Song #19: In Your Head (1986)

In 1986, my second musical mentor Chad Stuart, called with news that he and Jeremy Clyde had signed on to the "British Reinvasion" tour. Chad wondered if my band would like to be their backing group. With no hesitation I said yes, got the guys together, and began rehearsing the set using sheet music and some scribbled notes Chad sent me. We flew to New York, had one rehearsal with Chad and Jeremy, and the next night performed at Madison Square Garden to a packed house!
Talk about a trial by fire...

There were four other bands from the original British Invasion on the bill:
Gerry and the Pacemakers
The Searchers
Freddie and the Dreamers
The Mindbenders

Over the next six weeks, we four (Michael Hodge on bass) Americans traveled across the country with fourteen English musicians, sharing two tour buses, and playing venues large and not so large.
We derived our band name, "Eckey Thump", from the exclamation "ecky thump" that some of our northern-England tour-mates would often use.

At a Holiday Inn in Milwaukee, WI, Teddy Zambetti distracted the clerk at the front desk, while Alan Morse, and I wheeled an upright piano into the elevator, and loaded it into my room.
Over the next couple of days we wrote the music for "In Your Head".

In retrospect, I realize the lyrics of this song were a result of my amazing friendship with Eckart Floether.

I met Eckart in Topanga in 1979, while Skyline Recording was being built. The cargo van he was renting to move into his house, got stuck in a ditch, and he asked if we would help. He treated us to a glorious lunch on his outdoor deck as Beethoven's 6th provided the soundtrack (still one of my faves), and his cute girlfriend cooked.
Eckart had been a successful writer and journalist in Germany, when he sold his possessions and moved to Poona, India to follow the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.
One morning during meditation, Eckart had the realization that this guy was a BAD MAN, so he escaped from the cult and came to America to re-group. He eventually got a masters degree in Theology, wrote a book about the cult, and helped to get Rajneesh kicked out of the country (the cult moved to Oregon in 1981).

We were room-mates for a year, and spent many evenings in front of the fireplace figuring out the world. I will always be thankful to Eckart for teaching me how to navigate around the many false prophets, and jerks that reside not just in the music business, but in everyday life.

In Your Head

So they talk from beyond the grave

And they tell you they control the weather

And they send out scalar waves

So you put this all together

Well the moment they said hello

You said goodbye forever

It's simple really

And you know all of that is

In your head

All of that is

In your head

It's all it'll ever be

So she got home late last night

Looking like she had a good time

And you don't want to start a fight

But your imagination's working overtime

And you pictured her having sex

With a tyrannosaurus rex

It's history really

And you know all of that is

In your head

All of that is

In your head

It's all it'll ever be

Wash your face in the ice cold water wake up

Break the lace of your straight-jacket off of your

Tied up mind

Those ties that bind

So you think you're Shirley MacLaine

And you go to all these seminars

Well I've got your astral plane

Right here next to your star-charts

And you think that you're not insane

But you're really out on a limb too far

There's something wrong with your brain

And you know all of that is

P.S. Shortly after we wrote this song, I was invited to go to a Hollywood dinner party by my (then) girlfriend Sara. Shirley MacLaine was at the party, and I really wanted to play the song for her, but I chickened out.
Probably for the best...

Britt Bacon: vocals, keyboards

Alan Morse: guitars, bgs

Teddy Zambetti: drums, bongos, bgs

Ritt Henn: acoustic and electric basses

Written by Britt Bacon, Alan Morse, and Teddy Zambetti

©1986

Source: 22 track tape (the other 2 tracks were used for automation). Remixed 2013. No auto-tune.

Song #18: No H Note (1983)

In 1982, when Ira Ingber and I started writing and recording together, we did not draft a "mission statement", but there was an unspoken understanding between us to really push the boundaries of popular music. Odd time signatures, weird sounds, and no conventional love songs, all but guaranteed we would have a difficult time finding an audience; let alone a record deal.

One record company executive who liked us was Jamie Cohen. Besides being one of the top A&R people in town, Jamie was an accomplished visual artist. He had a laser-bright brain, and a stiletto-sharp wit, and it was always fun to "pitch" our music to him.

The night Jamie stopped by the studio as we were recording this song was especially memorable.
You can "hear that sound" of the BG vocals he contributed for the ending choruses.

Jamie was supportive and enthusiastic, but he never signed us.
It took a while until we realized record company executives are actually paid to say "NO".

No H Note

We've got blacks, we've got whites

We've got yellows, we've got reds

And with water and sun plants make chlorophyll green

They turn brown when they're dead

You take acid, you use salt

You put refined sugar in your protein malt

And with a shake and a stir all your senses go blur

It's nobody's fault

It's the one the Romans never found

They say you can't hear this sound

ABCDEFG, but no H note

No no H note no

Absentee from Harmony 3

We've footballs, we've got halfs

We've got quarters, we've got eighths

And you can be my guest and take a whole note rest

Don't be late

We've got Mozart, we've got Bach

We've got Beethoven, we've have Brahms

Between the fifth and the ninth there's no more lines

They've already written all the songs

It's the one the medicine men never found

They say you can't hear that sound

ABCDEFG, but no H note

No no H note no

Absentee from Harmony 3

Can you hear that sound...

In loving memory...

 Jamie Cohen

Britt Bacon: vocals

Ira Ingber: guitars, drum programming, bgs
Carl Sealove: electric Stingray bass

Steve Allen: saxophone

Jamie Cohen: bgs

Written by Britt Bacon and Ira Ingber

©1983

Source: 1/4" analogue tape 30ips