The Surprising Rock Music Moment That Featured an 82-Year-Old Poet
The story of Edwin Morgan and Idlewild
Just when you thought you’d heard everything in the world of music, something comes out of nowhere that completely explodes your assumptions and expectations.
A musical moment that suddenly expands the boundaries of what you thought a mere song could do.
This is a post about one of those rare moments. And I think you’ll agree with me on this next point:
Regardless of how broad your musical tastes are, or how eclectic your sonic preferences might be — you just don’t expect an 82-year-old poet to start reciting spoken-word verses in the middle of an anthemic power-pop alternative rock song.
Especially when the core audience for most radio-friendly pop-rock skews to the much-vaunted 18–34-year-old demographic.
That’s why what happened in 2002 continues to be so surprising.
That was the year that Idlewild — among the most highly-touted alt-rock bands of the early 2000s — released their most commercially successful album, The Remote Part, selling more than 100,000 copies in the first week alone.
