# Herb Alpert - Why Was He Popular? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 24, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herb-alpert-why-was-he-popular/568801 "2011-01-24T16:48:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herb-alpert-why-was-he-popular/568801/21 "2011-01-24T19:39:09Z")
I think “Rise” was helped in its popularity by its dubious distinction as the theme played to Luke’s notorious rape of Laura on the floor of the campus disco in _General Hospital_. Very creepy scene thanks in large part to the music. (I think it was also used in the innumerable flashbacks to the rape during that storyline, too.) No soap fan who was around back then (oldies like me!) will forget it! Edited to add: And yes, it’s disco – it’s a slow dance but still disco-flavored. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herb-alpert-why-was-he-popular/568801/22 "2011-01-24T19:48:33Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Right place, right time, boobs on the [album cover](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.musicnear.com/images/Whipped-Cream-Other-Delights-B000002GA9-L.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.musicnear.com/Herb-Alpert/Whipped-Cream-Other-Delights-B000002GA9.htm&usg=__71w8jrjhr9KT8MMjPoM0R7_eTyU=&h=300&w=307&sz=27&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=_sxk_YsYPiMuCM:&tbnh=138&tbnw=152&ei=D7A9Tcr8G4-isAPZibWUAw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwhipped%2Bcream%2Band%2Bother%2Bdelights%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DX%26biw%3D1003%26bih%3D567%26tbs%3Disch:1%26prmd%3Divns&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=90&oei=D7A9Tcr8G4-isAPZibWUAw&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0&tx=42&ty=67). Yep, and pretty much anyone who’s ever spent more than five minutes in a thrift store knows that album cover well. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herb-alpert-why-was-he-popular/568801/23 "2011-01-24T19:53:05Z")
> [@choie](#): > > Edited to add: And yes, it’s disco – it’s a slow dance but still disco-flavored. OK, I’ll grant you that. Listening to it now on my iPhone, it does have a very fat bass line, plus disco hand-claps. 🙂 I had no idea of the _General Hospital_ connection. Eeew. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herb-alpert-why-was-he-popular/568801/24 "2011-01-24T20:39:28Z")
Favorite albums _Going Places_ and _What Now My Love_ Some of the other albums had too much Mexican for my taste. A little Mariachi goes a long way. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herb-alpert-why-was-he-popular/568801/25 "2011-01-24T20:56:40Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > OK, I’ll grant you that. Listening to it now on my iPhone, it does have a very fat bass line, plus disco hand-claps. 🙂 Yeah. Plus it’s got the typical “four-to-the-floor” disco drum beat along with that stereotypical syncopated guitar chording in the back. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herb-alpert-why-was-he-popular/568801/26 "2011-01-25T00:52:44Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > His songs were bright, sunny, catchy melodies… It was bright, tuneful pop music, which is always in demand. The Mariachi overtones made it stand out, as did Alpert’s trumpet playing… Yup. I remember my parents playing those albums, and my sisters and I would dance around to his cover of “Zorba the Greek” until we got dizzy. TJB’s Christmas album is a longtime favorite of ours, too. Lots of jazzy takes on holiday favorites: [http://www.parisdjs.com/images/covers/captaindetendu\_djouls-xmas/Herb\_Alpert\_and\_the\_Tijuana\_Brass-Christmas\_Album\_b.jpg](http://www.parisdjs.com/images/covers/captaindetendu_djouls-xmas/Herb_Alpert_and_the_Tijuana_Brass-Christmas_Album_b.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Kim\_o\_the\_Concrete\_Jungle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ee7513/32.png) [@Kim\_o\_the\_Concrete\_Jungle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kim_o_the_Concrete_Jungle)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herb-alpert-why-was-he-popular/568801/27 "2011-01-25T01:20:44Z")
My mom and dad, at the time, went and saw Herb Alpert _instead_ of the Beatles. Mom couldn’t stand all those stupid screaming teenage girls. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herb-alpert-why-was-he-popular/568801/28 "2011-01-25T01:29:01Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Some of the other albums had too much Mexican for my taste. A little Mariachi goes a long way. But it was _sanitized_ mariachi. _Homogenized_ Mexico. Titillating Tijuana for Toontown. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herb-alpert-why-was-he-popular/568801/29 "2011-01-25T01:35:37Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > …which was so iconic that it was [parodied](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000018VF.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg). [More than once…](http://tralfaz-archives.com/coverart/F/frivolous_sourf.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herb-alpert-why-was-he-popular/568801/30 "2011-01-25T01:37:35Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > But it was _sanitized_ mariachi. _Homogenized_ Mexico. Titillating Tijuana for Toontown. Well, yeah. Herb isn’t exactly Mexican (he’s Jewish, of eastern European descent). Once he actually hired session musicians to make up the TJB, none of them were actually Mexican, either. I suspect it’s not much different from the watered-down versions of Mexican food (or Italian food, or Chinese food) that you could find in American cookbooks in the 1960s. