So, what have you been listening to lately?

[uwe]

Anybody remember this little ditty of primal Dadaist minimalism? It was huge in Germany (No 4 in the charts in 1970). It evolved from a jam to check out the drum recording quality of a then new studio they had bought for themselves. The vocals and paleontology-inspired nonsense lyrics came about by accident, Lol Creme sang along unmiked to Kevin Godley recording drum tracks for demo purposes and as they multi-tracked the drums several times over his voice - though still distant and indirect - became more and more audible.

"As we laid down the drum tracks, Lol was singing in the studio with Kevin keeping time – and after we'd laid four drum tracks down Lol's voice came through at a very high level, sounding like something none of us had ever heard before on a record. It really sounded very strange, so we carried on working on the number, adding little bits of piano to it."




These three gentlemen + Graham Gouldman would become thinking man's pop 10cc a few years later.

[Dave W]

Aren't the siblings recording a new album together?

Ray says he's been recording some new music with his bandmates, That may or may not mean a new album.

Anybody remember this little ditty of primal Dadaist minimalism? It was huge in Germany (No 4 in the charts in 1970). It evolved from a jam to check out the drum recording quality of a then new studio they had bought for themselves. The vocals and paleontology-inspired nonsense lyrics came about by accident, Lol Creme sang along unmiked to Kevin Godley recording drum tracks for demo purposes and as they multi-tracked the drums several times over his voice - though still distant and indirect - became more and more audible.

"As we laid down the drum tracks, Lol was singing in the studio with Kevin keeping time – and after we'd laid four drum tracks down Lol's voice came through at a very high level, sounding like something none of us had ever heard before on a record. It really sounded very strange, so we carried on working on the number, adding little bits of piano to it."




These three gentlemen + Graham Gouldman would become thinking man's pop 10cc a few years later.

I remember it, not a top 10 hit here but it did chart. Some people confused it with the Kinks, since Apeman was out at about the same time.

[uwe]

I get it, they both sound British, are stompy + folky and then there is the primate connection ...

I would like to stress though that our Neanderthal ancestors weren't apes! And we still carry their genome around, it has especially shaped our immune system in both a good and a bad way.

https://apnews.com/article/neanderthals-denisovans-genetics-dna-disease-e49cb7d939cfe5d583e7ed0af8751784

PS: Neanderthal Man hit no 22 on the US Billboard Hot 100 charts, not bad for such a curio/novelty song.

[Dave W]

Never been a GnR fan but this popped up. Interesting.

I may be in love.

[uwe]

It's amazing how far you can get with D, C and G (or the I-bVII-IV-I progression), be it Satisfaction (chorus), Gloria, Sympathy for the Devil (verse), Hey Jude (coda), Alright Now (chorus and solo), Woman from Tokyo (coda), Sweet Home Alabama, Fox on the Run, Highway to Hell (chorus), White Wedding (verse, but played as i-bVII-IV-i, i.e. the first chord as a minor) or this!

I always heard that song as William Bruce Rose from Lafayette, Indiana, channeling his inner Americana. Good tune though (and I'm no GnR fan). To my ears he has always sung - dare I write this? - a C&W melody there.

And I always assumed that Slash did not want to solo over the verse progression for the simple fear of sounding all too Southern/Lynyrd Skynyrd, hence the somewhat wanton key change to E minor for his solo (at 03:24 in the above cover). Basically the song is made up of two songs because once they have key-changed to the dark and dramatic E minor mid-song they stay there and do not return to the country-viby D/C/G/D that makes up much of the first part.

It's a nice version alright, but proper tuning of her Taylor guitar wouldn't have harmed the rootsiness. It's the ole conundrum, if you tune your guitar pitch-perfect to D it ain't gonna sound good in E and vice versa. Bitch of a song then.

PS: "I may be in love."

(summoning great empathy) Sigh, is that Gwyneth type still lingering with you, Dave?

[Dave W]

PS: "I may be in love."

(summoning great empathy) Sigh, is that Gwyneth type still lingering with you, Dave?

I prefer brunettes. Especially dark brown hair. Always have.

[uwe]

I know, Valerie B and all that even though you don't really tap.



But Gwyneth said she'd accommodate you if you forgive her!



You're a very difficult man, Dave.

[TBird1958]

I know, Valerie B and all that even though you don't really tap.



But Gwyneth said she'd accommodate you if you forgive her!



You're a very difficult man, Dave.

I had such a crush on her when I was young!

[uwe]

This is now - and not just from a gender perspective I am breathless to add*** - very confusing, Mark, which one, Valerie or Gwyneth?

***Last we heard, you wanted to straddle him:

[TBird1958]

This is now - and not just from a gender perspective I am breathless to add*** - very confusing, Mark, which one, Valerie or Gwyneth?

***Last we heard, you wanted to straddle him:

Valerie for sure, I didn't even know of Miss Horseface back then! 

Don't go slaggin' anyone from Uriah Heep, those guys looked like, and were real rock stars - Long before the term was ruined.

[uwe]

A junkie and a friggin' alcoholic!

But yeah, Thain had great rhythmic and melodic feel and a sober Byron could front a band, though I thought his best work was actually with Rough Diamond.

[TBird1958]

A junkie and a friggin' alcoholic!

But yeah, Thain had great rhythmic and melodic feel and a sober Byron could front a band, though I thought his best work was actually with Rough Diamond.

A junkie and an alcoholic.................Like I said, Rock Stars!

Both gone way too soon, Thain, I really admired him a lot.   

[westen44]

I prefer brunettes. Especially dark brown hair. Always have.

I have a friend who is obsessed with blondes.  He kept assuming I was the same way.  Finally, it dawned on him what was happening.  That I felt about brunettes the way he felt about blondes.  The difference being he has a true obsession with blondes and I have a preference, not an obsession, for brunettes.   

[uwe]

"Thain, I really admired him a lot."

Yet you never became a finger player - that particular aspect being pretty determinative for his style.

While there are finger players like Thain, Trevor Bolder, Geddy Lee and Neil Murray I really like, I've always been drawn to (mostly) pick players like Roger Glover, Glenn Hughes, Martin Turner, Macca, John Gustafson, John McCoy, Joe Bouchard, Dennis Dunaway, Gene Simmons, Bob Daisley or Jim Lea.

[TBird1958]

"Thain, I really admired him a lot."

Yet you never became a finger player - that particular aspect being pretty determinative for his style.

While there are finger players like Thain, Trevor Bolder, Geddy Lee and Neil Murray I really like, I've always been drawn to (mostly) pick players like Roger Glover, Glenn Hughes, Martin Turner, Macca, John Gustafson, John McCoy, Joe Bouchard, Dennis Dunaway, Gene Simmons, Bob Daisley or Jim Lea.

Our current set list does give me the chance to play finger style quite a bit more it used to, I have to say that I really enjoy it a lot. But, I do not possess the strength or dexterity to really carry the whole night, that''ll never happen!
I probably like more pick players too, but then I hear Andy Fraser getting that huge woofy tone of his and I wonder why I don't have a nice EB-3 with some cool banjo tuners