WHY GOLD SOUL?
Gold Soul is not the greatest name in the world for a magazine, we realize this. We could've called it Black Music, but there is already one. Anyway, how could we reasonably title a one-shot like this anything so all-encompassing? "Black Music" would certainly include artists such as Bob Marley, B.B. King, Chuck Berry, and for that matter, Charlie Parker.
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WHY GOLD SOUL?
Gold Soul is not the greatest name in the world for a magazine, we realize this.
We could've called it Black Music, but there is already one. Anyway, how could we reasonably title a one-shot like this anything so all-encompassing? "Black Music" would certainly include artists such as Bob Marley, B.B. King, Chuck Berry, and for that matter, Charlie Parker. Maybe even Charley Pride. Bob Marley? How 'bout Peter Tosh? B.B. King? How 'bout Buddy Guy? Chuck Berry? What about Bo Diddley? Charlie Parker? Dizzy Gillespie. And so on.
No one's about to deny that the music covered within is gold, in both senses of the word—old and salesworthy—it all applies here. But soul? Does that word still apply? As has been noted, Billboard stopped calling it "soul" music years ago; now they've got a "black music" chart. Only problem is, on that chart, along with Rick James and Gladys Knight, are David Bowie, Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, Culture Club and even the Euryfhmics. This is "black music"?
If this makes less sense to you than it does to us, just chalk it up to a screwy system that dictates who will like what, and why. It's part of the same problem that keeps artists like Rick James (and Gladys Knight) off MTV but manages to provide exactly the same service for every one of those other "black music" artists.
No one likes to carelessly hurl labels around, so we'll refrain here; instead, we'll just ask you to read what follows and consider it one approach—our approach— to covering the greatest music form America has ever produced. Anybody feel like arguing? —The Editors
