Maybe Tamara is on to something with the shared campfire as a touchstone. What would people sing (have people sung) together around campfires, hearths, hootenannies, ships at sea, mudcat cafes, since 500,000 B.C? Suppose this site were a virtual campfire, and someone suggested singing Brahms Third Symphony! They wouldn't get very far -- but Brahms's Lullaby would make it. Shareable, singable, not necessarily by experts. This is why the tunefulness is so important. Maybe this helps explain why people are suspicious of electric stuff (unless you have a really long extension cord). It has to be shareable under basic circumstances, which a good electric original might be able to survive even with the superstructure eliminated. Dare I say like some of the Mamas and Papas? Raises a new topic: Who would you have around your ideal campfire (like Judy Chicago's Dinner Party of great women of history)?

Peter Timmerman