There is a gold record hanging on a wall of my house I received for work as "a second" (assistant engineer) on Chicago #16. Even though my hands-on engineering for Chicago was minimal, this memento is one of my most cherished.
The band arrived at Skyline Recording in 1982, a little more than a year after we had opened. They hadn't had a hit record for a few years, and Columbia Records had dropped them. My understanding was the band was self-financing this record (no Kickstarter then), and they hired David Foster to produce.
David was (still is) enormously talented musically, but his real strength was his diplomacy navigating the politics of a large band, while gently dragging them toward the modern sounds of a new decade. He could be forceful when needed, while diffusing conflicts with a well-timed joke or ego stroke.
The engineer was Humberto Gatica, and it was magic to watch this master work. Humberto is pasionate about sound, and he would crawl inside it to flesh out it's essence (sorry; that's the only way I can describe what he does with sound). His mastery of everything from microphone placement to mixing techniques, I still crib from to this day.
Peter Cetera, the voice of Chicago, was the model of what every successful rock star should be.
He pulls up in his 911, gets out perfectly quaffed, and goes to work. He is courteous and gracious to everyone, and this guy CAN REALLY SING.
One evening after Peter had been singing all day, he was having trouble hitting a high harmony note.
I started humming the part to myself, and realized "I could hit that note. Oh shit; what'll I do?".
I exit the control room, go to the bathroom, and sing. I can do it.
Should I tell them?
When I returned to the control room they were packing it up.
This was my first experience working with a band of this stature, and I did not realize at the time how lucky I was. Only later would I understand that not all rock stars, producers, and engineers are as talented, or as generous and humble as these guys were. This was professional show business at a level I have only rarely glimpsed in the years since.
In those days, when an album went gold (or platinum), the record company would send plaques to all participants as a "thank you". Nowadays, if you work on a record that goes gold, you have to buy the plaque yourself.
In 1985 the country was in the middle of Ronald Reagan's residency of the White House, and while certain people of society were doing quite well with his policies, others were not. It was disheartening, if not a little strange, to see homeless people sleeping on bus benches and begging at freeway off-ramps... in the San Fernando valley.
No "Occupy" movement arose at the time, but there was a sense of dissatisfaction with the status quo.
Teddy and I (coincidentally?) read "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel García Márquez, and I had been experimenting with a dissonant chord progression... and a new song was born.
On the inner cover of Chicago II, there is this declaration: "With this album, we dedicate ourselves, our futures and our energies to the people of the revolution. And the revolution in all of its forms."
And when I was writng the horn parts for Coup d'état, I was definitely thinking about Walter, James and Lee, the soul of Chicago.
Coup d'état
The tailor weaves from seam to seam
Hundred years of solitude
The prisoner moves to make his plea
A hundred years of solitude
While the actor lives another scene
Hundred years of solitude
And to the psychopath it's all a dream
A hundred years of solitude
A thought
The way it has to be a style
You have to fit to see this reign of mediocrity
Or if you prefer
Coup d'état
What's in is out and what's out ain't free
Hundred years of solitude
To join the club it's a nominal fee
A hundred years of solitude
Well it must be true it's on T.V.
Hundred years of solitude
And when I grow up I wanna be
A hundred years of solitude
A thought
The way it has to be a style
You have to fit to see this reign of mediocrity
Or if you prefer
Coup d'état
Britt Bacon: vocals, keyboard
Alan Morse: guitar, bgs
Ritt Henn: electric bass
Teddy Zambetti: drums, bgs
I've forgotten the names of the session horn players we hired to play on the song. What a geek. If you guys are out there, please contact me and I will fix the credits.
Written by Britt Bacon and Teddy Zambetti
©1985
©1985
Source: 22 track tape (the other 2 tracks were used for automation). Remixed 2013. No auto-tune.
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