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Eli | Mike | Mary - click for individual bio
November 14, 2003
The Kids Are Alright
I was in drawing class the other night, trying to do a little silverpoint portrait of an egg beater. It didn’t work out; I’m not too good at silverpoint, which is a form of sketching using silver wire that predates the invention of graphite. The ancient Romans used it, but I’m no Roman (just a little bit Italian…not from Rome, though, from the South) and I just couldn’t get it to work out. The radio was on, and there was this song playing that I knew but just couldn’t place. It was driving me crazy…then it hit me that it was “Band On The Run” by Wings. But I had never heard “Band On The Run” by Wings before, I just knew the song from the Langley Schools Project cover version, which is, I guess, sort of like only knowing “Let It Be” via the Tennessee Ernie Ford rendition.
Anyway, no offense to Mr. McCartney, but I’ll never be able to listen to his song now without thinking of those sixth grade Canadians, and as far as I’m concerned they come out ahead of the original artists on pretty much every song on the whole Langley album. Forget the Beach Boys, forget Bowie and Fleetwood Mac, I just want to hear them little 1970’s freaks go on and on and on! They should put that album on 8-track, so it can play in a continuous loop on my stereo! I bet Mary would love that.
So, anyway, apart from the Langley kids, I decided to comb through my record collection to see if I could turn up any more musical geniuses of the gradeschool set. Here’s what I came up with:
1. Mozart, but you already knew that.
2. Patience and Prudence. These gals, a pair of sisters, were 14 and 11 respectively when they cut “Tonight You Belong To Me” back in the 1950’s. This was originally a little 1920’s ukulele tune with a sad little minor-key melody and lyrics that sort of obliquely celebrate infidelity; the girls (or their arranger, I suppose) updated it with a fifties ballad-type backing and great intertwining harmonies. It’s pretty damn catchy, although I imagine its popularity (I believe it was a #1 pop hit when it came out) rests more on the girls’ cuteness factor than anything else. Actually, it’s a little creepy to hear the younger sister’s piping little kid voice going on about what amounts to a one-night stand, but I suppose it’s no different from the Langley kids talkin’ bout suicide when they cover “God Only Knows,” right? Or am I reading too much into this?
You film buffs might recognize “Tonight You Belong To Me” because Steve Martin sang it in “The Jerk.” Barring that, you can hear Pateince & Prudence’s version as an MP3 of dubious legality on this web site:
http://www.basichip.com/patience_and_prudence/pp000.htm
You can actually listen to their entire catalog there if you so desire, but apart from their sole hit it’s kind of a rough road, so I don’t quite recommend that…
3. Soapy Grapes. This is a band of more recent vintage (1990’s) from Seattle consisting of my Cal Arts friend Stefan, some of his friends, and his 8-year-old cousin Hannah on vocals. Actually, Hannah doesn’t just sing, but judging from the available homemade recordings I think she wrote the material herself as she went, improv-style, while the rest of the band sort of followed her along. In theory, this should be godawful, but in fact it is some truly amazing punk rock; Hannah sings mostly about people being mean to her, and also about vampires. In fact, my favorite Soapy Grapes track is called “I Saw A Vampire,” and you can hear it as the soundtrack of a Flash animation of the same name made by Stefan; it’s here on his truly amazing website:
http://www.stefangruber.com/fpc01/
And a few more Soapy Grapes songs are here:
http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/210/soapy_grapes.html
If I were rich, and had my own record label, I think that for my first release I would try to put out “I Saw A Vampire” as a 45 rpm record…or as a picture disc perhaps, with Stefan’s artwork on the vinyl! Wouldn’t that be boss? And incredibly expensive? I’m not sure what would go on the flipside, maybe the Monolators covering Soapy Grapes. Oh, I’d love that. Too damn bad we’re broke! Ha ha!
Eli |
