie of the same title and still instantly grabs my attention whenever it plays. The theme from 1969’s “Romeo and Juliet” was a big hit, even hitting No. 1 on the charts ahead of The Beatles. (Andy Williams even did a version with lyrics.) Henry Mancini gave us lots of movie instrumentals, including the instantly recognizable “Pink Panther” theme. (“I can name that tune in four notes.”) Hugo Montenegro made a mark with his theme for “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” Later, we got “Axel F” from “Beverly Hills Cop.”

Remember the TV instrumental themes that made the charts, besides “Hawaii Five-O”? “Hill Street Blues” was a big one, and the “Miami Vice” theme even made it to No. 1. Even “The Rockford Files” theme got airplay.

But, for some reason, instrumentals seem to have dropped off the planet unless you happen to hear one on an oldies station, or catch a late-night infomercial. The last instrumental I can find that hit the charts was “Crazy Frog Song,” a 2005 remix of “Axel F.” It became one of the most annoying ring tones ever, and that may account for the demise of instrumentals.

It’s a shame such a cool music genre has faded away for the most part. Sure, there are extended solos and instrumental interludes in some songs (think “Free Bird”). But, that’s not the same as instrumentals. Some of today’s songs probably would be better as instrumentals, such as anything by Nikki Minaj (I think I’ve heard one song of hers on the radio), or Justin Bieber. They still wouldn’t necessarily be good, but without vocals they’d be better.

Maybe the folks who keep giving us talent shows like “American Idol” and “The X Factor” and “The Voice” (they’re not “reality” shows, but talent shows) could come up with a program for instrumentalists to share their talents. They could have categories for different instruments — guitar, piano, drums, bass, violin, horns, etc. — and create a instrumental group, maybe even give winners a chance to do studio work with established stars.

It definitely would be a break from untalented people puncturing our eardrums with horrible voices and seeing them humiliate themselves before millions of viewers. Of course, early on in these competitions that may be the entertainment value producers are after.

Anything’s possible, I guess, and with so much retro interest these days there might be hope that a few musicians, or a music producer, will notice there aren’t any new instrumentals and be inspired to fill the void. In the meantime, I think I’ll see if I can find that old Herb Alpert album. Of course, then I’ll have to see if I can find an old turntable, too.