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herb-alpert-why-was-he-popular/568801/31 "2011-01-25T02:10:57Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Well, yeah. Herb isn’t exactly Mexican (he’s Jewish, of eastern European descent). Once he actually hired session musicians to make up the TJB, none of them were actually Mexican, either. > > I suspect it’s not much different from the watered-down versions of Mexican food (or Italian food, or Chinese food) that you could find in American cookbooks in the 1960s. Yeah, not a lot of Mexicans named Herbert. 🙂 mmm ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herb-alpert-why-was-he-popular/568801/32 "2011-01-25T02:17:35Z")
Alpert started with a song called “Twinkle Star” and was trying to figure a hook to make it work. After seeing a Mariachi band, he added a bullfighting fanfare and renamed the song “The Lonely Bull.” And he never claimed it was authentically Mexican and would often joke about it. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herb-alpert-why-was-he-popular/568801/33 "2011-01-25T02:47:03Z")
[quote=“astorian, post:4, topic:568801”] Because a lot of people heard his tunes and liked them. There’s no more profound or compelling explanation than that. /QUOTE] Yes there is: Boobs on the cover. Best wishes, hh ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herb-alpert-why-was-he-popular/568801/34 "2011-01-25T02:58:31Z")
It was elevator music with 3 or 4 grains of hot pepper, at a time when both the bland and the exotic held an unshakable fascination. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herb-alpert-why-was-he-popular/568801/35 "2011-01-25T03:02:56Z")
I grew up listening to my Mom play the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and the Tijuana Brass. I still love all of them. Mom’s in her early 70’s and I’m in my late 40’s so we had the whole Baby Boom happen between our births. It’s fun, peppy music. I even bought the CD of Whipped Cream several years ago. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herb-alpert-why-was-he-popular/568801/36 "2011-01-25T06:48:45Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Yeah, not a lot of Mexicans named Herbert. 🙂 > mmm Herberto! ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herb-alpert-why-was-he-popular/568801/37 "2011-01-25T11:58:57Z")
> [@choie](#): > > I think “Rise” was helped in its popularity by its dubious distinction as the theme played to Luke’s notorious rape of Laura on the floor of the campus disco in _General Hospital_. Very creepy scene thanks in large part to the music. (I think it was also used in the innumerable flashbacks to the rape during that storyline, too.) No soap fan who was around back then (oldies like me!) will forget it! Which is why I still refer to it as Bobbie (Luke’s sister) did when she heard it play on the radio, “What’s the name of this song again Luke? Music To Get Raped By?” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herb-alpert-why-was-he-popular/568801/38 "2011-01-25T12:23:32Z")
[quote=“handsomeharry, post:33, topic:568801”] > [@astorian](#): > > Because a lot of people heard his tunes and liked them. There’s no more profound or compelling explanation than that. > /QUOTE] > > Yes there is: Boobs on the cover. > > Best wishes, > hh “I don’t think a sexy cover is the reason an album sells or doesn’t sell. I mean, you’re telling me… The WHITE ALBUM? There was NOTHING on that f—ing cover.” -Bobbie Fleckman, _ **This Is Spinal Tap** _ (A LITTLE) More seriously, I was a horny 14 year old when the Ohio Players were popular, and they had some great album covers (usually naked girls covered in honey or something like that). But the cover was a bonus, not a reason to buy the album in itself. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herb-alpert-why-was-he-popular/568801/39 "2011-01-25T12:27:47Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Wow, I had no idea he had vocal stuff. Can’t say I ever remember hearing that song. Also, it looks like he had another #1 hit in 1979 with “Rise,” which is another one I’ve never heard of before, but is an instrumental. > > Herb Albert circa the Tijuana Brass Band was, like you say, bright, sunny, catchy, and melodic. The music was fun, carefree, completely not self-serious. _Whipped Cream and Other Delights_ may have a bit of cheese in it, but it’s good cheese. If memory serves Rise was popular also because it was hammered a lot on General Hospital in relation to the whole Luke and Laura bullshit that was whipping up a frenzy with the whole world. I still do not understand how a soap opera can take over a country so heavily. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herb-alpert-why-was-he-popular/568801/40 "2011-01-25T12:36:06Z")
We had a morning talk radio show host use Rise for his theme song, I heard that every day at 6:00 am for years. This was the music my parents listened to on their “Hi-Fi” system (Voice of Music) so Herb has great nostalgic value for me. My mom still has Whipped Cream complete with the original plastic wrap and price tag, $2.87 from Grant’s Department store. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herb-alpert-why-was-he-popular/568801.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herb-alpert-why-was-he-popular/568801.md?page=3)